MER Article Historical Road Maps for the "New World Order" Peter Gran, Beyond Eurocentrism: A New View of Modern World History (Syracuse University Press, 1996). Chris Toensing • 8 min read
MER Article Unlocking the Arab Celluloid Closet Images of same-sex love and sexual dissidence from the heterosexual norm have long been portrayed in literature, theater and cinema in the Arab world. While the explicit depiction of homosexual acts in film has been the subject of strict censorship, cinematic references to gays and lesbians abound, Garay Menicucci • 17 min read
MER Article Transgressing Patriarchy There is a general perception in Egypt today, shared by fans and many critics, that “old” Egyptian films depicted sex more tastefully than recent films. The following passage by critic Hisham Lashin is typical: Until approximately the middle of the 1960s, the Egyptian cinema treated the subject of Walter Armbrust • 10 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 Power and Sexuality in the Middle East In early 1993, news of President Clinton’s proposal to end the US military’s ban on service by homosexuals prompted a young Egyptian man in Cairo, eager to practice his English, to ask me why the president wanted “to ruin the American army” by admitting “those who are not men or women.” When asked i Bruce Dunne • 11 min read
MER Article Modernization and Family Planning in Egypt In the last decade, the Egyptian state in collaboration with international donor agencies has embarked on an ambitious population control program. According to this program, Egypt’s rapid population growth is the prime obstacle to the development goals set by Egyptian authorities. Between 1980 and 1 Kamran Asdar Ali • 11 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 Men, Women and God(s) Fedwa Malti-Douglas, Men, Women and God(s): Nawal El Saadawi and Arab Feminist Poetics (California, 1995). Persis M. Karim • 4 min read
MER Article Youssef Chahine's "Cairo" An unemployed young man wanders into a mosque where an Islamist is calling for jihad against those who falsely claim to be Muslim. The “fundamentalist” quotes the Qur’an: “For he who lives not by my law is but an infidel.” Prayer. Voiceover: “Cut.” The fundamentalist and the unemployed man jump up a Nur Elmessiri • 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 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 Community Participation and Environmental Change Cairo -- a city home to upwards of 14 million inhabitants -- is known to be one of the most polluted cities in the world. Although measures of pollutants in some places in Cairo exceed internationally recognized standards, popular collective action organized around environmental issues is rare. The Inas Tewfik • 6 min read
