Stories about Egypt from May, 2010
MENA: Rage after Israel Attacks Gaza-bound Flotilla
Emotions are running high across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), after Israel attacked a peaceful flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza - and the Twittersphere is ablaze. Also, are tweets commenting on the situation being censored?
MENA: 15m Facebook Users
As of May 2010, Facebook has 15 million users from the Middle East and North Africa (excluding Iran, Israel and Turkey), reports Spot On. Seventy per cent of the users are in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt: Rima Fakih – What does religion have to do with it?
Rima Fakih, an Arab Muslim immigrant, won the Miss USA Pageant. There are those who considered her award an Arab victory, those who considered her a Muslim disgrace, and others who dug up her past.
MENA: To Draw or Not to Draw Muhammed
The fire ignited by the Everybody Draw Mohammed Day on Facebook, is still raging. Here is a snap shot of reactions from across the Middle East.
Egypt: On Street Activists and Citizen Journalists
Between online activists, citizen journalists, and street demonstrators, it seems that the cause lost it's purpose and the Internet turned into a soundproof room for cursing and cussing. Marwa Rakha takes a closer look at online activism and its relationship to events on the ground.
Egypt: 30 Days of Blogging
Egyptian bloggers are taking part in an initiative called 30 Days of Blogging, where they should write a new blog post every day for one whole month. The drive started on May 1 and here are reactions from the bloggers.
Egypt: Parliament Votes to Extend Emergency Law
The Egyptian Parliament decision to extend state-sanctioned emergency rule for another two years garnered international criticism and domestic backlash, as the law gives exclusive right to the Ministry of the Interior to detain suspects without charge, monitor communications and wiretap contact networks, restrict newspaper content and impede political assembly and demonstration. Bloggers react to the development.
Egypt: Crackdown on the Egyptian Da Vinci Code
Dr Youssef Zidane's 2008 Azazeel created a stir, followed by resentment, when it was first published. Today, Dr Zidane is being accused of blasphemy and defaming Christianity and as insulting any of the 'heavenly faiths' is illegal in Egypt, he could face up to five years behind bars. Bloggers react to the development.
Egypt: Fat7enha Forga Launched
Mahmoud Saber announced the launch of Fat7enha Forga, which is a new idea to share movies and independent video projects on the Internet. The debut is a video named “ Let’s Hope”.
Egypt: A walk along a Mameluke street
Maryanne Stroud Gabbani invited her friend Patricia Canfield to write about her tours of Cairo and share the photographs she took. Patricia profoundly wrote about Khan El Khalili, Al Mu’izz Street and other touristic places in the capital city.
Egypt: The State Versus the People on Minimum Wages
The current minimum laborer wage, set in the mid-1980s, is LE35. Tabula Gaza reviews the workers strife since the late 90s until today.
Egypt: Workers on Protest Face Security Crackdown
Amonsito textile factory owner Syrian-American Adel Agha fled Egypt in 2007 and responsibility for the factory was assumed by Manpower and Immigration Ministry and Bank Misr. Amonisto workers went on strike and Tabula Gaza blogged how they were kicked out of a parliament session, with six workers “kidnapped” and taken...
Egypt: Ask and ElBaradei Will Answer
In the Presidential succession race, and after Gamal Mubarak's Sharek Initiative, Ayman Nour's Facebook activism, Omar Soliman's blog, now you can Ask ElBaradei. From May 17 to 26, you will be able to ask Dr ElBaradei through Google moderator any question and he will reply. Zeinobia asked him two questions.
Egypt: No Longer Jewel of the Nile
Four of the seven upstream Nile Basin Initiative countries have decided to sign a new Nile deal. Despite strong Egyptian and Sudanese opposition, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia signed a new water-sharing agreement. Egyptian bloggers react to the news in this post by Marwa Rakha.
Egypt: A day in Alexandria
Andrew Heiss, American student doing his Middle East Studies at the American University of Cairo, described his day trip to Alexandria with his family. He also shared pictures of the places they visited.
Egypt: Reflections from the Global Voices Summit
Egyptian Tarek Amr writes about the people he met at the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit, held in Chile last week.
Egypt: Journalists Protest at Qatar Embassy
Mohamed Hashem, journalist of Islamonline, reports on the protest held at the Qatar Embassy, Cairo, on May 9. The protest comprised 150 journalists and writers, and addressed the issue of the sacking of 250 Islamonline employees in March.
Saudi Arabia: New Hashtag for Alfayed
Egyptian tycoon Mohammed Alfayed earned a new hashtag on Twitter for selling famous London department store Harrods. Check out Saudi Dareen's tweet here.
An Egyptian lynched in Lebanon
Mohamed Mossallam, an Egyptian accused of murdering an elderly couple and their two grandchildren as well as raping a 15-year-old girl, has been lynched by the people of the Lebanese village Katramaya. Bloggers react to the news after videos and photos of the lynching were posted online.
Egypt: A Strike for Minimum Wages
A court ruling was issued to force the Egyptian government to set a minimum living wage for both the private and public sector workers. Egyptian bloggers are reacting and promoting this strike.
