Latest posts by Marwa Rakha

Egypt: Campaign Against Abusive Publishers

An Egyptian blogger and author has had it with dealing with unscrupulous publishers and is taking the initiative to make the voices of authors not given a chance a a sounding board. Check out what Marwa Rakha is up to and how successful her initiative is.

17 October 2009

Egypt: Niqab Ban Stirs Controversy

Egypt's top leading Islamic leader, Sheikh Mohammed Tantawi told a 13-year-old student to uncover her face, saying it was not part of the religious obligations of Muslim women. A few days later, Egypt banned female undergraduates from wearing the niqab in the country's public universities. Bloggers join in the debate.

9 October 2009

Will Egypt import Chinese Hymens?

An artifical hymen kit is now available in the market. Egyptian law makers have banned the product while bloggers continue to debate the cons and pros of this Chinese 'invention' - and question its morality.

8 October 2009

Egypt: Blogging Farouk Hosni's Defeat

Egypt's Culture Minister Farouk Hosni has kept bloggers busy over the previous few days. His failed bid to secure a seat at the helm of UNESCO has polarised the blogosphere, with some even cooking up conspiracy theories to justify his defeat.

24 September 2009

Egypt: Bloggers call for a fun-filled harassment-free Eid

As Eid Al Fitr approaches, women in Egypt are bracing themselves for even more sexual harassment than what has already become a disturbing norm. Bloggers and online activists are also joining forces to fight the phenomenon, calling for a fun-filled and harassment-free celebration.

16 September 2009

Egypt: A Coptic Presidential Candidate?

A Copt has stated his intent to run for elections for Egypt's top post in the 2011 presidential race. Lawyer Mamdouh Ramzy, a member of the Constitutional Party, is venturing where many have failed.

15 September 2009

Egyptians React to the Sudanese “Sin”

Sudanese UN female employee Lubna Hussein faced threats of imprisonment and flogging for the “sin” of wearing trousers in Khartoum - and her saga is far from over. Marwa Rakha sums up the reactions of Egyptian bloggers in this post.

11 September 2009

Arab Women… Minors Until They Die

Though blessed with inner strength that enables them to deal with the shackles of their culture, some Arab women are dealt with as minors who will never reap the fruits of adulthood. Marwa Rakha brings us the voices of two bloggers who dared to speak up.

11 September 2009

Egypt: Cairo Airport Security Strikes Again

Bikya Masr reported: “First, an American citizen was barred from entering the country last week and sent back to London. Now, a Palestinian-Norwegian mother of two was stopped by security...

10 September 2009

Egypt: Bad Boys Who do not Moderate Blog Comments

Journalist and blogger Khaled El Balshy has recently been subpoenaed by State Security and charged of slander because he did not delete a “bad” comment that was left on one of his blog posts dating back to 2007.

9 September 2009

Egypt: Limited Internet is Unlimited Backwardness

Egypt's Internet users joined hands to express their outrage at a new law which limits their Internet use. Now the law has been reversed and only new subscribers will be subjected to the threshold, for a two month period while the move is being assessed.

16 August 2009

Egypt: Gamal Mubarak … Why Not?

Coinciding with Gamal Murbak's Sharek initiative, Egyptian singer Mohsen El Sayad decided to campaign for Mubarak in his own way [Ar]. Marwa Rakha sums up the reactions of Egyptian bloggers here.

16 August 2009

Egypt: Gamal Mubarak Intices Youth Involvement

In an attempt to win their support, Egyptian president's son Gamal Mubarak launched an open online forum, Sharek, where he promises to address all the questions posed by young internet savvy Egyptians himself.

10 August 2009

Egyptian translators call for a syndicate

Egyptian blogger Ahmed Al Sabbagh says in his post that there are more than 100,000 translators in Egypt. Around 1,000 translators joined forces on Facebook, others created EgyTranslation blog, and...

8 August 2009