[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Egypt and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Egypt Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week's roundup to egypt@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]
Political Rights
The Civil Democratic Movement calls for election boycott The Civil Democratic Movement, an alliance of opposition parties, called for a boycott of the upcoming presidential election in a Tuesday press conference.
More opposition figures back call to boycott presidential election A slew of oppositional and public figures joined the call to boycott the presidential election on Monday, adding their signatures to a statement calling for an end to the electoral process and the dismantling of the National Elections Authority.
Moussa Mostafa Moussa delivers candidacy papers 7 minutes before NEA deadline The National Elections Authority received a candidacy application from the head of the Ghad al-Thawra Party, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, on Monday, seven minutes before the NEA’s 2 pm application deadline. Moussa’s application is endorsed by twenty-seven members of parliament, although the candidate declined to disclose the names of the MPs backing his bid.
'I will put those calling for election boycott on trial for 'high treason' if I win,' says Egypt presidential hopeful Moussa Egyptian presidential candidate Moussa Mostafa Moussa said during an interview with the Masaa program on the DMC TV on Saturday that if elected president, he will "put those who called for boycotting [Egypt's 2018] elections on trial" for "high treason."
Sisi says he is ready to call on Egyptians to take to streets as a mandate to 'face evil' if necessary Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said that if the situation necessitates it, he would be willing to call on the Egyptian people to take to the streets in demonstrations that would serve as a mandate for him to face evil forces that threaten the country.
Alliance calling for halting of Egypt’s elections expresses concern at Sisi’s thinly-veiled threats The Civil Democratic Movement, an alliance of seven political parties and 150 individuals, which has been calling for the halting of the upcoming presidential elections due to security interference and the elimination of competition, expressed concern over President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s menacing response.
Where is Sisi’s financial disclosure report? Spokesperson for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s presidential campaign, Mohamed Abu Shaqa, invited journalists to read Sisi’s financial disclosure report during the campaign’s first press conference on Monday. The report, he said, is published in the Official Gazette and is available online.
Military court upholds Konsowa’s 6-year sentence A military appeals court rejected the appeal of Armed Forces Colonel Ahmed Konsowa on Monday, upholding the six-year sentence issued against him in December, according to Hoda Nasrallah, a member of his defense team.
Google-affiliated Accelerated Mobile Pages Project blocked in Egypt The Accelerated Mobile Pages Project, an open source website publishing tool led by Google, was blocked in Egypt on 2 February, Mada Masr was able to confirm through independent testing. Mada Masr has been using the AMP Project as an alternative platform to its main website, access to which has been blocked inside Egypt since 24 May 2017.
Court issues 1-year suspended sentences to Atfieh church attackers, fines alleged property owner LE360,000 Nineteen residents of a village in Atfieh were handed one-year suspended sentences and 500 LE fines on Wednesday, accused of carrying out a December attack on a church, according to the Atifeh Diocese’s lawyer Hany Samir.
First appeal hearing in NGO foreign funding case on Thursday The first appeal hearing in the NGO foreign funding case will be heard on Thursday by the Court of Cassation, with forty-three staff members of international civil society organizations contesting June 2013 prison sentences.
Ruling on appeals filed by international civil society workers in NGO foreign funding case set for April 5 The Court of Cassation is set rule on whether to accept the appeals against prison sentences handed to international civil society workers in the NGO foreign funding case on 5 April.
Lawyer: Geneina will not face charges following Saturday assault Hesham Geneina will not face charges following his recent assault, according to his lawyer Ali Taha. Geneina, who was set to hold a senior position in former presidential candidate Sami Anan’s campaign, was attacked by unknown assailants on Saturday, and the Interior Ministry’s initial police report on the incident leveled several charges against him.
‘Revolution without Revolutionaries:’ Making sense of the Arab Spring The summer of 2017 saw the release of Revolution without Revolutionaries by Asef Bayat, an author read by some during the Tahrir Square sit-in back in 2011. Preluded by another work, Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change in the Middle East, this latest book explores how time and space affected the nature and outcome of the Arab Spring. In this conversation, sociologist Heba Khalil engages Asef Bayat on several of his main points. We publish their conversation as we remember the 25 January, 2011 revolution.
From revolution to powerlifting Seven years ago, we entered as individuals into communities of revolt. With each anniversary, the revolution is celebrated as that of all Egyptians. But this year, we have chosen to go back to the individuals, the initial makers of a grand moment in history. Through their stories we spend some time reflecting, looking into how losses and disappearances from that moment in our past continue to shape their lives today.
