I read an article about the Great Lent by Abba Benjamin, Bishop of Menoufia, in which he addressed the issue of fasting that leads to partnership with God. The article entitled "True Fasting" told us about the plan of true fasting according to the second psalm that says: “Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling”. It is a good chance to pray in house and in churches with daily masses. Fasting is a good chance to do good remembering the verse: But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Hebrew 13:16).

For two days, El Gouna rally was held with the participation of 10 Egyptian racing teams. El Gouna is one of the most beautiful places in Egypt. Ten Egyptian teams participated carrying the Egyptian flag and preaching safety of Egypt and competed to win the race and no matter who won the race, Egypt was the winner. The Rally of El Gouna is considered the largest SUV race in Egypt, and aims to support tourism industry and proves that Egypt is safe. Its success may encourage the Egyptian government to return the international Pharaohs Rally that has stopped 3 years ago because of the security conditions.

Well first let me appologize once more for missing my weekly appointment with you this time it was due to Internet connection that was down since eve... Yes this is how I feel whenever I miss internet connection! Well while travelling obviously I'll not have internet but when you are at your own home and you miss Internet either because unstable service or due to land line problems that is way too much but well I still say Egypt has something really sweet! Sweet sweet home! There is so much going on arount as that we need to stay focus and allert to any and each event!let me start with the most recent events I missed commenting on them like Merkel visit to Egypt with a banch of German business men! Why? Because two years restless work started showing up to whomever wants to see! Here I do not say we are safe and Egypt is standing back on its feet, for safety we all know we are at war with terror and terrorism , unfortunately in this war you are not facing a regular aarmy and as well no way to say when this war ends or we are victorious! But obviously as long as we do have martirs for the army, police or civilians this means the war is still on!

In just a few weeks Sisi will be flying half way across the world to meet the worlds most controversial leader, President Donald Trump. This guy has been the headline of all western tabloids for all the outrageous decrees, interviews, and troublemaking caused by the newly elected U.S. president. Trump has managed to upset literally the Mexicans, Canadians, Arabs, and most recently refused to shake hands with the ambassador to Russia during talks regarding all of the money owed to the U.S. In some weird turning of events, Egypt managed to not make the list of banned countries from entering the U.S. I would not be surprised at all if Sisi was seriously interrogated at airport security even though Trump himself invited him over for discussions.

The Egyptians are known for being religious and being attached to their religion. Thus, they are willing to sacrifice even their lives to defend it. At many times, such love and belonging was interpreted as accepting a miserable life no matter how bad is it. Therefore, many times did the Egyptians accept being occupied and bad governments without really fighting against them. Furthermore, being manipulated by rulers who trade on religion to achieve their own interests was a common mistake in the Egyptian history.

Major General Khalid Saeed, Governor of Al-Sharqiyah, announced a new initiative called "Draw Your Future" in cooperation with the Central Administration of Projects and Youth Training at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Microsoft. He said that the aim of the initiative is to create jobs for young people, spread the culture of entrepreneurship and community leadership, and motivate young people to develop and establish their own projects that serve the development of society.

After the Islamic terrorist groups attacked hundreds of churches and houses owned by Copts in Egypt after they looted them, they decided to attack Copts in Arish and force them to abandon their homes and lands to escape death fleeing from the intimidation and murder of identity. Therefore, we find it necessary that NGOs and the Church have to intensify their role in the immediate relief work. Everybody realizes that the displaced people may face delay in the service for many reasons including chaos in many aspects of life in Egypt, but such chops should not reach the pastoral care service related to the salvation of their souls. Today is very similar to the first ages of Christianity when our brothers suffered from kidnapping, looting, burning and martyrdom. Many people have been killed by those terrorists, and we should serve those who suffer by all means.

