Viewpoints

Our problem with ‘the president’s promise’

President El-Sisi pledged not to amend the constitution to extend his term past 2030. But after a decade of broken promises, only concrete reforms can restore public trust.

Gamal Fahmy_

Our problem with ‘the president’s promise’

Latest stories

An association of the keyboard

Viewpoints_

Egypt’s 1986 railway strike offers digital journalists a vital lesson: organize from below to secure labour rights rather than waiting for legal reform.

Mostafa Bassiouny_

An association of the keyboard

Unlearning fear: My queer life in exile

Viewpoints_

From underground workshops in Cairo to dancing under police protection abroad: An Egyptian activist reflects on the trauma of state persecution and the quiet relief of asylum.

Noha Abeer_

Unlearning fear: My queer life in exile

Force and Fiat| How Egypt wields deportation orders against refugees

Viewpoints_

Behind closed doors, Egypt’s deportation process has morphed from an individual legal exception into a systematic mechanism of forced return, violating its own courts.

Nour Khalil_

Force and Fiat| How Egypt wields deportation orders against refugees

The base next door: Egypt’s eastern border is in the crosshairs

Viewpoints_

Emptying Gaza is no longer just about dismantling Egypt’s first line of defense, it paves the way for a US military base on Cairo’s doorstep.

Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez_

The base next door: Egypt’s eastern border is in the crosshairs

Madbouly may go, the questions he leaves behind should not

Viewpoints_

After eight years of Madbouly’s tenure, replacing the cabinet changes nothing if the closed system of policy-making and zero public accountability remains untouched.

Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez_

Madbouly may go, the questions he leaves behind should not

Force and Fiat| The refugee crisis of the state’s own making

Viewpoints_

Stripped of legal pathways, Sudanese asylum seekers navigate a system designed to delay registration, convert delays into violations, and justify forced returns.

Nour Khalil_

Force and Fiat| The refugee crisis of the state’s own making

Egypt’s descent into Bikini Bottom

Viewpoints_

A satirical Facebook group about SpongeBob’s hometown drew 1.8 million members in ten days, spooked the interior ministry, and said more about Egyptian despair than any op-ed could

Hoda Fayek_

Egypt’s descent into Bikini Bottom

A Sudanese writer at the gates of Egypt

Viewpoints_

At a desert crossing between Sudan and Egypt, a writer watches scorpions move freely across a border he cannot—and reflects on exile, poetry, and invented nations.

Mohamed Murkah_

A Sudanese writer at the gates of Egypt

On Nubian memory, constitutional promises, and the right of return

Viewpoints_

From the 1902 dam heightening to forgotten constitutional promises in 2026, a Nubian advocate reflects on displacement, legal betrayal, and the struggle for the right of return.

Fatmeh Emam Sakory_

On Nubian memory, constitutional promises, and the right of return

Why Iran remains the prime suspect in the Damietta attack

Viewpoints_

Given Iran’s strategy in its brutal war with the US and Israel, Tehran’s involvement—likely indirect—in the Damietta drone strike remains the most plausible scenario.

Khaled Dawoud_

Why Iran remains the prime suspect in the Damietta attack

Ceuta’s ‘invasion’: The war’s North African front

Viewpoints_

Fifty thousand people swam into Spain in a day, then vanished just as fast. Behind the spectacle lies an old Moroccan pattern and a far bigger political war.

Basel Ramsis_

Ceuta’s ‘invasion’: The war’s North African front

How to bury a communist twice

Viewpoints_

El-Hilali built a class-based liberties movement rooted in labor struggles, fiercely opposing the foreign funding that flooded civil society and human rights NGOs in the 1990s.

Basel Ramsis_

How to bury a communist twice

No cross on the pitch: Where are Egypt’s Christian footballers?

Viewpoints_

Former Egypt international Ahmed Hossam "Mido" decried anti-Christian discrimination in Egyptian football, asking: "How can only five Coptic players have reached the top level?"

Ishak Ibrahim_

No cross on the pitch: Where are Egypt’s Christian footballers?

What remains after the state’s capture of the Future of Egypt?

Viewpoints_

Egypt’s ministries already do most of what the Future of Egypt Authority claims to do. A new bill hands it more power anyway, with little to show for past results.

