Latest in Opinion Highlight
Latest in Opinion
What does Egypt’s political map look like today?
Several months before the elections for Egypt’s House of Representatives, scheduled to take place this coming October, many Egyptians are asking: what is the plan of those political parties participating in these elections? Some ask this question not because they doubt that these elections will take place at its scheduled time, but rather because they …
Editor’s letter: Mubarak’s mess in today’s Sinai
Our very professional Bedouin driver takes us across the desert in South Sinai. Whenever he sees a vehicle passing by smuggling subsidised fuel for the informal black market, he gets very angry. At the first police checkpoint we approach, he stops, opens his window and immediately directs an angry question to the police officer, “Why …
The Event
The Event changed everything. Nobody knows the exact date when the event started. The chaos that took place once it started, and its insane aftermath, made any kind of accurate documentation impossible, but we know that it reached Cairo around August 2013, specifically around the Eid vacation. In its aftermath, Egypt found itself on the …
Egypt and the IMF: Are we asking the right questions?
By Iris Boutros The focus of Egypt’s progress to secure the pending $4.8bn loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been on the size, timing, and conditions of the loan. Many have speculated on the impact of protracted negotiations, the economy, the currency, investment, price inflation and subsidy cuts. These questions are critical, but …
Howeidy, the Brotherhood, and between them Al-Tayeb
By: Ayman Abd Al-Hafiz “When the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar is invited to a country that is not capable of existing in harmony with Egypt, the country to which Al-Azhar traces its heritage as an institution, this opens the door to doubt and a series of speculations regarding the trip’s motives, a fact which may lead …
Penalty spot
By Philip Whitfield Why’s Morsi picking up tips from Jose Mourinho? They’re both hoping for a second chance: Mourinho to Chelsea, Morsi to the palace after Ramadan. Both need to turn things round: Mourinho to keep John Terry and Frank Lampard happy, Morsi to woo the crowd to his side. On his left, Iran’s Mahmoud …
Op-ed review: Ikhwan-oriented media and Islamists during the revolution
One columnist addresses the authorities’ control of media apparatus, and the other discusses how people deny the role of Islamists in the revolution. Yasser Abdel Aziz ‘Ikhwanization’ of national media Al-Masry Al-Youm Columnist Yasser Abdel Aziz discusses the penetration of Muslim Brotherhood policies and practices into public media bodies. He recalls that many fellow journalists …
Talking Box By Ziad Akl
On my way home last Friday I saw 5 boys, couldn’t be more than 14. They were running between cars in one of Zamalek’s busy streets trying to catch a look at women driving in short skirts or low-cut tops. They regrouped after the raid ended next to my car, I opened up my window …
Whatever happened to the student movement?
By Taher El Moataz Bellah There are currently more than three million Egyptian students enrolled in higher education. Before the revolution, most of them dreamed of an opportunity to escape a country that is plagued by both corruption and nepotism. However, most of them were inclined to take a confrontational stance towards the social problems …
Calling all animal activists
Six days ago, three grizzly bears died at Giza Zoo. Reports on the news stated that the three female bears were fighting over a male. Thus ensued a slew of jokes about the prowess of the male bear, though how someone can find such negligence- on the part of the zoo- hilarious escapes me. Two …
The popular myth of the ‘unpopular Ikhwan’
By Dr Mohamed A. Fouad We all know it or seem to think we know it; we like to advance several pieces of evidence to suggest this infamous statement: “The Muslim Brotherhood’s popularity is going down the drain!” However, we never seem to follow this notorious assumption with an important question: So what? If only …
The Brotherhood’s democratic failures
Congratulations everyone, the Muslim Brotherhood is back, this time bigger and better, reaching further and deeper into everything. This absurd statement is unfortunately the overall meaning of the chain of events starting with the Cabinet reshuffle and ending last night with the arrest of Ahmad Maher. First of all, the issue is not one of …
Football fans in the Gulf vote with their feet
By James M. Dorsey Football is defeating efforts by wealthy Gulf States to impregnate themselves against the wave of protests that have swept the Middle East and North Africa in the past two years and sparked a brutal civil war in Syria. Once a prince’s uncontested playing ground that allowed royals to curry favour, strengthen …
Talking Box By Ziad Akl
The scientific definition of insanity is making the same mistakes and expecting different results. There is a structural problem in the government that requires a fundamental reform of policies and change of personnel. The first step in this reform process is relieving Prime Minister Hesham Qandil of his duties because he clearly cannot deliver. However, …
Pet peeves
I find it hard to fathom that anyone can have a fun day while surrounded by examples of animal cruelty that would land those responsible in jail in many countries, but then again I do not have to struggle to feed my family each and every day.
What does the future hold for Egypt?
