Mother of Egyptian-British activist expresses fears over hunger strike
By Syndicated Content
May 13, 2022 | 8:07 AM
CAIRO (Reuters) – The mother of a renowned Egyptian activist who recently gained British citizenship says she fears she may not see him alive again as he approaches the end of the sixth week of a hunger strike over prison conditions.
Laila Soueif said that during a visit to her son Alaa Abd el-Fattah in prison in Cairo on Thursday an officer warned that he could block her from visiting again after she complained about alleged violations against Abd el-Fattah.
وكان رامى كامل انهىء فترة الحبس الاحتياطى القانونية قبل شهر ولكن تم التجديد له 45 يوما اخر خارج إطار القانون، ولكن اليوم تم الاستجابة للمعارضات التى قدمت ضد قرار التجديد وتم الإفراج عنه ليعود الى منزله وسط افراح لاسرته واصدقائه
Egyptian researcher’s mother ‘jumping for joy’ after court orders release
Patrick Zaki was detained last year and still faces charges of ‘spreading false news’
A protester holds up a picture of Patrick Zaki at a demonstration in Naples, Italy. Photograph: Ivan Romano/Getty Images
Agence France-Presse in Cairo
An Egyptian court has ordered the release of researcher Patrick Zaki, whose detention in February last year sparked international condemnation, particularly in Italy where he had been studying, his family said.
“I’m jumping for joy!” his mother, Hala Sobhi, told AFP. “We’re now on our way to the police station in Mansoura,” a city in Egypt’s Nile Delta, where Zaki is from.
The Queen has sent a message of support to Coptic Christians at the annual Coptic New Year service in London.
In a statement read at St Margaret's Church in Westminster, the Queen said it was an "opportunity to remember all those around the world who suffer hardship on account of their faith, especially in recent times. They remain in our thoughts and prayers."
Egypt and Sudan welcome UN’s support for mediation to solve GERD issue
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly (L) receives his Sudanese counterpart Abdalla Hamdok in the Egyptian capital Cairo, on March 11, 2021. (AFP)
President El-Sisi highlights depth of strategic relations and ties with people of Nile Valley
Egypt is supporting Sudan in light of the transitional phase it is going through, which requires other countries’ help to enhance its stability
CAIRO: Egypt and Sudan have welcomed the announcement by the UN secretary-general supporting the quartet mediation initiative to solve the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue.
The Prime Minister spoke with the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi this evening.
The leaders welcomed the strength of the UK and Egypt’s relationship and the breadth of areas on which there was good cooperation, including trade and investment, education and defence and security.
We are proud of our defence of rights of Egyptians and call on all those keen on human rights in Egypt and the world to show Solidarity
In a new escalation of the unprecedented crackdown against the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, security forces arrested Gasser Abdel Razek, Executive Director of EIPR, from his home in Maadi and took him to an undisclosed location.
Security forces in the afternoon of Wednesday, 18 November, also arrested Karim Ennarah, EIPR’s Criminal Justice Unit Director, in Dahab, South Sinai, where he was on a short vacation. The arrest took place one day after security forces went to his home in Cairo in his absence. After being questioned at a State Security premise outside Cairo, and after 24 hours had passed, Karim appeared this afternoon on Thursday 19 November before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in Cairo.
Arrest of Reda Abdel Rahman, Professor at the al-Azhar Institute
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) calls for the release of an Azhar teacher
accused of spreading "Quranism" and the end to the prosecution of people with different religious affiliations
EIPR (17.11.2020) - https://bit.ly/3pUoZG9 - The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) called for the release of Reda Abdel Rahman, a teacher at the al-Azhar Institute in Kafr Saqr, Sharqia Governorate, and the dropping of the charges against him and others for publishing what is known as Quranism. Sources from Abdel Rahman's family said that on August 22, 2020, security forces arrested him and seven other relatives, all of them belonging to the family of Ahmed Sobhi Mansour, a former professor at al-Azhar University and a thinker known for adopting the doctrine of Quranism, and the sources added that the security forces asked them questions related to their relationship with Ahmed Sobhi Mansour and the fact that they adopted the doctrine of the Quranists, and released all of them except for Reda Abdel Rahman, who continued to be held in the National Security headquarters in Kafr Saqr.
Religious freedom violators could be targeted under new UK government powers
Marcus Jones
New powers aimed at people involved in serious human rights abuses are being brought in, the Foreign Secretary said.
The UK is bringing in a new regime to target the "worst human rights violators", the Foreign Office has stated.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "From today, the UK will have new powers to stop those involved in serious human rights abuses and violations from entering the UK, channelling money through our banks and profiting from our economy.
Qatar allegedly continues to put out billions of dollars to support and finance terrorist and extremist operations in Europe. International newspapers have reported that Qatar sends its funds through the Qatar Charity Foundation, where they recently provided about 71 million euros to be delivered to the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe under a charitable cover.