Mustapha Kamel Al-Sayyid_

What remains after the state’s capture of the Future of Egypt?

El-Sisi’s Octagon: The republic goes back up the mountain

Viewpoints_

Moving the seat of power into a walled desert enclave turns modern citizens back into mere subjects, reviving an absolute sovereign model driven by the haunting anxiety of 2011.

Nasser Amin_

El-Sisi’s Octagon: The republic goes back up the mountain

Egypt’s judges, out of the wilderness again

Viewpoints_

Since 1939, Egypt’s Judges Club has cycled through victory, purge, and exile. As independents retake its board in 2026, the third wilderness may be ending.

Nasser Amin_

Egypt’s judges, out of the wilderness again

Omnia Swedan and the sanctity of the forbidden

Viewpoints_

If Nessma Al-Khatib and Omnia Swedan were not women, and if their comments had come from men, would the reaction have been different in either case? There is no answer.

Basel Ramsis_

Omnia Swedan and the sanctity of the forbidden

In Iran, what comes after victory?

Viewpoints_

By invoking the ancient reliefs of Naqsh-e Rostam, Tehran is signaling a major ideological shift that places domestic economic recovery ahead of exporting the Islamic revolution.

Amr Adly_

In Iran, what comes after victory?

The curse of the Arab Spring haunting us in Egypt and Tunisia

Viewpoints_

Beyond the shared nostalgia for pre-revolutionary stability, Egypt and Tunisia find themselves mirroring each other in an unprecedented, systematic closure of the public sphere.

Basel Ramsis_

The curse of the Arab Spring haunting us in Egypt and Tunisia

Encoding injustice: Egypt’s structural engineering of labor precarity

Viewpoints_

Through arbitrary physical screenings, sudden drug-test sackings, and strict female travel curbs, the Egyptian state is actively engineering systemic workplace discrimination.

Ishak Ibrahim_

Encoding injustice: Egypt’s structural engineering of labor precarity

When will the President call Israel by its name?

Viewpoints_

The quiet deployment of Egyptian fighter jets to the UAE exposes a dangerous realignment with Abu Dhabi’s aggressive, pro-Israel architecture for the region.

Basel Ramsis_

When will the President call Israel by its name?

Jackals and Jackasses: A Gulf Story

Viewpoints_

It is not condescension; it is contempt. A searing critique of how Gulf “cultural specificity” is routinely weaponized to normalize racism, tribalism, and the kafala system.

Ahmed Naji_

Jackals and Jackasses: A Gulf Story

The politics of speaking about politics

Viewpoints_

When the butcher, the fisherman, and the footballer all insist politics isn't their business, who does that serve?

Basel Ramsis_

The politics of speaking about politics

Editorial| Ten years of survival

Viewpoints_

As the world marks Press Freedom Day, Al Manassa celebrates ten years of survival and independent journalism, and calls for the release of our colleague, cartoonist Ashraf Omar

Al Manassa_

Editorial| Ten years of survival

The Gulf wants solidarity, but on whose terms?

Viewpoints_

Gulf anger at Egypt says less about official coordination than about a deeper unease with Egyptian public sympathy for any force checking Israel.

Khaled Dawoud_

The Gulf wants solidarity, but on whose terms?

Qom, Al-Azhar and a fractured language of unity

Viewpoints_

In the eyes of Qom, Al-Azhar’s latest stance disrupted more than rhetoric; it unsettled a carefully tended language of Islamic rapprochement.

Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez_

Qom, Al-Azhar and a fractured language of unity

Female MPs and the political pageantry of ridicule

Viewpoints_

Gendered ridicule turns women politicians into bodies, jokes or scandals—anything but political actors with speech, agency and claims to power.

Hoda Fayek_

Female MPs and the political pageantry of ridicule

The Nightmare of Harassment in Schools| On those who grew up too soon

Viewpoints_

Children’s testimonies are finally breaking the silence on sexual abuse in Egyptian schools, and forcing hard questions about protection, accountability and reform.

Tamer Abu Arab_

The Nightmare of Harassment in Schools| On those who grew up too soon

Iran’s next test: Life after the Supreme Leader

Viewpoints_

Khomeini built a revolution on charisma. Khamenei turned it into a system of control. What comes next for Iran?

