Egypt

Human Rights Watch | — (New York) – Egyptian authorities have referred hundreds of civilians to military courts based on an October 2014 decree by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. At least 820 civilians have been referred to military prosecutors in the past six weeks based on the unprecedented extension of military court authority, according to […]

Israel, Egypt Implicated in Torture: Middle East Reactions to Senate Report lament own Involvement

By Juan Cole | — That the release in Washington of a dense 450 page report on CIA torture conducted a decade ago would provoke massive demonstrations in the Middle East all along struck me as unlikely. It could perhaps provoke small terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda, but those groups are already plotting out attacks […]

Arab Spring

Cole at the Nation: Egyptian Left Plans Mock Trial of Mubarak

By Juan Cole | — My blog entry at The Nation is out: “After Acquittal, Egypt’s New Left Vows Mock Trial of Mubarak” Excerpt: “A youth “New Left” is still a significant current in Egypt, and many young people want more accountability in government. They were the ones who gathered just outside the now-closed Tahrir […]

Egypt’s Female Genital Mutilation Shame and the Failure of Prosecution

Human Rights Watch | — (Beirut) – Egyptian authorities need to take clear action to end the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) following the country’s first trial on the crime ending in acquittals, Human Rights Watch said today. A trial this month in Egypt centered on the death of a 13-year-old girl in 2013. […]

Arab Spring

The Workers Movement and Class Struggle in the Egyptian Revolution

Middle East Eye “The 2011 Egyptian revolution is usually thought of as an uprising against dictatorship and corruption, with the aim of establishing a European or American style democratic system. But underlying the protests was a powerful labour movement that conflicted with neoliberalism, inequality and privatisation. Four years on, the same contradictions and conditions that […]

Arab Spring

Cairo Erupts as Mubarak, Adly Declared Innocent in Deaths of Protesters

By Juan Cole | — An Egyptian court on Saturday found found deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak and his former interior minister Habib Adly not guilty (or rather just dropped the charges) the killing of nearly 900 young protesters by police in January-February 2011. Downtown Cairo and some provincial towns erupted in protests. Indeed, these were […]

The Historical Drivers of Modern Day Developments in Iraq (Cole Interview)

By Juan Cole, interviewed by Bassam Haddad | — Bassam Haddad, a prominent Syria specialist at George Mason University, interviewed me this fall for the new web radio program Status Hour , on the Middle East. Do check out the range of important interviews already up at the site. My own audio interview is here. […]

Egypt’s Battle for Worker’s Rights in Upcoming Legislation