Last Sunday, Pope Francis canonized the 800 Christian martyrs executed by Muslim Ottoman forces raiding southern Italy in 1480.According to reports coming from Rome, the 800 were killed because they refused to convert to Islam. What both global media and modern sensitive Muslims here in Egypt have little or no understanding of, was the customary rules of warfare in medieval and Renaissance times, on both sides of the firing line. Basically those towns or villages under siege that did not sue for peace, when called upon to surrender, were quite customarily put to the sword when their walls or defense lines were finally stormed. There were variations in the application of this tradition. The difference between the Ottoman massacre of the 800 Christians at Otranto and, let us say, the Crusader massacre of thousands of Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem, is that women and children were enslaved at Otranto instead of being put to the sword, as was the case in Jerusalem. The men of Otranto were offered the customary opportunity - according to the Muslim rules of warfare - to save themselves by converting to Islam. In other words, the 800 men of Otranto were not executed for refusing to convert to Islam, rather they declined the opportunity via conversion to be spared execution for refusing to surrender. This in no way diminishes their martyrdom but the clarification is useful, particularly since His Holiness Pope Francis has called for more Catholic-Muslim dialogue. And it is Pope Francis who washed the feet of a young Muslim woman, among others, at a juvenile detention center in Rome in one his first acts as Pope. It was the first time this pontifical re-enactment of Christ’s washing the feet of the disciples involved not just an individual who was not a Roman Catholic, but specifically was a Muslim. More»

The rocket strikes that a militant Islamist group recently fired from the Egyptian Sinai into the Israeli city of Eilat served as yet another reminder of how delicate bilateral relations remain two years after Egypt’s revolution. Terrorist activity could easily cause a crisis on the border, with the potential to trigger an unwanted confrontation that would threaten the peace treaty that normalized bilateral relations in 1979. To avoid such an outcome, Israel and Egypt must take convincing action now to uphold the treaty. Last November, when hostilities erupted in Gaza, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi mediated a swift resolution, even providing a guarantee for the cease-fire with Gaza’s ruling Hamas. Morsi thus implicitly recommitted Egypt to upholding peace on the border and to playing a constructive role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This boosted confidence in Israel that the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s ruling party, would uphold the 1979 peace treaty. But Morsi has not explicitly endorsed peace with Israel and has avoided direct engagement with Israeli leaders. CommentsView/Create comment on this paragraphPreserving peace is in both countries’ interests. The attack on an Egyptian army outpost in the Sinai last summer, in which armed militants killed 16 soldiers, demonstrated that terrorism threatens Egypt just as it does Israel. More»

There were two worrying pieces of news from Egypt this week. One was the reshuffling of Prime Minister Hesham Kandil’s cabinet based on partisan calculations, rather than competencies as was initially hoped. The second piece of news was the report that Egypt’s population now stands at more than 84 million. This is the result of the birth rate doubling during the revolution due to the decline in birth control programs, which had previously been sponsored by the government and international institutions. The population increase is a concern for a very simple reason; it will present additional financial and environmental burdens on Egyptian society, particularly in the country’s already overcrowded cities and slums. Two decades ago, Egypt was one of the world’s largest agricultural exporters, whereas today it is one of the largest importers of wheat. For this reason, it is no surprise that we find President Morsi requesting that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin—at the height of Russian military aid to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria—grant Egypt preferential rates in an attempt to reduce the cost of subsidizing bread. There can be no doubt that the economy could force political concessions simply to guarantee the price of bread. In a country where incomes have declined over the past two years, more than 60% of foreign currency reserves have evaporated, and the Egyptian pound has lost 7% of its value since the beginning of the year, talk about a program of economic reform is not just necessary, it is crucial. Unfortunately, it does not seem that the ruling party today—or the Brotherhood, if you prefer—is serious about solving the problems facing the Egyptian treasury and the economy at large, not to mention putting an end to the weakening of the Egyptian pound and record inflation. More»