Mina Fouad Tawfik_

Iran’s next test: Life after the Supreme Leader

Gaza and the US-Israeli international fascism charter

Viewpoints_

Washington’s intervention at The Hague reframes genocide itself, revealing a wider struggle over law, accountability and global order.

Mohamed Bassal_

Gaza and the US-Israeli international fascism charter

Egypt’s fuel crisis and the cost of endless "exceptional circumstances"

Viewpoints_

From pandemic excuses to regional wars, the state’s justifications for price hikes are wearing thin. Seven reasons why the latest fuel increase is pushing Egyptians to the brink.

Ammar Ali Hassan_

Egypt’s fuel crisis and the cost of endless "exceptional circumstances"

The illusion of security: Why the Gulf cannot lead the Arab world alone

Viewpoints_

Five years after the “Gulf moment” was proclaimed, war with Iran and Israel’s expanding ambitions expose the limits of Gulf leadership and the fragility of US security guarantees

Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez_

The illusion of security: Why the Gulf cannot lead the Arab world alone

A wall too far: Why a church expansion sparked clashes in Helwan

Viewpoints_

Residents gathered to defend a church expansion they said was needed for a growing community—until bulldozers arrived and a ten-minute confrontation erupted.

Mohamed Napolion_

A wall too far: Why a church expansion sparked clashes in Helwan

The five winds beneath Israel’s wings

Viewpoints_

Israel’s current expansion is less a story of strength than of collapse around it—regional failures, American force, Gulf wealth, and the exhaustion of the old “resistance” order.

Mohamed Naeem_

The five winds beneath Israel’s wings

After Khamenei, who stands in Israel's crosshairs?

Viewpoints_

Behind the strike on Khamenei lies a doctrine decades in the making—one that seeks to force Iran to its knees and redraw the region’s balance of power.

Mohamed Bassal_

After Khamenei, who stands in Israel's crosshairs?

The eternal minority: January, Gen Z, and the myth of generations

Viewpoints_

From millennials to Gen Z, the same alienated minority reappears—romantic, celebrated, incorporated, and ultimately sidelined by the politics it seeks to shape.

Amr Abdelrahman_

The eternal minority: January, Gen Z, and the myth of generations

The creeping shadow of Israeli cartography

Viewpoints_

History shows that maps enter the imagination before they are realized on the ground. Without a forceful counter-narrative, the "Promised Land" is becoming a political reality.

Tamer Abu Arab_

The creeping shadow of Israeli cartography

Mubarak's great escape

Viewpoints_

The failure of "January justice" was the inevitable outcome of violent swings between constitutional and revolutionary legitimacy, leaving the window for real reckoning to close.

Mohamed Bassal_

Mubarak's great escape

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_

January's children: Men and women in purgatory

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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.

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

Gen Z & the Revolution| The flood on the horizon

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_

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

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_

Gen Z & the Revolution| Realism, after the rush

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

The season of tampering with the constitution

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_

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_

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_

Abdelaty not jailed for quacking like a duck

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_

Bassem Youssef: The jester with neither illusions nor a cape

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_

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_

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_

Reproducing Mubarak’s last parliament

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_

The pink card is gone, but so are the voters

Migration as an act of resistance

Viewpoints_

Migration is more than a problem it is an anti-colonial act that challenges global inequalities and reclaims justice for the peoples of the Global South.

Sherif Azer_

Migration as an act of resistance

The Nobel Prize for ‘Peace Through Force,’ the Western way

Viewpoints_

The Nobel Peace Prize now honors “peace through force,” reflecting Western power more than justice, with Machado’s win spotlighting this shift.

Cara Burdon_

The Nobel Prize for ‘Peace Through Force,’ the Western way

It is mismanagement that floods the Nile

Viewpoints_

Sudan treats the Nile flood as climate and dam-driven; Egypt frames it as politics. In both, farmers bear the cost of mismanaged waters.

Saker El Nour_

It is mismanagement that floods the Nile

Raouf Mosaad sets out on his final journey, Salam!

Viewpoints_

Remembering Raouf Mosaad — the Egyptian writer who turned exile, dissent, and desire into art, making literature his lifelong act of freedom.

