Supporters of the Assad regime rallied around the slogan “Assad forever.” But we have now seen what happens the day after “forever.” Egyptian writer Ezzat el-Kamhawi considers what that means for Syria and the region.
country: Egypt
Stay updated with comprehensive news on Egypt from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Egyptian politics, economic strategies, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Cairo, Alexandria, and cultural events.
Donald Trump’s proposal to send Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan has been embraced by the Israeli far-right but rejected by Palestinians and the countries involved. It amounts to illegal ethnic cleansing and revives an ugly history of Nakba. But it today’s world, it might even happen.
Menstruation stigma continues to affect women’s daily lives in Egypt, from societal shame to discrimination at work and in public spaces. For Cairo-based Al-Manassa, Rahma Samy explores how deeply ingrained cultural taboos shape women’s experiences with their periods and efforts to break free from them.
In Egypt, there is a disturbingly high rate of sexual abuse cases by members of the clergy who evade accountability. It’s time for Egyptian authorities to create better mechanisms to investigate these cases, punish perpetrators, and support survivors.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian families have been torn apart by the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza. Cairo-based independent news website Al-Manassa talks with Palestinians in Egypt who are separated from family members trapped in the coastal enclave.
Reducing sentences in family violence cases isn’t uncommon in Egypt. So women struggle from both: their families and the courts.
The Middle East needs a vision that emanates from the region itself, and includes clear reassurances to all parties.
Here, the opportunity appears for Egypt, which can play a vital role in helping neighboring countries shape this vision, after the Middle East that we knew since the Cold War has gone forever.
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What Syria’s Future Means For Jordan
Amman and its allies, much like the skeptical secular Syrian opposition, await tangible actions on the ground to match the promises of pragmatist rhetoric from Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who is marketing himself as a statesman committed to building an inclusive new Syria that’s a good neighbor after abandoning extremist ideologies.
Following the successful toppling of the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad by rebels led by Islamist extremist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), there should be much trepidation of just how the nation will be ruled in the coming transition of power.
Reports are spreading of Coptic Orthodox Christian men in Egypt who have been trying to trap their wives in compromising situations to force them to give up all their legal entitlements as required by the Church in order to obtain a divorce.
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, use of the term “evil” has increased. The more heinous and public the murder, the more the evil of the murderer would be revealed and “the world” would be pushed to intervene. Yet in both Syria and Gaza, that world has been satisfied with symbolic responses.
Trump is seen as a “transactional” operator by leaders in the Middle East. But the appointments to all key positions related to the region suggest that Arabs should brace for the worst of all deals.
In conservative societies like Egypt’s, myths about the female body, including about self-care and sexuality, are very common. For Cairo-based Al-Manassa, Wafaa Khairi talks with Egyptian women about these myths and how they have impacted their physical and emotional health.
Relations between Egypt and Iran have been growing closer. But the return of Donald Trump to the White House could be a setback for the rapprochement, given that Iran is among his top enemies.
A recent AI-generated video showing giants building the pyramids has revived questions around the myths and science behind these mysterious monuments, Egyptian journalist Abdul Halim Hafina looks into both for Cairo-based Al-Manassa.
Israel’s new offensive in northern Gaza is trying to make the region uninhabitable, and force Palestinians into the south, toward the Egyptian border and into the Sinai. But since the start of the war, Egypt is dead set against taking in more war refugees.
In the Middle East and North Africa, divisions are as stark as they can be. War-torn nations stand side-by-side with wealthy oil-rich countries where the elites feel disconnected from the rest of the region. But, as Yemeni freelance journalist and a human rights defender Afrah Nasser, warns, these inequalities breed monsters, and wealth will not prevent oil-rich countries from experiencing chaos and destruction.
The question of who will succeed Yahya Sinwar is essentially a question of whether Hamas will return from its “Iranian exile” and embrace the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Salafis, along with Gulf States like Saudi Arabia, consider the Shias as a greater threat to Islam than Zionism.