It has been stated by various sources the alleged details of Qatar’s plans concerning the participation of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe and the participation of Doha, Qatar in establishing more than 90 centers for the terrorist group in various European countries.
Egypt: 70 churches legalised as church and mosque demolished
Fri 22 May 2020by Heather Preston
The Egyptian Government has legalised 70 churches this week, meaning they cannot be prosecuted for being used for worship.
In Egypt, the construction and renovation of Christian churches is not permitted without first submitting a request to local government for approval.
On Tuesday 19th May, following a meeting of the Government Committee that oversees the legalisation of churches, the decision was issued to legalise 70 church buildings for Christian meetings.
This brings the total number of churches that have been legalised by the committee to 1,638.
Egyptian authorities extend prison sentence of Coptic Christian activist
Thu 07 May 2020by Premier Journalist
A prominent Coptic Christian human rights activists has had his detention extended by a further 45 days by the Egyptian authorities.
Rami Kamil was arrested on 23rd November 2019 after police raided his home in the early hours of the morning. He is known for founding the Maspero Youth Union following the brutal Maspero Massacre in which 27 Christians were killed by the Egyptian military. Following his arrest, it is thought that Kamil was subject to intimdation and relentless questioning. He was subsequently accused of joining a terrorist organisation, receiving foreign funding, disturbing public order, inciting the public against the state, and using social media to incite sectarian tensions between Muslims and Christians.
8 July 2019 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)
Good morning ladies, gentleman. Welcome to the Foreign Office.
When I was moving house last year, I came across a book called God’s Smuggler which I first read when I was about 10. At the height of the Cold War, Brother Andrew van der Bijl would smuggle Bibles across the Iron Curtain to communist countries where Christianity was ruthlessly suppressed.
ONTARIO INTRODUCES THE FIRST BILL IN CANADIAN HISTORY TO RECOGNIZE EGYPTIAN HERITAGE
Published on May 02, 2019
Sheref Sabawy, Member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario for Mississauga-Erin Mills has introduced a Bill to the legislature to recognize the month of July as Egyptian Heritage Month.
[Mississauga, Ontario] Sheref Sabawy, Member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario for Mississauga-Erin Mills has introduced a Bill to the legislature to recognize the month of July as Egyptian Heritage Month. The Bill references the month of July, because it is in line with the Egyptian National Day celebrations.
The Church of England has issued the following response to the Home Office concerning the asylum letter regarding an Iranian Christian convert. In its refusal of asylum, the Home Office had used quotations of violence in the Bible as evidence of bogus claim.
His Eminence Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London, has also commented on the Home Office response, and this is reproduced below.
Response to Home Office letter regarding Iranian asylum seeker
Egypt’s Coptic Christians have been nominated for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for choosing peaceful coexistence over retaliation in the face of persecution, reports the US-based news site PR Newswire.
It is believed to be the first time in the 116-year history of the prize that an ethnic religious group has been nominated, said the news site. The US-based non-governmental organisation Coptic Orphans submitted the nomination.
After seven years of closure of their old church by local authorities due to ‘security reasons’, the Coptic community in the Egyptian village of Kom el – Loufy celebrated the completion of the first phase of building their new church, the Church of Virgin Mary and Martyr Aban, by holding their first ever Mass on Sunday.
Previously, the priest of the Saint Abu Sefein Coptic Orthodox Church near the village of Ezzbet Rafla welcomed the Copts in his church.
Following the closure of the old church, the Copts experienced serious discrimination as two young angry Muslims set fire to four Coptic homes in the village after rumors had spread that one of the houses would be turned into a church.
السودانية المتهمة بـ"الردة": السلطات تغري السجناء المسيحيين بسداد ديونهم
أ. ف. ب.
مريم يحيى ابراهيم
كشفت مريم ابراهيم التي اتهمتها السلطات السودانية بالردة أن إدارة السجون تقدّم إغراءات مالية وتعرض سداد الديون عن المسيحيين المعتقلين مقابل اعتناقهم الإسلام.
تحدثت مريم يحيى ابراهيم السودانية التي حُكم عليها بالاعدام بعد ادانتها بالردة عن الاسلام ، لأول مرة منذ إطلاق سراحها ومغادرتها الى الولايات المتحدة عن محنتها في السجن وإجبارها على إنجاب ابنتها مكبّلة.
