Stories about Egypt from August, 2008
Egypt: Respecting Traffic Lights
What does people's attitudes towards crossing the road have to do with where their country stands in the world? Egyptian blogger Egyptian in the USA brings us the answer in this translation from Arabic.
Egypt: A protest for Turkish TV series Nour
Egyptian Blogger Zeinobia, wrote her reactions regarding the recent news stating that a group of high class Egyptian ladies led a protest all over Marina against the Imam of Marina’s...
Egypt: Olympics Investigation
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has ordered an enquiry into why Egypt performed poorly in the Olympics, reports Tom Gara.
Egypt: Orange Ambulances
The Egyptian Health Ministry has introduced orange ambulances to replace their white ones. Zeinobia is not pleased.
Iraq: “Egyptians Recruited to Iraq”
“According to Egyptian website Al-Mesryoon, last two months there was a campaign in America to recruit Egyptians as interpreters in the American forces and to be sent to Iraq. The...
MENA: Veiled Athletes in Beijing
Despite the Saudi Arabia's decision to ban Saudi women from taking part in the Olympics this year, Blogger Dilshad D. Ali writes about the emergence of hijab (veil) at the...
Arabeyes: The Olympics, Pride, Equality and Hope
Millions around the world were glued to their television screens watching their favourite athletes at this year's Beijing Olympics, which just closed. What did Arab bloggers have to say about the world's premier sporting event and their country teams? Following are a few reactions.
Egypt: Blogger Detained
Elijah Zarwan, from Egypt, draws our attention to yet another blogger detained. “Mohammed Refaat, a student and a blogger, was detained on July 21 on charges of ‘threatening public security’...
Egypt: Taking Down Sexual Harassment
A national campaign to fight sexual harassment in Egypt is making waves. Lasto Adri reflects on a post by a female blogger who feels that harassment has to stop.
Egypt: Parliamentary Fire Reactions
People's reactions here are really confusing ... ehm ... and amusing as well. Ok, believe it or not, but some people here were really happy that a fire has destroyed Egypt's iconic Parliamentary building.
Jordan: 100,000 Bloggers on Jeeran
Arabic blogging platform Jeeran [Ar] announced that there were 100,000 blogs affiliated to it. The post also claims that 70 per cent of Egyptian bloggers use Jeeran to blog.
Egypt: Parliament on Fire
Egyptian bloggers are in a daze, after the country's iconic Parliament Building, went up in flames earlier today. And while an official reason has yet to be announced for the cause of the fire in the 19th century palace, which houses the lower parliament or Shura (consultative) council, bloggers are seething - though not lost for words.
Egypt: Death of Three Arab Cultural Icons
The Arab world lost three of its cultural icons in the spam of a month. They are Egyptians philosopher Dr Abdelwahab El Mesery and film maker Yousef Chahine and Palestinian poet Mahmood Darwish. Egyptian Blogger, ElGharep, or The Stranger, reflects on the loss in this post [Ar].
North Africa: Bringing Home the Medals
In the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games, there was much speculation on how the Middle East and North Africa would fare. Although Turkey is the only Middle Eastern country to medal thus far (in athletics, weightlifting, and Greco-Roman wrestling), North Africa is enjoying great success. So far, Egypt's Hesham Mesbah and Algeria's Soraya Haddad and Amar Benikhlef have all medaled in Judo (bronze, bronze, and silver, respectively), Morocco's Hasna Benhassi took home a bronze in the women's 800m dash, and Tunisian swimmer Oussama Mellouli scored gold in the men's 1500m freestyle.
Palestine: H Daboor at the Islamic University
Gazan blogger Nostalgia parodies the recent Egyptian comedy H Daboor in a critique of Islamist trends in Gaza today.
Egypt: A Letter to Obama
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia, writes about the letter jailed Egyptian politician Ayman Nour wrote from his prison to US presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
Egypt: Protesting European Embassies
Egyptian blogger Sand Monkey, comments on the Egyptian Foreign Ministry's last protest to European embassies in Cairo, where Egyptians applying for entry visas are not treated with dignity and respect.
Egypt: Farewell Twitter SMS
A few days ago, Egypt woke up to the sad news that Twitter is no longer delivering outbound SMS to few countries, including Egypt. Lasto Adri reviews the Egyptian blogosphere, which is already looking for alternatives, for reactions.
Egypt's first Septuplets
Egyptian Blogger Zeinobia, writes about an Egyptian woman, from Alexandria, who gave birth to seven babies – even though she claims she did not take any medicine.
Egypt: Shut Up and Rule
“I really wish that Ahmed Nazif ,our smart prime minister to shut his mouth and do his job as he should without attacking the people and provoke them with useless...
Egypt: Alone in New York?
Egyptian blogger Eman is leaving to New York, where she will pursue her higher studies. “Right now I’m in the middle of a whirl of emotions, however that is not...
