cairo

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas address the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 70th session, September 20, 2015. (UN Photo/Cia Pak)

Palestine’s battle for hearts and minds in the Arab world

A new Palestinian PR campaign attempts to recast the conflict by comparing Israeli violence against Palestinians to methods used by Islamic State. By Jacob Wirtschafter CAIRO — Eager to re-enlist Egyptian public opinion to their cause, the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo hosted a rare press conference Thursday outlining Ramallah’s current diplomatic agenda. The agenda includes…

By +972 Magazine November 1, 2015

An Israeli artillery fires a shell towards the Gaza Strip from a position near Israel's border with the Gaza. (photo: Activestills.org)

Gaza truce ends as Cairo negotiations hit deadlock

A 3-day truce between Israel and Palestinian factions comes to an end after negotiating parties fail to reach a deal in Cairo ceasefire talks. UPDATE: At about 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, the Israeli Air Force began striking targets in the Gaza Strip, following rockets fired by Palestinian militants into Israel from the Strip. The rocket barrage…

By +972 Magazine August 8, 2014

Bodies lie on the floor of Kuwaiti Hospital after Israeli attacks in Rafah, Gaza Strip, August 3, 2014. Since Al Najjar Hospital was closed, Kuwaiti, a nearby private hospital, opened its doors for emergency cases. So far, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,676 Palestinians, including 378 children (photo: Activestills)

Gaza war: It’s about keeping the Palestinians under control

Israel has been waging a single war since the mid-70s. Its goal is to avoid sharing power or assets with the other people living on this land. The Gaza war wasn’t about creating a new order, but about maintaining the old one. At the time of this writing, Operation Protective Edge has come to an…

By Noam Sheizaf August 7, 2014

Latest

Grave matters: Israel’s mistreatment of Islamic waqf

In the past, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced the desecration and vandalism of mosques and Muslim cemeteries. But the destruction of Muslim religious properties in Israel is, in fact, institutionalized and has a long and sometimes shocking history Jewish settlers torched a mosque near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on December 15.…

By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat December 20, 2011

Maikel Nabil Sanad (photo: Sanad's Facebook page)

Jailed Egyptian blogger on hunger strike, in critical condition

Last March, an Egyptian blogger named Mikael Nabil Sanad, 26, was arrested and accused of insulting and defaming the military. The catalyst for the arrest was a blog post he wrote at the beginning of the month, in which he accused the army of forcing female activists arrested at Tahrir to undergo virginity tests. Several…

By +972 Magazine October 7, 2011

Egyptian soldiers next to the wall around the Israeli embassy building that was torn down by protesters yesterday (photo: flickr/maggie osama)

Calling all nations! Responsible adult needed in Middle East!

It’s true, as of today a military escalation is unlikely. At least, that’s what all the experts and all the analysts are saying. Yet I can’t help but feel the Middle East has never been so close to war as it is today. And I don’t say this lightly. As one who has lived in…

By Ami Kaufman September 10, 2011

Between Cairo and Ankara, Netanyahu’s failures are exposed

These are the most challenging times the Middle East has seen in decades, yet one couldn’t imagine a more inept government for Israel than the one that sits in Jerusalem Last month, Israel rejected a compromise over the flotilla incident that Israeli and Turkish negotiators reached. The American administration has been applying pressure on Jerusalem…

By Noam Sheizaf September 10, 2011

Letter from Cairo: City’s Jewish history presents political problems

Surprising the locals When I walked into Cairo’s Ben Ezra Synagogue last Saturday afternoon, the groundskeeper, Hassan, was both surprised and excited. Now a museum, I was not the only person there. But it turns out I was the only one to kiss the mezuzah on the way inside. Hassan smiled and asked me, “Anta…

By Roee Ruttenberg July 7, 2011

Egypt: Soldiers planted flowers in Tahrir Square

CAIRO — Tahrir Square has been cleaned up. One day last week soldiers laid new turf in the central traffic island, and the next day they planted flowers. A day after that they erected a huge banner that confirmed the army’s commitment to the people and the goals of the revolution, but when I returned…

By Lisa Goldman April 24, 2011

Cairo metro map with the station name "Mubarak" scratched off

Removing the Mubarak name from public places

Egypt is gradually entering the post-Mubarak era. Yesterday I photographed this route map on a Cairo subway: the name of Mubarak Station had been scratched out, and someone had scrawled over it the word “martyrs” in green ink. Since the January 25 revolution, this type of defacement has been a common sight in Cairo public…

By Lisa Goldman April 21, 2011

Cairo democracy activist wrapped in an Egyptian flag (photo: Lisa Goldman)

Egypt’s revolution: Lots of toil ahead & maybe some tears

CAIRO — Yasmin, an attorney and democracy activist, said that this past Friday’s demonstration at Tahrir Square was the biggest she’d seen since Mubarak resigned. “This is the old spirit of the revolution,” she said, as Ramy Essam, a musician who composed and performed a now-famous song at Tahrir during the revolution, played the guitar…

By Lisa Goldman April 3, 2011

Naje Ahmed (photo: Lisa Goldman)

Israel must change its approach, says Egyptian journalist

CAIRO — “The whole region is changing except for Israel,” said Egyptian journalist Ahmed Naje. “In three or four years, Egypt will have a democratically elected civilian government, but Israel will still have a government dominated by former army officers. The gap in mentalities will widen, and it will become very difficult to bridge. Israel…

By Lisa Goldman March 29, 2011

Bumper sticker celebrating the January 25 revolution (photo: Lisa Goldman)

In post-revolutionary Cairo, patriotism is newly fashionable

CAIRO — After a long and frustrating day of epic Cairo traffic jams and appointments that were either canceled at the last minute or ignored altogether, a group of us, trying to salvage the day with a good meal, drove out to a casual-but-famous restaurant in old Cairo that specialized in local meat dishes. And…

By Lisa Goldman March 22, 2011