Archive: egypt
8th December 2009
Egypt's opposition parties have become so fixated on campaigning against the succession of President Mubarak's son that they are losing sight of other issues crucial to their political future, Amr Hamzawy of the Carnegie Middle East Centre says in an article for The National:
While opposition… Read more
6th December 2009
“Things have just gotten a lot more interesting,” the Arabist blogsays, commenting on news that Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the IAEA and Nobel peace prize winner, is thinking or running for the Egyptian presidency in 2011. The Arabist continues:
This may peter out in smoke, but … ElBaradei’s… Read more
28th November 2009
Why is it, I wonder, that cartoons are seen as such a threat in Arab countries? Following the recent cases in Tunisia andMorocco, an Egyptian cartoonist and his publisher have been fined for corrupting "public morals".
Last year, Magdy el-Shafee produced a book called Metro, which is thought to be… Read more
27th November 2009
Egypt is holding hundreds of people in indefinite detention because they are suspected of trying to emigrate to Europe illegally, according to a local human rights organisation.
The Cairo-based Land Centre for Human Rights appears to have uncovered a previously-unreported category of prisoners… Read more
4th November 2009
Amid all the fuss about the Goldstone Report and accusations of anti-Israel bias at the Human Rights Council, another damning UN report – this time about Egypt – has attracted zero attention from the world's media.
The report, issued last month, is by Martin Scheinin, the UN Special Rapporteur on… Read more
2nd November 2009
You've probably heard of the butterfly effect – an idea in chaos theory where some small event, such as a butterfly flapping its wings, can trigger hurricanes, tidal waves and other cataclysms.
In order to avert such crises in the future, Dr Makhboul Rasmi, a scientist at Azhar hospital, has come… Read more
1st November 2009
Al-Azhar's bold but brief confrontation with the niqab (face veil) seems to have fizzled out, leaving Mohammed Tantawi, the government-appointed Sheikh of al-Azhar, with egg all over his face.
It began early last month when Tantawi asked a female student toremove her niqab, reportedly saying there… Read more
26th October 2009
Last year's "Facebook strike" in Egypt caused a good deal of excitement about the potential of online activism, though the strike itself was generally acknowledged as a failure.
In the latest issue of Arab Media and Society, David Faris takes along and detailed look at this attempt to mobilise the… Read more
25th October 2009
Plainclothes thugs attacked Ayman Nour, Egypt’s much-harassed opposition politician, and his contingent at a fish restaurant in Hurghada last night, Bikya Masr reports.
Ahmed Abdul Gawad, Nour’s media assistant, was severely beaten and wounded, Nour told Bikya Masr on Saturday evening in a… Read more
21st October 2009
The long-running debate in Egypt about Hosni Mubarak's successor took a new twist yesterday when Amr Moussa, the Egyptian head of the Arab League, hinted that he might run for the presidency in 2011.
"Every capable and efficient citizen has the right to aspire for the supreme post, which is the… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
