I have just returned from a 3 weeks journey to the Netherlands; this wonderful country where you can smell the aroma of freedom and system. However, I saw it by my Egyptian eye that sought all potential opportunities to dream for a better future for the homeland. I saw a system that respects everyone and policemen whom you don’t feel their presence until the system or the rules are broken. They respect bicycles and bicyclist above all, and I found this one of the decent means of transportation that saves both money and health! Yet, bicycles enjoy special routes and laws in order to protect the bicyclist from cars and encourage the people to ride them.

I have spoken extensively in many dialogues, meetings and articles for more than 11 years on the need to activate the General Council of the Coptic Orthodox church to carry out the financial and administrative work through elected specialists, Politicians, judges, lawyers, doctors, financiers, businessmen, accountants, etc. This should enable the clergy to serve one master just like Jesus Christ said: no one can serve two masters. The Holy Synod should be primarily concerned with the discussion of the legislative, priestly and theological situations. It should have nothing to do with financial and earthly matters. However, it is currently occupied with public relations and crises committees!

On the occasion of the new instructions issued by some bishops to prevent girls and women from wearing certain clothes inside churches, I would like to present this story in a short way, which was published in the photographer s magazine on August 26, 1927. The magazine reads: "A delegation of Italian women met with His Holiness Pope of the Vatican asking for his blessing and support in their fight against indecent fashion considering it corrupted taste. Head of the delegation said that women should spread awareness and awaken their conciseness. For his part, Pope said in a very brief speech that such act is part of the role of women in the society.

The retiree Egyptians after long life of hard working are the most people in need and suffers nowadays. Having a look on the average pension for a person in Egypt, we will find it is roughly 1500 Egyptian pound. And no one can deny that this amount of money before the last wave of the inflation could help the person to live and manage his life even it was little bit tight. Having said that, this amount for the current time barely can be enough for utilities and medicine the old people have to get in that age.

Despite the diplomatic and military efforts the complicated situation in the Middle East still is a big threat for the stability of the countries and ISIS terrorist group is in the core of the process. Some analysts claim that ISIS once was described as an “undefeated” force is weakening and disappearing in the Middle East and moving toward the South East Asia. Conflicts specialist and commentator Michel Hanna Haj commented Eurasia Diary s questions in regard to this matter. Michel Hanna Haj - Political analyst, conflicts specialist and commentator. Author of several books: "The New Middle-East – Policies and Strategies", "War to liquidate Daesh or to dismantle Al-Qaida", "The Lone Wolves – another facet of ISIS". He was awarded the title of the distinguished Journalist of the year by the United Arab Media Council (UAMC) in 2017

Sexual harassment in Egypt is worse than the economic crisis that hit Egypt in the last 6 years, and I will talk about the reasons behind this Phenomenon, however, none of these reasons should be an interpretation to the harasser. Before talking about the reasons, I Want to assure that sexual harassment is everywhere including the developed country not only Egypt, but the only problem we face is the increase of this Phenomenon among Egyptian.

The last terrorist attack happened lately which lead to more than 20-st soldiers killed and dozens injured showed without any doubt that Egypt faces a real enemy. Before going to the details of this horrible attack, I want to introduce my condolence to the families and the friends of the soldier and to all Egyptian.

Unfortunately, there is a Coptic priest killed yesterday in a series of persecution against Copts and physically and emotionally. And shame on the media which tried to cover on the accident by saying that the person who killed the priest is crazy one. In fact, we in all our problems in Egypt we try to cover it until it be a mountain you cant reach and no one can reach, instead of facing the problem and trying to understand why the fanaticism increased in Egypt lately, we try to just say “ the person who killed the priest was crazy”

A new Coptic Christian man was killed today to join the martyrs of the Coptic Church. This time he is a Coptic priest called Father Samaan Shehata, priest of St. Julius Al-Akfahsi Church in Baba Al-Fashn diocese. As the officials started to give their usual description to the murderer as mentally retarded, I searched the dictionary to find out more about that disease that gives professional murderers such motivation to commit their crimes. A mentally retarded person is partly outdated and often no longer considered polite) intellectually disabled, medically defined as having an IQ (intelligence quotient) below 70 in addition to deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors (which means having problems with basic functional skills that affect every day, general living.

One man was standing on crutches, dancing with one foot with much joy at the victory of Egyptian football team, and the other was crying after the opposing team has scored in his country. They are Egyptians who have not received as much privileges in their country as other citizens in developed countries, but they have another thing in common which is the love of their country. Their slogan is Egypt in the heart. They don’t think about special privileges offered to some Egyptian businessmen that helps them to monopolize the market for a number of strategic goods and enables them to raise their prices and make the people suffer more and more.

