Free Republic

A Christian on the run in Egypt Maher El Gohary is something his Muslim compatriots can't fathom: a convert to Christianity. He and his daughter live like fugitives, moving frequently to avoid those who'd like to see him dead. By Jeffrey Fleishman August 22, 2009 Reporting from Alexandria, Egypt - It is a clear day along the coast, but in a bungalow off the beach, Maher El Gohary sits behind a locked door with an open Bible and a crystal cross, suspicious of every voice and sandal scraping past outside. He and his daughter, Dina, live like refugees, switching apartments...

Abbas has several stakeholders in and around him: Israel, Hamas, Fatah, the moderate Arabs, the militant Arabs/Persians, and the United States. The challenge for the duplicitous Abbas is that the stakes of these several holders conflict, and he is summarily falling short on every count. He pleases and crosses every one of them as time goes on. The end result is coming into focus: Abbas isolated and expendable. He'll be the last to know and the one most harshly affected.

CAIRO - For the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Egyptian fruit sellers have named their best dates of the year after President Obama in a tribute to the American leader for his outreach to the Muslim world. Dates are a traditional food for Ramadan - which begins today in most of the Islamic world - since the Prophet Mohammed is said to have used them to break the month’s sunrise-to-sunset fast each evening. In Washington, Obama continued his outreach to Muslims. The praying, fasting, and other centuries-old rituals “remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s...

President Obama's Islamic ass kissing speech in Cairo has finally paid off. The Christian persecuting Muslims of Egypt, are now honoring Obama by naming their best dates (fruit) after him. In 2006 Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah shared the same honor. This must be a proud day in Obama's life.

CAIRO — For the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Egyptian fruit sellers have named their best dates of the year after President Barack Obama in a sweet tribute to the American leader for his outreach to the Muslim world.Dates are a traditional food for Ramadan — which begins Saturday in most of the Islamic world — since the Prophet Muhammad is said to have used them to break the month's sunrise-to-sunset fast each evening. In Egypt, shops have created a new tradition of naming their best and worst dates to catch attention and boost sales — giving a little reflection...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is trying to restore Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak as the U.S. ace-in-the-hole in its decades-long effort to forge an elusive peace among Israel and the Arabs. After a serious falling out over Bush administration pressure on human rights and democracy in Egypt, Mubarak is back in the U.S. capital for the first time in more than five years to meet with Obama on Tuesday. The relationship is far from healed, despite Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton having eased back on those touchy issues and Egypt showing greater willingness to help with the...

The Israeli National Security Department in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) issued a warning Tuesday, advising Israelis to immediately leave and refrain from traveling to Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Sudan, Columbia, Iraq and Yemen.

Was Michael Jackson secretly trying to be "The Pharaoh of Pop?" An ancient Egyptian bust on display at the Field Museum in Chicago has been the focus of interest since the star's death as visitors double-take at the eerie similarities between the 3,000-year-old statue and the singer. The limestone statue -- which depicts an unidentified woman -- went on display at the museum in 1988 and was carved during the New Kingdom Period, dating from between 1550 BC to 1050 BC. Like Jackson's surgically-altered face, the carving has a distinct, upturned nose and rounded eyes. And like Jackson -- if...

Is there, within the Grand Canyon, an enigmatic system of tunnels that is evidence of an ancient Egyptian voyage to America? Is it all bogus? Or is the truth most likely somewhere in between? On April 5, 1909, a front page story in the Arizona Gazette reported on an archaeological expedition in the heart of the Grand Canyon funded by the Smithsonian Institute, which had resulted in the discovery of Egyptian artefacts. April 5 is close to April 1 – but then not quite… so perhaps the story could be true? Nothing since has been heard of this discovery. Today,...

WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama will welcome Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak August 18 to discuss the Middle East peace process, the "war on terrorism," and other issues, the White House said Monday. "The two leaders will discuss the full range of issues of common concern -- including Middle East peace, combating extremism and other regional threats, and promoting reform across the Arab world -- as well as how to strengthen the bilateral relationship," spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "The president looks forward to building on his discussions with President Mubarak during his visit to Cairo on June...

It's not easy living in an Arab state. Egyptians stay away from government hospitals; illiteracy among women in some countries can top 50 percent A new United Nations report presents a bleak and sometimes scary picture of a citizen's life in the Arab countries. One out of every five people in the region lives on less than $2 a day; the illiteracy rates are very high; and, for the most part, public health services cannot be relied on at all.

