Sudan announced lately that it is going to give one of its islands to Turkey for unknown reasons and for unknown time. This Island located at the red sea which means that this action will have a conflict of interest because Egypt also has a long border on the red sea.

In what became more of a fanatic ritual, terrorists replaced congratulating Copts on their feast by attacking the places where they celebrate the feasts. This has became a ritual for years, starting with the big hit in New Year s Eve of 2010 where the Saints church in Alexandria was bombed killing dozens of Copts. This has became more of a ritual since nobody was punished for such attacks, even those who proved to be responsible for some attacks, and recently the attacks extended to reach mosques where Muslims are performing their prayers, and yet nobody is being punished including those who incite hatred in the society!

Whoever thinks that the real threat to the Egyptian national security was in targeting Al-Arish airport is missing. The terrorists tried to assassinate the ministers of defense and the interior and they know when the ministers would arrive, but the real threat was in Atfih where the naive accept having dirty streets and corruption in all aspects of their live, but hate to see a cross on a church or hear its bell ring. The real Cornet was not launched in Al-Arish, but rather in the heart of the capital to hit the heart of the homeland. It was launched by negligent officials and lazy clergy who allow extremism and encourage it. I rejoiced when I saw a bridge named after the Christian martyr Abanoub, but my joy was not completed as the mobs attacked the church. The martyr Abanoub sacrificed his life for the homeland as other people incite hatred and destroy that homeland. The real disaster is that such attacks on Coptic Christians and their churches became accepted and supported by customary reconciliation sessions of shame.

In the context of the celebrations of the glorious Christmas, extra security measures have been taken by police and army to secure the celebrations. Egyptian government presented the biggest cathedral in the Middle East, just like President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised last year. Coptic Christians are going to celebrate Christmas Mass in the new cathedral. But the waves of conspiracy didn t stop against Egypt. Therefore, the Egyptian President called the Egyptians to unite against all attempts to destroy the national unity. Some hardliners mobilized hundred of extremists to attack a church in Kafr Waslin village in Atfih. They cursed the church and attacked the church and filmed the attack to arouse the anger of the Copts and incite a sectarian sedition.

Nothing has changed Atfih since 2011. The attacks against the Copts and their churches that continued ever since! The Coptic Church of Seoul village, Atfih, was attacked in 2011, and no one has been punished. Only few sessions of fake reconciliation were held to free the perpetrators and deprive the Copts of their rights. The same scenario was repeated on December 22, 2017 when hundreds of Muslims demonstrated after performing their prayers and attacked the church and the Copts based on rumors that a bill and a cross will be fixed in the church that have neither a dome nor a bell tower!

The last sectarian events happened in Atfeeh, showed without any doubt that we will far away from being state of law or for coptic to be a real citizen. The culture of hatred still dominating the egyptian scene because Egypt still water the plants with the same source of water which make the thoughts and the ideas polluted against the coptis.

Egyptian medical researchers affiliated to the Nile Delta s Mansoura University recently developed a new way of targeting breast cancer cells using silver nano-particles. This came in newspapers days after Eng. Ibrahim Mahlab, Assistant to the Egyptian President for National and Strategic Projects, announced the invention of a new Egyptian technology for water treatment, which was reached by the Egyptian scientist Dr. Nabil Al Maraghi. Reading the news, I resorted back to Sustainable Development Strategy book: Egypt s vision 2030 And Planning Reform wrote by Nihal El-Megharbel, PhD Deputy to the Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform full of positive thoughts. The book mentions that Egypt targets to be among the top 40 countries of quality of scientific research institutions by 2030. Will such inventions be taking Egypt towards fulfilling this dream in 12 years to come? In fact, scientific research is the way to the future and having real development.

People expressed their anger over the decision of President Trump to declare Jerusalem as capital of Israel. This decision was issued 1995 by the Congress, but was avoided for 22 years by three former US presidents: Clinton, Bush and Obama. In Egypt, newspapers headlines reflected such anger and wrath accusing Trump of giving another Balfour Declaration and Demonstrators erupted to burn US and Israeli flags and effigies of Trump. We have to realize our reality if we in the Arab World are serious about becoming doers rather than mere responders to what others does. The masses can do nothing but expressing their anger, but the governments and ruling regimes must do more than denounce or reject the US decision, or export news of their people s angry protest against it. They should instead adopt political stances and decisions that would demonstrate to the US and its President the magnitude of their wrongdoing. We must realize that the US is driven by its strategic interests and national security; this was what made three former US presidents persuade Congress to put off the 1995 decision going into force, in order to avoid anticipated escalation in the Middle East crisis. The three former presidents chose to stabilize the peace process befo

Fasting is a sign of love for God and His commandments by humans. It becomes a powerful means to deepen the love of God in the heart of man. This is how Abba Benjamin, Bishop of Menoufia, told us in his article Fasting and purity explaining the relationship between fasting and purity. Through fasting, the body is purified of instincts and materialistic tendencies. Saints added praises and spiritual practices to fasting in order to receive the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says, I oppress my body and enslave it . Repression means submission to the leadership of God through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul also says: If you live according to the flesh, you will die Sin comes from the inside the good man from the treasure of his good heart brings out good deeds and the wicked man from the treasure of his evil heart brings out evils Therefore, Christians should sustain spiritual jihad and fasting that purifies our hearts.

