Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Osama Gaweesh
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Rayan Oram’s death brought us all to life
Just a few minutes lapsed between the news that Rayan Oram had been rescued from the dark Moroccan well into which he had fallen, and the news that he had died. It was a short but extremely heavy time. For five days, along with millions of other people I followed...
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Arms deals: Al-Sisi's key to circumventing criticism of repression
Last Tuesday, the US government approved a $2.5 billion arms sale to Egypt, despite US President Joe Biden’s pledge not to be lenient with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s regime over its poor human rights record. The US approval comes days after an Egyptian resident in the United States was charged...
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The signs suggest that another uprising looms in Egypt
Many human rights organisations, political activists and reports point out unambiguously that the people of Egypt have lived under a brutal police state since the 2013 military coup. From Human Rights Watch to the Arab Centre in Washington DC, it has been made crystal clear that Egypt has become...
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A power bequest in Egypt needed Sisi Junior to make a pilgrimage to Tel Aviv
In November 2004, the Kefaya (Enough) movement was formed by Egyptian thinkers, activists and politicians, including George Ishak and Professor Abdel Wahab Al-Messiry. It was a broad political umbrella for persons and entities against the grooming of Gamal Mubarak, the son of the then President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, to...
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Leave, Sisi!
It was a week full of “Leave, Sisi!” What does Abdel Fattah el-Sisi want from the Egyptian people when he comes out with his lack of charisma, promising everyone that he would leave his position if the people ask him to do so? It has occurred before, currently happening, and will...
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Sisi's new elite: contractors, ex-militaries and businessmen who support him
Over the past few days, the arrest of the renowned Egyptian businessman, Mohamed Al-Amin, has been trending on social media. The media mogul who founded CBC network in 2011, which turned rapidly into one of the most prominent TV network in Egypt, is charged with human trafficking and sexual...
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In Egypt, the regime exchanges citizenship for freedom
After being forced to give up his Egyptian citizenship, Ramy Shaath has been released by the regime of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. The activist in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement spent two and a half years in pre-trial detention and has now been deported to Jordan. By forcing...
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Egypt's Sisi leads a luxurious life despite austerity measures
A few days ago, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a sudden decision to stop granting food subsidies cards to newly married couples, declaring that the subsidy has been the reason for the state’s decades-long delay toward development. Unfortunately, this decision was preceded four months ago by a similar decision...
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Jon Snow, the legend, 'we will miss you'
“I thank everyone who trusted me to write, publish and cover their stories around the world.” “To those who watch me from home and in front of their screens, it has been my pleasure to bring you the news on a daily basis.” With those emotional words, prominent British journalist...
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Refugees in Egypt: Sisi's political trump card
The Egyptian officials have highlighted growing refugee numbers in Egypt. In 2016, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi stated at the G20 summit that Egypt hosts over five million refugees and migrants. Then in 2020, Al-Sisi put the number of Syrian refugees and migrants in Egypt at 500,000. The figures declared contradict...
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The internal exile of Egyptian detainees
Hundreds of detainees in Egypt’s many prisons woke up last week to arbitrary decisions by the prison authorities to move them to other prisons very far from their homes. They have been sent into internal exile. Gamasa Supreme Security Prison had the largest share of prisoners affected, with more than...
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A former Egyptian presidential candidate fears for his life after cyberattacks
The leader of Ghad El-Thawra party and former Egyptian presidential candidate Ayman Nour fears for his life after his phone was hacked by two different groups. The exiled activist was a long-standing opponent of the late dictator Hosni Mubarak and stood in the 2005 presidential election before being jailed...
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The crime in Sisi’s Egypt is not being corrupt, it is exposing corruption
Every time audio leaks related to the regime in Egypt are published or broadcast and affect President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi as a person or one of his aides, the matter makes headlines and trends on social media for days. Egyptian activist and You Tuber Abdullah Al-Sharif broadcast such a...
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The Egyptian economy is in danger and people cannot eat, says ex-media CEO
Osama Gaweesh interviews Mamdouh Al-Wali, the former Chief Executive Officer of the official Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram...
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The world is no longer a safe place
The past week was full of many tragic events, all of which connect in the lack of any value placed on human life and respect for the right to dignity and safety. The experience of the Arab Spring, including its limited victories and successive defeats and failures over the...
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Sisi’s battle with human rights is not over yet
This article is not about promoting intellectual tranquilisers or selling illusions to those oppressed by the injustices in Egypt for the past eight years and more. Rather, it is an attempt to analyse some real events that give a genuine glimmer of hope in the darkness of Abdel Fattah...
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Dictatorship in Egypt is more dangerous than carbon emissions
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi a couple of weeks ago regarding the latter’s invitation to attend the 26th Climate Change Conference being held in Glasgow over the next couple of weeks. Johnson also expressed his happiness about Egypt’s nomination to host the 27th conference next...
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Don’t blame Zaki Anwari, blame those who drove him to make his fateful decision
“You are the painter of your life,” wrote Zaki Anwari on his Facebook page last week. “Do not give your paintbrush to anyone else.” It was the last thing that the young Afghan footballer wrote before his death. The remains of the nineteen-year-old were found in one of the wheel...
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A message to the people of Tunisia
Temporarily suspending the constitution; having the President of the Supreme Constitutional Court take an oath before the court; preparing a road map that includes holding early presidential elections; and developing a code of honour regulating the nature of media work in Egypt. These were the highlights of the statement...
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Tunisia and the final page of its history
Tunisia is the answer. This is, and has been, what we’ve been saying and believing all along. Even before writing this article, Tunisia was the answer to all possible and impossible questions. It has been so since Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire, declaring the beginning of the Arab...
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100m Egyptians at risk of going thirsty
“Failure” or “stumble” are the two words most frequently associated with the Renaissance Dam when you Google the issue. The failure of negotiations and stalled round of talks between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia emanated, unfortunately, from marathon meetings between the upstream and downstream countries regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam...
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This world is not a safe place for journalists
Be careful please … if you are a journalist, then your life is in serious danger. Dear reader, this article is not meant to trigger feelings of pessimism or spread panic, fear, and anxiety, but it is rather an acknowledgement of a fact and an assertion of an unfortunate reality...
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Murder through drama in the Sisi era
Egyptians woke up to the tragedy of the execution of nine prisoners convicted in the Kerdasa Police Station storming following the July 2013 military coup. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s regime has been one of the most prolific security apparatuses in executing death row inmates in recent years. But this...
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Put the distractions aside, the real threat to Egypt is Sisi’s regime
I would like to make two suggestions to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, regarding possible TV programmes for Ramadan 2022 and 2023. The first would be a third season of The Choice covering the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the numerous railway accidents during the era of the...