While Egypt has many of the world's greatest ancient archeological sites, its museums are generally dreary. The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, while old school, is world class simply by the brute magnificence of the treasures it displays. The Luxor Museum, made possible and designed by the people who brought us the Louvre in Paris, is the finest museum in the country. While it's a fraction of the size of the big museum in Cairo, it offers more than enough ancient art and artifacts--all wonderfully displayed. Good as it is, I was thankful for the expert tour given by our guide, Fateen. As is almost always the case when it comes to interiors in Egypt, photos were strictly forbidden. I busily took notes for our TV work. Looking at the fine statues of the god Amun and the pharaoh Amenhotep III, I remembered the coin collectors' term from my distant childhood for a coin that was never in circulation: BU, or brilliantly uncirculated. These statues were B.U. because they were part of the famous "cachet" of statues found filling a chamber in perfect condition in the late 1980s. Names of ancient Egyptians are written in ovals called a cartouche. Pharaohs have two cartouches, side-by-side, because every pharaoh has two names: birth name and royal name, like kings and popes. Elegant and pedicured toes show a life of pampered luxury. Gods hold the ankh--the key of life--and a symbol of eternal life. More»

President Mohammed Morsi’s life has been under the microscope since his rise to power as the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate following the 2011 Egyptian revolution, which ended the 30-year-rule of the Mubarak Regime.  Nearly ten months into the job, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president has faced a turbulent start; with many of those who had looked-up to him as a role model at first, finding themselves having to reconsider.  However, very few people know much about Morsi’s past. For example, it may come as a surprise to many that the struggling politician is said to have actually helped NASA develop space-shuttle engines in the 1980s.  Indeed, before venturing into a career in politics, Morsi – an expert on precision metal surfaces - was once a university professor who had taught in the Unites States.  As this story reveals, Morsi may have very well helped NASA build engines, however, his teaching skills left many students “destroyed,” mostly due to his less than stellar command of English.  Speaking exclusively to Al Arabiya, a number of his former students and colleagues revealed candid details, painting an intimate picture of the man we now know as Egypt’s president. More»

Destiny has it that my practical life stay within an academic framework, media (television and journalism) and politics. Destiny also has it that this fell in two eras: the July regime which lasted for six decades from 1952 until the beginning of 2011, and the regime that came after it which was once said to be a “spring” regime. After that, descriptions of the current regime varied from “revolutionary” to “brotherhoodization” and so on. The change that has occurred is still ongoing, and no one knows whether there is progress or retreat in this path or whether there is a stalemate. There are different faces, slogans and parties praising the revolution instead of praising moderation. But the essence remained the same regarding differences here or there. The percentage of laborers and peasants is still the same, the “nationalist” media is still present, economic support has not changed and wondering about Egypt’s regional role has never changed. Contempt of religion It is possible that the issue which lasted through both eras is the stance from the media in which the “authority” has always been indignant against the printed press and television which broadcasts 24 hours nonstop. There is also indignation against the digital press on computers, smart phones and tablet computers which look like old slate boards we used to learn on. Tablet computers however are certainly more dynamic and faster when communicating with others. Indignation reached its peak during the last few days when host of el-Barnamej Bassem Youssef was summoned for an investigation after being accused of insulting the president and contempt of Islam. Anyway, the man was released on a 15,000 Egyptian pounds bail. But the case has not ended, and it is ongoing between the prosecution and courts. People inside and outside Egypt were angered and stood up to defend freedom of speech including the mixture of satire with the truth. When this happened, I remembered that something similar has happened to journalist Ibrahim Issa (back then the term ‘contempt of religion’ had not yet made it into the glossary of Egyptian politics.) Issa was sentenced to a year in jail that immediately ended following a presidential pardon. But the difference in the result is not important now because the subject is not different. The general accusations were the same regarding lack of objectivity and spreading negative opinions and a spirit of despair. More»

