Latest in Opinion Highlight
Latest in Opinion
Misunderstanding Africa
By Robert Tashima Gold, oil, timber, cocoa: these four words could sum up the essence of African economic development over the 20th century. Investors dug mines, brought in derricks, and chopped down trees, but with few exceptions that was largely it. The impact of this was significant. Per capita GDP declined in the 1980s, …
Qatar invests in Israeli football despite Gaza and war of words with Jerusalem
By James M. Dorsey Qatar is emerging for the second time in a decade as the only Arab state without a peace treaty and diplomatic relations to have invested in Israel. Qatar’s latest investment in Israeli Palestinian football comes against a backdrop of a war of words between the two countries over the Gulf state’s …
What are the socio-cultural dimensions behind the phenomenon of harassment? (Part 6)
Through the last five articles we noted what we call the characteristics of slums and determined that there are four main attributes of these neighbourhoods. The most important of these characteristics are that the residents of slums are poor and marginalised, the area lacks prior planning and services and is newly constructed. We clarified how …
Money talks
By Philip Whitfield Sing along: Money, money, money must be funny in the rich man’s world. Money, money, money: always sunny in the rich man’s world. ABBA’s chart-topper. Here’s the 64-million-dollar question: Where will the money come from to save Egypt? A clue: The man with the plan worked his wizardry in China, Russia, South …
The need for a peace narrative in the Middle East
Dr Cesar Chelala Growing up in Tucuman, a town in the North of Argentina, I had the opportunity to see a small example of peaceful coexistence and collaboration between Arabs and Jews. I was reminded of that experience after reading an article by Uri Avnery, one of the leading peace activists in Israel. Tucuman, a medium-size city …
Israel’s deadly attack on Gaza – A never-ending déjà vu
By Jonathan Moremi A few weeks ago I bought the book “The General’s Son” by Miko Peled, an Israeli. His father – Matti Peled – was one of the most respected Israeli Generals fighting in the 1967 Six-Day-War at the side of people like Yitzhak Rabin and Ariel Sharon. As a colonel in the preceding …
The Gaza Diktat
The Versailles Treaty directly led to World War II. It came, infamously, to be known by the German side as the “Diktat”. It is an insidious notion in politics: the dictation of terms by one side to another. The anger that followed, within the German Zeitgeist, led to the rise of German hyper nationalism which, …
How’d they do it?
By Timothy Kaldas How’d they do it? How did Israel manage to bombard civilians with impunity and convince so many to stand silently by or even offer their endorsement and secure the support of many of their citizens who cheer on the attacks and encourage the Israeli military to go further? Many in Egypt are …
Israel’s ‘Protective Edge’: Why Now?
By Fadi Elhusseini The new Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip is not the first and won’t be the last if the political equation in that region does not change. Throughout previous aggressions Israel launched on the Gaza strip, several military goals were declared. This time, the “Protective Edge” operation comes in a different …
The betrayal of Dr Schweitzer
By Dr César Chelala I first learned of Dr Albert Schweitzer’s work when I was a medical student in the 1960s. During those years, the story of Schweitzer’s efforts to improve the health of Africans in his hospital in Lambaréné ignited my companions’ and my imagination. It was thus with a sense of privilege that …
Football pitches: An emerging battleground for control of Iraq
By James M. Dorsey Iraqi football pitches have emerged as an alternative battleground in the struggle for control of Iraq between the Islamic State, the jihadist group that controls chunks of northern Iraq, and embattled Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. Iraqi officials said the broadcasting last Sunday in Baghdad’s Al-Shaab International Stadium of the World Cup …
Broke? Spend, spend, spend
By Philip Whitfield Let me give you my vision: A man’s right to work as he wills, to spend what he earns, to own property, to have the state of servant and not as master. They are the essence of a free economy and on that freedom all our other freedoms depend. Regrettably, those are …
What are the socio-cultural dimensions behind the phenomenon of harassment? (5)
Slums, according to our definition as outlined in the four previous articles, are characterised by a largely poor and marginalised population, a lack of services and the absence of prior planning. The neighbourhoods are often newly built and also have a newer social composition. This has resulted in an inundation of the slums on one …
The Un-united Arab Republic of Egypt
By Amr Khalifa “United we stand, divided we fall,” a wise man once said. Apparently, Egyptians have not heard of the man – Aesop, an ancient Greek storyteller. The tumult Egypt has experienced for the past 3.5 years has been marked by blood and, most damagingly to national psyche and long term prospects for the …
In league with the people of Gaza
In order to avoid history repeating and tragedy multiplying, Arab leaders should convene in Gaza to end the deadly confrontation there and to present creative solutions to the wider conflict.
