Viewpoints

January's children: Men and women in purgatory

Viewpoints_

January shattered symbolic structures and altered the consciousness of rulers and ruled. For those who were children then, it remains a central event in a world governed by fear.

Mohamed Naeem_ 24-2-2026

January's children: Men and women in purgatory

Licensed to look: Bystanders, harassment and public complicity in Egypt

Viewpoints_

On Cairo’s buses and TV screens, women’s bodies are still blamed for harassment. Violence is recast as “discipline,” exposing the power structures behind it.

Mina Fouad Tawfik_ 24-2-2026

Licensed to look: Bystanders, harassment and public complicity in Egypt

Freedom of belief: In word but not in deed

Viewpoints_

State institutions narrow freedom of belief to Muslim-Christian harmony and curbing incitement, denying the right to openly declare, practice, or express one’s faith, or lack of it

Ishak Ibrahim_ 17-2-2026

Freedom of belief: In word but not in deed

Old paint on new walls: The curious case of the cabinet reshuffle

Viewpoints_

From secret selections to rapid parliamentary nods, the new reshuffle reveals a ruling elite prioritizing narrative and image over the grueling work of repairing national substance

Ammar Ali Hassan_ 16-2-2026

Old paint on new walls: The curious case of the cabinet reshuffle

Gen Z & the Revolution| American echoes, Egyptian wails

Viewpoints_

We live in the same shack of repression, sparring like roosters and celebrating hollow victories. Hatred is a luxury we cannot afford when everyone’s life is precarious.

Mohamed Elsayed Eid_ 11-2-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| American echoes, Egyptian wails

Gen Z & the Revolution| Why I chose the state

Viewpoints_

Why do I support the current regime’s stance toward January? Because I prefer a half-state to no state at all. I prefer a clear, even difficult trajectory.

Ahmed Elshahat_ 11-2-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| Why I chose the state

Isolating Israel and the “counter-engineering” of the Middle East

Viewpoints_

Egypt–Turkey rapprochement has unsettled Tel Aviv, signaling a shift toward regional “counter-engineering” aimed at containing Israel’s project to dominate a fractured Middle East.

Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez_ 10-2-2026

Isolating Israel and the “counter-engineering” of the Middle East

Gen Z & the Revolution| Reckoning with the rot

Viewpoints_

Growing up in the womb of the counterrevolution, I watched the burial of January. But revolutions don't succeed overnight; they pave the way for a longer experiment.

Omar Magdy Soliman_ 10-2-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| Reckoning with the rot

Gen Z & the Revolution| Lessons from the road to Palestine

Viewpoints_

My first relationship with politics passed through my mother’s body. She is Palestinian, living in exile in Egypt, cut off from her land and her family.

Lama Kareem_ 9-2-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| Lessons from the road to Palestine

January 25 and the long shadow of unanswered justice

Viewpoints_

The justice track of January quietly mutated into a mechanism for rehabilitating Mubarak-era figures and easing them back into public life.

Mohamed Bassal_ 8-2-2026

January 25 and the long shadow of unanswered justice

The mirage of January 25: When freedom came last

Viewpoints_

January 25 emerges as a political mirage: an uprising constrained by the July 23 system, where freedom’s low priority shaped later defeats, repression, and regression.

Bahey Eldin Hassan_ 3-2-2026

The mirage of January 25: When freedom came last

The 1952 Cairo Fire: What burned, and who lit the match?

Viewpoints_

The Cairo Fire was not a mystery or a conspiracy. It was a popular uprising that burned the old order—and was later buried under layers of denial.

Mohamed Naeem_ 2-2-2026

The 1952 Cairo Fire: What burned, and who lit the match?

Gen Z & the Revolution| Speak, and be seen

On the fifteenth anniversary of the revolution, after listening to one another for a long time and taking turns indulging in nostalgia, we chose to listen to the future.

01/28/2026 - 17:50

Gen Z & the Revolution| Speak, and be seen

Gen Z & the Revolution| A generation taken off the will

Viewpoints_

Can a revolution that isn't passed down still be called a revolution? Seif El-Din Ahmed reproaches the "wounded" generation for locking the door to history on their children.

Seif El-Din Ahmed_ 28-1-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| A generation taken off the will

Gen Z & the Revolution| Not all battles were public

Viewpoints_

Too young for politics, but too old for innocence: Wafaa Khairy reflects on growing up in Upper Egypt and why the "real" revolution must start in the home, not just the street.

Wafaa Khairy_ 28-1-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| Not all battles were public

Gen Z & the Revolution| The children of open wounds

Viewpoints_

A personal reflection on growing up in the aftermath of Egypt’s revolution. Inherited defeat, enforced silence, and a wound passed down to a generation too young to choose it.

