Latest news with #Tamer
CairoScene
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Artist Amina Tamer Illustrates Modern Egypt Through Post Stamps
Artist Amina Tamer Illustrates Modern Egypt Through Post Stamps Rummaging through our grandparents' old files, or through the many boxes of scraps at antique souqs, we inevitably find ancient relics from the days when people used to, you know, actually write letters. We would find notebooks filled with tiny 2x3 cm pieces of art. Some were predictable, like the ones that had presidents' faces on them, the Egyptian flag, or an army tank, but others were more creative, carrying tiny but beautiful paintings of natural attractions, or a clay jug, or even a cat. These antique collections are fun to look at, but they don't really reflect the Egypt we live in today. People stopped writing letters, and so post stamps, the small squares that have carried miniature elements of our culture for thousands of years, became obsolete. Amina Tamer, the Egyptian artist and graphic designer whose work has recently been circulating online, begs to differ; post stamps don't have to be reduced to antiques. 'For my pre-master's project, I wanted to create a cultural project that showcased not only my illustration skills but also my graphic design skills,' Amina Tamer tells CairoScene. 'And I needed a medium that allowed me to experiment with a variety of styles while still adhering to the concept. At the same time, stamps always had my interest, because of their diverse colours, illustrations, typography, layout, size, and the cultures they represent.' Like her inspiration, the stamps Tamer comes up with are diverse. Sometimes, they show a tiny colourful picture of a donkey pulling a cart, a black and white apartment building, or the storefront of a juice shop. At other times, it's a portrait of a band the country loves. Tamer's art reflects how scattered, and thereby diverse, the concept of Egyptian culture has become. 'It always begins with an idea, theme, or concept that I continue to explore until it's expanded into layouts and illustrations, and then I reach something.' At completion, Tamer's projects are always vibrant, loud, crowded. 'I try to design projects that are pleasant, sincere, and make you feel lively and genuine. I have to feel them in my heart.' Even in other projects, like the storybook she made of 'Siwa's Narrative of Love', inspired by the hidden love story of someone she met on a trip to Siwa, Tamer seems to look on the bright side. She illustrates an Egypt that's bursting with colour, with kitschy patterns like the one we see when we leave our houses every day. Perhaps we should be handwriting letters again.
Broadcast Pro
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Palestinian film ‘Alam' to screen at AFLAMUNA in Beirut
Written and directed by Firas Khoury, 'Alam' follows the story of a Palestinian teenager named Tamer. Palestinian filmmaker Firas Khoury's feature film Alam will be screening at the AFLAMUNA, a cultural nonprofit based in Beirut working to harness the power of independent Arab cinema to elevate the most pressing social, political and cultural movements of our time, on July 18 at 8:30 PM. The film follows the story of a Palestinian teenager named Tamer, who leads a typical teenage life until the arrival of the beautiful Maysaa changes everything. As he grows closer to her, Tamer agrees to participate in a mysterious and life-changing operation called 'Alam.' Written and directed by Firas Khoury, Alam stars Mahmood Bakri, Sereen Khass, Saleh Bakri, Mohammad Karaki, Ahmad Zaghmouri and Muhammad Abed Elrahman. The film is produced by Marie Pierre Macia, Claire Gadéa, Naomie Lagadec, Melik Kochbati and Ossama Bawardi, with cinematography by Frida Marzouk, editing by Nadia Ben Rachid and music by Faraj Suleiman. In terms of bigger companies at play, Alam was produced by MPM Film, Paprika Films, and Philistine Films, and co-produced by Lacydon Bay Productions, Metafora Production, and the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation, with Arab world distribution by MAD Solutions and Lagoonie Film Production. The feature film received a grant from the Doha Film Institute and a $20,000 script development grant from the Abu Dhabi Film Festival's Sanad Fund. It was also chosen to participate in the Cinéfondation Workshop at the 2017 edition of the Cannes Film Festival and the 2019 Venice GAP-Financing Market; received a $10,000 grant from Cairo Film Connection, the CIFF's Co-Production Market, and was featured at the Atlas Workshops of the Marrakech International Film Festival.
