THE IRAQIS BY KAMAL KARIM KATBA The Iraq we know and hear so much about today is a new nation. The British created it in 1922 when the late sir Winston Churchill was minister of colonies.  He came to Egypt with his, then, advisor, T. E. Lawrence (the famous Lawrence of Arabia), where they re-drew the map of the middle east according to the (not so secret) treaty of Sykes / Picot.

 
 

THE FALL OF BAGHDAD BY DR.  MAHMOUD EL-BAROUDY The Mongol invasions of the Islamic lands represented a watershed in the history of the Islamic world. It was the first time, since the establishment of the Khalifate more than six hundred years earlier, that a significant part of the Islamic world had been subjected to the domination of a non Muslim power.

 

EGYPT AND THE MARKET ECONOMY --  BY DR. YOUSSEF HEGAZY. TheEgyptian economy is changing in a very fast pace, and the social fabric of the country is reacting. The structure and performance of the country political institutions are not up to such complicated fast pace dynamics. Something eventually has to give, and that is probably the only good news.

 

WHO NEEDS THE UNITED NATIONS? BY DR. IBRAHIM M. ABDEL MOTALEB- President Bush declared, in one of his speeches, that either the United Nations bares its responsibility to disarm Saddam Hussein, or it will become irrelevant as its predecessor, the League of Nations. The Hawks in the defense department and the right wing analysts have been arguing that the failure of the UN to authorize war on Iraq, as the US wants, is a proof that it became as ineffective as the League of Nations.

 

THE BITTER TRUTH - BY DR. IBRAHIM M. ABDEL MOTALEB. An Egyptian theatrical play in Arabic.

 

MAFQUWDAT/ LOST AND FOUND - BY MONA MAHMOUD. An Egyptian short story in Arabic.

 

A TRIP TO AN EGYPTIAN POLICE STATION BY SAYED MUHAMMED A short Egyptian play .

 

A BIOGRAPHY OF LATE ACTRESS AMIYNAH RIZQ  BY  REPORTER HAZEM WEFY - In Arabic.

 

SPOTSLIGHTS : THE LIFE OF MOVIE DIRECTOR KAMAL SALIYM BY HAZEM WEFY, in Arabic.

 

"OF NASSER AND CLEOPATRA"  BY KAMAL KARIM KATBA. A  close encounter with the Rais. A Recollection of personal Memories of Egypt in the late fifties.

 

OF WOMEN IN ISLAM -- THE INTRODUCTION OF FEMALE SECLUSION IN ISLAM BY MERVAT MOHAMMED MAHMOUD. The system of  female seclusion in  vogue in many Muslim societies  today did not come into practice until long after the  Republic.  Women moved freely and unescorted in public.  They attended , along with the men, sermons of  the khalifs, and  lectures  delivered by Ali, Ibn el-Abbas and other Companions of the Prophet (SA3s). The custom of female seclusion,  in vogue among the Persians Mawalis from earlier times,  made its first  appearance  among the Muslim communities under the reign  of the Ommayyad khalif  Walid II.  The character and habits of the sovereign favored the growth and development of this practice  which was blindly transplanted to the congenial soil of Syria. His disregard of  social conventionalities, and the daring coolness with which he entered the privacy of  families compelled the adoption of safeguards against outside intrusion, which once introduced, overtime evolved into a sanctified custom.

 

THE EDUCATION CRISIS IN EGYPT -  IT'S  ROOTS BY ISHINAN . A century ago most Egyptians who wanted a liberal university education had to seek it abroad and at their own expense since the practice of sending students to Europe with Government scholarships virtually ceased under the British occupation. Since then an entire century has passed.  Looking today at our "educated classes."  Did we finally create the emergence of  the investigator, the thinker, the philosopher, the scholar, the man of open mind, fine spirit, generous sentiments, whose whole life is bound to the ideal and above all, the inventor and the creative human being we all yearn to be?

 

GATEWAY TO THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT BY JANO EL-KADY ( EPISODE ONE). Some 5000 years ago a civilization was just awakening that would still leave us mesmerized by it's beauty, it's knowledge, it’s culture, it’s love of life and their preparation and belief in a better life to come in the "afterlife". This civilization was, of course, that of Ancient Egypt.

 

FALSE DAWN --THE CHRONICLES OF THE FRENCH EXPEDITION.  ( EPISODE ONE). In 1798, Bonaparte's expedition into Egypt unleashed a chain reaction which set about events that would required two centuries of complicated maneuvering before they were brought back into a semblance of order (if any).  Since then, and for the past two hundred years, Egypt has become a testing ground for Great power rivalries. First, the French in 1798, then the British in 1807 (failed Expedition in Rashiyd), and again in 1882 . At the dawn of the 21st Century, Egypt remains a tempting target for the remaining superpower.

