Latest in Opinion Highlight
Latest in Opinion
Letters of Freedom
Palestinian Prisoners Week Good Morning, Allow me to break through the spatial dimensions. I send you this letter from my cramped compartment, laced with the breath of those who are experiencing the hardship of real struggle. It has taken me a month to send this letter to you and mail it through the Red Cross, …
Review: Commentaries continue to watch Mubarak’s trial
Mubarak’s healthy condition and wide smile continued to attract attention from the Egyptian writers in major newspapers. Other commentators called upon the youth to unify their efforts to achieve the objectives of the 2011 revolution Abdel Hakim Al-Shami Search for the new-look Freedom and Justice Newspaper Al-Shami recalls the recent scene of ousted president Mubarak …
Shying away from our minister of information
Was the minister really sexually harassing the young reporter?
Bad for business
A few days ago I told a Tunisian friend who just arrived some stories about the Egyptian political scene. She listened to me intently while suppressing her laughter, and after I was finished her only comment was: “Cheap Drama..You guys are living in a cheap drama.” I have found her comment not only a fantastic …
Review: Op-Eds debate Mubarak’s court session
After ousted President Mubarak appeared smiling and waving behind the bars, more than one writer has explored the court rulings and the possibility of a counter-revolution. Several commentators believe that those supportive of the 25 January revolution were busy with minor cases and were not concerned with the death of protesters. Mubarak has ended and …
The others
Two events have prompted this week’s column: the unprecedented attack on St. Mark’s Cathedral last week, and my recently watching the Jews of Egypt documentary. Both got me thinking about the concept of “the other”. A predefined group of people which another group or culture or society will use to distance itself from. “The other” …
Review: Columnists analyse Mubarak’s smile behind the bars
In the occasion of ousted President Mubarak’s retrial, op-ed pages dissect how he appeared waving to the people in the courthouse as if no revolution has occurred. How will the country be administrated in the coming six months? Hassan Nafaa Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper After President Mohamed Morsi’s statements about the probability of holding parliamentary elections …
Breaking up
By: Philip Whitfield Cut and run, or duke it out – Morsi’s dilemma during the interregnum. Feuding inside the Muslim Brotherhood rages. Khairat El-Shater berates Morsi for pussyfooting around the Brothers’ project to control every facet of Egyptian life. El-Shater reportedly craves the top job, goading Morsi to call a snap election. According to Mark …
Raising tyrants in the name of Islam
“In China, they have blocked YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and no one is upset; life is good and everyone is happy. And they say we do not have freedom of speech in Egypt.” These were the enlightened words of Saad Al-Shater on his Facebook page, the son of Khairat El-Shater, vice of Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme …
Sectarianism: Egypt’s uncomfortable question
For the past 10 years, Egypt has been reminded at least annually of its sectarian time bomb. If your only source of information were Egyptian media, sectarianism would be the work of a radical few, but never a serious problem inherent within Egyptian Society. But if you take a closer look at the lives of …
Egypt’s banning of soccer fans from matches likely to boomerang
By James M. Dorsey Egyptian authorities have expanded the ban on fans attending matches to include international as well as domestic matches in a bid to prevent violence that is likely to backfire and spark renewed incidents in a country reeling from economic decline, widespread discontent and lack of confidence in the government and law …
Resolution 1325 and the Need to Empower Malian Women
By: The Honourable Mobina Jaffer A Brief Overview the Situation in Mali Since the beginning of January 2012, an insurgent group has been fighting with the Mali government for the independence of northern Mali, an area known as Azawad. This group, formally known as National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and also referred …
Columnists debate sectarian tensions in Egypt
After the recent incidents in front of St. Mark’s Cathedral, writers in major Egyptian newspapers have explored the issue of sectarian strife in the country, believing that the extremism spreading across Egypt is the primary cause of the sectarian violence. The road to fascism Mohamed Abul Ghar Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper Abul Ghar condemns the recent …
Has the Muslim Brotherhood adopted Sectarianism?
I have attempted over the last several articles, to shed light on the fault lines of the various political and socio-economic divisions that exist within Egyptian society, in addition to the ideologies of those who seek during elections to secure their place within the country’s political system. Traditional left wing theory tells us that social …
“Please be nice!”