Jordan News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Jordan News
Israeli Video Documents Al-Qassam's Complex Ambush in Beit Hanoun - Jordan News
Israeli Video Documents Al-Qassam's Complex Ambush in Beit Hanoun The military correspondent for the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Radio (Haredim Radio) released a video allegedly documenting a complex ambush carried out by the Palestinian resistance in the town of Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, last Monday evening. اضافة اعلان The footage shows the moment the 'Netzah Yehuda' battalion was hit by an explosion during a military operation under the command of the Northern Brigade in the Gaza Division. The video captures several Israeli soldiers throwing themselves to the ground, others dragging wounded comrades, and heavy and light gunfire being exchanged. The Beit Hanoun ambush is considered one of the most precise and sophisticated operations carried out by the resistance since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023. The ambush resulted in the killing of five Israeli soldiers and the injury of 14 others. Preliminary Israeli investigations indicate that the ambush occurred as two battalions moved to "clear the area." A foot patrol reportedly stepped on a booby-trapped route, triggering two explosive devices, followed by heavy gunfire targeting the rescue teams. Following the ambush, the Al-Qassam Brigades — the military wing of Hamas — posted an image on their Telegram channel vowing to shatter the prestige of the Israeli army. جروا جثثهم وهربوا واختبأو وزحفوا وتحركت الياتهم لحمايتهم ، كتيبة كاملة تسقط امام عدد قليل من المقاومين في مكان دمرته واحرقته اسرائيل واحتلته لاكثر من عام ويبعد اقل من كيلو متر عن الحدود الشمالية . مشاهد من كمين المقاومة في بيت حانون قبل يومين الذي قُتل فيه خمسة جنود إسرائيليين… — Tamer | تامر (@tamerqdh) July 9, 2025 On Tuesday, Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, warned that the Israeli army would face daily losses from north to south Gaza in what he described as a war of attrition. He called the Beit Hanoun ambush "a blow to the prestige of the feeble Israeli army and its most brutal units operating in a battlefield they falsely believed was secure." Abu Obeida added that the 'dumbest decision' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who is wanted by the International Criminal Court — could make is to keep his forces inside the Gaza Strip. He hinted that the resistance may soon succeed in capturing Israeli soldiers. In a clear sign of intensifying resistance operations, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that 39 Israeli soldiers and officers have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed its military campaign on March 18, following its withdrawal from the January 2025 agreement. — (Al Jazeera)
CairoScene
20-06-2025
- CairoScene
How Egyptian Explorer Ayten Tamer Built a Travel Movement for Mothers
Mama Retreats and Me is all about curated adventures where mothers and kids explore, learn, and make lifelong memories together. For most mothers, travel is a luxury, something to be penciled into the calendar once the laundry is folded and the school pick-ups are done. But for Ayten Tamer, travel is not a break from motherhood—it is an extension of it, a way to model curiosity, resilience, and a sense of wonder to her children. Her work, embodied in a quietly audacious venture known as Mama Retreats and Me, is a testament to this philosophy, a belief that motherhood need not be the end of adventure, but its deepening. Ayten's story begins in the folds of a family already steeped in the travel business. Growing up, she was the child who rarely stayed still, trailing her family through souks in Marrakesh, desert camps in Oman, and quiet fishing villages in Southeast Asia when the conventional family trip was simply Paris or the USA. 'Those were weeks-long immersions where the line between home and abroad blurred,' Ayten Tamer, founder of Mama Retreats and Me, tells Scenetraveller. Travel, for her, was never about escapism. It was about immersion, about standing barefoot in a rice paddy and understanding the world from the ground up. That ethos, rooted in experience over consumption, became the backbone of 'Gazef,' an Egyptian adventure travel company founded by Tamer in 2013. As Tamer's first venture in the world of exotic backpacking travel, the company specialized in immersive group trips across Egypt and beyond. Finally, she was realizing her vision of travel. But after stepping away from the company she built, moving to Australia, and becoming a mother, it seemed like her passport might get tucked away for good. Tamer, however, had other plans. Despite finding herself faced with the kind of exhaustion that turns even the simplest outing into a logistical headache, she decided to strap her six-month-old son onto her back and boarded a plane. The destination was less important than the act itself—proof that a baby carrier wasn't a leash, but a ticket. She often jokes that her firstborn had more stamps in his passport before turning one than most adults do in a lifetime. But the heart of her story isn't just the miles logged or the borders crossed. It's in the shifting logic of what a 'family trip' could mean. Where others saw obstacles—nap schedules, picky eaters, overstimulated toddlers—Ayten saw possibilities. 