Who is Ahmed Tarek Bahgat Abaza?

Answer 1

Ahmed Tarek Bahgat Abaza

Ahmed Tarek Bahgat Abaza, born 27 December 1984 in Cairo, is an Egyptian composer/multimedia performance artist and writer in philosophy and sociology and a political activist.

Ahmed Tarek Bahgat Abaza hails from the aristocratic Abaza Family and uses the name Ahmed Tarek Ola-abaza for musical work and visual performances.

The Auckland Museum describes him as:

"Born in Cairo, Christchurch-based Ahmed Tarek Bahgat Abaza was one of the New Zealand Egyptian voices we heard during the uprising who helped explain the impact the rebellion against Mubarak was having on ordinary Egyptians both here and in their homeland.

A writer, sociology and philosophy researcher with a double major in Political Science and Sociology, his commentary has been featured in the New Zealand Herald, Stuff and on Radio New Zealand and TVNZ. A member of the Egyptian Association of Canterbury, he says: "Without a secure Egypt, there is little hope for a healthy and secure Middle East or North Africa."

WorkAhmed Tarek Bahgat Abaza participated in the revolutionary protests against Egypt's ruling military council, he recounts in an essay on Yourmiddleeast.com:

"Why were numerous soldiers stationed at two points nearby standing silent as a man shot at protesters from above at the cabinet incident (December 2011) and at my head, at one point with a bullet flying through my hair? I impulsively asked one soldier who guarded the American embassy nearby, "Hey do you know who is shooting above there?"

"No."

I said goodbye and left to see the injured at the makeshift hospital, having to run rapidly to escape the possibility of being shot at and hearing directly from the doctor that live bullets have been used, having already seen a sample and recorded the image."

His work includes strong criticism of Egypt's transitional government. He writes in 'Calling SCAF to Account' about Egypt's military rulers:

"The SCAF is the most evil entity in the Egyptian socio-political game today. This is not just because their soldiers or other security personnel for which they are responsible, have killed, tortured or mistreated people, which is well-attested to, even during the 2011 initial uprising (as an Amnesty International report documents). It is not just because they supervise murder in their capacity as administrators of the country; but let us assume again some innocence: are they not at the very least the ones responsible for ensuring security and protecting lives? There is what is called gross negligence or fault by omission."

In a 2011 interview with Bikyamasr he states:

"Again, my position is uncompromising. Egypt has in fact been a military-police state since the coup targeting King Farouk I. All Heads of State since then have been military men and the military establishment has grown to huge proportions and has an unduly privileged status in society. A military must be just as accountable and transparent as any government service. To emphasise, the military is a service and its institutions servants to the citizens."

He writes on Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt attacking Islamic terrorism using Islamic teachings in 'Bombing Shames All':

"Attempting wan refuge under the name Islam - what account did the killers take of the Prophet Mohammed's own handwritten Charter of Privileges, still intact in Egypt? It explicitly commands binding protections for Christians: Muslims are to protect churches from damage, not then and not now, but "until the Last Day (the end of time)".

In Islam, the first word the Koran reveals is the imperative "read" and "recite" (iqra). And most prominent names for God in it are Ar-Rahman and Ar- Rahim (roughly, The Compassionate/Beneficent and The Merciful, respectively).

How did the killers act through faith towards such words? And where and how were Islam's terms read and used by the killers through their frames of reference?"

He again addresses the issue of Christian rights in Egypt in 'I will vote for the best of the worst':

"The situation of Egyptian Christians is particularly serious as they form a very large minority. The Egyptian Church has consistently had a patriotic internal culture. But dissatisfaction with restrictive laws, forced exposure to Islamic scripture in the Arabic school curriculum, absence of representation in high political and military positions and many other problems exist for the community. And let us not forget the violent attacks on churches.

I had done a pilot survey of the Egyptian community in Christchurch, New Zealand a number of years ago. The results of the research project confirmed that the Muslim and Christian communities are sharply separated with interaction largely limited to some of the younger members of both communities. The local church openly and on record refused to support their congregation joining with the Muslim community in a united Egyptian Association of Canterbury. From this, we can see that the grievances are very strong but also that both sides misunderstand each other. Only one Muslim respondent to the survey agreed that discrimination against Christians existed at all in Egypt compared to every single Christian respondent agreeing that it exists and with some giving examples.

I described it at the time as a problem of self-definition: many Muslims consider themselves the 'tolerant-majority' and find it hard to recognize the discrimination as they do not themselves experience it. Many Christians define themselves as the 'oppressed-minority' and find it frustrating and unacceptable that their grievances are not given due consideration. A process of critically reflecting on yourself and the groups you feel you belong to must start in order to then understand the other in front of you. Shared group self-definitions must expand and progress in line with interaction with the other."

About his music he states in another interview with Mashareeb:

"Egypt is my everlasting love and when I was 14 in 1999 Christchurch I was especially homesick and a bit of an Egyptomaniac. The millennium celebrations in Egypt were to be marked by a concert called 'The Twelve Dreams of the Sun' by Jean Michel Jarre. I followed the news about this obsessively, not because of the music but because it was the Egyptian celebration. Eventually I heard Oxygene 9 and the synthesizer textures and sound design on this piece impressed me. I had only heard standard pop music so far and some classical and Arabic music. This ignited my love for music in general not just electronic music. I later heard pieces of Jarre's which evoked memories of my Egyptian childhood as his music was used on some TV and radio. Then I began to compose when I was 15 as this interest developed more strongly and I discovered many other artists."

In his capacity as a sociologist and translator he provided live commentary to New Zealand TV viewers on Egypt's former president Mubarak's last speech in 2011. He was interviewed many time sin New Zealand during the revolution.

Ahmed Tarek Bahgat Abaza lives between Egypt and New Zealand.

Read more: Ahmed_Tarek_Bahgat_Abaza

Answer 2

The name 'Ola-abaza' is an error and he works under the name Kelsely Abaza. As stated in his site kelselyabaza.com/