Posted on Facebook on December 13, 2013 Eight reasons why the legitimacy of Saturday’s constitutional referendum is already compromised: 1. The referendum is being conducted in extremely divisive atmosphere. Only last week 9 people were killed when two rival groups clashed in front of the presidential palace. Recriminations and counter recriminations are being fired at each other every day. What inflames matters further is that this was not simply a fight between two opposing groups each with its own political leaning and/or ideology. Rather, this was a clash between peacefully demonstrating opponents of President Morsy who were camping in front…
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Published in Ahram Online on December 4, 2012 The constitutional declaration and the president’s manner of dealing with the crisis reflects the deep rift between Islamists and the opposition I must admit that events over the past ten days have dissipated much of my optimism since the revolution. My optimism primarily stemmed from my conviction that Mubarak’s formula (either oppression or ruin) is a wretched one that is unbecoming of us. As a people and a country, we can handle the challenges of the revolution and the institutions we built in our modern times – the police, army, judiciary, press,…
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Published in Ahram Online on December 4, 2012 The constitutional declaration and the president’s manner of dealing with the crisis reflects the deep rift between Islamists and the opposition I must admit that events over the past ten days have dissipated much of my optimism since the revolution. My optimism primarily stemmed from my conviction that Mubarak’s formula (either oppression or ruin) is a wretched one that is unbecoming of us. As a people and a country, we can handle the challenges of the revolution and the institutions we built in our modern times – the police, army, judiciary, press,…
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Published in Ahram Online on November 21, 2012 Cultural and civilisational diversity of the Egyptian society inspired mega project like arabising medicine in the 19th century. But, unfortunately it did not motivate the members of the Constituent Assembly. A few days ago I met with some friends to read the draft constitution that the Constituent Assembly is about to finalise, the first copy of which was published in the press a few days ago. As soon as we started to closely read the text, we were shocked by the poor language, lack of vision, contradictory ideas and flawed logic in…
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Published in Ahram Online on November 14, 2012 Human rights NGOs say that 11 people died from torture in police stations during Morsi’s tenure, but the issue is not being addressed by the government. It is the first anniversary of the death of Essam Ali Atta – an occasion to revisit the issue of torture and ask what President Morsi has done so far to confront this serious issue. Atta was a 25-year-old young man who was arrested by the military police on 25 February last year, and charged with illegally occupying an apartment in Moqattam. Only one day after…
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An interview with Julian Worricker, Kate Adie and Baria Alamuddin on the BBC’s World Today program discussing the results of the first round of the presidential elections in May 2012. At issue is the fear of the impact of a Muslim Brotherhood’s victory on women’s rights; role of Saudi Arabia in the Egyptian political system and the larger question of the role of political Islam in Egypt. (at 36:50) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00s4728
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“Thought for the Day,” BBC, Radio 4, 30 May 2011.
Leave a CommentPublished as an op-ed for the CNN on February 9, 2011 Since the eruption of the Egyptian revolution last month, I have been on Tahrir Square with millions of other Egyptians calling for freedom and dignity. Over these weeks the square has been filled with people from all walks of life: young and old, Muslim and Copt, rural and urban, rich and poor, secularists and observant Muslims. Keeping a conspicuously low profile, the Muslim Brotherhood — the largest and most organized opposition movement in Egypt — has issued no formal slogans or distributed leaflets. Furthermore, the group has repeatedly denied…
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