The city of Bethlehem in Palestine has a distinguished location among all parts of the world, although it does not have many natural properties that lead to a great city. Yet, it has received great attention from Christians, geographers, historians, archeologists, mainly because it is the birthplace of Christ. Nature and geography of the place: The city of Bethlehem is located in the southern part of the Hebron Mountains, which extends parallel to the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, and is about 10 kilometers south of Jerusalem, and about 73 kilometers northeast of the Gaza Strip and the Mediterranean Sea, and about 75 kilometer to the west is the city of Amman, the Jordanian capital, and about 59 kilometers to the southeast of Tal al-Rabi`. Bethlehem is located at an elevation of about 775 meters (2,543 ft) above sea level, 30 meters (98 ft) higher than nearby Jerusalem. Bethlehem is situated on the southern portion in the Judean Mountains. The names given to the city of Bethlehem: The historians have disagreed about the name of the city of Bethlehem, where several names were Tel el-Amarna letters indicate that the name of Bethlehem is delivered from a city located in the south of Jerusalem known as the house of (Ilo Lahama), which is the god of food for the Canaanites, who built the city and its first inhabitants after migrating to it from the Arabian Peninsula. It is worth noting that Micah the prophet mentioned the city of Bethlehem or the city of "Ephrata, and assured that Christ will be born in it. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” (Mi 5: 2).

As I was listening to President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s speech in the youth forum, he greeted women appreciating their great national and social role. I remembered what the newspapers published in early November 2010 about the crime of a livestock trader in Fayoum who killed his three-year-old daughter, fearing she will have to face the shame caused by a relative who was known as prostitute! He said in the investigations that he killed her to get her rid of shame! The wonderful writer Dr. Ahmad Khamisi wrote commenting on the incident that he decided to save his own dignity by killing his own daughter! Such men think their dignity is stored in a piece of meat that be excluded at any time by some kind of weapon! Women realize that some men may kill them to save their dignity that a girl killed her sister to prevent her from telling their father that she has a boyfriend! Dr. Ahmad Khamisi said that women are not a box to store men’s dignity. In fact, man’s honor lies within his soul, mind and body. It is in one’s positions, relations, achievements, seeking justice and freedom. He should blame and fix himself instead of blaming, abusing and humiliating women and even killing them! The aim has been lost and values have been mixed up. Thus, the writer calls men to leave women alone since they are not property. She is an independent being who doesn’t enjoy torturing others like some men do. Then, it is a matter of honor and dignity. This is how the community develops using ideas of pioneers and people of reform and enlightenment and abandon ideas of retardation and ignorance.

It s clear that Egypt and Turkey are going into clash verbally and might exceed that verbal in the future especially after Turkey announced the agreement with Libya to search for natural gas in the Mediterranean Sea. There is no doubt that Turkey has used all tools to hurt Egypt and tried to weaken its power, for example Erdogan did agreement with Libya and visited Tunisia lately, went to the Islamic summit although the absence of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

As sinners, we always ask God for forgiveness. Nobody is void from sin if his life doesn t exceed one day on earth. Pope Shenouda III in his article Forgiveness assured us that God is merciful and forgiving by nature because he knows our human weakness. The prophet David says, for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:14).

December 25 in the West is equivalent to January 7th in Egypt. Christians celebrate Christmas in Egypt on January 7th while they celebrate it on December 25 in the West. It is a matter of calendar calculations and not creed! It is not fair to impose the Egyptian calendar on immigrants who live in a country different from Egypt. Thus, the solution is easy: we start the nativity fasting earlier and unify the date of celebrating Christmas on December 25. The Coptic Christians may celebrate the feast on January 7th as well accepting diversity which doesn’t contradict with our faith. Concerning our Coptic calendar, I would say that it is not applied even in Egypt where the Islamic calendar is more applicable and the Arab identity is embraced. Yet, the Coptic identity is hidden inside the Copts. I’d say that we should celebrate Christmas on December 25 since all the Copts don’t live in Egypt and the Coptic calendar is not applied.

