Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

While monks resume their sit-in at the monastery of Abū Fānā, Coptic communities abroad are organizing demonstrations protesting the incidents. The following presents an up-to-date review of the aftermath of the Abū Fānā attacks.

The author reviews the life of Nus’hī ‘Abd al-Shahīd who started and fostered an organization for the translation and study of the writings of the fathers and theology.

Father ‘Abd al-Masīh Basīt comments on Yūsuf Zaydān’s novel, ’‘Azazīl’.

The article discusses the need for non-partisan reporting and removing emotions from articles, using Arab-West Report to exemplify the importance of such.

The author introduces Cornelis Hulsman, editor-in-chief of AWR, to the Egyptian readers. Hulsman provides headlines of his stay in Egypt and gives his opinion about the controversial movie Fitna and the Danish offensive cartoons.

The author of the article provides a randomized review of Dr. Yūsuf Zaydān’s novel ‘‘Azazīl.’ He does not follow the narrative of the novel as much as illuminate the points he wanted to stress: the unpredictable consequences religious fundamentalism can lead to as one should be reasonable and accept the other.

The author reviews a book by Robert Waldron entitled, ’Thomas Merton. Master of Attention,’ and the related discussions on spirituality.

In an interview with Mahmūd ‘Īsá, Muslim thinker Jamāl al-Bannā elaborates on many of his controversial stances and honors the Qur’ān as the only authentic point of reference for Muslims. He also declares that the divine influence of the Qur’ān is not in the human interpretation of the Qur’ānic verses, but in the influence that the word of God itself has on the listener.

The author writes that Egypt has agreed to criminalize polygamy that was underlined in the final recommendations of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly that was recently held in Athens, Greece.

Bishop Bīshūy and a lay Christian scholar have published a book that responds to that of Bishop Paphnotius in which he openly criticized Bishop Bīshūy.