JERUSALEM – Hundreds of Muslims over the weekend tried to set a local Egyptian Christian's home on fire after he announced he would turn the structure into a church, an Egyptian security source and local Christians told WND. At least four Christian Copts and two Muslim policemen were wounded in the clashes that ensued this past Friday after about 500 local Muslims descended upon the small Christian village of Al-Hawasiliya, vowing to burn down the house. Local Christians told WND the Muslim mob was provoked at local mosque services.

SNIPPET: "Prosecutors direct 26 men accused providing military supplies to Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to state security court on terrorism and espionage-related charges" Reuters Published: 07.26.09, 16:19 / Israel News SNIPPET: "The bulk of the men "conspired... to carry out terrorist activities within Egypt," led by Hezbollah operatives Mohamed Qublan and Sami Chehab to attack "vessels passing through the Suez Canal, foreign tourists and tourist establishments", the statement said." SNIPPET: "Hezbollah has said Sami Shehab is a member of the group who had been providing military supplies to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip with the help of up to 10 others but...

The Health Ministry announced Egypt's first swine flu fatality on 19 July. The victim was identified as 28-year-old Samah El-Sayed Salima, recently returned from Saudi Arabia after the omra. Her death came after the Health Ministry had repeatedly advised pilgrims to cancel omra trips. El-Sayed began suffering flu-like symptoms in Mecca. She also had an underlying heart condition. Egypt's first cases of swine flu were confirmed in June among people travelling from the US. Soon cases were being reported among passengers coming from Western countries and from Saudi Arabia after performing omra rituals. The Ministry of Health began to call...

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen at the Egyptian ambassador's house during a celebration of Egypt's national day in Herzliya, Thursday, July 23, 2009.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, Israel's President Shimon Peres, center, and Egyptian ambassador to Israel Yasser Reda toast during a celebration of Egypt's national day in Herzliya, Thursday, July 23, 2009.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, Israel's President Shimon Peres, center, and Egyptian ambassador to Israel Yasser Reda cut a cake during a celebration of Egypt's national day in Herzliya, Thursday, July 23, 2009.HERTZLIA, ISRAEL - JULY 23: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks...

A senior Islamic Jihad (Holy War) delegation left for Cairo Saturday evening through Rafah crossing point to hold talks with Egyptian officials, a senior Islamic Jihad source unveiled. The source said that his group's delegation would hold talks with Egyptian mediators, but it is unclear whether the delegation would join the Fatah-Hamas talks held here. The Islamic Jihad delegation was headed by top leader Mohamed al-Hindi and four other senior leaders, said the Jihad source. Today, Rival Fatah and Hamas movements, who held a session of inter-dialogue in Cairo on Saturday, agreed to hold another session on Sunday to continue...

Middle East navies eye new submarines TEHRAN, July 17 (UPI) -- Submarine warfare seems to be in vogue in the Middle East these days, with Israel leading the way. Iran, Algeria and Egypt are also planning to acquire new submarines that could operate in the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Israel's surprise deployment of one of its German-built Dolphin boats, the 1,500-ton Leviathan, in the Red Sea in late June underscored the regional trend. The Type-800 boat's highly visible transit from the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea was widely seen...

Israeli and Egyptian officials said two ships had sailed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. Media reports in Israel said the two Saar-class missile ships had been sent as a "message" to the Tehran government, which has repeatedly issued threats against Israel and is developing nuclear technology believed by the West to be intended for atomic weapons programme. While Iran denies this, saying its enrichment of uranium is for civlian purposes only, so that it can generate electricity. Israel has also deployed a submarine using the Suez Canal, but it has since returned to the Mediterranean. Defence experts...

A military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities could emerge either as an independent option or as a last resort after a series of harsher sanctions. It could come with a Security Council stamp of approval, but it is equally conceivable that it could be launched by a US alliance forged outside the UN umbrella. Analysts agree that the plan is to mount an aerial assault -- or a combined missile and aerial assault -- against Iranian installations and not to invade the country. Nevertheless, their estimates of the number of targets vary enormously. Some predict as few as 20, others...

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) — A summit of the Non-Aligned Movement opened at this Egyptian Red Sea resort town Wednesday with a call from Cuban President Raul Castro for a new international financial system to shield developing nations from the global recession. Castro was addressing the opening session of the movement's two-day summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, the 15th such gathering since the group was founded in the 1950s. "We demand the establishment of a new international financial and economic structure that relies on the participation of all countries," Castro said. "There must be a new framework that doesn't depend solely...

Two Israeli navy ships made a rare crossing of Egypt's Suez Canal Tuesday, headed from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea in the latest of "unusual" navy drills spotted in Suez over the past month, a port source told AFP. One of the ships, the Hanit, already crossed the canal both ways in June, in what the source said was the first case of a large Israeli warship using the strategic waterway, although this was not possible to confirm officially.

