I do not know what happened to a stream of Egyptians who have been racist in many cases once against other Egyptians and another against the Syrian comers. It has always been clear throughout Egyptian history that all Abrahamic Religions were welcomed here. Joseph the prophet, St. Mark and Amr ibn al-Aas in addition to the Holy Family lived peacefully in Egypt. The great port of Alexandria was built and founded by Alexander the Great and the Greek community still lives in Egypt and have clubs, scientists and thinkers, after they became real Egyptians. Some Egyptians may forget that the modern Egyptian state was founded by Mohamed Ali who was non-Egyptian and he worked with many foreigners including Suleiman Pasha al-Fransawi, the founder of the Egyptian army, and the first Prime Minister of Egypt was Nobar Pasha the Armenian. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century, many nationalities came to Egypt including: French, Italians and Greek who arrived in Egypt and became Egyptians and taught us a lot about music, sewing, business and civil work. The Syrians arrived then and established many journals including Al-Aharam and Rosal Youssef in addition to many other modern arts. They became Egyptians and the names of some of Egypt s players in the Olympic mission of the second Mediterranean Games held in Barcelona - Spain in 1955 as mentioned by researcher Rami Kamel included many foreign names including Greek, Italian, Syrian and Armeinian, but they were all accepted in the society and became full citizens. I blame Wahhabism for destroying our Metropolitan culture, and I believe racism and sectarianism need to be faced since it is still spreading unfortunately.

It is strange that Egypt s Christians only protest when a church is closed or a Coptic Christian girl escapes with her Muslim lover. However, she and her lover know nothing about Islam or Christianity. I believe that refusing to appoint a Copt in a teaching job at the university only because he is a Christian, which is unfair discrimination that deserves protest. Equal citizenship should be demanded like muslims enjoy their rights in Europe. Copts have to change their culture of protest since their are many things that deserve such protest rather than converting of Coptic women or building churches. This is the reason to decent life and freedom, or else the Copts will stay as Dhimmis behind the walls of churches.

I admit I was not surprised or shocked when the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir admitted in court that he had received $ 90 million from the Prince Crown Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, among the 113 million dollars that were found in the house of Bashir at the time of his arrest. These presidents always emphasize the cleanliness of their hands and show their honesty and honor, and take pride in fighting corruption and refusing any bribes, but they are quite the opposite. On this occasion I tell you about the bribery offered to President Nasser: In 1955, the revolutionary approach taken by Gamal Abdel Nasser threatened the interests of America and Israel in the region. America has tried to break through the financial discharge of Gamal Abdel Nasser by sending him a bribe.

Lately a lot of media and people started to attack MOhamad Salah especially after his interview with CNN. Im not writing this article to defend Mohamad Salah neither to attack him. Mohamad Salah like any person can do wrong and can do right. We have to encourage him when he does good and try to consider him human when he does wrong. Salah is a professional player and tries to do everything professionally, however, he is human as well and can say or do something not right because there is no one perfect.

At the time of her departure, the disciples of Jesus Christ came to her, where she lived in the house of John the Beloved, so that they could pay her farewell. She was cheerful to see them, and she blessed them before her soul was received by her son and savior who also carried her body like she carried him when he was child. Her miraculous departure was also accompanied by many miracles and appearances till her body was taken to heaven. Her body was too holy to stay in this earth. The church celebrates her departure on 21 of Toba.

She was chosen by God to be the Mother of God, and to take part in the incarnation and the salvation of mankind. Thus, His Eminence Bishop Benjamin of Menoufia told us in his article The Status of the Virgin explaining to us the value of the Virgin as highlighted in the Bible. The Virgin was chosen by the Lord as faithful servant of the temple So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him. (Psalms 45: 11) The angel told her: “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” Elizabeth also said to her: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Even the Virgin Mary said “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. The Virgin has become a second sky once the Son of God has taken flesh from her. Her unique qualities gathered in one person that she became intercessor of human race as a loving mother. We praise her saying You are the most honorable intercessor We asks her to pray for the Lord to forgive us our sins. We ask her to spread joy and lead us to repentance.

If you are a follower of the achievements of Egyptians, you must have seen the achievement of Dr. Mirna Hosni, a student of pharmacy at the British University in Egypt who achieved first place over 45 teams, while she stood alone in the competition. Mirna took only quarter of the time since she started late, which proves her achievement. Yet, this shows disrespect and recklessness of some officials concerning those who represent Egypt abroad. Those responsible didn t read the conditions carefully since the didn t notice that a team should consists of 5 members and not only one. I congratulate the Egyptian I and the Egyptian women on Mirna s achievement for what she did alone abroad.

