Viewpoints

Tales of the welfare state and our old house

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_ 24-8-2025

Tales of the welfare state and our old house

Latest stories

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_ 18-8-2025

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_ 17-8-2025

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_ 16-8-2025

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_ 13-8-2025

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_ 11-8-2025

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_ 6-8-2025

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_ 22-7-2025

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_ 21-7-2025

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_ 17-7-2025

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_ 16-7-2025

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_ 10-7-2025

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_ 9-7-2025

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_ 3-7-2025

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_ 30-6-2025

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_ 24-6-2025

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_ 23-6-2025

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_ 15-6-2025

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_ 12-6-2025

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_ 11-6-2025

Mama Nawal and the bloody business of education