You can’t push a person to be peaceful and love others, but you can enforce the law
Morsy’s Christian Problem
The country was watching, half in horror and the other half probably in glee, as the police of the Islamist state of Egypt actively joined a mob in their attack on the cathedral
Review: April 6 celebration and Iranian tourists
Commentators in major Egyptian newspapers have discussed the celebration of the sixth anniversary of the April 6 Youth Movement and the potential for establishing its own political party. Meanwhile, some writers continued to condemn the negative reaction of the Salafis in Egypt after the recent visits of Iranian tourists to Luxor. Mohamed Salmawi The …
Desert Island Discs – Dos
First of all, a big thank you to this week’s guest contributors who sent in their Desert Island Discs, and who impressed me with their ability to actually come up with a list—I’m still having trouble as I write this. We’ll get there, God willing. “Show me yours, then I’ll show you mine” goes the …
The dead of the Salem Express
Out of all the dive sites in the Red Sea, the Salem Express wreck is known among divers as the most depressing. In 1991, the passenger ferry carrying pilgrims back from Saudi Arabia sunk 18 metres under the turbulent waters of Safaga’s sea, killing all most of its passengers Resting on its side, the twisted …
After Arab Spring, Islamists test religion in economics
By Farah Halime With the rise of political Islam across North Africa in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, Islamic finance is being touted as the solution to decades of unemployment and economic inequality. “We’ve tried socialism, we’ve tried capitalism, now we’re trying Islam,” cried supporters of Mohamed Morsi, when he was …
The Islamists’ Secret Weapon
As soon as our blessed revolution succeeded in realising its main demand and remove Mubarak from office, a streaming flood of Islamists ran through all veins of life in Egypt. Suddenly, ideology became identity, difference became blasphemy and tolerance became treachery. Since way before and during the 18 days, the Islamists felt an over-estimated sense …
Review: Bassem Youssef’s interrogation and Al-Azhar University incident occupy writer’s attentions
Columnists in major Egyptian newspapers discuss the recent summoning for questioning of satrist Bassef Youssef and the fierce attack of Islamists on prominent artists and comedians. Also occupying the column inches was the food poisoning debacle at Al-Azhar University, which ended with the dismissal of the university’s president. Writers argue that the poisoning of more …
Morsi’s end
By Philip Whitfield Chitchat is Cairo’s currency. Spotting a rare bird in the undergrowth has set the tongues wagging. One swallow doesn’t make a summer. But the return of this migrant to Egypt’s shores has stirred the jabberers into a chunter. In another conversation a medical man laid a bet that Morsi et al will …
How the prosecution has helped Bassem Youssef
By Nick Gjorvad It is rare to hear someone say that a court summons could be viewed in a positive light. However, Bassem Youssef’s recent interrogation by Egypt’s Prosecutor General’s Office may bring with it some benefits for his cause. Youssef’s satirical television show has criticised several political figures for quite some time, especially Islamists …
Editor’s letter: The real countdown to the brotherhood’s fall
A countdown to the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule started over two years ago, when they first turned against the revolution by siding with the military in manipulating the people for a yes vote in the March 2011 referendum for the constitutional declaration. It was accelerated when they openly turned against the revolutionary youth …
Review: Columnists discuss Iranian tourists in Egypt, condemn Morsi’s big mistakes
Writers in several newspapers hve focused their commentaries on the recent group of Iranian tourists who visited the Upper Egyptian city of Luxor. A few writers criticised the negative reactions of the Salafis in Egypt, who fear potential Iranian influence on the country. In another note, some commentaries have explored Egyptians’ hatred towards Morsi arguing …
J’accuse
Was the issuing of an arrest warrant for Bassem Youssef meant to be an April Fools’ joke? If so, the joke ended up not being on the political satirist, but on the Egyptian authorities. Bassem Youssef’s case rests on three points: that he insulted the Egyptian president, insulted Islam, and spread false news that was …
Egypt lifts cooking gas prices, why it’s trivial
By Farah Halime How fitting that on April Fool’s Day, the Egyptian government attempts to deceive us all by claiming that its plans to raise the price of state-subsidised cooking gas for the first time in two decades will actually make any difference to the country’s energy subsidy spending. In fact, it won’t, and it is unlikely …
What do we do about those caught between the corrupt and the hopeless?
After viewing the results of Egypt’s last parliamentary elections, we can safely say that they were not only contested by political parties, but also those who advocated for competing attitudes and views about the state of Egypt and its future. We have at times attempted to monitor these attitudes, identifying four major points of conflict …
‘What do women have to do with politics?’
Maybe it is necessary for us to have a culture revolution. Maybe the women of this country should revolt. Maybe it is time for us to rise up to meet our oppressors.