In general, I don t write so much in sports, however, I find myself today want to talk about Al-Ahly team. Al-Ahly soccer team lost lately from the pyramids team for the fourth time in a row. Me and All fan of Al-Ahly got frustrated that Al-Ahly can t win one time this team because this is not the team we know. Al-Ahly get used to be strong and be able to defend its pride every time play, however, this time we feel that the players don t care to defend their pride or compensate for the last 4 loses against the same team.

The monks of the Monastery of St. Samuel in Minya Governorate organized a protest at the main entrance of the monastery on August 12 after the security forces guarding the monastery refused to allow the main supplies of food for animals and residents of the monastery to enter. It is worth mentioning that the monks of the monastery filed on July 9, 2019, a complaint to both the Minister of the Interior and the Director of Minya Governorate Security, in order to intervene to stop such practices of security forces. The complaint included the following points: 1- preventing cars that carry products of the monastery from entering or leaving the monastery. 2- preventing the workers who care for the animals and work in the construction and agriculture from entering the monastery. 3- preventing monks who have been assigned minister outside the monastery from returning back. 4- preventing visitors from entering the monastery, even families of the monks. 5- it should be noted that the monasteries of the Egyptian Church don t receive an annual budget to spend on its institution or the services it provides to its people. All sources of funding for the monastery depend on the work of monks, tithes, vows and donations. Moreover, this system has existed since the fourth century AD till today. The complaint added: The monastery of St. Samuel is considered an archaeological area, which is visited by thousands of tourists from inside and outside Egypt. Hence, we call upon President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to intervene quickly to put an end to the problem .

Eid al-Adha this year coincides with the fasting of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Egypt and the Muslim pilgrims are performing the most important rituals of Hajj. This rituals are commemorating the sacrifice offered instead of Abraham s son. This story is repeated in Egypt where hundreds of thousands have offered their sons for the sake of the homeland. The sacrifice of Abraham s son and the son of the Virgin are spiritual examples for many fathers and mothers who sacrificed their children as martyrs to Egypt from the battle of Ain Jalut till the 1973 war against the Zionist enemy as well as those who were killed in several terrorist attacks. The church glorifies the Virgin Mary for her vital role in the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the salvation of mankind. Hence, more than one hundred feasts and festivals are celebrated of the Virgin. During the fasting of the Virgin and the celebration of al-Adha (the sacrifice) feast, we mourned martyrs and celebrated great heroes. This is normal in Egypt where pain and proud are mixed in the Egyptian personality. Not to mention that most of our victories came while our fasting since we believe that victory over the self precedes victory over the oppressor. We do mourn our martyrs praying to God to repose their souls. May God grant us happiness and joy that we fear its outcome. We pray in Egypt that God makes the outcome of joy good. The virgin Mary is truly adored by the Egyptians and more than 10 big festivals are held for her that are attended by millions of visitors. More than 500 churches and 7 monasteries are named after the Virgin Mary. The church also celebrates her nine times a year in addition to other fixed celebrations. The Holy Quran also celebrates St. Mary and a whole chapter of Quran carries her name in addition to another chapter carries the name of her family, in addition to may verses of the Quran that tells her story and glorifies her and her son. Al-Imran verse 42 reads: Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee- chosen thee above the women of all nations. May her blessings be with us all, Amen.

Fan Jameel (beautiful art) Foundation, which supports heritage, education and arts, announced the implementation of a one-month summer program for the revival of traditional crafts in the tourist village of Tunis, Fayoum Governorate. Over the course of four weeks, the youngsters engage in a program of workshops focusing on the unique heritage of Fayoum Governorate. These workshops include Islamic arts, copper works, printing, and ceramics, which is one of the most popular activities in Fayoum. This free program is the first major project of Fan Jamil outside Cairo. The foundation was established in 2009 and offers a two-year program of handicrafts and design arts in a joint project between Fan Jamil, the Prince Charles School of Traditional Arts Foundation and the Cultural Development Fund of Egypt. It is worth mentioning that the village of Tunis offers the finest Egyptian hand-made pottery products.

Again, we see more innocents died in a terrorist attack and not just innocents, but sick people hardly can leave and walk to save their lives. I refer to the terrorism attack happened in down town Cairo, Egypt in front of the national cancer care. There is no doubt that Egypt has weaknesses in the security measures taken all over the country. I don t imagine that a car full of bombs can go downtown Egypt without any one investigation from the security. I believe that no country can have security 100%, however, taking the necessary measures to prevent terrorist attack is very important especially in a country like Egypt.

