Catch up on the latest out of Egypt every week, with analysis, news updates, photos, videos, and more.
“I feel injustice, repression and that I am second- or third-class citizen — and also I feel offense, that the blood of my son is cheap . . . It is a feeling that kills. This is a police, repressive state.” –Gamal Siam, father of one of the thirty-seven detainees who died in Abu Za’abal incident this past August upon hearing the verdict in the case
“Stop the puppet theater that you have opened. We are not against the candidacy of any former military leader, the military which we respect. … But stay away from the army for a year, and let the media and the people treat you as a human, one that acts like humans who can make mistakes and can do right and be criticized.” – Labor rights activist and former presidential candidate, Khaled Ali criticizing the media for its infatuation with defense minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s possible run for presidency.
- Six military conscripts shot dead near Cairo
- Morsi’s son referred to criminal court on drugs charges
- Egypt says food subsidy bill to be $4.31 billion – report
- Officer sentenced to ten years in prison in Abu Zabaal case
- Sisi reshuffles army posts
- Police raid National Alliance to Support Legitimacy conference
- Interim president pledges help for Australian Al Jazeera journalist
- Child killed in Beni Suef clashes as Brotherhood rallies in several governorates
- Two army officers, five militants killed in raid on Nile Delta ‘terrorist’ hideout
- Political parties call on Mansour to allow appeals in presidential elections
- NASL slams Raba’a report; Mansour calls for investigation into police violations
- Sixteen minors to be tried for ‘rioting and illegal protesting’
- Seventeen Al-Azhar students sentenced to fourteen years in jail for 2012 protests
- Shafiq to back Sisi if he runs; Sabbahi holds Sisi partially responsible for transitional government’s mistakes
- Yesterday an Enemy, Today a Friend? by Amira Mikhail
- Taking a Back Seat as a New Generation Emerges by Sarah El Sirgany
- Egypt’s Elite and an End to a Call for Democracy by Amr Hamzawy
- This is Egypt: New Voice, Untold Stories (Video) by Daniel Stoker
- The Road to Presidential Elections
What is the US discussing with the Muslim Brotherhood?, Wael Nawara | Al-Monitor
“The United States is far from a monolithic powerhouse with a singular mindset, with consensus on every viewpoint, interest or policy. There are literally thousands of think tanks along with a multitude of organized lobbies, informal pressure groups, members of Congress, staffers, government officials, security agencies, analysts, corporations, activists, columnists and media outlets that influence decision making in one way or another. Some think tanks have spent the last decade recommending that the United States accept that Islamists will eventually rule the Arab world because they are popular. It is now embarrassing to see the string of erroneous analysis and misguided policy recommendations they made.”
“Egyptians are bewildered about how the Muslim Brotherhood still seems to maintain a foothold in some corners of Washington. The Department of Homeland Security and other anti-terrorist intelligence agencies seem to have some form of “cooperation” with the Muslim Brotherhood, possibly as part of an effort to anticipate and prevent another serious terrorist attack on US soil similar to 9/11. This nonetheless has raised some concerns among members of Congress.”
“So while conspiracy theories hover above eastern skies, US foreign policy continues to be dominated by domestic politics, power struggles between the White House and Capitol Hill, pressure groups, fear of terrorist attacks, survival, pragmatism, realism and self-interest. The faster Egyptians learn this, the sooner they can defend their own interests in the city with the biggest lobbying industry in the world — Washington DC.”
Gulf aid geared to revolution’s side effects rather than causes, Amr Kotb | Ahram Online
“Despite the government’s assertions, its focus thus far has been much more on staying afloat economically rather than tackling these problems’ socio-economic causes. Gulf aid has pushed Egypt’s foreign reserves up to LE120.4 billion ($17.3 billion) as of February’s end, and the trade deficit is down 17.9 percent from this period last year.
At the same time, little progress has been reported on the systemic economic issues which led to the revolution. Sixty-nine percent of the unemployed are youth and despite a modest increase in September, the country’s minimum wage remains far below expectations.”
Man: “The media is corrupt . . . there isn’t any news about the signal jamming” (reference to MBC Misr’s signal being jammed during Bassem Yousseff’s Al-Bernameg
Newspaper Headline: Terrorists martyr five soldiers
On Twitter
A video revealing several male students at Cairo University harassing a female student sparked outrage on Twitter this week.
Young woman sexually harassed at #Cairo University blamed by authorities for wearing “inappropriate clothing” #Egypt
— Egyptian Streets (@EgyptianStreets) March 18, 2014
Fact is, even as a veiled student at Alexandria University, I still faced sexual harassment, abuse & threats. #Egypt
— الإِسْكٓٓنْدَرانِيّه (@_Schehrazade_) March 17, 2014
The response to the sexual harassment in Cairo university has proven that you don’t have to be #MB or Salafi to be regressive in #Egypt.
— Nervana Mahmoud (@Nervana_1) March 18, 2014
Cairo Uni head apologized for earlier statements during which he blamed student’s attire for mob sexual harassment. Pressure works!! #egypt
— Soraya Bahgat (@SorayaBahgat) March 19, 2014
Only in #Egypt: #BlueBra#CairoUniversity#harassmentpic.twitter.com/Wa6DcxhJ9L
— Ethar El-Katatney (@etharkamal) March 18, 2014
The father of one of thirty-seven detainees killed in the Abu Za’abal massacre reacts after hearing the court verdict in which one officer was sentenced to ten years in prison and three other officers were given one year suspended prison sentences. The detainees suffocated while they were being transferred. Egyptian daily Al-Dostour ran a picture of the father, claiming he was celebrating the verdict.
Image: Photo of the Week: Morsi supporters rally in Ain Shams, Cairo - March 21, 2014 (Bora S. Kamel)