Egypt's outgoing constituent assembly chairman Amr Moussa (C) attends a news conference in Cairo December 15, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt's outgoing constitution-amending committee has repeatedly stressed that it has drafted a national charter that represents all Egyptians. The huge banner reading "All Egyptians Constitution" hanging in the background during Sunday's international press conference, however, barely reflected their assertion. Three out of the five people whose images were used on the banner appear to be foreigners.
The first figure from the far left is a photo of a man dressed as a doctor. Twitter users circulated the same exact photo of the man appearing in an advertisement for a website registered in Arizona, USA that sells treatments for stretch marks.
Next to the "doctor" appears a woman whose picture shows up on the homepage of the Irish website Network Ireland, which labels itself as "business networking for women across Ireland."
The photo of the second person from the right is currently used by AZ Business Magazine – also registered in Arizona, USA – in an article about down syndrome patients.
The photo of an Egyptian soldier on the far right of the banner was taken during the first 18 days of the 2011 uprising by Ahram Online reporter Rowan El-Shimi. It was used without her permission. The photo was posted on the writer's blog in February, 2011.
The picture in the middle of the banner of what seems to be an Egyptian farmer was taken by czech photographer Frantisek Staud.
Moreover, the word "Egyptians" in Arabic (Misreyeen) – placed above the photos on the huge banner – is misspelled. Instead, missing one letter, the banner uses the Arabic word for "determined" (Mosireen).
The press conference was chaired by committee head Amr Moussa to answer questions pertaining to the national charter that will be put to a public referendum on 14 and 15 January.
Many social media users responded to the banner with sarcasm.
Egyptian journalist Mohamed Fathy, for instance, tweeted: "A constitution for all Irishmen."
Correction: Frantisek Staud the photographer who took the picture of the man in the middle of the banner is Czech and not Polish as we mentioned before.
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