Tag: environment

Locust fatwa

If you need another proof of why putting faith in fatwas is stupid:

Faced with an invasion of locusts, the highest Islamic religious institution in Egypt has reportedly issued an edict allowing people to eat locusts.

The independent al-Masri al-Yawm newspaper said al-Azhar Institute has decreed it is permitted by religion to eat the red desert locusts that have invaded the country during the past week.

It said al-Azhar has urged all Egyptians to “hunt the locusts and eat them to combat the crisis.”

The newspaper quoted Abdul Hamid al-Atrash, the head of the Fatwa Commission in al-Azhar, as saying eating the locusts would “contribute actively in wiping them out, instead of the fear that has consumed the hearts of millions of people.”

Al-Atrash said insects that feed off plants are deemed pure for human consumption.

Come to think of it, this might not be true. But it sounds just plausible enough considering the drivel that’s been spouted by Al Azhar sheikhs lately.

Locusts over Cairo

Locusts over the PyramidsMoritz left a comment in a previous post asking about the locust swarm that came over Cairo a couple of days ago and is making its way to the Mediterranean. I didn’t see it myself — they didn’t come to my neighborhood — and I think it was pretty localized. My pals over at Reuters — whose Cairo offices in central Cairo are high up with a great view of the city and the Pyramids (if the smog isn’t too dense) seem to have gotten a good shot, as you can see from the picture on the right.

What was funny is that state TV interrupted normal broadcasts and some minister (I can’t remember which) said that people has nothing to worry about as they were not aggressive. My cleaning lady was there when we were watching it, and, in typical Egyptian fashion, assured me the minister was a liar and that she had it on good evidence from a friend of a friend of her sister’s that a women in her neighborhood had been attacked and that the locusts had pocked holes in her face.

More seriously, the locusts could have done serious damage to crops if it had been slightly hotter — they don’t feed below 30C, apparently. Where they might be causing a famine, however, is in already impoverished Mauritania.

If you want to help, donate to Oxfam which has a program to help with the locust attack.

Black cloud blues

As I look out of my window, a dense, soupy fog envelops the city. At least half the people I know are sick with some kind of flu, and since I’ve moved to Cairo nearly five years ago I’ve gotten an average of four flus a year. When I leave the city, exposure to clean air gives me a sore throat for a day or so, and when I come back the same thing happens. And I live in a relatively upscale, leafy neighborhood (although close to a major road). They say Cairo traffic cops have the lowest sperm counts in the world because of the lead they inhale, and that the pollution results in a Cairene baby “losing” at least eight points of IQ because of early exposure to heavy metals in the air. Beyond the black cloud that strikes at this time of the year, it’s becoming increasingly urgent for to do something about the pollution in Cairo — it’s reaching 19th century London proportions.

“Out of each 10 people you’ll meet in Cairo this time of year, six or seven of them will have this sort of flu-like cough,” says Dr Ashraf Hatem, professor of chest diseases at Cairo University Hospital, referring to the symptoms so many Cairenes suffer from during the period from late October through November.

“Usually it starts with a soreness or itching in the throat, pains in the eye, itching in the nose, low-grade fever, and sneezing,” Hatem explains. “Then there is a cough, which may come in sporadic attacks that worsen in the evening and at dawn, when the pollution is worst. While these symptoms usually indicate a viral infection of the kind which is passed on so easily in heavily-populated areas like Cairo, the condition is increased significantly by air pollution and what we call the ‘black cloud’.”