I have been watching for a long time the struggles of the Coptic youth movements, especially Maspero Youth Union. I realized that Copts, as a major component of the Egyptian nation, were able to contribute in all Egyptian revolutions (1804, 1882, 1919, 1952, January 2011 and June 30, 2013). Not only they sacrificed their lives and participated in all wars of the Egyptian armed forces, but also sacrificed their churches and properties that were attacked by supporters of the terrorist organization after the dispersal of Rabaa Adawia and Nahda sit-ins. However, their sacrifices did not bring them full citizenship in their home country for many reasons. The church and the Patriarch have represented the Copts instead of their actual presence. Since the founding of the first General Congregation Council in the ninth century, only two councils were completed. Many conflicts between the clergy and the laity deprived the denominational boards its effectiveness. Many secular Copts have been trading on their presence in the General Congregation Council and all official occasions.

I can’t understand why. But maybe I shouldn’t be asking “why” but asking “how.” How are they so happy? How do have this joy that fill a room? Is there some kind of secret that I don’t know about? I don’t know what the answer is. Maybe the key to joy is not in what happens to us, but how we happen to life. Does that make sense? Not so much, right? Think of this: the most impoverished people are the happiest people. Tragedy hits everyone equally, it does not discriminate. In one way or another, you will face disasters in your lifetime. So maybe since heartbreak is a known factor in the equation of happiness, we need to change a different variable, which is our attitude.

American movie star Will Smith arrived to Egypt on Sunday morning with his family for a short visit while the megastar Amitabh Bachchan will be attending the Luxor African Film Festival in Egypt this month. This should mean that Egypt is safe now and is open for tourists as such visits promote tourism and support foreigners’ visits to Egypt. Smith chose to visit the Pyramids with his family while Bachchan will be accompanying his wife Jaya Bachchan and daughter Shweta Nanda to visit Luxor, which has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-air museum", as the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city. Immediately opposite, across the River Nile, lie the monuments, temples and tombs of the West Bank Necropolis, which includes the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.

An Egyptian journalist has written an article on Sunday, February 26, entitled "Calling ISIS infidel is a matter of national security"! in which she talked about killing Copts in Arish. However, she called Al-Azhar to call ISIS infidels instead of calling police and army to protect the Copts as Egyptian citizens. The writer thinks that facing ISIS as political, social, economic and military phenomenon is limited to “calling it infidel”. She believes that Al-Azhar has a magical ability to cope with ISIS only by calling it infidel. The political struggle with a suspect organization created by western intelligence agencies is taken by the writer as religious conflict. We hate what is done by ISIS even if they are believers! In fact, the battle with ISIS should depend on exposing its bad ideology and criminal record.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been calling for nearly three years on Al-Azhar Sheikhs to develop the religious discourse, but they didn’t. In fact, Sheikh of Al-Azhar is responsible for Al-Azhar religious and educational institutions. Therefore, he is responsible for developing and changing education curriculum that incites violence and terrorism. Changing the wrong concepts of the graduates of Al-Azhar who work in all state institutions, especially the Ministry of Education, Interior and Justice.

As some of our MPs are calling to legalize virginity check on university students and non-criminalization of female genital mutilation, the Egyptian women are supposed to fight for their freedom like their mothers did many years ago. Egyptian women should remember «Merritt Nate» the first queen to take control in history, Khentkaus, Queen of Ancient Egypt during the 4th dynasty. They may also remember Nitocris, the last pharaoh of ancient Egypt's Sixth Dynasty, and Sobekneferu, the Egyptian woman reigning as pharaoh after the death of her brother Amenemhat IV. Hatshepsut was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt and the second female pharaoh in history. There were other great female rulers in Egyptian history like Nefertiti, Nefertari, Cleopatra and Shajar al-Durr that modern women should be proud of.

Yes Egypt my home I was born on its earth and drunk from its Nile my parents were buried in its land I love Egypt! I've seen lots of its news proud with the efforts El Sisi and its crew are doing to improve our lives, financially, health efforts, and social efforts briefly our daily life! I do apologize for missing my weekly article, last week I feel like I did miss an important meeting but I was traveling no way6 to be on time in that meeting and right now I have to meet you all happy to be there but I have to leave you all as I do have difficulties with the Internet that comes and goes at its own choices no way to control it so I do have to end my article keep it short and brief so I do not miss this week meeting! May God keep blessing Egypt and EGYPTIANS Peace of the Lord be upon you ALL!