Enas, 33 years old, was full of greed and insanity when she planned to kill an old Coptic woman who rents an apartment in her house. She was thinking what kind of mistake her father committed when he allowed a Coptic Christian infidel woman to rent the apartment. She planned and befriended her to make sure when the right time to attack is. The poor Coptic woman Tahani Mikhael started to trust Enas and treat her like a daughter of her own. Without warning, Enas visited Tahani and told her to leave the apartment immediately. The old woman was surprised and entreated her for being a lonely old woman. Enas revealed her ugly face assuring that there is no place for an infidel woman. Refusing to obey her strange request, Enas attacked her and stabbed her 19 times in her neck and chest. The poor woman couldn t resist and left only few scratches in Enas face.

Last week one of the wonderful men died in state after long battle with disease. This is Dr. Tharwat Bassily. I had no chance to meet personally Dr. Tharwat, however, I meet his deeds and heard about his amazing work to help everyone, not just the poor but everyone. Life sometimes is tough when god people leave us, but we will always keep them in our mind because they had great impact in our life and our future.

Once again, the Copts decided to waiver their rights and chose to accept a customary reconciliation session instead of law enforcement in Koum Loufy village where their houses were set on fire. By doing so, some people said they took an initiative to show love and make peace, but the truth is they did so to protect their children since they are treated as weak minority that police won t be able to protect in case those who are attacked them are held accountable.

The best way to evaluate a person in his life is through tests and temptations. This helps to evaluate one s experiences and personality. That s why David the Prophet asked God in Psalm 139 :23-24 saying: Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Pope Tawadros II calls us in his article (Test Them All) to test them all; hold on to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5: 21) Our faith in Jesus Christ should be the axis and pillar of our life. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? This goes along with saving oneself from evil Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. This heart should express love through good deeds The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Galatians 5: 6)

Putin s visit to Egypt was part of a Middle Eastern tour through Turkey, Syria and Egypt. He met with Bashar al-Assad and came to end the long-term compromise between Egypt and Russia. President Vladimir Putin said that Egypt will get the latest nuclear technology after Moscow and Cairo signed an agreement for Russia to build a nuclear power plant in Egypt, with Russia extending a loan to Egypt to cover the cost of construction. Putin added during his visit to Cairo that direct flights between Egypt and Moscow will return soon but he didn t say when as if he was trying to secure a decent means of transportation for fans of World Football Cup. It was clear that he is working for the benefit of his country and he was able to get what he wanted.

There is no doubt that Egypt has gained a lot of experience in dealing with terrorist attacks. This was revealed during the crises of Al-Rawda mosque. It was such a brutal attack that caused a great loss of lives (311 martyrs and more than 100 wounded). The terrorist had developed weapons more than any criminal militias all over the world! During the crisis, media reporters tried to interrogate the imam of the mosque to get a scoop, but the media coverage was accurate in general and the officials did a good job in the crisis. The real problem is the lack of reform of the cultural and religious discourse that President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi called to fix three years ago but in vain. The religious discourse is not even able to reach to the public. Therefore, the simple people remain the precious hunting of the fanatics and extremists.

The US president made a decision last week announcing “Jerusalem “as official Capital for Israel. Once president Trump announced that, the whole Arab region started to attack and condemn this step proclaiming that will undermine the peace process between Israel and Palestine. In fact, the Arab world as we get used doesn’t know anything except yelling and shouting or destroying properties to explain their anger or to express a political opinion. This is our big issue in the Arab region that we don’t know how to express our opinion in peaceful way and use the legal political channels to take steps against what we don’t like. Unfortunately, the world and the international system doesn’t work by this way, which means if you have something against any nation, there is legal and political channels you can go to, or if you have big influence on the world, you

Great people are those who leave great impact at the end of their journey. Three important people left this week. One died, the other was killed and the third just left her office. A female manager in a news television left her office after taking her position for one year. She made an incredible change in the form and content which was assured and agreed upon by most of the people who loved or hated her. Many people didn t like her for being rude and aggressive many times, but those people agreed she was good at what she does and she left a good impact.

True fasting should be accompanied by a righteous repentance. It is devoted to the sanctification of God and takes us a step forward. Abba Joseph, Bishop of Texas, in his article Why did we fast? asks what we got after all fasts. He said that it s all about the quality and not the quantity. Mount Mokattam was moved in only three days through fasting and praying. Fasting therefore, should be accompanied by prayer, praise, love and forgiveness. The bible says: Declare a holy fast;

Yesterday the draw for the world cup 2018 resulted that Egypt will face Uruguay, Russia, and Saudi Arabia in the world cup which supposed to be held on June 2018. Many people and sportive expert started to be pessimistic about meeting Saudi Arabia and Russia especially that the tournament will be held in Russia which will make it hard in Egypt to meet Russia among their fans. Having said that, as a professional team we have to act professional and do our best and let the world respect our team through a balanced plan between attack and defense. Egyptian team has a lot of professional player which supposed to help us to play good performance and do our best to reach the next round of the tournament. In conclusion, I want all Egyptian players to raise the slogan of” Yes we can”, and to not be just a slogan but also to believe in it.

In the past I used to ask myself how the terrorist think. I tried sometime to imagine why they hate Christians and how they feel when they kill other people for just having a different faith. However, this question changed a little after the recent attack against Al-Rawda mosque in Arish in which more than 310 Muslims were killed by Muslim terrorists as they performed their prayers! I remembered that Pope Shenouda II, former Coptic Pope, used to say those who attack Copts will not stop there and will target Muslims later. This is now clear as terrorists are now attacking mosques just like they attack churches.