All of the current theories -- a long, straight ramp, a ramp that corkscrewed around the outside of the pyramid, or cranelike shadoufs (used in Egypt until recently for irrigating fields) -- have serious flaws... architect Jean-Pierre Houdin and I presented a radical new theory: that blocks of stone were raised to the very top of the pyramid on an internal ramp. We gave what we felt was strong evidence for the theory, which explains a French team's microgravemetric survey in the 1980s that recorded variations in the density of the pyramid... an image from the survey may show a...

Using cutting edge technology, Egyptologist Bob Brier of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University delved into the only standing wonder of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid, and uncovered the mystery behind cracks in the massive Egyptian structure, unearthing a new room along the way. Brier, French architect Jean-Pierre Houdin and a team of software specialists from Dassault Systems in Paris used 3-D modeling software to determine that the burial chamber's stone support beams cracked as final construction of the Giza wonder was near completion 4,500 years ago. The team discovered that the cracks occurred when three...

In a continuation of the ongoing wave of arson attacks on Coptic places of worship, the Church of St. Abaskharion Kellini, in the village of Ezbet Bassilious, Beni Mazar, was burnt down at noon on July 11 by Muslim village inhabitants. No one was injured. A source in Bani Mazar Diocese told Free Copts advocacy the fire was instigated and directed as usual by State Security, aiming "to prevent prayers in new churches throughout both the Upper Egyptian provinces of Minya and of Beni Suef." Reverend Abraham Phillobos, pastor of the torched Church told Coptic News Bulletin that the Security...

Egypt has ceased efforts to mediate the formation of a national unity government between the rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, Israel Radio reported on Saturday. Officials who met with the senior echelon of Egyptian intelligence said that Cairo is instead proposing that two separate governments ? the Hamas regime in Gaza and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank ? continue to function until general elections are held. In parallel, Egypt would like to see the Palestinian factions agree on the formation of a committee that will lay the groundwork for the next elections as well as the...

Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister Naela Gabr said Saturday that the world society should make joint efforts to set up a new world order to deal with various crises. Gabr made the appeal when addressing the senior officials' meeting of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, which opened Saturday in Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The current world situation is quite different from 48 years ago when the NAM was founded, with increasing population, outbreaks of epidemic and deteriorating environment, she said. The world society should reconsider the international financial system and be more democratic in decision-making so as...

In less than two weeks, Muslim mobs carried out collective punishment on Copts in three villages stretching from Upper Egypt to the Nile Delta. These attacks included assaults, torching, and looting of Coptic homes and shops, forcing the terrorized villagers to abandon their possessions and flee to safety. In all three recent incidents the accounts of several eyewitnesses, including priests, directly implicated the Egyptian State Security of masterminding the assaults and instigating the mobs, and taking an active role in the violence against the Christians. The reason for the attacks on the two Upper Egyptian villages of Ezbet Boushra-East on...

Note: The following text is a quote: 09 July 2009 EGYPT ARRESTS TERRORIST CELL OF 25 MEMBERS CAIRO, July 9 (Xinhua) The Egyptian authorities have arrested a terrorist cell of 25 members, 24 Egyptians and one Palestinian, for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Suez Canal, Egyptian Interior Ministry said in statement issued on Thursday. According to the statement, the members of the cell who believe in Jihad (Holy War) were located in Cairo, Alexandria and Daqahlia governorates and communicated through internet with other terrorist groups outside Egypt. The cell's members, mostly engineers, were developing high-tech and electronic devices...

Egyptian authorities said they arrested 25 radical Islamic terrorists who were planning a terror attack at the Suez Canal. The chief of the crew is a member of Al-Qaida, security officials said, while the rest were Egyptian citizens. Most were technicians and engineers. Authorities say the group was planning to remotely set off explosives on ships plying the canal, using cell phones. They were also planning to damage or destroy oil pipelines running beneath the canal. The group had undergone intensive training in terrorist tactics and fighting, including learning how to build car bombs.

Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed another cache near the Western gate of the National Museum in Cairo, Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said yesterday.Zahi Hawass, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the cache contained a table made of limestone, a fragment of a slab with hieroglyphic inscriptions, some stones, and the base of a pharaonic pillar, which date back to the pharaonic period around 1,300 years BC."This type of slab was quite widespread during the era of the Pharaohs, who used it to mark a special occasion,

Defense minister briefs senior cabinet members on London meeting with Obama's Mideast envoy; one of them quoted as saying Barak 'offered dismantling of illegal West Bank outposts in exchange for nothing' Roni Sofer "(Defense Minister Ehud) Barak returned with nothing from his talks with (special US Mideast envoy) George Mitchell; it appears that he offered the dismantling of illegal West Bank outposts in exchange for nothing," a senior minister said Tuesday. The minister, who asked to remain nameless, was also quoted by his associates as saying, "The inclusion of Syria and Lebanon in the statement on a comprehensive peace agreement...