Let’s paint two pictures. The first, a family that has a roof over their heads, food in the fridge, money in the bank. The second, a family that is struggling to find food, who lives in poverty, not a piaster to their name. These are very basic pictures, because as you know, each family faces many obstacles in their lifetime. Going more in-depth, we could factor in family issues, self-fulfillment, serious illness, death, mental diseases, tragedy, and the list can keep on going because this life is filled with the absolute best and absolute worst situations anyone could encounter. One minute you could be happy beyond belief, the next minute you could be completely devastated, through no fault of your own, but simply by living.

The Cotton Egypt Association CEA is the sole representative for the registered trademark logo and licensing program to protect Egyptian cotton’s heritage of luxury. CEA estimates that 90% of products carrying the Egyptian Cotton label are not genuine. Target company in the US is offering customers millions of dollars in refunds after discovering that it sold fake Egyptian cotton sheets. The sheets were manufactured by Welspun India, a global textile company that's a key supplier to many US retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, JCPenney, and Macy's.

What happened to the Copts in Arish should not be surprising for anybody, giving the previous attacks against them for more than five years. ISIS has described the Copts as the "favorite catch", but the state didn’t move until several people lost their lives.

As the Egyptian armed forces is waging fierce war against Takfirists in Sinai, terrorists of ISIS have killed six Copts in two weeks taking the number of killed Copts since 2012 to 16 martyrs. This caused panic among them and therefore they decided to flee to Ismailia just like they did in 2012 when a leaflet was distributed giving the Copts 48 hours to leave Rafah or else they would lose their lives. Two Coptic priests were shot dead later. "The state of the Sinai" has always declared its responsibility for the attacks. Such attacks have always been an introduction for forced displacement, which threatens national security of Egypt. I have written five articles about that topic since 2011. El-Arish was founded by Muhammad Ali in 1810 before he faces its very first rebellion in 1831 against his policy to recognize the right of the people in Sinai to own the land. From 1831 to 1950, there were 14 rebellions against the government by people of Sinai.

Copts are the descendants of the pharaohs and the origin of this country. They spread all over Egypt and believe that their land was blessed by the baby Jesus during his visit to Egypt. Those Copts are now facing forced displacement as they are targeted by ISIS in Sinai just like ISIS target Police and army. 8 Copts have been killed in recent weeks by the terrorist organization leading hundreds of Copts to flee Sinai to Ismailia leaving their homes, jobs, and schools. It was painful for them to see local and international media ignoring their suffering.

Recently, Copts have been forced to leave their homes in Arish because of the threats they face. 6 Copts have been killed by the Islamic State in Sinai. This is not the first incident to happen against the Copts, and not the first time for them to be forced out of their homes and community. However, I want to point out that this displacement in Sinai is not only from terrorism. It's also as a result of authorities agreeing with the general public that forced displacement in Upper Egypt is appropriate. Forced displacement of the Copts is not just an isolated incident, it is something that happens often when Muslim people want to force their rules on others including the law and the legislation. This serious situation, as I mentioned and written many times earlier, will not be solved by security measures only, it needs more efforts than that. As long as our children keep getting the same education in schools and mosques, calling for Muslim kids to hate others because they are "infidels" we will continually be dealing with these types of incidents in Egypt all the time, and in alot of places. When you plant seeds in chilren to hate others becuase they are Christian, don't except to have angels when these children finally become adults. Unfortunately, Sisi is still running Egypt with the same old rules and same old approach. The president still hasn't recognized that Egypt is in need of a new and creative approach that not only comes through security measures. In conclusion, I want to call for the Pope and for all Christians to pay attention to their brothers and sisters who have become displaced lately, and to do their best to help, where possible, in this horrbile situation.