CENTRE for RELIGIOUS PLURALISM in the MIDDLE EAST

Egyptian Streets is an independent, young, and grass roots news media organization aimed at providing readers with an alternate depiction of events that occur on Egyptian and Middle Eastern streets.

Christianity Today is the source for those eager to engage the world for Christ, who want to know the people, events, and trends that shape church and culture.

US Copts Association, products news of general interest to the American –Copt Community.

Voice of the Copts, a nonprofit organization, fights the spread of Islamic supremacy and Sharia throughout the Western world through education, advocacy and action.

Egypt Independent is the sister English-language publication of Al-Masry Al-Youm daily, the country's flagship independent paper. Born in 2009 as a news website, Egypt Independent has been providing Egypt and the world with high-quality, in-depth content about the political, economic, social and cultural landscape of the country. In 2011, Egypt's year of revolutionary change, Egypt Independent launched a weekly print edition that serves as an insightful digest of the country's dynamic

Egypt Today is the nation’s oldest and bestselling English-language social affairs magazine, providing features, profiles and in-depth analysis since 1979. We go beyond just the facts to provide readers with the stories behind the headlines, the stories that haven’t made the headlines and with unique perspectives, context and depth.

Watani is an Egyptian weekly Sunday newspaper published in Cairo. The word Watani is Arabic for “My Homeland”. The paper was founded in 1958 by the prominent Copt Antoun Sidhom (1915 – 1995), who strove for the establishment of a civil, democratic society in Egypt, where all Egyptians would enjoy full citizenship rights regardless of their religious denomination. This remains Watani’s objective to this day, leaning neither left nor right on the political level, but following its own clear

The Egyptian capital was once home to a vibrant Jewish population. But regional politics and demographics have left only a determined few.

CAIRO — Many Copts believe their own cinema is one of the most important means of preserving Coptic heritage and the stories of saints and symbols of the church. Nevertheless, numerous crises and difficulties have led to the collapse of the Christian religious film industry.

Abstract

Relations between the Coptic minority and the Egyptian state have gone through different stages, with Copts experiencing greater or lesser degrees of integration into, or alienation from, the social and civil fabric of Egypt. This paper traces the long and ongoing path of the Coptic community from dhimmah to citizenship, a path that is not yet concluded, with a particular focus on the relations between the Copts and Al-Azhar, especially in the transition period opened by

Much has been said about Egypt’s coming parliament, with pundits mostly projecting a mass return of old regime figures accounting for almost half the number of candidates contesting the race. But the results of the first round of phase one of Egypt’s parliamentary elections indicate changes to the country’s complex political scene, with new faces replacing household names and seasoned political parties.

The current elections in Egypt are shedding light on segments of the population that are unable to compete for a large number of seats in parliament. A new electoral law is providing these groups with special representation in one-third of the parliament that is elected based on electoral lists. Among these categories are ...

Egyptian Mufti Shawky Allam issued a statement on Wednesday, in which he offered his Christmas greetings to Copts, while asserting that Islam encourages its followers to offer greetings to the Coptic community in connection with its religious celebrations.

Released in May of this year, Copts Island (Jazeerat Al-Akbat), is a documentary directed by Ahmed Rashwan in which the filmmaker traces the journey of today's Coptic Christians. The film also speaks to several developments in the way the Coptic community has been portrayed throughout the history of Egyptian cinema.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi celebrated Christmas with Coptic Christians, issuing a speech in which he pledged to rebuild churches torn down by Islamists.

CAIRO — Becoming a member of parliament as the first Coptic woman to win an individual seat representing a district known for its tribalism and intolerance was a difficult feat. Mona Gaballah succeeded in entering the annals of Egyptian parliamentary history as the first Coptic woman to represent the al-Jamaliah and Manshiyat Nasser district.

Fed up and fearful, Christians are leaving the Middle East.

Far from spreading cheer this holiday season, Pope Francis has been in a Grinch-like mood. “There will be lights, parties, Christmas trees and Nativity scenes,” he said in late November. “It’s all a charade.” As the Vatican unveiled its own giant spruce, he sounded downright depressed: “We should ask for the grace to weep for this world, which does not recognise the path to peace.”

Abstract

This paper examines the slow but steady transformation in how Coptic identity has been articulated and expressed since the mid-1990s. In the past, Copts were careful not to challenge a particular narrative of national unity, which formally included Copts in the Egyptian nation (‘religion is for God, and the nation is for all’), but which in practice imposed a kind of public invisibility on them. Today, a growing number of activists are seeking a public identity for Copts, a

I’m writing today with sadness, because Leila, one of the participants in the Valuable Girl Project, recently passed away. Like all of the Little Sisters in the project, Leila is someone we cherished. Her loss is felt deeply by staff, family, and her friends. Yet, I also want to share the remarkable way the girls united after Leila’s passing, and how that also brought together their Christian and Muslim parents.

