The Coptic Christians of Egypt have experienced a tumultuous relationship with the country’s religious majority since the Arab conquest of 641 C.E. Currently, the Coptic minority comprises around 12

The last two months have seen significant action on the Egyptian scene. Following the Nag Hammadi Christmas Eve crime which left six Copts and one Muslim dead, what may be described as healthy

Christian minorities in the Middle East have roots deep in the region; their works bear witness to the ancient civilization. Suffered from the tidal wave of persecution and torture, the holding firm of the time

It is no overstatement to say that this month has been quite eventful. Given that a few of these events go contrary to all reason and to normal states of affairs, however, they definitely qualify as bombshells. Three incidents in specific warrant comment.

Refused ... anger ... sadness... negative feelings to run inside me since the night of the Christmas eve on January 6, inside the church where I celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with others amid a climate of spiritual comfort of the same, but I have a sudden contact to assure me that a number of Christian

Refused ... anger ... sadness... negative feelings to run inside me since the night of the Christmas eve on January 6, inside the church where I celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with others amid a climate of spiritual comfort of the same

It is now almost a month since Ahmed Zaky Badr became minister of education. I pray that he would muster the required wisdom and courage to confront the severely flawed climate which dominates the

What did the world see as Iran celebrated the 31st anniversary of its Islamic revolution? A hollowed-out regime that is better at repressing its own people than at governing, and that after three decades of fervent belief has reached a cynical middle age.

Many Christians in the west, Catholic and Protestant, are familiar with the penitential season preceding Easter that is known as Lent. But the observance of this season is unusually elaborate among the Orthodox Christians of the east, and unfamiliar to most outsiders.

More than one month has passed since the Nag Hammadi crime. The culprits are being tried in court. The numerous studies, analyses, and expert opinions published on the crime have been unanimous in

Grand larceny is alive and well at my multi-starred hotel. “Your taxi will cost $150 — the journey is 45 minutes.” The concierge raises his hands to the sky as if the price has been determined by a higher

From a distance the domed roofs and towers look like any other mosque in Cairo, a city where the architecture of Islam dominates the low skyline. But up close the minaret turns out to be a bell tower;

In his recent meeting with the delegation of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Minister of Religious Endowments Hamdi Zaqzouq said that the bill for a unified law for building places

The question is not if, but when and how France will banish full facial veiling from the streets of the République. Contrary to what has been reported in international media, the conclusions of the

No region — not even sub-Saharan Africa — competes with the greater Middle East when it comes to wanton savagery, thwarted opportunities and the danger posed to innocent populations around the

The one who follows the political and the legal mobility prevailing in Egypt during the last two decades, will directly note some important issues about the state that has achieved a remarkable success to

My worst fear is that, following the Christmas Eve crime against the Copts in Nag Hammadi, we would get carried away by the tone of chivalrous rhetoric growing shriller by the day. This is bound to throw us

We must now face an extremely unpleasant truth: even giving the Obama Administration every possible break regarding its Iran policy it is now clear that the U.S. government isn’t going to take strong action on the nuclear weapons’ issue.

After perusal of the first article and articles forty-forty-sixth of the Constitution of Egypt Having considered the law of national unity and how to protect the values of the defect

This is not the first time I write about Watani Braille, our monthly publication of material selected from Watani and printed in Braille for the benefit of the visually impaired. I wrote before of the dilemma we

Although the Christmas day “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has been the focus of a great deal of media attention, and his plot the enabling action for a new round of security measures,