Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Mahmoud Hassan
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Visitation rights do not exist in Egyptian prisons, where abuses continue
Family visitations to prisoners in Egypt are limited to 20-minutes once a month and can only be from behind double-glazed windows. A trip to visit loved ones can be a journey of pain. The high security prison complex north-east of Cairo is called Badr. It has witnessed many stories of...
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Egypt: Freedom in exchange for silence
They won’t say anything in exchange for their release. That’s the gist of the initiative presented to the Egyptian authorities by the families of thousands of political detainees, in the hope that it leads to their release. In return, they would retire from politics, the media and social media;...
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Egyptian life is increasingly built upon ‘buy now, pay later’
Many Egyptians are now buying basic necessities on credit. They no longer have cash to buy items such as rice, oil, meat or even medicine; instead, they borrow money to do so. Debt logbook is a deferred payment system that is becoming widespread in Egypt, especially in the south, where...
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Egypt is looking for a new salvation front
The eleventh anniversary of the 30 June demonstrations in 2013 which paved the way for Egypt’s military coup a few days later — 3 July — coincides with three things that show how the situation of Egyptians under the rule of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi turned out: Egyptians live...
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The oppression of trees in Egypt
A new form of oppression has emerged in Egypt, and this time it is not about putting people behind bars. This oppression is against nature, and it targets old and rare trees which are getting cut down all over the country under the pretext of expanding roads, building bridges...
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Egyptian bread: fire burning under the ashes
At a first glance, decision-makers in Egypt may think they have succeeded in raising the price of subsidised bread by 300 per cent, effective from the beginning of this month, June. Perhaps the Egyptian ruling regime is under the illusion that the decision, which affects about 70 million Egyptians, will...
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Al-Sisi's political rivals face prison, or worse
The systematic policy used by the Egyptian regime against those who try to deviate from the will of the current president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, is simple: anyone who steps out of line is punished. It works. Al-Sisi is in his third term of office, extended to 2030. The latest victim...
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Egypt and Israel border tension must be calculated and controlled
Ongoing tension between Egypt and Israel over the Rafah border crossing raises serious fears that the situation will deteriorate, especially after the killing of two Egyptian soldiers, and the Israeli army’s announcement of operational control over the Philadelphi (Salah Al-Din) Corridor along the border. Current developments portend a possible escalation,...
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Will a new Hemedti surface in Egypt?
Influence of Egyptian businessman, Ibrahim Al-Argany, is vastly growing with the support of sovereign agencies. His operations are surrounded by ambiguity about his network of relationships, his sources of funding and the agenda he is implementing regarding sensitive issues related to Egyptian national security. No one really knows the extent...
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Egyptians disappearing ‘behind the sun’
At one o’clock in the morning, last 10 March, a large security force raided the home of Egyptian journalist, Yasser Abu Al-Ala (50 years old), located in the city of Badrshein (south of Cairo), without judicial authorisation, and seized his phone, personal computer and the phones of his family...
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Who is against Israel’s Rafah operation, and who stands to gain from it?
Israel’s military assault on Rafah is ongoing amid US reservations and Egyptian statements. The announced objective of the operation is to eliminate the remaining Palestinian resistance, with no regard for the safety of civilians or violating the occupation state’s peace treaty with Egypt. Despite statements opposing the Israeli operation...
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Why are Egyptian universities silent about the situation in Gaza?
While students continue to protest in the United States and other Western countries about the Israeli war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, silence reigns at Egypt’s universities for the eighth month in a row. This has left many question marks about the dormant student movement in a...
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A daily schedule for power cuts in Al-Sisi’s Republic of Darkness
Not even the most pessimistic people could ever have imagined that the Egyptian government would set a daily schedule for power cuts. This is now happening in a country whose ruling regime has always bragged about having surplus electricity being exported to Arab and European countries. This surplus was...
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Why doesn't Sisi want to run the Gaza Strip?
Israeli and American attempts to get Egypt to have a role in running the Gaza Strip continue. They are trying to plan for the post-war phase and the first day that will follow a ceasefire agreement between the Israeli Occupation and the Palestinian Resistance. Running Gaza is the biggest concern...
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Darkness haunts the blind in Egypt twice over
What can he do? This is the question you often hear when looking for a job opportunity for a blind person in Egypt, where even able-bodied people suffer from a seven per cent unemployment rate, according to official data. Thus, those who can’t see face major challenges in a...
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What did Sisi say, and what did he mean?
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s speeches are always filled with unmistakable signals about the country’s political and economic future. His inauguration speech a few days ago, and the celebratory ceremonies that accompanied it, are perhaps the clearest yet about the policies and orientations of a man from military intelligence...
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Why do candidates affiliated with the regime in Egypt fail in union elections?
Over the course of the latest heated elections in three long-established trade unions in Egypt, the result has been the same: the candidate supported by the regime and its security services has lost, and the opposition or independent candidate won. Security and regime agencies often try to control all...
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What’s behind the generous aid packages for Al-Sisi’s Egypt?
Not even the most optimistic would have expected Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s regime in Egypt to receive billions of dollars in loan, investment and aid packages, because, according to official data, it is clearly unable to pay back its current foreign debts of about $165 billion. Financial support for Cairo...
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Abused and oppressed, Egyptian political detainees fast behind bars
A few bites may easily satisfy the hunger of those fasting behind bars in Egypt, but food will not relieve the bitterness of being unjustly imprisoned in political cases. One Ramadan after another, they wait for a glimpse of light that may help get them released. Ramadan in Egyptian prisons...
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Charity work is now firmly restricted in Egypt
In Giza, near the Egyptian capital, people rush towards a large truck, which is distributing food parcels labelled “Long live Egypt”. The scene is repeated in many other neighbourhoods and other governorates. Such distributions are supervised by security and governmental bodies, who celebrate them and even take photos of...
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What are the hidden details of the Egypt-UAE Ras Al-Hikma deal?
Despite the official Egyptian cheer for the Ras Al-Hikma deal with the UAE, questions remain, even though Egypt is counting on it to get out of its stifling economic crisis. The deal was concluded a few days ago, and is receiving a lot of attention. It is seen as...
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The Muslim Brotherhood’s future in Egypt following Sisi-Erdogan summit
It must have been difficult for members of the Muslim Brotherhood to watch Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meeting the movement’s sworn enemy, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, in a bilateral summit in Cairo two weeks ago. The summit was a pivotal step towards Turkiye-Egypt reconciliation. It followed a...
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What are Egypt’s response scenarios to an Israeli attack on Rafah?
The possibility of an imminent Israeli ground attack on the Palestinian city of Rafah is strong, amid fears of a humanitarian catastrophe that will exacerbate the tragic conditions in the Gaza Strip, in its fifth month under fire. The Israelis are working fast to get the green light from...
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Erdogan's visit to Egypt: possible gains and compromises
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Cairo has several implications. It holds expected gains and possible concessions from both sides, amid an urgent and mutual need for more rapprochement and bilateral cooperation. The visit, which took place on Wednesday, was a turning point in the course of relations between...