Al Manassa_

Raouf Mosaad sets out on his final journey, Salam!

Sectarian zeal recycled: Branding Christians as Zionists

Viewpoints_

A rising wave of criticism paints Egyptian Christians as Zionists, but such claims echo sectarian logic and ignore a long history of Christian anti-Zionism.

Ishak Ibrahim_

Sectarian zeal recycled: Branding Christians as Zionists

Gaza Journalist Diaries| Questions without answers

Viewpoints_

As Gaza falls silent after war, a journalist walks through ruins and unanswered questions, searching for meaning in survival.

Salem Elrayyes_

Gaza Journalist Diaries| Questions without answers

Farewell, Mekkawy

Viewpoints_

Ahmed Mekkawy, a pioneering Egyptian tech and digital rights advocate, is remembered for his generosity, activism, and lasting impact on open knowledge and technology.

Al Manassa_

Farewell, Mekkawy

Remembering a Massacre| Maspero as I witnessed it

Viewpoints_

An eyewitness recalls the night of the Maspero massacre—texts, panic, and the chilling realization of what happens when the army turns its guns on citizens.

Mohamed Naeem_

Remembering a Massacre| Maspero as I witnessed it

Will Israel end the same way as Apartheid?

Viewpoints_

Israel’s war on Gaza is fueling growing global isolation, with rising calls for sanctions that echo South Africa’s apartheid-era experience.

Amr Adly_

Will Israel end the same way as Apartheid?

The autumn of Camp David

Viewpoints_

Camp David’s promises of peace and prosperity are fading as Sinai faces new threats and Israel asserts dominance. Egypt must prepare for what comes after.

Mohamed Naeem_

The autumn of Camp David

A belated awakening on the brink of disaster

Viewpoints_

Egypt’s belated recognition of Israel as an enduring threat sparks debate over peace, complacency, and national security.

Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez_

A belated awakening on the brink of disaster

To Palestine| Sailing through fear, carried by hope

Viewpoints_

As the Sumud Flotilla nears Gaza, Basel Ramsis writes of fear, resolve, and a global movement sailing not just toward Palestine—but against silence, siege, and surrender.

Basel Ramsis_

To Palestine| Sailing through fear, carried by hope

To Palestine| From boats of death to boats against death

Viewpoints_

The Senegalese migrant Serigne Mbayé Diouf joins the Global Sumud Flotilla, risking his life in a boat again, this time to stand with Palestinians in Gaza.

Basel Ramsis_

To Palestine| From boats of death to boats against death

The summit that whispered while Gaza burns

Viewpoints_

As Netanyahu escalates and Washington shields him, the Doha Summit offers rhetoric but stalls on action. Can the Arab world afford another missed moment?

Mohamed Bassal_

The summit that whispered while Gaza burns

To Palestine| Fear, resistance, and a Catalana named Carol

Viewpoints_

It’s not my knowledge of the Arab-Israeli conflict, or of the Palestinian cause or even the latest news from Gaza that gives me a sense of purpose right now.

Basel Ramsis_

To Palestine| Fear, resistance, and a Catalana named Carol

Egypt must prepare for Israeli recklessness

Viewpoints_

Egypt must take seriously the risk of renewed Israeli aggression, avoid denial, and prepare for conflict that could prove long, bitter, and existential.

Mohamed Naeem_

Egypt must prepare for Israeli recklessness

Betrayed by the shepherd, who will the wolf devour after Doha?

Viewpoints_

The bombing of Doha exposes the collapse of the US security umbrella, revealing Israel as Washington’s true base and Gulf states as sheep guarded by the wolf.

Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez_

Betrayed by the shepherd, who will the wolf devour after Doha?

To Palestine| How can we recover from loving Tunisia?

Viewpoints_

From Sidi Bou Said to Gaza, Basel Ramsis writes of love, blood, and solidarity. On board the Sumud Flotilla, the journey resumes. Tunisia behind, Palestine ahead.

Basel Ramsis_

To Palestine| How can we recover from loving Tunisia?

Property developers are the statelets ruling ‘Egypt’

Viewpoints_

Real estate firms act like mini-states, turning basic rights into costly privileges and deepening class segregation behind gated walls.

