Stories about Egypt from May, 2009
Egypt: Cairo Refugee Film Festival
Integrating refugees in society is the aim of a film festival with a difference. Marwa Rakha learns about the Cairo Refugee Film Festival, being held from June 16 to 20 from the event's blog through a fellow blogger, and shares her findings in this post.
Egypt: Anti-Male Circumcision Campaign
In 2008 Egypt passed a law that banned female circumcision (FGM). Today a group of bloggers started a campaign against male circumcision. Marwa Rakha picks up the story in this post.
Palestine: Israeli Armed Police Disrupt Literature Festival
The Palestine Festival of Literature is a traveling cultural roadshow touring across the West Bank, in Palestine, from May 23 to 28. The aim is to take literary activities to Palestinians, who aren't allowed to travel under the occupation. However, the opening was marred when armed Israeli police ordered the theatre where the event was hosted to shut down. Bloggers from around the world reacted to the incident.
Egypt: A visit to the glass factory
VagabondBlogger, an expat currently living in Egypt, wrote an inspiring post with illustrating photographs about her trip to a glass factory in Egypt.
MENA: Introducing, “The Circumventer”
Alexandra Sandels, from MENASSAT, writes her interview with Walid Al-Saqaf, a Sweden-based Yemeni Internet expert, regarding the launch of his new program Al-Kasir (means the circumventer in Arabic) – during a summit on blogging in Cairo which was entitled “Blogging for the Future“. Al-Kasir, which is currently available in its...
Arabeyes: The launch of Yamli bookmarklet
Earlier this morning, Tunisian blogger Slim Amamou, announced on Twitter the launch of the Yamli bookmarklet that he, along with other Arab Techies, have developed in their Arab Techies Code Sprint 2009 in Cairo. Yamli is a real time smart Arabic keyboard that allows users to type Arabic without an...
Egypt: Message to Obama
The Arabist linked to Voices for a Democratic Egypt head Dina Guirguis’ message in The Washington Post to US President Barack Obama, ahead of his expected visit to Egypt next month. She urged him to confront the Egyptian regime, and choose a neutral location for his speech.
Egyptian Tycoon Sentenced to Death
Egyptians witnessed the most unexpected verdict in the history of their judiciary system: Billionaire Hesham Talaat Moustafa, along with his hired hitman Mohsen El Sokary, have both been sentenced to death for their roles in the murder of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tameem. The gruesome murder took place in Dubai, UAE, and Thursday's sentence was met with shock and bewilderment as the blogosphere comes to terms with the verdict.
Egypt: President's Grandson Dies
Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak's eldest grandson, Mohammed, has died at a Paris hospital after a brief illness. Bloggers were quick to react to the 13-year-old's death - which was met by silence in the Egyptian official media when the story first broke.
Egypt: El Korba Annual Festival Allows City's True Beauty to Shine
El Korba, one of the oldest Cairene districts, celebrated its fifth peace festival on Friday. Many Heliopolis and Cairo residents from different districts await this annual event, where they can enjoy themselves and indulge in the beauty of the all time over crowded Heliopolitan district - which is closed to traffic on the day. Entertainment and cultural activities are the order of the day, when peace and diversity meet in one place.
Egypt: Stop the Culling of Pigs Petition Launched
Egyptian Leftist is urging his readers to sign a petition to “stop the senseless slaughter of Egypt's pigs,” following the government's decision to cull more than 300,000 pigs in the wake of the H1N1 Swine Flu paranoia. So far more than 900 people signed the petition which aims to target...
Egypt: Court bans Porn Sites
Lawyer Nizar Ghorab (Ghorab translates to Crow in Arabic) filed a lawsuit calling for banning porn sites because they destroy the core values of the Egyptian society. The Administrative Court in Cairo ruled in his favor. Between anger and sarcasm, Egyptian bloggers react to the ruling.
MENA: Does Swine Flu Spread from Touching Pigs?
More than 14 centuries after Islam prohibited the consumption of pork, pigs are once again making headlines across the Arab world - this time in the form of tweets. Here's a quick snapshot of some of the messages from Twitter users across the region.
Arab World Reacts to Jordan's Twittering Queen Rania
After her debut on YouTube, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan is now courting microblogging service Twitter, allowing the world to catch up with the 140-character messages of the self-described mum and wife “with a real cool day job.” With 41,217 followers so far (she is only following 31), reactions from around the region on the Twittering Queen's adventure pour in.
Egypt: Obama to Address Muslim World from Egypt
The date is all set. US President Barack Hussain Obama will deliver his much anticipated speech on relations with the Muslim world in Egypt on June 4 and the Egyptian blogosphere is as divided as ever, with some questioning whether Obama will turn a blind eye to the country's human rights record. And although the speech and its content and impact on relations with the region are taking a backseat for the moment, the pressing question on many bloggers' minds is: "Why Egypt?"
Egypt: No Longer the Admin for the Queen Rania Facebook Fan Page
Egyptian blogger TripleM writes about his efforts to create a fan page for Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, which he can no longer access or manage. “I was surprised to find out that I’m no longer the admin of the Queen Rania’s fan page on Facebook. The page I...
Bahrain: Activists Blogs and Sites Blocked
Bahraini activist Ghada Jamsheer, who blogs at Bahrain Eve [Ar], links to a statement from the Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), which reports that her blog is being blocked by the authorities in that country. The report says that the ANHRI site is also blocked there.
Egypt: New blog for human rights
Ramy Raouf started his new Egyptian blog for human rights (EBFHR) [Ar]. The blog monitors the development of human rights especially in Egypt, as well as the Arab world in general.
Egypt: Combating H1N1 with pigs culling
While the world is busy trying to figure out a way for necessarily precautions to stop swine flu or H1N1 from spreading, the Egyptian government decided to take one more step forward and cull all pigs in the country. Since then bloggers, as well as mainstream media, have been engaged in a long debate whether this is a wise decision, or whether the crisis should have been managed in a better way.