It doesn’t matter how much noise you make in media, but your effect over the years is what really counts. There are many people who have been serving Egypt over the years without making too much noise. Their belonging to Egypt makes them willing to give without expecting anything in return. For more than 40 years, John Maher has been preaching Egypt in Europe and speaking about Egypt with parliamentarians, presidents and important parties in the European Union in order to clarify the true image of Egypt with the attempts of the Brotherhood to destroy its image after the revolution of June 30. I spent days with him in similar meetings with European Parliamentarians where he worked hard from 8 am to 6 pm. After the terrorist attacks on St. Samuel monastery, he led a group of French tourists in Egypt and they were really impressed by the tour that was considered a great advertisement to Egypt. He also held an international conference as head of OFIDA organization in cooperation with the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights, which was attended by more than fifteen French parliamentarians and the former minister Patrick Karam. Two days ago, John Maher delivered a speech in the European Parliament on behalf of His Eminence the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar after Dr. Abdel-Moneim Fouad representative of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar was not able to attend the conference. He was the first Egyptian Coptic man to deliver a speech of His Eminence the Sheikh of Al-Azhar in front of an important forum of the European Parliament. I think it is the right time to honor him in Egypt at the highest level. Greetings to him for his great work and greetings to his French wife that supports him by heart.

Again, we try to be very fanatic and not reasonable when it comes to the January 7th celebration as our Christmas day. I do remember one-time Pope Shenouda himself when he has been asked about when does he think that Jesus born? And his answer was that he believes that Jesus was born in December. I just thought to mention this story, because many people try to accuse Pope Tawadros that he is going to celebrate Christmas by Dec 24 as Catholic, when Pope Tawdrus himself explained that people in the US and Canada will just do a mass so they have a chance to celebrate with their catholic partner inside the Coptic church. People in Egypt got so mad saying that Pope is deciding by himself to celebrate at this time, however, the Pope was so modest and mentioned that he can t decide anything from himself and the Holy Synod is the only institution in the church can decide whether to celebrate that day or not. Coptic needs to calm down and not criticize that pope in this severe way, we need to respect our Pope and to believe that the holy spirit guide him for the good.

Recently, I took a taxi in Germany with my daughter. As I spoke few Arabic words, the taxi driver asked about our origins. I told him I am from Egypt and I knew that he is from Afghanistan. Suddenly, he asked me a strange question: Do you support al-Sisi or the Muslim Brotherhood? I asked him: what do you think of the Brotherhood? He told me that they are believers, and they are the best Muslims on the face of the earth. I told him: The, who spreads terrorism in the world, and who made September 11 attacks? The Americans and Israel, he answered me. They did this to accuse the Arabs and the Muslims.

The deterioration of Arabic language today is catastrophe even among the university students and media personnel. Many mistakes are recorded including that article of Al-Ahram newspaper that mentioned 165 mistakes for one person in an interview. Dr. Nabawia Moussa have mentioned in her book ‘My History recorded by me’ that the Arabic language in 1906 was taught in English at the Sunni Secondary School in Cairo. This reveals the struggle to link the language to the national identity. The British government insisted on minting in both Arabic and English languages in order to show the link between Egypt and Great Britain. It was cultural, political and national struggle for liberation. Thus, all national leaders struggled to impose Arabization including Mustafa Kamel, Saad Zaghloul and Nasser. It is known that Arabic is not an easy language. The noble prize winner and the novelist Naguib Mahfouz said that his most significant struggle was with the Arabic language. Students always complain about the grammar and dozens of synonyms that are no longer used. We urgently need to reconsider the educational curricula in the Arabic language to make it easier to learn. We need to revise the lyrics of songs that are spreading in the air without control. As I right this article, the popular singers, the local accents and even the officials are destroying the Arabic language and its beauty.

