In the News: Heaven, Human Rights, His Holiness, and more!
A round-up of the week’s religion news. Continue Reading →
Tag: cairo
How Christians Helped Create The Muslim Brotherhood
Maurice Chammah reviews Beth Baron’s book The Orphan Scandal: Christian Missionaries and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Turmoil at Al-Azhar: Religion, Politics, and the Egyptian State
Jared Malsin on the religious and political stakes of upheaval at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University. Continue Reading →
Friday's Reflections: Egypt Rises…And Triumphs
Yasmin Moll: After 30 years of autocratic rule, Mubarak stepped down today. The announcement came around 6 pm Cairo time. I had just finished giving an interview to a documentary filmmaker where I expressed great fear that Mubarak will continue to defy the demands of millions of Egyptians and cling to power. I have never been so happy to be so wrong.
Today is not just Egypt’s day – today is for all people living under despotic regimes and yearning to be free, especially in the Middle East. First the Tunisians and now the Egyptians have shown them that what just a little over a month ago seemed impossible is possible.
Indeed, February 11 2011 will go down in history not so much as the day Mubarak’s rule crumbled, but as the day the will of ordinary citizens triumphed. And contrary to the expectations of many, they triumphed not through violent upheaval, but through peaceful protest.
Tomorrow Egyptians will face some tough question marks about the future. But tonight we celebrate. Continue Reading →
Friday’s Reflections: Egypt Rises…And Triumphs
Yasmin Moll: After 30 years of autocratic rule, Mubarak stepped down today. The announcement came around 6 pm Cairo time. I had just finished giving an interview to a documentary filmmaker where I expressed great fear that Mubarak will continue to defy the demands of millions of Egyptians and cling to power. I have never been so happy to be so wrong.
Today is not just Egypt’s day – today is for all people living under despotic regimes and yearning to be free, especially in the Middle East. First the Tunisians and now the Egyptians have shown them that what just a little over a month ago seemed impossible is possible.
Indeed, February 11 2011 will go down in history not so much as the day Mubarak’s rule crumbled, but as the day the will of ordinary citizens triumphed. And contrary to the expectations of many, they triumphed not through violent upheaval, but through peaceful protest.
Tomorrow Egyptians will face some tough question marks about the future. But tonight we celebrate. Continue Reading →
Egyptian Experience
My friend Sam is in Egypt. Here’s an excerpt from his recent blog post which can also be read at AOLNews:
They had us empty our pockets in the middle of the half open gazebo type station. The mob began to form around us as we were searched and questioned. Someone from the mob yelled “Palestinian son of a Dog” at me (a big insult in Arabic). One guy told them to let us go if I was from “48,” an Israeli Arab, he should let us go. The half uniformed cop, said that he we going to have the army deal with us. I said yes, please do.” This was a relief because the army is the most professional and even handed of the mobs. As he escorted us through the streets a small group of very scary looking armed busy bodies followed us on a crowed street of thugs. We walked about two blocks before we finally spotted a lone soldier standing in front of a demolished car. Half uniformed guy handed him our passports and talked him about the “bunga” and about the fact that I was Palestinian. I asked the soldier to take us away. The mob around us had grown to about 150-200 most with sticks, some with knifes and machetes. One toothless guy with a machete grabbed Pauline’s arm and said come with me, after blowing her a kiss. This was the worst moment of my life. I thought that they were going to try to separate us.
Cairo Cops
My friend, Sam, who live son a houseboat on the Nile writes:
As the protesters marched forward some policemen were left behind. About half a dozen or so jumped the fence onto the property next door. They were terrified. These were not the the boys with the riot gear. They were 40 something officers with stars on their shoulders. Rocks were being thrown at them as they hid on the side of the boat. They were between the protesters and the nile. As the crowd moved forward, they stayed on the ledge of the boat for hours. Asking me for water, and at one point, a change of clothes so that they could go home in civilian garb. “Please brother, can you throw us a used robe… an old dirty one is fine,” yelled a desperate man, who a few minutes before was commanding forces agaist civilians. My dilema was not whether to give it to them or not… I wanted them to leave. It was that the clothes that I brought to Cairo were my favorite ones. I wasn’t really ready to part with them. I asked them to hold on while I went through my closet and found “my cleanest dirty shirts.” I turned on my deck light, one floor above them, to throw the clothes over. This frightened them because they were no longer in the dark. They asked me to turn off the light while I threw, over a 10 foot gap in the Nile, some American Apparel t-shirts and thermals on to the 12 inch ledge that they we standing on. They changed and and asked for a shopping bag to place their uniforms. They stood on the ledge for another two hours before getting the courage to walk through the crowds and return home as the entire Cairo police force had just done.