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Signs of a new crisis have jumped to the front of the cultural arena in Egypt and have revived the scenario of confrontation between the Azhar institutions and liberal intellectuals. The most bizarre incident is the banning of Nawal Al-Sa'adawi's "Soqout Al-Imam" [The Fall of the Imam] that was...
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The new law that gives the authority of judicial seizure to the Azhar triggered much fear that it will promote the authority of the Azhar and threaten freedom of expression.
The Minister of Justice, Farouq Seif al-Nasr, said that the decision is not targeted at literary books, and such books would...
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The recent statement by the Shaykh of Azhar Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi in which he said that the French government has the right to impose a ban on the H...
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More than twenty-five articles in the Arabic newspapers are dedicated to the issue of eliminating religious signs in French schools and its relationship to secularism. President Jacques Chirac?s speech on this issue has provoked contradictory reactions, not only inside the French community,...
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Issues related to anti-Semitism are discussed in four of the
papers of this week. Most articles question the connection established between criticizing Israel and anti-
Semitism.
See also art. 2 and 3
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Magdy Khalil, a Coptic writer in the US, wrote a series of three articles in Watani
newspaper under a general title "A Returnee from Cairo." In this series, he comments on the conditions of Copts in
Egypt. al-Arabi, mouthpiece of the Nasserist Party, and Islamic independent Aqidati highly...
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The four newspapers comment on the Arab Culture Conference in Cairo. Some articles praise it and others think it is an ?anti-Islam? conference.
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One of the issues that surfaced after September 11 is the issue of "religious discourse" and its importance in showing that Islam is not a religion of violence and terrorism. Articles covered in this press review show what kind of religious discourse is needed today and whether there are Western...
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Questioning the religious dimension of the war on Iraq is the focus of many articles covering the war. Different publications shed light on Bush’s religious background in an effort to establish a link between his religious tendencies and the war. Others wonder whether the war is a new crusade...
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Egyptian papers gave much space to the different opinions about the controversial fatwa of Sheikh Al-Eish which incriminated dealing with the Iraqi Transitional Ruling Council. They also comment on the reaction to the fatwa within American political circles. The fatwa raised many questions about...