Perior to the cross, the Virgin Mary was hearing howling of the daughters of Jerusalem mourning the young man presented as a silent lamb. She was standing as the sword was passing through her soul and Jesus Christ was condemned and defamed. Yet, the women loved and followed him, even if they didn’t realize that resurrection was at hand. We also stand in solidarity with those who were wounded for us, and were condemned in the 21st century. I see people arguing after the arrest of the Coptic activist Ramy Kamel like the two disciples of Emmaus who were on the way back from Jerusalem after the resurrection. The two disciples were in a state of disappointment and confusion, and did not know about the risen Lord. They saw Jesus as a prophet, a political and military leader, and therefore the two students lost the greatest significance of history and lost hope after the death of Jesus. They may have heard the testimony of the women and the Bible prophecies about resurrection, but they did not believe them. It took Jesus standing alive among them to get their eyes open. At that time, Jesus began talking to them with questions: What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad? They started talking about their feelings and pain ‘But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. ‘ They didn’t realize whom they are talking to till he sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. Ramy also is not just a political leader, but an Egyptian Christian man who cares for his homeland and church at the same time. We pray for him and for his family hoping that he will return soon and will remain an icon for the Coptic cause.

In the last NATO summit held in the UK it was very clear that there is big tension between US from one side and the whole other NATO member form the other side. Tension showed not just in the language and gestures during the meeting but also after the meeting. This situation reminds me of the Arab summit where the Arab leaders most of the time fight instead of looking for a solution for their people.

From the top of Mount of Olives, which is located east of Jerusalem, there were many important events mentioned in the Bible. Several churches were built in the location to commemorate these events. The mountain was named after the many olive trees that distinguished it. Father John Nassif, the priest of the Church of Our Lady in Chicago, mentioned in his article Events on the Mount of Olives seven important events that took place on the Mount of Olives. It was the place where the prophet David fled, barefoot in front of his son Absalom, who wanted to take over his father s kingdom. When David arrived at the top of the mountain, he worshiped and prayed, and God sent him Hushai the Archie, who saved him from the evil plan of Achtiophyll. The Lord Jesus used to go to the Mount of Olives to pray and spend the night. A church was built there called Our Father in Heaven written on its walls the Lord s Prayer from inside and outside in one hundred and seventy-two languages, including Coptic and Arabic. The Lord Jesus passed by and went to Jerusalem and was received by the crowds with palm fronds and spread their clothes on the way. Moreover, From the top of the Mount of Olives, the Lord Jesus wept over Jerusalem. In the western slope of the Mount of Olives, there is a Gethsemane orchard in which the Lord Jesus prayed on the night of crucifixion, and an angel from heaven appeared to strengthen him, and there was built a big church decorated with mosaic icons for all events at that night, in the midst of the church, the rock on which the Lord Jesus knelt and prayed. From the top of the mountain, Jesus ascended to heaven forty days after his resurrection, having blessed his disciples and commanded them not to leave Jerusalem to preach the Gospel until they had received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

I was happy to hear statement of Egypt’s Minister of Health, Dr. Hala Zayed, who said that Egypt has succeeded in providing most of the medicines in a national industry. She added that the ministry is keen to develop the medicine industry and its regulation and control of the market, and encourage local pharmaceutical industries, and the manufacture of medical supplies and cosmetics. During the opening of the first Al-Ahram conference for the pharmaceutical industry under the title: Challenges of the pharmaceutical industry, Zayed revealed that the local pharmaceutical production represents 80% and the imported is 20%, assuring that the industry has become one of the strategic industries that affect national security by all standards. She clarified that prices are affordable for the families and reasonable for the industry. One of the achievement in that account is the local industry was able to overcome the problem of insulin deficiency in Egypt after it succeeded in covering and providing all types of insulin, in addition to entering the pharmaceutical industry of oncology. It is worth mentioning here that the effective partnership between the government and the private sector led to manufacture and provide treatment for the virus C at a low price compared to the world average. I appreciate this great idea that relieved pain of many patients in Egypt.

