Opinion
15 Apr 2013
Time to let go of futile binaries
Since the polarization of pro-revolution and counter-revolution camps in the aftermath of the March 2011 referendum, post-revolutionary Egypt has seen several consecutive binaries.
Following months of divisions over whether to write the constitution or hold elections first, Egypt was split yet again around the binary of choosing between political solutions...
Yes
13 Apr 2013
In the following lines, I level four criticisms against what I term the imperialist liberal trend of thought and how it deals with the 25 January revolution.
By “imperialist liberalism,” I mean that loose US-European academic tradition, whose defense of liberalism, especially of representative democracy and individual freedom, is inextricably tied to a colonial, Western-centric...
Yes
11 Apr 2013
I reject the return of any of my photojournalists to the site of the clashes in front of St. Marks Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Abbasseya. I already breathed a sigh of relief with the safe return of Aly and Rafy from there. Two martyrs and 49 injured people so far, at least three of them reporters. Our colleague Bishoy lies in the intensive care unit at the Coptic Hospital.
Sectarian strife? The...
Yes
10 Apr 2013
The revolutionaries who reluctantly voted for President Mohamed Morsy in the runoffs in the presidential election — the “Lemon Squeezers,” as many called them — are once again coming under fire.
The Lemon Squeezers are being held responsible for Morsy’s confused decisions. The main goal of this attack is to have those reluctant voters say they made a mistake by not...
Yes
08 Apr 2013
It is a motley crew that finds shelter in Tahrir Square these days. On the afternoon of 7 April, a man at a tea stand wanted to see off a youth and so threw a glass mug at him. It missed the youth and hit someone next to him, shattering into tiny fragments on his head. The man made a brief apology as he turned around to sit back down and his victim raised his hand in the air and said, "No...
Yes
05 Apr 2013
A few days ago, the pro-Muslim Brotherhood prosecutor general pressed charges against a number of iconic youth revolutionary figures. The allegations were related to the recent clashes that took place near the Brotherhood’s headquarters in Cairo.
For many, it became clear that the country’s new rulers are using the same old tools of political oppression of opponents. The revolutionary...
Yes
03 Apr 2013
Higher Education Reform in Post-Revolution Egypt by Anthony J. Perzigian, PhD, Board of Trustees Chair Adviser, Future University in Egypt, and Provost and Professor Emeritus, University of Cincinnati (USA)
Since the first of January 2011, I have had the great honor and privilege of serving as Board of Trustees Chair Adviser for Quality Assurance & Academic Affairs at the Future...
Yes
01 Apr 2013
Over the past three weeks, Egypt has witnessed several electoral experiments that deserve deep reflection and analysis.
The first and broadest in scale is the student union elections, where independent students and members of partisan coalitions made decisive gains over Muslim Brotherhood students. The second is the vote on party bylaws at the Socialist Popular Alliance Party and...
Yes
31 Mar 2013
I suppose that, apparently, policy designers in Egypt did not come across a recently published book titled “Why Nations Fail,” co-authored by Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Daron Acemoglu and the Harvard political scientist James A. Robinson.
The book is a rigorous study of the historical evolvement and mechanics that led some nations across history, from the...
Yes
28 Mar 2013
This is a copy of an email received by the Manadeel Waraq campaign for the defense of street children:
“Dear all, Today the hospital admitted a 3-year-old girl. Her mother and father brought her to the hospital saying she had fallen from the second floor. Upon examination, the physician issued a report with the following: ‘Both arms broken, concussion, cigarette burns all over the...
Yes