Shaher Ayad_

Property developers are the statelets ruling ‘Egypt’

From dates to oil, the Arab project of slavery

Viewpoints_

From the slave trade in dates and pearls to oil and the kafala system, the Gulf’s legacy of exploitation reveals a modern model of feudal power.

Ahmed Naji_

From dates to oil, the Arab project of slavery

Heard, not read: How Egypt silences its media

Viewpoints_

Presidential pledges of free expression clash with reality as the Transport Ministry targets Veto for exposing its reliance on costly advisers.

Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez_

Heard, not read: How Egypt silences its media

Who will upstage Netanyahu at the New York showdown?

Viewpoints_

As Netanyahu plans to use the UN stage to pronounce the two-state solution dead, over 140 countries prepare for a historic diplomatic standoff. But where is the Arab world?

Mohamed Bassal_

Who will upstage Netanyahu at the New York showdown?

To Palestine| Paths of departure, routes of return

Viewpoints_

Yousef’s family fled Palestine on foot in 1948. Now, aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, he attempts his first symbolic return, by sea, towards a homeland he’s never seen.

Basel Ramsis_

To Palestine| Paths of departure, routes of return

To Palestine| Messages from the sea

Viewpoints_

No one should have to travel from the western Mediterranean to the east just because the fascist state is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

Basel Ramsis_

To Palestine| Messages from the sea

To Palestine| We sail, and your hearts sail with us

Al Manassa’s writer Basel Ramsis joins the Global Sumud Flotilla sailing from Barcelona to Gaza, carrying with him the hearts of millions who cannot march or sail, but refuse to be silent.

To Palestine| We sail, and your hearts sail with us

Sailing to Gaza, we wanted you with us Mr. Chaplin

Viewpoints_

As thousands gather to see us off at Barcelona’s docks, Chaplin’s spirit echoes. Marching or sailing for Palestine is defending life, children, humanity, and our future.

Basel Ramsis_

Sailing to Gaza, we wanted you with us Mr. Chaplin

Tales of the welfare state and our old house

Viewpoints_

What happens when housing, water, and education are no longer rights, but products? In Egypt’s march toward full commodification, survival itself has a price tag.

Mohamed Gad_

Tales of the welfare state and our old house

Lebensraum reimagined: The myth of ‘Greater Israel’

Viewpoints_

Netanyahu's symbolic nod to “Greater Israel” reveals a deeper strategy: expanding Israeli control and influence across the region, from Gaza to the wider Middle East.

Mohamed Bassal_

Lebensraum reimagined: The myth of ‘Greater Israel’

The road to sectarianism begins with the kuttab

Viewpoints_

When kindergartens move into mosques and kuttabs make a comeback, Egypt isn’t just reviving tradition. It is redrawing the boundaries of citizenship, one child at a time.

Ishak Ibrahim_

The road to sectarianism begins with the kuttab

Individualism and Violence| The myth of individual salvation

Viewpoints_

When individual resistance fails, only collective action can dismantle systemic injustice. This last piece calls for solidarity as the antidote to the myth of individual salvation.

Mohamed El-Agati_

Individualism and Violence| The myth of individual salvation

The danger behind moving bins

Viewpoints_

From the streets’ familiar cry for spare coins to the state’s relentless “change-fever,” Egypt’s New Republic has turned petty exactions into a governing principle.

Ezzat Elkamhawi_

The danger behind moving bins

Is Egypt hooked on Israeli gas?

Viewpoints_

Israel-Egypt gas deal could deepen Cairo’s reliance on Tel Aviv, raising political, security, and energy risks that critics say outweigh potential economic benefits.

Amr Adly_

Is Egypt hooked on Israeli gas?

Individualism and Violence| Who will side with the loser?

Viewpoints_

When solidarity gives way to spectacle and faith becomes a commodity, individualism reshapes justice, religion, and resistance—leaving the weakest unheard.

Mohamed El-Agati_

Individualism and Violence| Who will side with the loser?

Israel’s ‘boys’ from Bashir Gemayel to Al-Golani

Viewpoints_

From Bashir Gemayel to Al-Golani, Israel’s “boys” are reminded of their place, first with insults, then with airstrikes. A story of colonial contempt and regional submission.