United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
EGYPT 2017 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT
Executive Summary The constitution describes freedom of belief as “absolute” and specifies Islam as the state religion. It also enshrines the principles of sharia as the primary source of legislation, which local lawyers stated creates potential legal ambiguities with regard to the freedom of belief guaranteed in the constitution. The constitution only provides adherents of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism the right to practice their religion freely and to build houses of worship. The government continued not to recognize and restrict Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and Bahais. According to multiple sources, authorities continued to detain and physically mistreat former Muslims. Irrespective of religion, authorities also did not apply equal protection to all citizens and sometimes closed churches, in violation of the law, according to multiple sources. Courts charged citizens, including Muslim clerics, with “denigration of religions.” Christians reported discrimination by authorities, especially in rural areas. The government completed rebuilding 78 churches and other church-owned properties which had been destroyed or damaged in mob violence in 2013 and repaired Saints Peter and Paul Church in Cairo after a December 2016 suicide bombing that killed 29 people. It also issued an unprecedented civil marriage license to a Bahai couple with no religious affiliation designated on their national identity card. The government continued its efforts to preserve the nation’s Jewish heritage, including starting work to renovate and protect a historic synagogue in Alexandria. There were incidents of official anti-Semitism and public anti-Semitic statements by Al-Azhar, the country’s primary institution for spreading Islam and defending Islamic doctrine. According to religious leaders, educators, and families, the Ministry of Education made progress in removing language from school textbooks that it said could engender hate toward non-Muslims or promote the view that Islam was superior to other religions. The government-supported Islamic institutions Al-Azhar and Dar al-Ifta, the country’s fatwa issuing authority, continued to debate reforms to Islamic jurisprudence which mandates the death penalty for apostasy from Islam.
Aaqil Ahmed wants more religious programming on the BBC BBC
A senior BBC figure wants more shows similar to Songs of Praise which would include coverage that would appeal to people of Muslim, Hindu and Sikh faiths.
Aaqil Ahmed, commissioning editor of religion and head of religion and ethics at the BBC, told MPs he has written a report answering criticism that non-Christian faiths were under-represented on the programme.
After a three-year wait, the Egyptian Coptic families of 20 men beheaded by the so-called Islamic State in Libya in 2015 have finally received their loved ones’ remains.
The leader of the Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, accompanied by several bishops, priests and deacons, welcomed the 20 coffins at the Cairo airport on Monday evening, 14th May, with prayers and Coptic chants.
The families finally received their loved ones’ remains yesterday. PICTURE: World Watch Monitor
From there the coffins were transported to the village of Al-Our in Minya province, where the Church of the Martyrs of Faith and Homeland, dedicated to the victims, had been inaugurated in February in anticipation of their repatriation.
IMF: Egypt overtakes SA as Africa’s second largest economy
Christie Viljoen
South Africa has been known as the continent’s second-largest economy since Nigeria rebased its gross domestic product (GDP) data in early 2014. However, the IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) released in mid-April provided more sobering GDP statistics for South Africa. Not only did the multilateral organisation suggest that the South African economy would grow by a mere 0.6% this year, but also that the country is now only the third-largest economy on the continent behind Nigeria and new silver medalist Egypt.
Nigeria’s rebasing exercise some two years ago revealed that the oil-dependent economy was almost twice as big as previously thought. The country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) ensured greater measurement of the informal sector, the inclusion of 46 industries from a previous 33, as well as methodological changes to measuring service sector activity with the rebasing. Backward adjustments to GDP indicated that Nigerian GDP in US dollar terms surpassed its South African equivalent in 2011. By the end of 2015, Nigeria’s GDP was measured at $490 billion compared to South Africa’s estimate of $313 billion.
Egyptian expats participation in presidential elections is historic: Copts for the Homeland
Hend El-Behary
The participation of Egyptians inside and outside the country is a national duty
The president of the General Union of ‘Copts for the Homeland’ Karim Kamal said that the participation of Egyptian expats in the 2018 presidential elections is ‘historic’ and the scene of voters lining up in queues will be recorded in history.
Kamal praised the participation of Egyptians in Gulf countries and the United States saying that the number exceeded all the expectations.
European Muslims: radicalisation and de-radicalisation
How should European Muslims deal with radicalisation and what role can women play in countering it and promoting de-radicalisation? These questions were discussed during a conference at the Parliament on 26 April. Following the opening of the conference by Vice-President Antonio Tajani at 15.00 CET, the phenomenon of radicalisation and how to counter it at national and EU level was assessed with experts and community leaders in attendance.
Speaking ahead of the conference EP President Martin Schulz said: "Terrorism and radicalisation must be fought through prevention, monitoring, intelligence-gathering and updated rules and sanctions. There is one tool however which beats radicalisation before it even takes place.
"We are increasingly witnessing the phenomenon not just of segregated societies, but of more and more segregated and alienated lives. Dialogue helps cure this sad reality."
Vice-President Antonio Tajani also highlighted the efforts of Muslims in Europe to end radicalisation: "Many victims of extremist violence and Islamic extremist terrorism are Muslims themselves: we must unite our forces and denounce all forms of violence claiming a religious justification. I am convinced that Muslim communities in Europe and the world share this view. The goal of this conference is to give them a chance to show their opposition to radicalism and hatred."
