South Giza Court ordered on Monday the release of 15-year-old Amira Ahmed Rizk, who had stabbed to death a man attempting to rape her. Rizk was released on a 10,000 EGP bail after being detained since July 15. A microbus driver had made advances on the junior high school student. When she rejected him, he threatened her with a knife, so she tricked him into thinking he has her consent before taking the knife to stab him 14 times. She then ran to a police station to report her case. The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) had commented on the incident in a report, saying that they would offer her “all the support”. Rizk was heavily criticized for killing the man as well as getting inside the microbus where the attempted rape occurred thus highlighting the common practice of victim blaming in Egyptian society. Official statistics from Egypt’s Interior Ministry’s has rape at 20,000 every year, although activists claim that it is 10 times higher. According to a 2013 United Nations study, “virtually all Egyptian women have been victims of sexual harassment,” with a whopping 99.3 percent of…
Egypt’s Farida Osman Lands Her Fourth Medal in the African Games
Egypt’s ‘golden fish’ Farida Osman brought home her fourth medal during the ongoing 12th African Games that is taking place in Rabaat, Morocco. Completing the 50 meter freestyle race in 25.6 seconds , the world champion added another silver medal to her collection. During the African Games, Osman won two gold medals for the 100 meters and 50 meter butterfly. In the 100 meters freestyle, Osman landed a silver medal. Last month, the Egyptian champion won Egypt’s first medal in the 50m butterfly’s race at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju securing the bronze medal. Soon after, Osman won Best Female Athlete from Africa 2017 at the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Awards at the Czech Republic. The athlete, who started swimming at the tender age of four, also participated in the 2018 Mediterranean Games (Spain) where she won two gold medals, and a silver medal. The competitive athlete, currently holding a record for the fastest female swimmer in Africa, specializes in the freestyle and butterfly categories. She began swimming and earned several regional and international swimming titles, becoming one of the most accomplished female Egyptian swimmers. Among a long list…
Presidents Sisi and Trump Meet at G7, Talk Counterterrorism, Palestine and Bilateral Relations
On the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with US President Donald Trump; the leaders praised the strength of their countries’ strong bilateral relations and joint cooperation in various key fields. Bassem Rady, the Egyptian Presidential Spokesman, highlighted key topics both leaders tackled, including the US’ unwavering support for Egypt’s counterterrorism measures, finding a solution to the Palestinian conflict, and Egypt’s economic reforms. Regarding the issue of combating terrorism, President Trump praised Egypt’s efforts in maintaining security in the country, as well as its ‘promotion of values of religious tolerance and freedom of worship’. Reiterating the idea that fighting terrorism constitutes a global mission, the Egyptian President stressed the need for the international community’s engagement in curtailing terrorism namely through slashing support, in terms of monetary and the procurance of equipment, to terrorist groups. Great meeting this morning with President @AlsisiOfficial of Egypt at the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz, France! #G7Summit pic.twitter.com/zLMcgQtPdR — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2019 Moreover, Rady stated that Egypt was continuously consulting with the US administration on ways to consolidate stability in the Middle East…
Egyptian Students’ Theatre Performance on the Holocaust Sparks Controversy
A theatre performance on the Holocaust performed by Egyptian students from Ain Shams University titled “Sobibor” sparked much controversy in Egypt, as fights and clashes erupted during the performance. The latter took place in the National Theater Festival headed by the artist Ahmed Abdel Aziz. Written and directed by Mohammed Zaki, the theatre performance discusses the Holocaust and the Sobibor extermination camp in which the Jews were burned and tormented by the Nazi Germans. During the performance on Wednesday evening, there were verbal altercations between the audience and members of the theater group, and a clash of hands because of what members of the audience considered to be as bias in favor of Israel, ignoring what the Israelis are now practicing against Palestinians. Critics of the show accused members of the team of “defending Zionism” and trying to “sabotage the minds of young people,” as art critic Omneya Talaat wrote that “Sobibor” falsifies history and begs for sympathy for the Jews. “Why go so far as to arouse sympathy for the Jews in 2019 while we are witnessing the massacres done by the Zionists in the Arab region now,…
UNFPA Partners with Health 2.0 for Egypt’s Sexual and Reproductive Well-being