Egyptian authorities give Gaza’s refugees a 45-day tourist visa which doesn’t allow them to apply for residency, study or work in the country. But online learning platforms, including the West Bank’s official educational system, are helping children with their schooling, despite the war.
The latest developments in the Middle East are part of longer-term shifts that are pushing to U.S. into a tougher stance in the region.
Stepping over dead bodies. Visiting shrines. Laying on the ground and rolling in a desert cemetery. These are ancient practices that some Egyptian women still turn to in hopes of becoming pregnant.
Arab Americans’ outrage over the Biden-Harris administration’s politics is understandable. But boycotting the election — or voting for a third-party candidate — would benefit Donald Trump, who has played up his relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu. What choice does that leave?
The Philadelphi Corridor has again become a sticking point in the ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel. It’s all premeditated as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pursues his undeclared goal: keep fighting in order to occupy Gaza.
Between Hezbollah and Israel, the Sunday morning exchange of attacks looked to be the beginning of the long dreaded regional war. But the sound and fury of Israeli jets and Hezbollah weapons amounted to another round of warfare, but not (yet) total war as major power sponsors in Washington and Tehran try to wind them back.
Over the past five years, tuk-tuk prices have soared because of a government ban on importing the vehicle, and the inflation waves that rocked the Arab world’s most populous country. But tuk-tuks are not only a preferred system of transport, they are also a source of income for a large part of the Egyptian population — and the price hikes are crushing many young people’s dreams.
Is there anyone among us who can live with the guilt of turning away those who escaped death and sought refuge in Egypt? Can our conscience bear the death of an individual because we closed our door and let him die?
Egypt disqualified a track cyclist from the Paris Olympics following an incident of unsportsmanlike behavior. But there is general confusion in Egyptian society — whether in politics or soccer — over the concept of competition.
In Egypt, some 90% of cyber blackmail victims are women; yet only 10% of victims report these incidents for fear of social stigma or what they call “scandals” for their families. Expecting a lack of support from their families, they also turn to community initiatives.
Hadeer Abdel Razik says her guilt is that she does not feel “shame” about her body and wants to live her normal life as a woman. Hadeer Abdel Razik made TikTok videos as a fashionista; or not ashamed of having sex with her husband.
The Muslim Brotherhood called for anti-government protests on July 12, yet again failing to understand what is really on Egyptians’ minds and overestimating their readiness of taking to the street against the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
The positions of ultra-conservative Christian and Islamic Salafism supporters are almost identical on cultural, social and legal issues, such as their position on private and public freedoms. That often starts with women’s freedoms.
The Islamic Bands were especially popular in the early 2000s, then became a tool of the Muslim Brotherhood after their victory following the Arab Spring. Then they largely disappeared, until showing up more recently on social media.
Violence and denunciation won’t beat political Islam. Its deconstruction must be through reasoned criticism, the methods of modern science and allowing space for religion to have its influence.
Hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers have been detained, many of them deported, in recent months in Egypt amid an orchestrated campaign that is targeting African refugees in the country.
More than 1,300 people have died on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. It’s not just a personal tragedy for Muslim worshippers, it’s a warning from mother nature.
A government plan to build a series of highways that pass through centuries-old cemeteries in Cairo has sparked public backlash in recent years, as the Egyptian capital must measure itself against both places like Dubai and Manhattan..
The killing of an Egyptian soldier by Israeli fire on the border with Gaza, and Israel’s control of a buffer zone has increased tensions between Israel and Egypt, which finds itself in a difficult position.
In Cairo and other Egyptian cities, transport for women traveling alone too often includes sexual harassment and assault — and the recent death of a woman who jumped out of a moving Uber because the driver tried to kidnap her has raised new alarms.
The “day after” the war in Gaza increasingly becomes hard to even imagine, as Israel’s prime minister sticks to his guns despite all evidence that says Hamas cannot be eradicated. The humanitarian toll, including Sunday’s airstrike on a displacement camp in Rafah, makes negotiations look increasingly impossible.