With the expansion of media spaces available in all forms, media started to pursue former ministers, officials, and governors to make comparisons between the current and former officials, to cry upon the spilt milk and attack the current officials! Many former officials enjoy talking to media about alternative plans, strategy and magic tools to solve problems! Unfortunately, media support such attitude instead of supporting people to work harder, produce and be creative. In that account, I say that those former officials contributed to the current situation with all its negative aspects. We shouldn’t talk about former officials as faithful and uncorrupted as if we assume the current one is not! I wonder: why former officials think they have don’t all good work that can be done, which is not true? The Egyptian history has presented many great examples and leaders, but I can’t accept hearing an official talking about the corruption in a ministry he served. I remember similar situation when a former minister criticized corruption in the ministry and provided his plan to fix the situation. Former president Mubarak simply told him that he was responsible for this ministry for 10 years! On the other side, we find many public figures and members of the opposition who strongly criticize officials, but they keep their mouth shut when they are appointed in the government!

The arrest of Rami Kamel sparked anxiety among a segment of Coptic youth because they saw themselves in him, and they did not imagine this could happen after the revolution of June 30, which they supported. Other current of the elite used the incident for their own benefit or to take revenge from their rivals. The Coptic elite is simply confused just like the rest of the Egyptian elite. They can’t realize the changes and are dealing from religious and partial aspect. For 40 years I have been following the Coptic Christian situation. They are divided and conflicting as if they came from different backgrounds. In fact, I could mark 3 groups of them in the last decade: One came out from the walls of the church, the second took the church outside its walls, and the third offers spiritual protest. The first group has rebelled against the Church and adopted positions and paths focused on criticism of the Church and the clergy. They really belong to the church even though they use a impolite speech. The second group appeared in 2010 in front of Giza administrative building after the events of the Umraniyya Church, and the demonstrations that followed the bombings of the Church of the Saints in Alexandria. They got rid of their fear and expressed their point of views outside the church walls united with their fellow Muslims. The third category are mainly the men of power and always benefit from getting close to the church, but they only target personal benefits and some of them performed this role even with the Islamists. However, there is a new generation that realizes the importance of the homeland and the identity of the church. They are able to protest and perform peaceful struggle. They choose to protest by praying and start signatures collection campaigns and achieve what is needed without seeking personal benefits like other beneficiaries. This new generation rejoice in reaping an old crumbling church more than the most beautiful Cathedrals of the world since they toiled to reopen it in prayers and with the authorities. Will the officials and clergy realize the identity of this generation belonging to digital revolution? The case is bigger than Rami Kamel, but it has become an indicator of disappointment with the majority of Coptic elites caring only for their personal interests at the time the new generation is able to negotiate and struggle for their Coptic cause. Will this reflect renewal of religious discourse in the church that is still offering martyrs every now and then?

Statistics show that the Yemen war has cost both parties $ 950 billion to date, while the Iraq war cost $ 640 billion and the Syrian war 680 billion dollars, Libya war 390 billion dollars, Somalia war 190 billion dollars, and the Sudan wars 120 billion dollars! Imagine with me if the Arabs, especially the rulers were wise or patriotic enough to use this money for the welfare of the people. This money would have been enough to convert all Arab citizens to a higher standard of living than Europe, America, Australia and all rich countries. Yet, the Arab rulers prefer destroying the country to leaving their palaces. Arab culture does not know true peace and encourage sectarianism. Each party can call the other infidel and simply start war with it without trying to talk first. They simply accuse America, Israel and the West of inciting war as if Arabs are babies who lack understanding. In fact, violence and blood has been all around our history even before the emergence of Israel or America. Will we continue to deceit ourselves and play the same blame game over and over with the West or will we wake up and hold ourselves accountable before God will judge us and we lose everything.

Lately, I read a story of a Vietnamese kid who decided to depend on himself and refuse to be in an orphan home after his parents died and his grandmother left him behind to get married. This story touched me so much and that s why I thought to shed light on this issue around the world. I want to assure that he is not the only one around the world who preferred to depend on himself rather than setting in an orphan house.