The Egyptian military’s crackdown on Coptic Christian protesters 18 months ago was one of the most chilling attacks on the country’s Christian minority in recent years. As protesters marched against the burning of a church, the army rammed the demonstrators with an armoured car and opened fire into the crowds. State television whipped up anti-Christian sentiment, calling on “honest Egyptians” to help quell the Christian “mobs”. A total of 29 people, mostly Copts, were killed in the incident. Some observers believed the army was trying to divert anger against the generals who took power after Hosni Mubarak was toppled. Tensions between Egypt’s Muslims and Copts have erupted sporadically over the years, both under the new Islamist government and under Mubarak’s military dictatorship. But for the most part the two communities have rubbed along, and Christians – said to make up 10 per cent of Egypt’s 84 million-strong population – have proved themselves adept at playing down their faith when necessary. More»

We came to a day in which issuing "Communiqués" became a way of life among Egyptian people, and the prosecutor general office goes important as well as easier (in providing services)  than  the immigration office or the health bureau or even the Guidance Bureau of "Muslim Brotherhood". Based on the proverb "early bird catches the worm", the citizen has to cut himself to issue a communiqué first before his foe does. Nowadays, the newspapers present us every day with torrents of unique news that can be scenarios in the 1960s films. For instance, a citizen issued a communiqué against the Constituent Assembly to draft the constitution and Dr. Mohamed Morsi to write up an item in the constitution that provides for establishing Islamic Caliphate pursuant to the holy books. While other volunteer citizens, or sometimes they get orders, issue communiqué against TV anchors; believing that they insult the president and disturb the public security. I can't deny that the citizen has the right to issue a communiqué at any time, as it may have real facts need investigations. But what we are witnessing nowadays is torrents of malicious complaints that aim to liquidate or to rise to fame and appear in talk shows. According to judiciary sources, a communiqué is being filed every 10 minutes against political factions or figures over the last two years, but 95% of which turned out to be false. More»

Politics and economy are two sides of the same coin. Therefore, a state can't make progress unless there isn't a democratic regime, which positively reflects on its economy; consequently it attracts investments and achieves big growth rates. On the contrary, the absence of democracy, the prevalence of dictatorship more and above the exclusion policy bring about declining all the state's resources; investment, tourism and exports. In fact, this is what Egypt is facing at the present period, so a political will is necessary to adopt a democratic regime which can push the country’s stability forward and contribute to promoting the country through an ambitious economic plan that depends on unaffected by circumstances sectors such as the Real Estate, which still keeps its infrastructure and its whopping investment companies can enable it to recover soon. As a matter of fact, those who follow up the real estate sector know the challenges facing the real estate markets at the current time. These challenges are represented in the distrust of Egypt's climate that investors have at the current period, specifically under a government doesn't respect its contracts along with not having a clear economic vision for reform that can make the local and international investors restore trust in the Egyptian market. More»

Behind the evident anger, a man of a common sense shalt look into the reasons and motives aiming to devise techniques to ease the towering rage. Lengthy deathly silence towards widespread anger and discontent can turn into a curse of potential uncontrollable tensions. We have seen 'rough waves of anger' washing away against Egypt Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo's Al-Mokattam district. Those tidal waves of anger have been originally erupted when the Egyptian President falsely claimed to become the elected ruler of all the Egyptians. Unfortunately, the Egyptian president has preferred to be on the lucrative Brotherhood's side following and seeking the MBs' instructions and help. Turning a deaf ear to other parties and political powers in the country as well as delivering hollow promises have provoked in return widespread howls of outrage against the president and the MB. He killed the dreams that drawn on the walls of Tahrir Square, and hundreds of martyrs and injuries paid the prices of the practices perfectly done by a brotherhoodizing "President and Group" to divide the Egyptian society and increasing the polarization, and scorning the others by using the religion as a method. More»