As promised by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian Armed Forces are already working on restoring or rebuilding churches destroyed by the Muslim Brothers (MB) and their supporters on 14 August 2013, in the wake of the overthrow of the Islamist MB regime that came to power in 2012 following the 2011 Arab Spring.

Coptic characters are mostly portrayed as sidekicks in Egyptian cinema, but there are a few notable exceptions in films that tackle more complicated issues, writes film critic Sherif Awad.

Photo Editor Mohsen Allam joins sociologist Kees Hulsman on a trip to discover Coptic villages in Egypt.

The CEMMIS Middle East Bulletin Issue 28/June 2015 is a Greek Review of Middle Eastern Affairs that explores the situation and the role of the Christian communities across the Middle East.

The United Nations Security Council, Iranian Foreign Ministry and Egypt’s highest Islamic authority, Al-Azhar, condemned a terrorist attack on a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

Pope Tawadros II has opened four community service projects owned and operated by the Coptic Orthodox Church and financed by the United Arab Emirates. Present at the inauguration ceremony were Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr, Emirati Minister of State Sultan Ahmed Gaber who also heads the coordination office for Emirati development projects in Egypt, and the charge d’affaires of the UAE embassy in Cairo Khalifa Seif al-Teneiji.

Scores of Copts demonstrated on Wednesday 27 January in front of the Foreign Ministry in Cairo, demanding that Egypt’s government should take serious steps to reveal the fate of Copts who were reportedly kidnapped in Libya over the last six to 18 months. The demonstrators denounced what they described as the Foreign Ministry’s falling short of its duty to reassure Egyptians about the destiny of their family members in Libya.

Once the law on places of worship has been passed, things will be smoother for both the government and the Coptic Church. Or will they? One question that will still have to be addressed is whether the Church will content itself with spiritual matters, or whether it will try to maintain a presence in politics and the media.

An Egyptian court has decided on Wednesday to overturn death sentences for 149 pro-Islamists, according to an official source and reported by AFP.

Incense smoke fills the air as a priest with a salt-and-pepper beard and a billowing white gown recites Arabic hymns at the pulpit. Rows of red-cushioned wooden pews gradually fill, and a group of mostly young women carrying their children squeeze themselves into a standing space in the back.

Once a vibrant community, perfectly assimilated into society, the Jews of Egypt have dwindled in numbers and their presence is almost non-existent now. Niveen Ghoneim takes one last walk down memory lane with the last custodian of Egypt's Jewish heritage.

As often happens to Christian cemeteries in Muslim nations, “the tombs of the Copts are being turned into garbage dumps.” This was the urgent and recent message from Christian priest, Fr. Ayoub Yousef, who heads the Coptic Catholic church of St. George in the village of Dalga, in Minya, Upper Egypt.

CAIRO: The Diocese of Samalout will hold a memorial mass on Feb. 16 to mark the first anniversary of the 21 Egyptian nationals beheaded by Islamic State (IS) militants in Libya, Youm7 reported.

Statistics indicate that the Christian population across the Middle East has dropped from 13.6% to 4.2% in the past century. As the Egyptian Christian community continues to decrease, Valentina Primo speaks to those leaving the country to unveil the reasons behind this post-modern exodus.

After Egypt President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi apologised for not finishing the reconstruction work of Christian properties damaged in the aftermath of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi’s ouster in 2013, the engineering unit of the Armed Forces immediately started cooperating with Coptic authorities to wrap up the pending renovations, religious Coptic figures said.

The Bani Mazar Court will deliver the verdict in the trial of four Coptic Christian students charged with contempt of religion on 25 February.

As often happens to Christian cemeteries in Muslim nations — whether at the hands of “ISIS” or the hands of “angry youth” — “the tombs of the Copts [Egypt’s indigenous Christians] are being turned into garbage dumps.” This was the urgent and recent message from Fr. Ayoub Yousef, who heads the Coptic Catholic church of St. George in the village of Dalga, in Minya, Upper Egypt.

When someone asks me where my family is from, I stop and think. Do I simplify it for them? Do I tell them the truth? What is the truth? Where am I from? For most people it isn’t normal to freeze up at such a simple question. One usually just has to look at one’s culture, where one comes from, what language one speaks, what country one was born in, where one's roots are. But what if none of those match up? This is my problem.

Disregarding warnings from the dwindling Jewish community in Egypt, the Ministry of Antiquities is faced with the partial collapse of a synagogue in Alexandria.

In the most recent news regarding the Jewish community in Egypt, part of a historic synagogue in Alexandria has collapsed. The Ministry of Antiquities, according to Youm 7, acknowledge the partial collapse of the third floor ceiling. The 400 metre square area covering the women’s area in the synagogue collapsed due to a lack

Egypt's Christian communities will pray for unity over the next week, from February 13 to February 20.