 

THE LION OF THE EAST -- THE FORMATIVE YEARS -(EPISODE ONE) Muhammad `Aliy was not to be expected that during his childhood in  the small seaport town of Qawalah  surroundings to  receive much education.  In fact, he never learned to read or write with any fluency, and throughout his life he regarded books as "unnecessary lumber".  In his later years, he remarked, "The only books I ever read were men's faces, and I seldom read them amiss!"

 

THE SUEZ CANAL -- THE TURBULENT LEGACY- (EPISODE FIVE) From 1861 onwards  De Lesseps was calling upon the Khidiwiy for corveé  of Egyptian laborers on a mounting scale. Their number  in the Canal zone had increased by the end of 1862 from 2,500 to 50,000 with promises of more . On November 18, 1862, at eleven o'clock in the morning, the waters of the Mediterranean flowed into Lake Timsah. "What the ancient world could not do the modern world has done. Today, the union of the Mediterranean with the Red Sea must be regarded as an accomplished fact" Declared De Lesseps. What was omitted from this momentous occasion was, that in order to achieve this "murderous enterprise", ten of thousands of Egyptian fallahiyn were dying, under the merciless rule of forced labor.

 

THE WIND AND THE WHIRLWIND -- BY WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT. Based on the life of Ahmad `Urabiy Pasha and the 1881-1882 Revolution. In view of the present events taking place in Iraq, The timing of this series could not be more appropriate. In both cases, it is a situation we all know too well.   The excuses for a brutal intervention, aiming at regime change and subjugation of the country to rob its resources are all too familiar.  Though over a century separate both events, the colonial style of intervention and the ensuing spin are identical. The series starts with a preface, a short biography of the Author Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, followed by the first episode along with excerpt verses from the poem "The Wind and the Whirlwind".

 

THE 1919 REVOLUTION -- MARCH 8th . Throughout 1918 Egypt was rife with agitation, when a group of men constituted themselves into a delegation, in Arabic a wafd, and in November 1918 met with Sir Reginald Wingate, the British High Commissioner, to request that they be allowed to proceed to the Paris Peace Conference and present Egypt's case. During that meeting one of the delegates told Wingate that they were asking for complete independence, which became their goal. Sa`d Zaghluwl proceeded to strengthen his leadership by seeking to collect formal signed depositions from all representative organizations in the country to the effect that the Wafd was the official representative of the Egyptian nation solely responsible and authorized to negotiate its political future. The British government in London refused the request of the wafd in no uncertain terms and agitation broke out in the country. It was March 8th 1919.

 

THE LOST MEMOIRS OF EX-KING FARUWQ I -- WHAT REALLY HAPPENED : " When I was King," Egypt's ex-monarch declared " I kept silent. Today I release myself from my self imposed vows. The coup d'état which cost me my throne was not planned by Naguib, but by foreign military advisers. The Communists plan that Egypt shall become a second Korea. Make no mistake -- the next war is already being fought, and I am one of its casualties"  Faruwq I.

 

EGYPT'S DESTINY BY LIWA'  MUHAMMAD NAGIYB. "To serve its purpose, the military must be given a worthy government to defend." Luwa' 'arkan harb Muhammad Nagiyb.    When the calf is thrown, as we say in Arabic, the knives begin to fall. So many knives have fallen on King Faruwq already that I can take no pleasure in adding to their number here. I would prefer to ignore the past and confine myself to the present and the future. But since the present begins in the past, as the future begins in the present, I must begin my story by casting a backward glance at the sorry reign of the deposed King of Egypt.

 

THE CROSSING OF THE SUEZ CANAL BY - Lt. GENERAL SA`D AL-SHAZLIY -(EPISODE # 40) . Lt. General Sa`d al-Shazliy , hero of the successful military offensive  which overtook the Bar lev Line in 1973.  Western military experts term him as the single most important figure in the Egyptian Forces.   Al-Shazliy 's account of his period as Chief of Staff from 1971-1973 is terse unadorned, unique and utterly fascinating .  Episodes # 36 through # 40  here cover the  entire 1973 Ramadan/October war. Episodes  # 1 through #  34 cover the preparations for the war.

 

THE SAGA OF THE ARABIAN-ISLAMIC CALENDAR BY ISHINAN  The calendar represents an open window through which one can peer into one of the most interesting and fascinating aspects of the Arabian culture during Pre-Islamic times. A general introduction to the Islamic calendar and the first month  of al-Muharram. Subsequent months of the calendar will be posted each month.

 

HAZAR FAZR CHALLENGE -- # 1 -- BY ISHINAN For those with a taste for remorseless logic "Hazar Fazar" is where it all happens. Here you are taxed with everything under the sun; from strange series and mystifying matrices to cubic conundrums, exciting quizzes covering a wide varieties of topics encompassing history, geography, literature, the arts and exotic enigmas. This is puzzling fun at its most acute and is guaranteed to have you biting your fingernails in frustration, but the very the end the ultimate aim is to broaden and sharpen your mind.

 

ZAGAL ABUW HAMIYD AL-MISRIY BY DR. AHMED TABBAKH In Arabic -- The Mafia.

 

BARIYD AL-QURA'  STARTING IN OCTOBER.