MER Article NATO's Future in the Middle East Although US interventionism is part of the collective Arab experience, NATO interventionism isn’t – at least not yet. According to NATO’s “New Strategic Concept,” however, this could change soon, with European forces being propelled into global military engagements – even in the Middle East. Karim El-Gawhary • 5 min read
MER Article Religious Ferment(ation) Real saviors of the human race are rare. Although everyone remembers Noah and his ark, hardly anyone recalls that a humble beverage once saved the human race from eradication. Maybe that’s because the beer episode happened so long ago. According to ancient Egyptian myth, the goddess Hathor decided Karim El-Gawhary • 5 min read
MER Article AIDS Hotline in Cairo “AIDS is God’s punishment for all those who pollute the country with their sins,” writes the Egyptian weekly newspaper al-Liwa$rsquo; al-Islami (The Islamic Banner) under the headline: “To Follow the Path of Islam Is the Best Way Not to Get Infected.” In the Egyptian media, attacks on people with H Karim El-Gawhary • 6 min read
MER Article "Nothing More to Lose" Economic liberalization is now hitting the Egyptian countryside. After decades of Nasserist regulations favoring small land tenants, a new law will “reform” the relationship between landowners and tenants in favor of the first. It will more fully integrate the Egyptian countryside into the global ma Karim El-Gawhary • 6 min read
MER Article Street Vendors “Modern” is the way in which Cairo’s city administration would like to portray the Egyptian capital -- a Singapore-style, business metropolis stretching along the banks of the Nile, clean, rich and air-conditioned. In its latest campaign to create such an image, the city’s administration has identified unlicensed street Karim El-Gawhary • 2 min read
MER Article Sheikha in al-Warraq Clouds of smoke fill the room. Young women sit talking about the events of the day, while Sana’ inhales smoke from the strongest water pipe tobacco available on the market. “Everything else is for innocent children,” she scoffs. Her smoking habit symbolizes her social status. Sana’ is the sheikhat a Karim El-Gawhary • 5 min read
MER Article Copts in the "Egyptian Fabric" To talk about Egyptian Christians as a “minority” is to open a can of worms. The sensitivity of the relationship between Egyptian Muslims and Christians was evident in 1994 when a conference on minorities in the Middle East, supposed to be held in Cairo, included the Copts of Egypt on its agenda. [1 Karim El-Gawhary • 6 min read
MER Article "We Are a Civil Party with an Islamic Identity" It came as a surprise to many when, in January 1996, a group of young Egyptian Islamists, mainly from the cadres of the outlawed but still active Muslim Brothers, announced the formation of a new Islamist party in Egypt. Al-Wasat, the founders claim, is a civil party with an Islamic Karim El-Gawhary • 7 min read
MER Article Shari'a of Civil Code? Egypt's Parallel Legal Systems Egyptian courts have increasingly become a site of political struggle between Islamists and secularists. In a state that restricts political parties and open political debate, courts are now one of the main venues for political expression for groups such as the Muslim Brothers. In the last few years Karim El-Gawhary • 7 min read
MER Article Sex Tourism in Cairo She doesn’t look like a classic madam. About 50 years old, Hagga lives in a simple flat in the chic Cairene quarter of Muhandisin. Her black abaya (cape and headscarf) evince a more traditional outlook. Even her language is full of religious references. “Tomorrow you can have two girls, God willing. Karim El-Gawhary • 5 min read
MER Article An Islamic Women's Liberation Movement? Heba Ra’uf ‘Izzat, 29, is a teaching assistant in the Political Science Department at Cairo University. Active in the Islamist movement, she is known for her academic research on women’s political role from the perspective of political Islam and its theory. She edits the women’s page in al-Sha‘b, a Karim El-Gawhary • 4 min read