Gaza, the Gordian knot
Gaza___ the formula of a quick fix and hope for the best has failed. The simple fact that the recent war in the Gaza strip is the third in six years is enough proof of the futility of one lull after another. The civilians in Gaza cannot handle another dose of a pain remedy that eases …
Don’t shoot I hoot
By Philip Whitfield Let’s remind ourselves of the central challenge Egypt faces: the population explosion and its consequences. We know Greater Cairo’s 22 million will be 40 million in 10 years. In 30 years Cairo’s population will be greater than the entire United Kingdom’s. Unless something dramatic happens – and I imagine it will – the …
Israel and Saudi Arabia: Forging Ties on Quicksand
Distrust of the US and questions about the reliability of the US as an ally have persuaded Saudi Arabia and Israel to go public with their tacit alliance
Do Egyptians deserve a better life?
By Mohammed Nosseir In principle, every citizen deserves a better life; why should people suffer if their lives can be improved? However, a better life won’t be dished out and served up on a golden plate. To lead better lives, citizens should not only work hard, they must abide by a number of values that …
Gaza’s heavy price
By Dr Cesar Chelala The new Israeli attacks against Gaza, which have already resulted in more than 100 deaths, will prove, once again, to be counterproductive. Violence against Palestinians will not diminish their rightful demands for freedom from occupation and for a normal, peaceful life. Why, then, if Gazans want to live in peace do they continue …
Speech of the Ambassador of Georgia HE Mr Archil Dzuliashvili
By HE Mr Archil Dzuliashvili The following is the speech given by the Georgian ambassador to Egypt on the occasion of the signing by Georgia, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova of the Association Agreements with the European Union on 30 June 2014. I am honoured to welcome you today to celebrate the historic day for …
Israeli investigation into Palestinian’s murder focuses on football fan group
By James M. Dorsey An Israeli investigation into the murder of 16-year old Mohammed Abu-Khdeir in apparent revenge for the killing of three teenage Israeli settlers on the West Bank has focused attention on Israel’s most militant, racist football fan group. The focus, irrespective of the group’s involvement in Abu-Khdeir’s death, is likely to end …
What are the social and cultural dimensions behind the phenomenon of harassment? (4)
Over the three previous articles we have tried to identify the social and cultural dimensions of the harassment phenomenon, and we considered this phenomenon to be mainly associated with the spread, growth, and rebellion of the slums in recent years. In the interpretation of the emergence of middle-class dwellers practicing harassment, we used the expression …
Egypt mourns emblematic figure of interfaith dialogue: A tribute to Dr Mahmoud Azab
By Didier Leroy Dr Mahmoud Azab, interfaith dialogue counsellor for the Great Imam of Al-Azhar University (often considered the highest authority in Sunni Islam), passed away on 29 June in Cairo. The day before, Didier Leroy, researcher at the Royal Military Academy of Belgium (RMA) and teaching assistant at the Free University of Brussels (ULB), …
Unsustainable solutions to unsustainability
Subsidy reform was inevitable. That’s what President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and his supporters said this week when fuel prices were raised and taxes on some consumer goods were hiked. And they aren’t wrong. The “social contract” between the government and its people has clearly become unsustainable as deficits increased, especially over the past three years. …
‘Catastrophic’ it is!
Amnesty International said last week that Egypt is witnessing a “catastrophic” decline in human rights. Indeed, human rights conditions in Egypt are currently a disaster, but the “catastrophe” Egyptians are witnessing these days is all-encompassing. On Friday, the government announced an increase in fuel prices – a step every government has struggled to take and …
Gaza will live
By Dr Cesar Chelala Gaza is subject, once again, to severe Israeli bombing for the death of three Jewish teenagers. This only aggravates a situation that has been causing enormous and unnecessary civilian suffering to a population whose main sin is to want to remain alive and prosper in their own land. As a result of …
Crisis in Syria: Civil war, global threat
By Ban Ki-moon The horrific war in Syria continues to worsen and bleed beyond its borders. A cold calculation seems to be taking hold: that little can be done except to arm the parties and watch the conflict rage. The international community must not abandon the people of Syria and the region to never-ending …
Prisoner 41,138
By Amr Khalifa The sun beat down with an untethered ferocity on the cuts on her shoulders, and the fact that the shirt was torn was not helping. Her mobile phone barely had enough charge to call her family to pick her up from the empty desert road where she had been dumped. It had only …
What are the social and cultural dimensions behind the phenomenon of harassment? (3)
We stress for the third time, the four attributes of slums that were described in the previous two articles: the first, that most slum residents are marginalised; second, that these residents are poor; third, that these neighbourhoods lack utilities, services, and urban and humanitarian planning in advance; and fourth and last is that these neighbourhoods …