Sunday night, during a late night call to the “Al-Hafez” television channel, I took part in a discussion with a prominent Egyptian political analyst regarding the country’s rampant political polarisation. For those who don’t know, Al-Hafez is a relatively extremist channel that plays host to a number of far right personalities, including a sheikh who …
Op-ed review: Civilization and Brazil
One columnist refers to Sayyid Qutb’s writings to highlight how civilization will be destroyed and another comments on Brazil’s path to economic reform. Dr Murad Wahba Either civilisation or the Muslim Brotherhood Al Masry Al Youm Dr Murad Wahba addressed the writings of Sayyid Qutb, who was an Islamic theorist for the Muslim Brotherhood. Dr …
Dude looks like a lady
Recently, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women published a report stating that 99.3% of women in Egypt had experienced harassment. This included all forms of sexual harassment: verbal, physical, and via electronic devices and telephones. Women commented that the remaining 0.7% probably never ventured outside their homes. If you …
A Mufti for the Muslim Brotherhood
The mufti is a Muslim legal expert who is empowered to give rulings on religious matters. Every country that defines itself as Muslim has a grand mufti and an Iftaa institution that includes hundreds of muftis. These muftis have a specific education and must study an array of Islamic subjects, based on which sect of …
Review: The media, Qatar and businessmen
One columnist addresses what he sees as flaws in the media, and another addresses current economic issues, including reconciliation with businessmen such as Sawiris and Ezz, and the issue of receiving money from Qatar. Four Subjects Dr Ahmed Khaled Tawfik Al-Tahrir newspaper Author Dr Ahmed Khaled Tawfik addressed the state of the media in his …
The Price
The return of Naguib Sawiris to Egypt, along with the entire Sawiris Family, has raised some eyebrows on both sides of the political divide in Egypt, especially given that the Presidency sent a special envoy to welcome him back and hailed him as one of the “honest businessmen of Egypt” in an official statement. …
Talking Box By Ziad Akl
There is an old joke about an important minister who had an interview on national television. As they were rehearsing, the host asked the minister “what is the thing that you love most” and the minister says “Sex”, the host explains to him that when they’re on air he can’t say sex; he should say …
Rat race in the desert, should Egypt be running?
By: Rasheed Hammouda As the Gulf’s major players compete to be crowned the region’s finance king, Egypt may end up benefitting from being left out of the race entirely The race to be MENA’s top financial hub has been heating up over the past few years, a race that Cairo has been noticeably absent from. …
Clerical error
By: Philip Whitfield Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei must be walking on air. His acolyte President Mohamed Morsi apes Iran’s every move. Essam El-Haddad, one of the top honchos in the Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Bureau, has been in Tehran chewing over Syria. Just as on 4 December …
Celebrating Mubarak’s birthday
Today, 4 May, marks a date hated by many of my generation; Hosni Mubarak’s birthday. For 30 years, the “people” celebrated his birthday. The people in this case were mainly state media, publishing articles regaling our magnanimous dictator, as state TV aired songs praising his birth, mainly with a song well-mocked among the younger generation, …
Easter and Islamists
Sometimes I have to go through excruciating pain to try and write in English about the basic rationale of Egyptian folk wisdom. While I always manage to convey the basic points behind such statements, there is a specific sense conveyed by these statements in Arabic. I say this because the amount of debate that took …
Egypt’s economy: A state of ‘zugzwang’
By: Mohamed A. Fouad The Egyptian economy is slated for a growth of only 2% in the fiscal year ending June 2013. Despite President Mohamed Morsi’s hope for a 5.5% growth next year, the outlook for 2014 is not flattering. Earlier this year, the World Bank forecasted economic growth at 3.8% for 2014 and in a …
The relevance of the World Trade Organisation for Africa
By Herminio Blanco What we are observing in Africa is very exciting and promising: we are witnessing an unprecedented decade of economic growth, supported by economic reforms and regional integration efforts. As world trade growth slowed down abruptly in 2012, Africa was the only region with double-digit growth in exports and imports that year. Although …
What tactics are set to be employed by Egypt’s various political movements?
It should be clear, as pointed out in several of my previous articles, that Egypt’s political circuit consists of three primary forces. The first of these is the country’s Islamist movement, made up primarily of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the second is those forces that seek to revive Egypt’s “old” hegemonic state, with the army, …
Op-eds on women and Hesham Qandil
One columnist assesses what it means to be a woman in Egypt today, while another discusses Prime Minister Hesham Qandil and his cabinet. The Difficulty of Being a Woman Gamal Abou Al-Hassan Al Masry Al Youm Columnist Gamal Abou Al-Hassan tackles the subject of being a woman. He first mentions his daughter Lila, who seems …