Sara Alsahary_ 27-1-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| The children of open wounds

January 2011: Glory that cannot be repeated or replicated

Viewpoints_

From Orabi to Jan. 25, Egypt’s revolutions rise generation by generation. A reflection on broken dreams, rebuilt imagination and what the next uprising will inherit.

Ismail Alexandrani_ 27-1-2026

January 2011: Glory that cannot be repeated or replicated

Gen Z & the Revolution| Egypt's last supper

Viewpoints_

Was the revolution assassinated or did it succumb to its own internal friction? A dive into the generation gap, historical falsification, and the struggle for a new narrative.

Noha Abeer_ 27-1-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| Egypt's last supper

The Arab Revolutions: A retrospective on the aftermath

Viewpoints_

As January turns 15, the revolution stands between hope and disappointment, its meaning contested and its questions about power, state, and change still open.

Ammar Ali Hassan_ 27-1-2026

The Arab Revolutions: A retrospective on the aftermath

Gen Z & the Revolution| Raised by the elephant in the room

Viewpoints_

Raised in the shadow of January 25, I learned politics through fragments: photographs, fear, and unanswered questions about what happens after victory.

Murad Abdelmaqsoud_ 26-1-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| Raised by the elephant in the room

Gen Z & the Revolution| The flood on the horizon

Viewpoints_

The January revolution’s “failure” wasn’t preordained, but it was certainly shaped by a limited, if understandable, political imagination.

Nihal Salama_ 26-1-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| The flood on the horizon

Gen Z & the Revolution| The nettles swaddled between the revolution’s leaves

Viewpoints_

I was 10 when Tahrir lit up my world with heroes. Now, at the square's sanitized corpse, I'm just a fragment of their failed dream—watching my generation turn nettles into memes.

Reem Abdulaziz_ 26-1-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| The nettles swaddled between the revolution’s leaves

Trump's dam gambit: The GERD & the "CC" diplomacy

Viewpoints_

Trump’s proposal wanes in credibility, yet his push to involve new parties remains a risky move that warrants caution in light of his high-stakes meeting with El-Sisi in Davos.

Mohamed Bassal_ 26-1-2026

Trump's dam gambit: The GERD & the "CC" diplomacy

Gen Z & the Revolution| It is time for the January generation to step aside

Viewpoints_

If we possess a theory or a lesson from January’s lost lessons, perhaps we can direct the raging flood toward those who deserve it, without devouring everything in our path.

Gasser El-Dabea_ 22-1-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| It is time for the January generation to step aside

Gen Z & the Revolution| Realism, after the rush

Viewpoints_

One of the most important effects of the January Revolution on my generation is that it shaped a restrained, cautious political awareness. We do not trust revolutionary rhetoric

Marwan Mehrez_ 22-1-2026

Gen Z & the Revolution| Realism, after the rush

The Zionist–Emirati Order| Capital, sovereignty, and the politics of annihilation

Viewpoints_

How the failure of the Arab Spring and the crisis of late capitalism turned destruction into opportunity, enabling the Zionist–Emirati order to expand without apology.

Mohamed Naeem_ 22-1-2026

The Zionist–Emirati Order| Capital, sovereignty, and the politics of annihilation

What is the Zionist-Emirati order?

Viewpoints_

The Zionist-Emirati order is not an accident. It is a system—built on shock, annihilation and corporate sovereignty—now reshaping the region.

Mohamed Naeem_ 21-1-2026

What is the Zionist-Emirati order?

From games to cells: How Egypt’s courts fail its minors

Viewpoints_

Children accused of terrorism, jailed for years, and tried outside juvenile courts. A story of innocence colliding with prison walls, and a justice system that looks away.

Tamer Abu Arab_ 12-1-2026

From games to cells: How Egypt’s courts fail its minors

Citizenship on leave: How the state still sees Copts

Viewpoints_

From "non-Muslims" to "brothers," the Egyptian state still struggles to say "citizen." A deep dive into the exclusionary logic hidden within the latest labor entitlements.

Ishak Ibrahim_ 11-1-2026

Citizenship on leave: How the state still sees Copts

Gaza Journalist Diaries| Living on a thin line

Viewpoints_

Alienation has trapped me between longing for both a recent past and an imagined future. Between the two, I balance on a wire. If it snaps, I fall into the abyss.

Salem Elrayyes_ 30-12-2025

Gaza Journalist Diaries| Living on a thin line

Al-Bawaba News sit-in: Silence is no longer an option

Viewpoints_

Al-Bawaba News journalists have spent a month sleeping on the newsroom floor, demanding the minimum wage and weighing worker-run management as pressure builds.

Hesham Fouad_ 25-12-2025

Al-Bawaba News sit-in: Silence is no longer an option

The ghost of Sadat in the Palestinian present

Viewpoints_

Gaza, Trump and the revival of Sadatism: how exhaustion, spectacle and vague “peace” plans are reshaping Palestine—and threatening the entire region.