In connection with the statement issued by the State Information Service (SIS) about the BBC documentary report aired and published 23 February 2018 refuting the professional errors and violations as well as allegations it included on the situation in Egypt, especially regarding the “enforced disappearance” of citizen Zubeida, the State Information Services wishes to reiterate a range of issues:
UK RAF set for the 'long-haul' against the Islamic State
Gareth Jennings, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
A pair of RAF Tornado GR4sapproach RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus on 3 December 2015, after carrying out some of the first British bombing runs over Syria. A senior service official says that the RAF is geared for a protracted mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Source: PA
The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) is confident that it can maintain its current level of operations over Iraq and Syria "for years" if needs be, a senior service official said on 30 March.
Egypt surpasses SA as top investment spot in Africa – report
BY DESTINY MAN REPORTER
Rand Merchant Bank's report shows that Egypt has displaced South Africa as Africa's leading investment hotspot
Egypt has knocked South Africa from its long-standing top spot regarding investments in Africa, according to Rand Merchant Bank’s latest Where to Invest in Africa report for 2018, released on Monday.
Rights Group Calls on Egypt to Reverse Blasphemy Conviction
By HAMZA HENDAWI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Human Rights Watch on Monday called on Egypt to drop prison sentences against four Coptic Christian teenagers convicted of blasphemy, an appeal made one day after the justice minister was sacked for saying he would imprison the Prophet Muhammad if he committed a crime, remarks widely seen as blasphemous.
The teenagers' Feb. 25 conviction was based on a video in which they intended to mock the extremist Islamic State group after its Libyan affiliate beheaded a group of Egyptian Christians last year.
'Britain committed to war against terrorism,' UK minister Burt tells Egypt's FM Shoukry
Egypt's minister of foreign affair Sameh Shoukry "R" and UK's state minister of Middle East and North Africa affairs Alistair Burt (Photo:Egyptian foreign ministry)
Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry met on Thursday in Cairo with Alistair Burt, the UK's minister of state affairs for the Middle East and North Africa, where they discussed the war against terrorism and the latest developments in the Middle East, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.
WASHINGTON – The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has approved legislation calling on the State Department to label the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization.
Lawmakers voted Wednesday along party lines, 17-10.
Supporters say if the measure is signed into law, the U.S. would have to deny admittance to individuals who are tied to the Brotherhood but aren't U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals.
Individuals who provide material support to the group would face criminal penalties.
CAIRO – Egypt removed the security chief of a province south of Cairo where Islamic State militants last week killed 29 Christians traveling to a remote monastery in the desert, an acknowledgment of the lapses by authorities in dealing with the attack.
According to an Interior Ministry statement late on Monday, Maj-Gen. Faisal Dewidar was transferred from his post and was assigned the position of deputy director of the security forces. It is not clear if the position is in Minya.
New breath test tackles growing rates of oesophageal cancer
Professor George Hanna Imperial College, London
Oesophageal cancer affects the pipe that connects the mouth to the top of the stomach. It’s the ninth most common type of cancer in the UK and 8,500 new cases are diagnosed every year. Professor George Hanna is an upper gastrointestinal consultant surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital. He and his team devised a breath test which can diagnose oesophageal cancer quickly and effectively, without the need for an endoscopy. In this, Oesophageal Cancer Awareness Month, Professor Hanna explains why the condition is on the rise and how a simple breath test could help save lives.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) are introducing legislation calling for the U.S. government to label the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
The Texas Senator and Republican Presidential candidate said he is introducing the bill to protect against the “violent jihad” carried out by the Muslim Brotherhood affiliates both in the United States and the rest of the world.
Angela Merkel has called for a burqa ban in Germany and said the refugee crisis “must never be repeated.”
Is this the same Angela Merkel?
“A situation like the one in the late summer of 2015 cannot, should not and must not be repeated,” she said. “That was and is our, and my, declared political aim.”
“Angela Merkel calls for burqa ban ‘wherever legally possible’ in Germany”, by Lizzie Dearden, UK Independent, December 6, 2016:
Egyptian columnist delivers stinging attack against el-Sissi
By HAMZA HENDAWI5 hours ago
.
View photo
Egyptian author Ahmed Naji, center background, attends a court hearing in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Feb. …
CAIRO (AP) — A prominent columnist on Sunday delivered the harshest attack to date against Egypt's president in the local media, saying that Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi presided over a "theocracy" that is no different from the Islamist-led government he overthrew in 2013.
In a front-page column in the al-Maqal daily, Ibrahim Eissa expressed outrage over a two-year prison sentence issued Saturday against author Ahmed Naji for publishing a sexually explicit excerpt of his novel that prosecutors said violated "public modesty."
.jpg)