Capital punishment in Egypt: Condemnation and calls for discussion following spate of executions As the pace of executions in Egypt has accelerated in the past weeks, advocates, both local and international, have shone a spotlight on the issue of the death penalty.
Egypt budget transparency improved, though information still limited, oversight weak: IBP survey Egypt provides the public with limited budget information and allows only weak oversight of its budget, although the country's transparency level has significantly improved over the past three years, a survey by International Budget Partnership said.
Economy
Desalination to the rescue: Egypt looks to new water sources amid GERD concerns The building of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the River Nile and its effects on Egypt’s share of Nile water have led the government to increase the country’s water desalination projects to be ready for possible water shortages.
Egypt's Sisi inaugurates giant Zohr gas field Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated on Wednesday the first stage of production at the super-giant Zohr gas field, which the country predicts will help achieve its goal of self-sufficiency in the supply of liquefied natural gas.
Foreign Relations
US lists Lewaa al-Thawra and Hassm as terrorist organizations, citing Muslim Brotherhood links The United States State Department designated militant groups Lewaa al-Thawra and Hassm as Specially Designated Global Terrorists on Wednesday.
Egypt welcomes US decision to place Hasm and Lewaa Al-Thawra on terror list: Ministry Egypt welcomes the US decision to place two Egyptian terrorist groups, Hasm and Lewaa Al-Thawra, on its terror list, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Military spokesperson denies reports that Israel carries out airstrikes in Egypt: Sputnik Egypt’s military spokesperson Tamer al-Refai refuted the validity of a New York Times article, which reported that Israel regularly conducts airstrikes in North Sinai, in comments to Russian news agency Sputnik on Sunday.
Cairo to host quadrilateral meeting between Egyptian, Sudanese FMs, intelligence chiefs on Thursday to bolster cooperation The foreign ministers of Egypt and Sudan, as well as the heads of both countries' intelligence agencies, will meet in Cairo on Thursday to discuss bilateral coordination over a number of regional issues of mutual interest, a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry announced on Sunday.
Egypt's Sisi heads to Oman on Sunday in first official visit Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is heading to Oman on Sunday to meet with Sultan Qaboos Bin Said to discuss bilateral and regional issues.
Egypt's Sisi, Oman's Qaboos discuss Gulf security, counter-terrorism, and economic relations in Musqat Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Oman's Sultan Qaboos met for talks in Musqat on Sunday to discuss enhancing bilateral relations, Arab Gulf security and cooperation over counter-terrorism efforts, according to a statement by Egyptian presidency spokesman Bassam Rady.
Egypt's President Sisi to vist UAE afer Oman trip Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi will head to the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi on an official visit after he wraps up his visit to Oman, which is set to start on Sunday.
Five weekly Cairo-Moscow flights to be operational upon resumption of air traffic: Russian transport minister Russian Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov announced on Friday that five weekly flights between Egypt and Russia will be operational once commercial air services between the two countries resume, Russian news agency TASS reported.
Egypt's FM Shoukry, UNRWA commissioner-general discuss Palestinian humanitarian situation Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry met on Thursday with UN Relief and Works Agency commissioner-general Pierre Krähenbühl in Cairo to discuss the latest developments in the humanitarian situation in Palestine as well as the financial situation of the agency itself, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Egyptian FM Shoukry to participate in urgent meeting in Brussels to support Palestinian issues Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is set to fly to Brussels on Tuesday to participate in an urgent meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, which is in charge of coordinating the international assistance provided to the Palestinian Authority.
Domestic Security
Egypt police arrest six leading Brotherhood members for plotting to disrupt presidential elections Egyptian police have arrested six leading members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group in a raid on a meeting in the Delta city of Mansoura, Daqahliya, where they were plotting acts of "rioting and violence" in order to disrupt the upcoming presidential elections, according to a statement by the interior ministry.
Egyptian army forces arrest extremist suspects in central, northern Sinai: Military Egypt's army forces have arrested a number of extremist suspects and destroyed hideouts used by militants in the Sinai Peninsula border area, the military said in statements on Friday.
Egypt Armed Forces thwart 20 attempts to smuggle goods, drugs over past week: Spokesman Egypt's armed forces thwarted over the past week twenty different attempts to smuggle goods and drugs, as well as irregular migration attempts, across Egyptian borders, the army spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.
From Jadaliyya Egypt
Egypt as Effigy: A Lecture by Adel Iskandar Seven years since the popular uprising that shook Egypt, the relationships between state, society, social movements and corporate power have been reconfigured, perhaps even disfigured. On the eve of the anniversary of the 25 January revolution, Adel Iskandar reflects on these changes and asks how they have affected our understanding of social, cultural and political life in the country.