I spent my life until 1978 defending the working class and the hardworking. From 1987 to 1987, I studied the culture of minorities in the Arab region and wandered among minorities in almost 24 countries, Kurds, Shiites, Amazighs, Nubians, Armenians, Maronites, etc. I realized the suffering of those peoples and returned back to Egypt. I was working then with Abdul Rahim Ali, the famous journalist, to expose the extremist groups all over Egypt. We have reported several massacres of Ezbet Nassarah and of Muharraq monastery, in which 320 people were killed on their Christian identity. It should be mentioned that we were risking our lives then. In 1992, I met with Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim and participated in the establishment of the Ibn Khaldun Center. We also participated in the drafting of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Minorities. I was the first coordinator of the minorities unit in the Arab region. In 1994, we held the Minorities Conference in Egypt and wrote an Encyclopedia of minorities in the region and dedicated a special chapter on the Copts with a respected group of thinkers, including Dr. Mona Makram Ebeid, Dr. Mostafa El Feki, Samir Morcos, Dr. Aly El Din Halal, and others.

As we face our problems in Egypt, we may stop by offering solutions to them without really applying these solutions. We may believe these solutions will solve the problems, but they really don’t. Such illusion of solving our problems should be turned into reality. These solutions may include to establish a Council of citizenship, or to let the National Council for Human Rights do the job? Should we establish a higher committee that includes the sheikh of Al-Azhar and Coptic Pope, or should a committee of sages do the job away from clergy? Should we activating the code of press honor, or apply mechanisms union accountability?

On this Sunday all Egyptian will be around their TVS waiting their dream to reach the world cup to come true. I can assure that not less than 60 % of population will be united on one goal and watching the same event this day. Last time we went to the world cup was in 1990, I remember this event as it was yesterday, when all Egyptian was so excited to watch their team playing in one of the most important sportive event in the world.

The public opinion in Egypt was surprised by the message from Mahmoud al-Alayli, head of the Free Egyptians Party, in which he told a story about a judge who refused to hear a Christian witness and demanded the lawyer to bring a Muslim witness instead.Can a citizen be deprived of one of his civil rights because of his religion? If this is the position of the judiciary against a Christian citizen, how can we complain of the fanatics and extremists among the public! Moreover, how can such fanatic judge issue ruling in other cases related to sectarian strife, building a church or other Christian complaints! I see that the subject is more dangerous than burning churches and blowing them up. It is more important than targeting Christian citizens and preventing them from praying, and it is more important than preventing Christians from taking senior jobs in the state. The issue is about extracting a basic civil right before the judiciary based on one s religion. It should be known that several cases in four where a Christian mother was deprived from custody to her children because their father changed his religion to Islam, which is considered by Egyptian law: the best religion! This is clear in the Islamic books and has been practiced by Egyptian courts for years.

By his blood, the era of systematic martyrdom led by the Roman Empire against Christianity came to an end. He is Pope Boutros XVII, who was called the Seal of the Martyrs as he was the last martyr among his children at that time during the ages of martyrdom. In his article on Pope Peter the Seal of the Martyrs , Abba Bakhomius, Bishop of Behaira and Matrouh, talked about the spiritual lessons learned from the Biography of this Patriarch. First lesson is the discipleship as he was taught by the Patriarch Thaouna XVI all details of Christian faith, the same faith of the Fathers of the Church.

I can t deny the efforts of Dr. Tarek Shawki, Minister of Education in Egypt, concerning the problems of education in Egypt. I admit the man has solved the problem of Thanawia Amma, but there is even more important problem that he should care about. There are hundreds of villages without schools and hundreds of schools with too many students and very few teachers. This was followed by a controversial statement by the Egyptian businessman Samieh Sawirous who announced he failed to build 10.000 schools in Egypt thanks to the bureaucracy. Sawirous announced he spent two years trying to get the permits to build the schools, but he failed!

The road to a good future for our children in Egypt is a dangerous one. Our way is not furnished with flowers, and requires will, determination and awareness. We have to stop and evaluate the situation before we take the next step. What is after restricting the freedom of opinion and expression, and silencing the opposition and media! More than six years have passed since the revolution of January 2011. Yet, the regime has learned nothing and has not changed. Had Egypt an appointment with hope, but has never produced something valuable! Is not it time to realize that the concept of politics is much broader than the concept of security and that keeping mouths shut does not prevent minds from thinking and that the lesson is not the military or civilian background of the presidential candidate, but the traditions and political values adopted by the institutions in which the country is run. How is Egypt supposed to develop while and its laws and the Constitution are far from practice and as the political environment is that bad.