'The tantrum is part of the journey,' she says, with a smile that suggests she's learned this lesson many times over. To her, travel is a mirror. It shows you how your child reacts to novelty, to discomfort, to joy—and it reflects back your own capacity for patience, for adaptation, for openness. When the pandemic brought the world to a halt, Ayten, like so many others, found herself grounded. But stillness is not in Ayten's nature. She turned inward, literally. With borders closed, she began exploring Fayoum, a pastoral oasis southwest of Cairo. There, amidst the fields and date palms, she and her son harvested crops, learned about soil, and rediscovered the rhythms of local life. Soon, others began to tag along. What started as a personal experiment became, almost organically, a new form of retreat: one with more toddler diapers stuffed into backpacks, more sunscreen smeared on little faces, and way more snack breaks along the way. It wasn't about ticking off destinations but about slowing down, noticing the light on a field at dusk, or the way children's faces light up when they taste a fruit plucked straight from the tree. It was about recalibrating the relationship between mother and child—not in the frenetic context of modern parenting, but in a space where time stretched and expectations softened. And so, Mama Retreats and Me was born. From the volcanic landscapes of Bali to the rugged coastline of South Africa, these retreats now promise not just intimate time away, but transformation. 'The retreats are framed around themes—surfing, cooking, cultural immersion, environmental stewardship—but beneath the itinerary is a deeper promise: a chance to cross 20 things off your bucket list, yes, but also a chance to see your child in a new light.' Yet, the true beauty of these retreats lies in their diversity. There are single mothers traveling solo with their kids. There are mothers of autistic children, seeking a space where meltdowns aren't judged but embraced. There are teenagers learning to surf alongside toddlers building sandcastles. The eclectic mix, Tamer says, is intentional. 'It's when you're surrounded by people who parent differently, who have different lives, that you learn the most,' Tamer says. And the kids, exposed to peers of all ages and temperaments, learn too—about empathy, about sharing, about navigating differences. That spirit of flexibility carries through behind the scenes too—with a team made up entirely of mothers, or a 'super mama crew,' as Tamer calls them. There are no rigid hours, no office walls. The team knows what it means to pause a Zoom call because a child is crying, or to reply to emails after bedtime. This is a business built not in spite of motherhood but because of it. Of course, none of this is easy. Tamer will admit, with a dry laugh, that she sometimes feels like a juggler on a tightrope, balancing logistics, childcare, and the unpredictable chaos of travel. But she also believes in the power of showing up—of modeling, for her children and for the mothers who join her, what it looks like to pursue a dream while holding space for others. In the end, Tamer's work is about reimagining what it means to be a mother in a world that often tells women to shrink their desires. It's about rejecting the false choice between self and family, adventure and responsibility. For Tamer, the two aren't in conflict—they're intertwined. Her life is proof that you can hold your baby in one arm and a surfboard in the other—and that both matter equally.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Potwin veteran shaped by overseas unrest
POTWIN, Kan. (KSNW) — June 13 marks the 23rd anniversary of a U.S. military incident in South Korea that left two teenage girls dead and sparked international outrage. While Army veteran Mitchell Tamer wasn't there when it happened, the event would come to shape his most challenging year in uniform. Now living a quiet life in Potwin—working at the post office and making music—Tamer reflects on how the tragedy and its aftermath left a lasting impact. 'There had been an accident between a convoy and two little girls who ended up losing their lives,' Tamer recalled. 'And the Korean people weren't happy about us being there after that.' The 2002 'Yangju Highway Incident,' in which a U.S. military convoy accidentally struck and killed two 14-year-old South Korean girls, occurred before Tamer arrived at Camp Red Cloud. But protests continued long after. Tune into KSN News at 10 every Wednesday for our Veteran Salute 'Here we are on our very own camp with our weapons in our hands, linking our arms to make a human wall so demonstrators couldn't come through the walls or the doors,' he said. Though targeted by protesters, Tamer said he came to understand the anger. 'It took a lot of years to process it and come to terms especially when you understand why the people felt the way they did,' he said. That empathy was born of curiosity—and a deep respect for other cultures. 'When you're a small-town country boy like I was, you're thrown into everybody's culture. People from all over the country, and you get to understand and experience their culture a little bit, and then they bring you overseas and there's a whole new culture there,' Tamer said. After South Korea, Tamer joined the Army Reserves and narrowly avoided deployment to Iraq. 'I found out, pretty much the same day I was going to become a father for the first time that I was also going to get reactivated,' he said. 'And I was lucky. I was lucky I didn't have to go.' He retired from the Reserves as a sergeant in 2007. Today, he shares life with his wife and continues to reflect on the value of all experiences. 'What I want people to think about is how the experience in their lives, good or bad, it's all learning and it's all precious. All of it.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
