Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The Maspero Youth Union (MYU) announced a stand of protest on the outside the Syndicate of Journalists headquarters under the rubric No For Devastation Of the State Of Law to condemn excesses against the local residents in al-‘Āmirīyah, western Alexandria, and calls to expel 45 Christian families from the district on Friday. [Usāmah Ramadān, Rose al-Yūsuf newspaper, Feb. 2, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic

Sectarian fitnah ignited anew on Monday (January 30) in the village of Sharbāt, al-Nahdah district, western Alexandria, where young men attacked several houses and stores owned by Christians, started fire and pelted stones, leaving three stores ablaze. [Amīrah Fathī, al-Wafd, Feb. 1, p. 3] Read original text in Arabic

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) reiterated condemnation of "attempts to provoke the group's youths" in al-Tahrīr Square during celebrations marking the January 25, 2011 revolution's first anniversary. [Hānī 'Izzat, al-Ahrām, Jan. 31, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic

Subhī Sālih, a member of parliament from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), said there are some attempts to spark a falling out between youths in al-Tahrīr Square and parliament on one hand and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on the other. [Fātimah ‘Abd al-Bāsit, al-Akhbār, Jan. 30, p. 6] Read original text in Arabic

The area of al-'Āmirīyah, west of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, has been the scene of deplorable incidents when Muslims and Christians exchanged fire, leaving three wounded and setting some stores on fire, after a young man saved the images of a young girl on his cell phone and showed them to his friends. [Nāsir Juwaydah, al-Ahrām, Jan. 29, p. 18] Read original text in Arabic

Ann Emil Zakī, a 35-year-old mother of four, adamantly insisted to become the first Egyptian woman to be ordained as priest right after she finished her theological studies. [Mīrā Mamdūh, Rose al-Yūsuf magazine, Jan. 28-Feb. 3, pp. 58-59] Read original text in Arabic

For a few weeks now, I have been closely following the fuss surrounding the visit by a delegation from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to the Saint Mark Cathedral in the Cairo district of al-'Abbāssīyah in the evening of January 6 under Lt. General Sāmī 'Anān to congratulate Christians on the Coptic Christmas.

Grand Shaykh of the Azhar Dr. Ahmad al-Tayyīb called on the members of the Egyptian parliament, the first after the January 25, 2011 revolution that unseated President Husnī Mubārak, to keep in mind the impoverished, downtrodden and marginalized citizens and the people who reside in graveyards and slums, adding those categories look forward to justice. [Dīyā' Abū al-Safā, al-Akhbār, Jan. 23, p. 4] Read original text in Arabic

Presidential hopeful Dr. 'Abd al-Mun'im Abū al-Futūh said Egypt has been a Muslim nation for nearly 15 centuries now, criticizing voices calling for the implementation of the sharī'ah "as if Egypt has been a Quraysh or infidel state". ['Ādil al-Darajlī, al-Misrī al-Yawm, Jan. 22, p. 14] Read original text in Arabic

The Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo approved by majority during its annual meeting on Friday (January 20) on the ordaining of women as priests for the first time in the history of all Christian denomination in Egypt. ['Imād Khalīl, al-Misrī al-Yawm, Jan. 21, p. 3] Read original text in Arabic