Muslim Brotherhood

Egypt’s judiciary accused of being arm of repression (via AFP) A wave of mass sentences in Egypt, including hundreds sentenced to death this week after a rushed mass trial, has sparked charges that military-installed authorities are using the judiciary as a blunt tool of repression. The sentences handed out Monday… —– Related video: AFP: […]

Islam

Will the US side with Saudi or Qatar in the Great Gulf Civil War?

contributors

(By Omar Ali) The Saudi strategy of offering military support to the US while exporting Muslim militancy and portraying itself as the protector of the two holiest sites in the Islamic world has backfired for both Saudi Arabia and the US. Tensions are increasing in the Persian Gulf, with Qatar on one side, and Saudi […]

al-Qaeda

Cole @ C-Span: Egypt and the Birth of al-Qaeda (video lecture)

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) My class lecture, “Egypt and the Birth of al-Qaeda,” was filmed by C-Span in February and has been shown on television; it is now available on the web (click here)

Egypt

The Great Urban-Rural Struggle over the Constitution in Egypt

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The tale of two constitutions, 2012 and 2014, in Egypt has to be seen in my view as significantly an urban-rural struggle. Neither referendum had a big turnout, but the one in 2012 only attracted 32.8% of the electorate, while apparently the turnout in the referendum just held was slightly higher at […]

Dissent

How Egypt’s Revolution veered toward Authoritarian Crackdown

contributors

(By Mohammed Fadel) In response to a December 24 bombing in the town of Mansoura, the Egyptian government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. The decision, which came despite the fact that an al-Qaida affiliated group—Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis—took responsibility for the blast, was a depressing, even inevitable conclusion to the disastrous course of events […]

Dissent

“Terrorism” tag is tool of Political Repression in Egypt

contributors

(By Human Rights Watch) (New York) – The Egyptian government’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization appears to be aimed at expanding the crackdown on peaceful Brotherhood activities and imposing harsh sanctions on its supporters. The government should promptly reverse the decision and stop interfering with the Brotherhood’s health, education, and other […]

Egypt

The Iraqization of Egypt: Two Large Bombs Rock Security Bldg in Mansoura, kill 14, wound 130

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Two large explosions at the state security building in downtown Mansoura, Dahqaliya Province, killed at least 14 persons and wounded 130 on Monday, reducing some of the edifice to rubble and damaging its facade. The head of the directorate of security was among the wounded. [Photos via Mansouracity.com] Crowds immediately gathered to […]

Christianity

Egypt’s Coptic Christians Protest Killing by Fundamentalists of 4 at Church

Juan Cole

Coptic Christians in Egypt staged a big demonstration on Monday to protest the shooting deaths of four church-goers at the Church of the Virgin in the working class al-Warraq district in Cairo on Sunday. Two of the victims were children. Assailants came in on motorcycles with guns blazing. Many Coptic Christians blamed the deposed Muslim […]

Gulf

Can you Pass the Qatar Quiz? (Rudolph)

Juan Cole

CAN YOU PASS THE QATAR QUIZ? By Jeffrey Rudolph Qatar, once one of the poorest Persian Gulf states, has become one of the region’s wealthiest countries and also one of the most active in regional affairs. However, Qatar, like the other Gulf states, faces meaningful internal and external challenges, which require more than energy wealth […]