Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Copts are partners in the nation for 14 centuries now and there will be no more discrimination between Muslims and Copts as both will be equal in the eye of the law, said presidential candidate Dr. Muhammad Salīm al-‘Awā at the Mar Girgis Church in Kūm Hamādah, al-Beheira governorate on Thursday (May 10). [Tāmir ‘Abd al-Ra’ūf and Nādir Mahmūd Tammān, al-Ahrām, May 11, p. 4] read original text in Arabic

Acting patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church Bishop Pachomius pledged the church will not interfere in Christians’ votes to elect a president of the republic, adding Copts demand that the clear mention of civil state be included in the constitution. [Khayr Rāghib, Yāsir Shimīs, Hamdī Qāsim, Ahmad ‘Abd al-Salām, Rajab Ramadān and Teresa Kamāl, al-Misrī al-Yawm, April 27, p. 6] Read original text in Arabic

A recent visit by Muftī of the Republic Dr. ‘Alī Jum’ah to Jerusalem and prayers at the al-Aqsá Mosque along with official Jordanian figures sparked a row among clerics and scholars in the Muslim world. [Ahmad ‘Abd al-Fattāh and Nādir Abū al-Futūh, al-Ahrām, April 19, p. 13] Read original text in Arabic

Orthodox Copts received the Easter with a mournful mood over the death of Pope Shenouda III at the Saint Mark Cathedral in the Cairo district of al-‘Abbāssīyah led by acting patriarch Bishop Pachomius. [Ashraf Sādiq, al-Ahrām, April 15, p. 6] Read original text in Arabic

Coptic activist Mamdūh Ramzī called for representation of Copts in all state positions, giving them the chance to have access to top posts and removing any bans on Copts seeking to run for presidential elections. [Author Not Mentioned, al-Wafd, April 13, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic

The defense counsel of the families of martyrs of the October 9 Maspero incidents quit the case and called for setting up an independent civil investigation panel. [‘Imād Khalīl, al-Misrī al-Yawm, April 12, p. 8] Read original text in Arabic

Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate Khayrat al-Shātir said the implementation of the Islamic sharī’ah is his "lifetime project," adding there is no bargaining over it. [Muhammad Rādī, al-Akhbār, April 5, p. 7] Read original text in Arabic

Several scholars of the Azhar and its affiliate Islamic Research Academy welcomed the top Sunnī establishment’s decision to withdraw its only representative, former Muftī of the Republic Dr. Nasr Farīd Wāsil, from the constituent assembly drafting a new constitution for Egypt. [Ahmad ‘Uways, al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, March 31, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic

Presidential hopeful ‘Amr Mūsá said that corruption is the largest enemy facing the second republic, adding corruption must be uprooted and the rule of equality and law established.

“The new republic should develop the cultural and educational process which will include all the society segments including Muslims and Christians,” Mūsá said during a meeting with a number of authors and writers.  [Jamāl Abū al-Dahab, al-Ahrām, March 29, p. 4] Read original text in Arabic

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians on Tuesday (March 20) attended the funeral of Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III that started at Saint Mark Cathedral in the Cairo district of al-‘Abbāssīyah amidst unprecedented security measures to control the pope-loving masses who tried to enter the cathedral to get a last look on the deceased prelate. [‘Imād Khalīl and Dālyā ‘Uthmān, al-Misrī al-Yawm, March 21, p. 1] Read original text in Arabic