Quick, name the two largest recipients of American foreign aid. If you guessed Israel and Egypt, you'd be correct. Since 1997, the US has provided between $2 billion and $3 billion dollars annually to Israel and between $1b. and $2b. to Egypt, accounting for about a third of its total foreign aid budget.

An IDF Navy Dolphin-class submarine that participated in maneuvers off the Eilat coast last week returned to Israel via the Suez Canal on Sunday according to witnesses' reports. However, an Israeli defense official told Reuters there would be no permanent deployment in Eilat of the German-made submarines, of which the Navy has three, with two more on order. "If anything, we are scaling down our naval operations in Eilat," the official was quoted as saying on Sunday. A senior naval source explained that the "submarines need the open water, and that's just not available at Eilat." "Also, the navy cannot...

Nearly 60 years since the Egyptian army overthrew the monarchy, some Egyptians may be looking to the army again for a successor to 81-year-old head of state and former air force chief Hosni Mubarak. On front of the podium where President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981 while watching a military parade there is a huge frieze. The gilded triptych glorifies the military and places it at the heart of Egyptian society from the time of the Pharaohs. The central scene portrays soldiers, together with farmers, workers and students, carrying a plaque inscribed with 1952 - the year a group...

CAIRO: A group of Egyptian activists launched a website demanding the release of Iranian protestors detained on account of demonstrations following the allegedly rigged presidential elections in Iran. "We were obliged to defend the rights of the Iranians to express their opinions without being condemned and jailed for doing so. They shouldn’t be detained for expressing their anger toward certain suspected glitches in the elections..."

An Israeli submarine crossed through the Suez Canal last month as a part of a military training exercise, defense officials said on Saturday. The move is believed to have been made as a warning to Iran of the Jewish state's capabilities and and to show that Israel and Egypt, are cooperating against a shared threat. The two countries share a peace agreement but have had cool relations for years. By using the Suez, an Israeli submarine could reach the Persian Gulf off Iran in a matter of days, compared wiith weeks to sail around the southern tip of Africa. The...

Bad news folks, everything you learned in school about American History is wrong, you will have to re-learn almost everything. At least according to today's Moonbat, Egyptian Writer Muhammad Ibrahim Mabrouk. According to Mabrouk, Columbus didn't accidentally discover America trying to find a trade route to India, no that what the infidels want you to think. The real story is that Columbus was on his way to China trying to recruit the Emperor help Columbus liberate Jerusalem. You know those puritans that came over in the Mayflower? They came to the new world in order to kill all the natives....

Contrary to popular Egyptologist belief, the Torah does contain numerous hints of contemporary life in ancient Egypt. The western world has a fascination with the culture of ancient Egypt. The image of the great stone sphinx guarding the lofty pyramiding tombs of the mummified pharaohs, as the once all-powerful king journeyed through the world of darkness, adds to the mysterious lure of ancient Egypt. Over 100,000 books have been written on this inscrutable land and its pharaohs, the first one being composed over 2000 years ago. By the time the Hellenistic historian, Manetho, composed his Aegyptiaca in the third century...

CAIRO // June has been dubbed “the month of executions” and 2009 “the year of mass executions” by Egyptian newspapers and analysts amid debate about abolishing capital punishment. More than 200 death sentences have been handed down since the beginning of the year, including 68 in June alone, according to official sources at the justice ministry. There are usually about 80 people executed each year. A headline in the state-owned Al-Akhbar el-Youm weekly on Saturday read: the executioner is very busy these days: is execution a necessity to combat the proliferation of crimes? “32 death sentences in 72 hours ......

An attempt by Egyptians to march in solidarity with Iranian protesters and to honor Neda-Agha Soltan -- whose death earlier this month made her the icon of Iran's opposition movement -- was halted by security forces in Cairo over the weekend. The Cairo rally was called by democracy activist and opposition leader Ayman Nour and was scheduled to be held in Talaat Harb square in the Egyptian capital's downtown. But dozens of security vehicles surrounded Nour and his fellow protesters upon their arrival at the square. Police arrested four protesters belonging to Nour's party and prevented reporters from covering the...

