Brotherhood Revisionism on Maspero and Transitional Governance?
In recent weeks the Muslim Brotherhood has been engaged in public squabbles with the military council over formation of the government. According to most interpretations of the constitutional declaration which guides the transition in Egypt, the presidency – here the military council – has the right to appoint members of the administrative cabinet. At first [...]
Sorry America, But You Have to Play “Enemy” For a While
It was 1954. Gamal Abdul Nasser had just managed to get rid of his predecessor General Mohamed Naguib and put him under house arrest. He also went ahead and banned every aspect of democracy we had before the military coup of 1952. Parliament, parties, elections and free media were all abolished when Nasser became sure [...]
Christmas with the Brotherhood
Following two years of bloody winter holidays, and following also resounding Islamic success in elections, the Muslim Brotherhood coordinated with security forces – and probably Orthodox Church leadership – to stand watch outside church buildings throughout Egypt. I was able to visit one installation in Helwan, to the south of Cairo. After moving from church [...]
The History of Salafism in Egypt
The title of this post requires far more than this excerpt, but Project Syndicate gives a very useful article on Egyptian Salafism: Al-Nour is one of two Egyptian Salafi groups that were organized and centralized decades ago, the other being the relatively apolitical Ansar al-Sunnah (Supporters of the Sunnah). The roots of the organization go [...]
Christianity in Ebiar Village, Tanta
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview Bishop Boula of the Coptic Orthodox diocese of Tanta. While we discussed several subjects, the timely publication stemming from our meeting concerned how local Christians are preparing for parliamentary elections, under the guidance of the church. Click here to review if you missed it earlier. [...]
The Heliopolis-Nasr City Federation
Disclaimer: This post is tongue in cheek. It should not be taken seriously. Now since Nasr City came out MB/Salafi free, there is a possibility of a federation between Heliopolis and Nasr City. As a resident of the Republic of Heliopolis, I welcome such an idea but we Heliopolisians should be crystal clear regarding the [...]
How the Muslim Brotherhood Will Win
By Shadi Hamid | The Middle East Channel The performance of the Islamist party Ennahda in the October 23 Tunisian elections, in which it won 41.5 percent of the seats, has refocused attention on the upcoming Egyptian elections scheduled to begin on November 28. Some analysts have minimized the Muslim…
Egypt’s Facebook revolution faces identity crisis – The Washington Post
Each night during the revolution in Tahrir Square, after the skirmishes, we talked with other youths and among ourselves,” said Kamal Samir Fargallah, 38, a business consultant, whose first act after the revolution was to create a Facebook group, as he had seen other groups do, calling for reform in…
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