Basel Ramsis_

Israel’s ‘boys’ from Bashir Gemayel to Al-Golani

Individualism and Violence| Constructing imagined identities

Viewpoints_

From social exclusion to imagined identities, this piece explores how modern individualism fractures community and fuels alienation under today’s capitalist order.

Mohamed El-Agati_

Individualism and Violence| Constructing imagined identities

Why a Muslim woman from New York supports Zohran Mamdani

Viewpoints_

For a Muslim woman from New York, backing Zohran Mamdani isn’t about identity or ideology—it’s about survival, solidarity, and the city she calls home.

Lina Gamal Eid_

Why a Muslim woman from New York supports Zohran Mamdani

Individualism and Violence| Capital does not trickle down

Viewpoints_

Despite promises of trickle-down wealth, capitalism entrenches inequality, fueling isolation, alienation, and class-driven violence from Cairo to Buenos Aires.

Mohamed El-Agati_

Individualism and Violence| Capital does not trickle down

The president is in the dark!

Viewpoints_

A rent law uproots millions as Parliament flips overnight. Is the president unaware, or orchestrating a final act to reclaim his “savior” image?

Basel Ramsis_

The president is in the dark!

Lapid's playbook: Arab allies for Israel's ‘dirty work’

Viewpoints_

Lapid's new plan offers Arabs incentives to suppress Palestinian resistance—outsourcing Israel’s “dirty work” while reshaping the region under Zionist terms.

Mohamed Bassal_

Lapid's playbook: Arab allies for Israel's ‘dirty work’

Egypt’s education was once a right, now a ransom

Viewpoints_

In Egypt, daughters die for an education once promised as free, while elites thrive. But history reminds us, it wasn't always this way. It doesn't have to be.

Nawwara Negm_

Egypt’s education was once a right, now a ransom

Walls between us| Possibilities for and with Palestinians

Viewpoints_

Palestinians in '48 territories are caught between Israeli occupation & Arab abandonment. Their struggle against erasure demands recognition.

Basel Ramsis_

Walls between us| Possibilities for and with Palestinians

The return of the baltagiya?

Viewpoints_

Thuggery in Egypt is neither new nor random — it’s a systematic, state-enabled tool of repression embedded in daily life, politics, and global security strategy.

Omnia Khalil_

The return of the baltagiya?

My crime: Managing a media website!

Viewpoints_

Nora Younis's testimony on her 2020 arrest reveals her ordeal & the ongoing fight for independent media in Egypt, where journalism persists despite arbitrary charges & censorship.

Nora Younis_

My crime: Managing a media website!

No happy ending after US strike on Iran

Viewpoints_

Trump’s strike on Iran’s nuclear sites may redraw the region’s map, but risks sparking a broader war that could engulf the entire Middle East.

Khaled Dawoud_

No happy ending after US strike on Iran

Individualism and Violence| Discrimination etched in childhood

Viewpoints_

Class divides, once bridged by education, are now entrenched by multi-tiered systems and fragmented media. This fuels individualism, isolation, and deep-seated inequality.

Mohamed El-Agati_

Individualism and Violence| Discrimination etched in childhood

New Nationality: Citizen of the Compound

Viewpoints_

The new cities are now old while ultra-new cities are becoming home for an ultra-elite class. But for those who live in /ˈkaɪ.roʊ/ and visit Al Qahira, are they still Egyptians?

Khaled Dawoud_

New Nationality: Citizen of the Compound

Mama Nawal and the bloody business of education

Viewpoints_

Billions amassed by education mogul, El Degwi, ignite a debate: is education a right or a business? The saga highlights the stark contrast between public need and private profit.

Nawwara Negm_

Mama Nawal and the bloody business of education

Walls Between Us| Their enemy within

Viewpoints_

Arabs racing to normalize ties with Israel give a false image of Arab public opinion, while anti-Zionist Israelis expose this to the world.

Basel Ramsis_

Walls Between Us| Their enemy within

El-Sisi, Alaa, and Laila: The media and the final act

Viewpoints_

As Laila Soueif nears death on hunger strike, Egypt’s press stays silent. Will they cover her fate—or a pardon for her son, Alaa Abdel Fattah?