What will state officials say after reading these views, and will Egypt s women continue to be treated as intimate parts of the human body or simply genitals. Their hair is seen like a real sex organ though God has created it on the top of their body like a crown and shouldn t be hidden by hijab or niqab. I am talking in that topic though I am not a Muslim man, but this sectarian dress cause damage in my homeland and affects citizenship badly though it doesn t have a strong base in the Holy Quran.

Take me to Jabal al-tit, Where St. Mary will give me power… These are quotes from a song in the celebrations of the Virgin Mary in Upper Egypt last May. The celebrations included making tattoos of crosses, sacrifices, festivals and songs. The scene was in Samalout, Minya, where Muslims and Christians shared the celebrations in wonderful national unity. The celebrations last for 7 days in the Monastery of Our Lady in Minya that was blessed by the visit of the Holy Family 2000 years ago. About 2 millions visit the monastery in May, which is known as the festival that is celebrated after Easter till the resurrection feast.

After judge Khalid Khafaji, Vice-Premier of the Council of State Commentary, issued a ruling to ban demolition or selling of churches, I need to express my happiness and gratitude to the honorable judge for several reasons: Such ruling proves the importance of worship houses and proves equality between Muslim and Christian houses of worship. It also annuls the claims of the extremists that churches are places of infidelity. Such ruling expresses policy of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi of equality among the Egyptians. Such message should also reach the officials who support the extremists in Egypt and treat Christians differently.

It seems that US and China will not reach to a trade deal anytime soon. US Recently imposed another Tarries on China for about 10%. China in return will impose more tariffs on US products. In fact, that will hurt the marker so much and the whole world might get worse because of this war. The tension between the biggest largest economies is not the only tension we can witness now. The tension expands to middle east between Iran and the US, US and North Korea, the US and Russia. I m not pessimistic but the atmosphere around us might lead to a world war if we didn t use the negotiation as a tool instead of the threats and confrontation. The US, China, and Russia has to hold a summit that help them to get rid of their differences and try to stand for the real challenges face them.

The Egyptian Ministry of Emigration is launching a campaign to encourage Egyptians abroad to visit Egypt aiming to improve the tourism industry. However Egypt is indeed full of great touristic places and sightseeings; we do need to make the best of them in order to make the tourists enjoy their visit more. In the Netherlands, I visited a number of museums that are few decades old, but the government is really using them and planned to make visiting them fun as well as an easy task with nice bus system and a decent tour guide that you can find in the streets.

Evangelization of Christian faith in France came at the hands of St. Lazarus, who had to flee from the Jews who persecuted him severely after he was resurrected from death. He fled to France where he started evangelizing. Father Benjamin of Muharraq monastery said in his article Evangelization in France that St. Lazarus came to France with his sister Martha and Mary. As a result of the severe persecution, they boarded a ship from Palestine and sailed through the Mediterranean Sea to the coast of the city of Lyon, which is considered the first Christian capital in France. In the church tradition in France, Mary after preaching in Marseilles settled in the area of Mount Saint-Boum, which is far away 60 km from the city of Marseilles, where there is a cave where she spent about thirty years in prayer and worship until her departure, and this place was turned into a monastery for the Dominican monks. St. Lazarus went to the island of Cyprus where he was ordained by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas as the bishop of the town of Caitone. Lazarus lived for more than thirty years after the Lord raised him from death. He was buried there for the second and last time. The remains of the Saint are located in Marseilles, Where Lazarus was the patron saint of many French cities and his name was called on many places. There is a large railway station in Paris named Saint Lazarus. In the city of Aition there is a large cathedral in the form of a cross of three Altars bearing the name of Saint Lazarus and St. Mary and St. Martha. The evangelization of the Christian faith is a message to every human being in every time and place. We must learn from the early missionaries love and giving in order to spread the word and win the souls.

In the context of the responses to the articles of the Holy Family Journey to Egypt, I publish today an article by Samuel Iskandar, archeologist. He says: The majority of the peoples of the world seek reasons to develop their countries, but we insist or love backwardness. We see the civilized world using any event or monument to make the best of it. They may lack many elements of urbanization and progress, but their people work hard to achieve such development. On the other hand, we have a lot of monuments, but with our negligence and foolishness, we waste many opportunities to success. Unfortunately, this is our reality since we indeed lose many opportunities by bad management and wrong or no planning.