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Health 2.0 | Egypt, Shamseya and Altibbi have come together for the Youth Health Challenge, a competition designed to mobilize young people as active solvers of the challenge we are all attempting to address: How can we radically improve access to, and quality of, sexual and reproductive health education and services for young people? “UNFPA is happy to support this competition as a part of accelerating the promise towards International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and making sure to leave no one behind,” stated Manal Eid, Youth Specialist at UNFPA Egypt. Between topics like family planning, premarital counseling, forced early marriages, female genital mutilation, and access to knowledge about sexual and reproductive health in general, six teams present their pitches on Monday for the final round of the competition. Prizes will be sponsored by Altibbi, a leading health platform in the Middle East and North Africa. According to Abdelatif Olama, Altibbi Egypt country manager, the platform is passionate about supporting initiative that address rural areas where health isn’t easily accessible. The platform also believes in the importance of involving youth when coming up…
Fighting Pollution in Egypt’s South: Nile Clean Up Campaign Launches in Aswan
Youth Love Egypt Foundation (YLE) organized a clean up campaign over the weekend to collect plastic waste covering Upper Egypt’s Aswan Nile shore. With the help of fourteen volunteers, the campaign aimed to raise awareness to the side effects of plastic-based pollution. The clean-up was executed in collaboration with foundations and NGOs based in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Ukraine and Nigeria where volunteers in the respective countries cleaned up river and sea shores to eliminate plastic waste. Youth Love Egypt Foundation is a national civic establishment which seeks to promote and maintain the country’s tourism and environmental sectors. It is most active in terms of youth-focused activities, namely in the fields of education and cultural exchange. This campaign is similar to a campaign launched by non-profit organization Bassita in collaboration with Greenish called ‘VeryNile’, which aims to help clean up the Nile River and the shores along the river in hopes that it becomes a cleaner source for water and a step towards a sustainable ecosystem. Egypt has been taking serious steps towards reducing and eliminating plastic waste and consumptions. Egypt uses 12 billion plastic bags annually which not only constitutes…
Popular Egyptian TV Host Reham Saeed Suspended for Insulting Obese Women
Egypt’s Supreme Media Council suspended on Saturday famous TV host Reham Saeed for insulting and humiliating obese women on her Al-Hayah late-night show “Sabaya”. Last Friday, Saeed was interrogated by the Supreme Council for Media Regulation after the National Council for Women (NCW) filed a complaint against her before taking the decision to suspend her. “You lose part of your femininity if you are fat,” Saeed said, “they are burdens on their families and on the state, and are an eyesore.” The remarks caused huge uproar on Egyptian and Arab social media, as Egyptian actress Engy Wegdan, slammed Saeed in a video stating, “I am fat now and I was fatter in the past, but I did not have problems. I enjoy my life fully – it is not about your shape or weight,” Wegdan said. Lebanese TV host Rabia Zayyat also weighed in and criticised Saeed, noting that “the words of this woman are full of bigotry, ignorance and untreatable disease. This is a dangerous example in the media.” Following the announcement of her suspension, Saeed shared a video on her social media accounts that she will officially quit,…
Sisi Attends G7 Summit in France to Discuss Africa, Inequality and Fires in Amazon
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi arrived to France on Saturday to attend the G-7 Summit, which is set to kick off on August 24 and end on August 26, Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Ambassador Bassam Radi reported. As this year’s host, Macron picked the issue of reducing inequality as the main theme, and has invited the leaders of Australia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, India, Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa to negotiate and discuss with other countries. As the head of the African Union this year, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will give a speech at the France-chaired 2019 G7 Summit reviewing the African vision to achieve peace and sustainable development, and to consolidate cooperation and partnership between Africa and the G7 countries (U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Italy, Germany and Japan). Macron also wants to focus on discussing the tensions between the U.S. and Iran that have been escalating since Trump pulled the country out of the Iran nuclear deal last year. On top of that, the fires raging in the Amazon now appear to be at the top of Macron’s agenda. “Our house is burning. Literally,” the French president tweeted on Thursday….
The Reformed Arab Savage: On Becky Anderson’s Racism and Mo Salah’s Hypocrisy
Earlier this week, Egyptian soccer sensation Mohamed Salah sat down with CNN’s Becky Anderson for a lengthy interview worthy of a thousand sound bites. The Liverpool forward opened up about his dissatisfaction with the Egyptian Football Association and his contentment at the European club, before sounding off on the Amr Warda controversy and virtue signaling his continued commitment to feminism for the benefit of the network’s white audience. The issue is not Salah’s anodyne suggestion that Warda seek treatment for his socially acceptable ‘affliction’ of sexually harassing women and, allegedly, underage girls. It is not even Salah’s own defense of Warda. Salah is guilty of a far greater crime: playing the reformed Arab savage. Being one of few Egyptian soccer players to attain such international renown, Salah has to pay the price of admission into white hearts. It is a toll they never fail to exact from any person of color. To ascend to a place of global wealth and fame, no matter the caliber of their talent, a person of color has to meet superhuman requirements, but first they must concede that their non-whiteness is some sort of a…