In his book The Hypothesis of Happiness, Jonathan Hight argues that experiments that showed that genes play a big role in the subject of happiness were a severe blow to psychology that, since Freud, believed that man s childhood and his upbringing is what determines how his personality is formed and if he or she will be happy or not. When Martin Selgman founded positive psychology in 1990, he and a number of psychologists worked to find what is called a formula or happiness equation, which tried to look at the opposite of what science experiments found. The equation was as follows: H = S + C + V. The letter H means Happiness, while S means biological Set point and C means conditions and V is voluntary actions. Hight says that external influences can not be zero effect, and it must help in raising the happiness rate of those who were unlucky in terms of the subject of genes. The circumstances include, for example, the society in which man is born, the relationships that are imposed on him or her such as the family, the outward form, race, and perhaps sex and religion as well. As for voluntary acts, we cannot deny the role of philosophies (such as Buddhism) and philosophy (Epictetus), for example, despite the difficulty of the road they have taken, but nevertheless seems effective with some and has positive results in the long run.

Coptic Egyptian citizens started the Nativity Fasting today according to the Coptic Orthodox Church s ritual. Fasting people abstain from food for a period of time and then they eat only vegetarian foods, and they can eat fish since this is a second degree fasting. They fast for 43 days 40 of them to commemorate the fasting of Moses the Prophet and 3 to remember the miracle of moving the Mokattam Mount. The fasting include the month of Koiak, which is dedicated to celebrate the Virgin Mary by special prayers, rituals, melodies and beautiful praises called « seven and four ». I do not think that there are people in the world related to fasting like the Egyptian people, and believe or not that the Egyptians Muslims and Christians fasting « 467 » Days each year. Muslims, in addition to fasting the holy month of Ramadan, fast: three days in the month of Sha baan, and Arafat s pause increases optionally to ten days, and in the six days of white, and two days in the month of Rajab, in addition A total of 104 days are optional, which is every Monday and Thursday, bringing the total between 147 days and optionally increasing to 201 days. The Copts fast 55 days of the Great Lent, three days of Jonah, 43 days of fasting, 40 days of fasting of the Apostles, and 15 days of fasting of the Virgin. In addition to Wednesdays and Fridays, the number of days to «256» days can optionally increase to «266» days. If we add the total fasting of Egyptians Muslims and Christians, they will reach 406 days, and can optionally increase to 467 days. Why the Egyptian people fast these days? Is it a love for God and His messengers, or fear of punishment? Or is it related to the severity of the injustices experienced by this people over the different ages. Muslim are Sunnies in Egypt, but they fast Ashura and celebrate the family of Prophet. Fasting in Christianity is not a holy secret, but it amounts to one. History also states that the victories of the Egyptians were always occurring during the fast of Ramadan, such as the battle of Ain Jalut and the victory over the Tatars, the battle of Hattin and the victory over the Crusaders and the restoration of Jerusalem until the victory of the tenth of Ramadan and the defeat of the Zionist enemy. Thus, spirituality, asceticism and mysticism are deeply rooted in the hearts of the Egyptians who celebrate more than a hundred births and celebration of saints. This spiritual identity of our great people goes beyond all understanding and take root in imagination and grow from generation to generation.

It is a very funny and realistic story that happened 150 years ago with Khedive Abbas who was returning from his trip in the Mediterranean in the winter 1850. He was heading to Alexandria and it was very cold, dark and stormy. His ship was going astray and the Captain was not able to find the shores. Hardly, the Khedive could see from afar a dim light and they followed the light till they reached the shore to find out it came from the lamp lit before St. Mark icon in the great Cathedral of Alexandria. The Khedive was so grateful to it since it saved him from death. To show gratitude, he ordered the pay of certain amount of money equal to the price of oil used in this lamp. It is worth mentioning that this money is still paid by the governorate to the church till today.