Basel Ramsis_

El-Sisi, Alaa, and Laila: The media and the final act

Individualism and Violence| When society disappears

Viewpoints_

As inequality deepens, isolation grows. Has individualism fractured solidarity, turning communities into spectators and society into strangers?

Mohamed El-Agati_

Individualism and Violence| When society disappears

Electoral law and the danger of normalizing silence

Viewpoints_

With elections approaching, Egypt retains a closed-list system that critics say stifles pluralism. Why was there no real push for reform from political actors or parties?

Mohamed Bassal_

Electoral law and the danger of normalizing silence

Al-Sharaa’s calculus: Normalization at what cost?

Viewpoints_

Will Ahmed al-Sharaa agree to give up 15% of Syria’s territory to satisfy Donald Trump, who is eager to be photographed at a peace treaty signing between Tel Aviv and Damascus?

Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez_

Al-Sharaa’s calculus: Normalization at what cost?

A president alone

Viewpoints_

Hamstrung by reliance on US and Gulf handouts, El-Sisi's intervention on Palestine at the Baghdad summit will remain hollow without giving a voice to the Egyptian people

Basel Ramsis_

A president alone

The Damanhour wake-up call Egypt can’t ignore

Viewpoints_

Citizens, educators, lawyers and the state alike must draw lessons from this case of child sexual assault. Failure to heed them makes further sectarian eruptions likely.

Ishak Ibrahim_

The Damanhour wake-up call Egypt can’t ignore

Walls Between Us| The mind and conscience of the enemy

Viewpoints_

Is "No Other Land" director on the same path shaped by Pappé, Shohat and Sivan—a break with Zionism toward a shared struggle where not all Israelis are enemies. Some are partners.

Basel Ramsis_

Walls Between Us| The mind and conscience of the enemy

Who protects the poor in their fight for Palestine?

Viewpoints_

Nicaragua’s recent legal actions reveal the complexities of international support for Palestine and highlight who truly stands with the powerless in Palestine’s fight.

Mohamed Bassal_

Who protects the poor in their fight for Palestine?

Walls Between Us| Fame or victory for Palestinians

Viewpoints_

Side by side on the Oscars stage, a Palestinian and an Israeli achieved a historic win for the first time. Maybe fame isn’t the price of defeat. Maybe it’s how walls begin to fall.

Basel Ramsis_

Walls Between Us| Fame or victory for Palestinians

Against women’s work: Social media panders to fragile masculinity

Viewpoints_

Social media fuels a war on working women, masking fragile masculinity as morality while blaming women for economic collapse instead of confronting real power structures.

Ahmed Sayed Fathy_

Against women’s work: Social media panders to fragile masculinity

Editorial| Al Manassa in English: Claiming the Right to Be Heard

Viewpoints_

We do not promise you neutrality. We are not above the fray. We are in it, sleeves rolled, searching for clarity in the rubble of euphemism & spectacle. What we offer is integrity.

Al Manassa_

Editorial| Al Manassa in English: Claiming the Right to Be Heard

When the sea becomes a gated society

Viewpoints_

We gave up the city's spirit for a dreamlike beach, an elite space where the sea has become a class barrier that welcomes only the privileged few.

Alaa Khaled_

When the sea becomes a gated society

Reining in the UAE: A key to ending Sudan’s war

Viewpoints_

As Sudan’s war rages on, one foreign power fuels the fire. From gold smuggling to arms deals, the UAE’s role isn’t just strategic—it’s a central obstacle to peace.

Husam Osman Mahjoub_

Reining in the UAE: A key to ending Sudan’s war

When thought is no longer taught

Viewpoints_

Once a space to explore meaning, ethics, and they way of life, philosophy is now gone from Egypt’s schools. What are we losing when we stop asking the questions that shape us?

Chadi Gamal_

When thought is no longer taught

One breath of home in Gaza City; then back to exile

Viewpoints_

Climbing over the ruins of my home, I sought any trace of life. Amid the wreckage of 40 years, I found it—green seedlings breathing where everything else had died.

Salem Elrayyes_

One breath of home in Gaza City; then back to exile