Dr Ahmed Fathy Sorour has been Speaker of the People’s Assembly (PA)—the lower house of Egypt’s parliament—for some two decades today. Throughout this extended period he has succeeded in winning the general respect of Egyptians for what was seen as his objectivity and impartiality, as well as his utmost decency in tongue and pen. He took care never to take sides with the government or the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP); his only loyalty appeared to be for the Constitution, law and regulations.

John L. Esposito, professor of religion and international affairs and director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, is America's best-known apologist for Saudi Wahhabism, the Turkish fundamentalist Justice and Development Party (AKP), and Islamist ideologies in general. To many, he personifies all that's wrong with Middle East studies in America today.

I have often tried to imagine a scenario in which what I call the 'Islamists' will have achieved all their objectives. The scenario assumes that Osama bin Laden or someone like him get their way and proceed to impose their vision of what the Muslim world should be on the rest of us.

A major problem in Egypt is that the average Egyptian has an unfailing sense that official authorities have no better business but to lie in wait for any successful project or effort that the average Egyptian has achieved, ready to pounce and stamp it out at the first viable opportunity. And it takes no genius to guess

Back in November 2001, just a week after Kabul fell to the U.S.-led invasion forces in Afghanistan and just as the city of Kunduz began to capitulate, the air filled with the steady drone of C-130 transport aircraft landing at the dusty airstrip.

This is the sixth year in a row that I write, following the conclusion of the annual parliamentary round, to comment on the failure of the Parliament to pass the unified law for places of worship. The lack of such a law, as any casual observer can tell, has been behind countless incidents of violence against Copts—incidents we could very well have escaped and for which our government should be held accountable

(Continuing the analytical remarks on the feelings of unease that certain issues engender among the Copts): Second, with regard to the widespread feeling among Copts that their representation in public life has shrunk considerably over the last few decades, this is borne out by official statistics. However, this

In Praise of Justice ustice is a set of human values on which there is consensus, and which is reflected in a body of law that treats all people as equals. This concept no longer exists in Egypt. There is not a single rule in Egypt which really applies to all, from traffic offenses to bank loans to the sale of state land and property and public-sector companies. Who you are, who your father is, how wealthy you are and how close you are to

Over a series of four editorials printed last October, I tackled the practices exercised by Minya local authorities against the Copts in the governorate. A file I had received from the bishopric of Maghagha and Adawa in Minya was packed full of details that could be described as collective punishment of the

Two-thirds of British people would support a ban on Muslim women wearing face-covering veils in public, similar to the one approved by French lawmakers this week, a poll has found.

Two weeks ago I wrote about the injustice commonly inflicted upon Egyptian women where inheritance is concerned. Even though the law allots a woman half the share her brother inherits, she more often than not ends up getting nothing at all of her due inheritance, especially when it involves land. The

It is now almost a year since Cairenes have found at their service taxis that are modern, clean, and outfitted with metres that determine a fair fare for any given trip. They replaced—or are in the process of phasing out—the old squeaking, dilapidated, life threatening, infamous black-and-white taxis. It was at one point circulated that these black-and-white taxis were, four years ago, among the major factors which contributed to Egypt losing to South Africa the opportunity to host the 2010 Mondiale.

Does President Obama care about religious freedom? It's disconcerting that this question needs to be asked of a U.S. president, but prominent observers are sounding the alarm.

At a time when we are all searching the real citizenship of and the non-discriminative trends among citizens on the basis of the race, sex, gender, religion or language, and we want the reunification of all Egyptians, under one flag, a year passed or more on the fatal clumsy situation that happened in Shoubra el-Kheima and Heliopolis court house When the family court judge denied the hearing of the testimony of the Christian citizen, who attended with his Muslim friend to decide and to state only the fact of his friend father's death.

Among the ugliest problems faced by Egyptian women and long placed on the hold is that of inheritance. No matter how modernised or aware our community has become, it still maintains archaic notions which allot females a trifle of the inheritance allotted to males—or none at all. Worse, the topic is

The Fort Hood shooter, the Christmas Day bomber, the Times Square attacker. On May 13, the following exchange occurred at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.): Do you feel that these individuals might have been incited to take the actions that they did because

An official complaint presented to the Minister of Higher Education on 25 May 2010 accused Assiut University’s Philosophy Department of being a stronghold of fundamentalist, extremist thought, and of

A recent headline in Britain's Sunday Times must have sent blood pressure readings soaring on both sides of the gulf known on one side as the Persian Gulf and on the other as the Arabian Gulf: "Saudi

Assiut University is among the oldest in Egypt. In a move to align itself with progressive concepts, the university has established a centre for research and studies on human rights. The centre, which is directly under the charge of the university president, aims at promoting academic research in the field of

A new grassroots movement among the Coptic Diaspora was established in Washington this past weekend. Almost 100 Coptic Christian community organizers from around the globe gathered to discuss religious freedom in the Middle East and future lobbying efforts for the rights of Egypt’s Coptic people.

The year 2006 saw the launching of the website of Assiut University. It was a welcome addition to the cyberworld by one of Egypt’s top tier universities, especially since the site provided considerable information. Included were statistics about the number of students enrolled but—amazingly—they were