Basel Ramsis_ 25-12-2025

The ghost of Sadat in the Palestinian present

The future of parliament on a “Snakes and Ladders” board

Viewpoints_

As debate swirls after turbulent elections, efforts emerge to move past the crisis without change, sidestepping deeper questions of representation and parliamentary purpose.

Mohamed Bassal_ 24-12-2025

The future of parliament on a “Snakes and Ladders” board

Egyptian Workarounds| The state too has its own tricks

Viewpoints_

Just as Egyptians have learned to maneuver around political authority when it issues unjust laws, the authority, in turn, has learned to maneuver around the people.

Ammar Ali Hassan_ 23-12-2025

Egyptian Workarounds| The state too has its own tricks

How the West dances around Gaza

Viewpoints_

The myth of the dancing child in Gaza soothes distant spectators while denying the reality of terror, grief and death.

Basel Ramsis_ 18-12-2025

How the West dances around Gaza

The season of tampering with the constitution

Viewpoints_

Amid electoral turmoil, actors seize the moment to float trial balloons for constitutional change, masking deeper plans under the guise of reform.

Mohamed Bassal_ 17-12-2025

The season of tampering with the constitution

Registered, restricted, rejected: life under Egypt’s NGO Law

Viewpoints_

The reality is that some actors do not want independent civil society to operate at all, let alone be treated as a partner.

Mohamed Abdelsalam_ 16-12-2025

Registered, restricted, rejected: life under Egypt’s NGO Law

A parliament defined by invalidity

Viewpoints_

A parliament born in doubt cannot govern with legitimacy. How flawed elections, political money, and force have hollowed out representation in Egypt.

Ammar Ali Hassan_ 15-12-2025

A parliament defined by invalidity

The signposts to safety for a prudent autocrat

Viewpoints_

Egypt’s road to stability cannot be built on fear and one voice. A warning against false assurances of order and a call for genuine reform and real dialogue.

Tamer Abu Arab_ 4-12-2025

The signposts to safety for a prudent autocrat

Abdelaty not jailed for quacking like a duck

Viewpoints_

Abdelaty’s imprisonment reveals how fear—not morality—drives state censorship, silencing expression and pushing creators into exile.

Ahmed Naji_ 3-12-2025

Abdelaty not jailed for quacking like a duck

Workers' Strikes: A rehearsal for a social explosion waiting in the wings

Viewpoints_

In 2025, strikes at Egypt’s Canal Mooring and water companies highlight a wider wave of industrial action amid austerity, soaring living costs, and confusion within the regime.

Hesham Fouad_ 1-12-2025

Workers' Strikes: A rehearsal for a social explosion waiting in the wings

Bassem Youssef: The jester with neither illusions nor a cape

Viewpoints_

Yes, Bassem Youssef is an aragouz—one who opens his audience’s eyes to the crimes of other clowns: talentless, banal, and with blood on their hands.

Basel Ramsis_ 29-11-2025

Bassem Youssef: The jester with neither illusions nor a cape

“It has reached me”: Decrypting the riddles of the president’s statement

Viewpoints_

A rare presidential statement on election violations triggered infighting among pro-regime parties and revived doubts about the vote and the political path ahead.

Khaled Dawoud_ 26-11-2025

“It has reached me”: Decrypting the riddles of the president’s statement

It's time to free the judiciary from the shackles of election supervision

Viewpoints_

Judicial supervision was sold as the safeguard of Egypt’s elections. Today, it stands exposed as a scapegoat for deeper structural flaws, and a system long engineered for control.

Mohamed Bassal_ 25-11-2025

It's time to free the judiciary from the shackles of election supervision

Egyptian Workarounds| Outsmart, adapt, survive, repeat

Viewpoints_

Egyptians have long used clever workarounds to resist hardship and power—crafting quiet, everyday acts of defiance that stretch from ancient history to today.

Ammar Ali Hassan_ 19-11-2025

Egyptian Workarounds| Outsmart, adapt, survive, repeat

Reproducing Mubarak’s last parliament

Viewpoints_

Egypt’s new parliament vote revives Mubarak-era fusion of money and power, sidelining voters and opposition and risking another shock born of rigged politics.

Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez_ 18-11-2025

Reproducing Mubarak’s last parliament

Beyond numbers: Egypt’s Christian quota fails to deliver representation

Viewpoints_

Egypt’s Coptic representation in parliament has risen since 2014, but token quotas and state control have left equality and citizenship issues largely unaddressed.

Ishak Ibrahim_ 13-11-2025

Beyond numbers: Egypt’s Christian quota fails to deliver representation

The pink card is gone, but so are the voters

Viewpoints_

Reform promised inclusion. Instead, Egypt’s elections became quieter, narrower, and emptier—proof that monopoly needs no “pink card” to endure.

Mohamed Bassal_ 11-11-2025

The pink card is gone, but so are the voters