CAIRO — The rancorous dispute over Iran’s presidential election could turn into a win-win for Arab leaders aligned with Washington who in the past have complained bitterly that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was destabilizing the region and meddling in Arab affairs, political analysts and former officials around the region said. The good-news thinking goes like this: With Mr. Ahmadinejad remaining in office, there is less chance of substantially improved relations between Tehran and Washington, something America’s Arab allies feared would undermine their interests. At the same time, the electoral conflict may have weakened Iran’s leadership at home and abroad, forcing it...

A few days ago it was reported that an Ethiopian Patriarch was considering revealing the secret of the Lost Ark, and the Ark itself, and how his church has been holding it for thousands of years, and would likely do so on Friday in Italy. Turns out he preferred keeping the secret (or had nothing to show) and said nothing on Friday. He had not even scheduled a press conference. World Net Daily has the whole story. Nobody knows what is true and what is not, but it is definitely a fascinating story.... The agency had reported an announcement would...

Fear of massacre grips Christian village in Egypt Whenever Muslims are seen “dancing and chanting ‘Come to Jihad’ and the ‘Cross is the enemy of God” outside the homes of grossly outnumbered indigenous Christians, who are further oppressed by the state, massacres become very real possibilities. More on this story. “Fear of Massacre Grips Christian Village in Egypt; Crops Destroyed,” from AINA, June 24: (AINA) — Fears of an impending massacre has gripped the Christian Copts in the village of Ezbet Boshra, El Fashn, which was scene to Muslim mob attacks on Copts on Sunday (AINA 6-22-2009). Egyptian State Security...

<p>Egyptologists from the Brooklyn Museum and doctors from North Shore University Hospital learned Tuesday through a CT scan that a 2,500-year-old mummy previously thought to be a woman - and named Lady Hor - actually was a man.</p> <p>Dr. Jesse Chusid said that while the mummy's body wrap of linen covered in plaster, called cartonnage, bore the shape of a woman, the body within had the anatomy of a man.</p>

The Middle East peace process should result in establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, President Dmitry Medvedev has told the League of Arab States in Cairo. On Tuesday, the Russian leader made Egypt his first stop on a tour of Africa aimed at reestablishing close ties with the continent. Along with addressing the Arab League, Medvedev also met with President Hosni Mubarak. The Russian leader spoke of the need to strengthen security in the Middle East and to find a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “We understand that resolving the Palestinian conflict and halting...

Cinema Comes To Riyadh for First Time in Decades By DONNA ABU-NASR | Associated Press | For the first time in three decades, Saudis in the nation's capital did something that most Westerners take for granted _ they went to the movies. But it wasn't exactly date night. No women were allowed.

CAIRO: Egypt has increased the volume of gas exported to Israel after agreeing to an increase in the price, according to local reports. The Ministry of Petroleum increased the volume of exported gas to Israel by 50 percent after an agreement had been reached with the Israeli government over increasing the price, according to business news portal Noozz. Egyptian natural gas is exported to Israel via the Egyptian/Israeli consortium Egyptian Mediterranean Gas (EMG). The source said that the new agreement had included a structure to review prices in the future. The gas deal with Israel has brought a lot of...

For the past eight years, the Muslim world has heard and seen relentless hostility from the Bush/Cheney administration. In a welcome change, President Barack Obama’s masterfully written, artfully delivered recent speech in Cairo was filled with just what the Muslim world had been waiting to hear: an intelligent, respectful address calling for normalised relations with the Muslim world, including former “betes noires” Iran and Syria, co-operation, and advancement of democracy and human rights. Very nice, to a point. But the Muslim world was not as taken by Obama’s silver-tongued oratory as many Americans. The general response was, “actions speak louder...

Cairo (AINA) -- In another incident of abduction and forced Islamization of Coptic minor girls, 16-year old Nermeen Mitry was abducted by a Muslim man to coerce her into converting to Islam. She was successfully recovered on the same day by her family, who did their own investigation and search to locate her. Nermeen was abducted from El-Mahalla by Muslim Hossam Hamouda in conspiracy with his aunt Leila Attia; she was hidden away by a third person called Nasser Abu Deif from Assuit in Upper Egypt, at the home of one of his female relatives called Rasha Soliman in Zagazig....

ROME -- Italian police have arrested two suspected members of the Red Brigades terror group, including one believed to have been involved in the organization's most notorious act, the 1978 kidnapping and killing of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro. Rome police on Wednesday confirmed the arrests of Rita Algranati e Maurizio Falessi and said the two were in custody in the Italian capital. No other details were released. Italian news reports said the two were arrested at Cairo airport in a joint operation by Italian and Egyptian police. The two, who had been fugitive for years, were carrying fake IDs,...