Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The author highlights incidents in Egypt in the last month that deal with religions and relations between Muslims and Christians, he believes that these incidents are representative of Egyptian attitude in general toward religions. He concludes by wondering if Egypt is going backwards.

Human Rights Watch asks Egypt to investigate about the incident of beating a Facebook activist.

Drs. Hulsman and Dr. Burslem provide a detailed report on Muslim-Christian relations based on a review of Dr. Hugh Goddard’s book, commenting on a number of issues including Western perceptions, mis-interpretations, and examples of recent incidents involving Muslims and Christians.

The author reviews how the Coptic art of drawing icons represents the fasting period of Lent.

‘Amr Bayyūmī discusses the recent criticisms that have been directed at senior leaders of both the Coptic Orthodox and the Protestant churches.

The author presents Dr. Mustafá al-Shak‘ah’s comments on being prosecuted for insulting Christianity, because of what he said in Sawt al-Ummah concerning Copts request to increase the number of churches.

Drs. Hulsman comments on the recent ENAWU launch, and points to a number of articles on houses of worship in this issue.

A group of students and scholars from Claremont University in the U.S recently visited the Coptic sites of Egypt. In the article the dean of the religion department who took part in the trip describes her experiences.

The author interviewed a number of church youth, servants, and priests to discuss the church’s role and restrictions on allowing mixed gender services in churches.

In the article, a bill prohibiting rallies in houses of worship, mosques, churches and synagogues, is being discussed in the Shūrá Council.