Why do Egyptians Get Divorced?

This question has been circulating a lot in many unrelated circles nowadays.

On Facebook, Alyaa Gad, an Egyptian physician living abroad, was shocked to know that:

the governmental Central Body for Mobilisation and Statistics (CBMS) found that 75,000 divorce cases have been ruled on by Egyptian courts in 2006-2007, the survey found that in 45,000 cases the reason behind the divorce was the Internet.”

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Young Egyptian Women Do Not Want to Work

While some women are still struggling to prove themselves in the workplace, the young generation of Egyptian men and women seems to be taking a different route.

Fantasia was watching an episode of El Beyoot Asrar (Homes have Secrets) where they were talking about women and whether they should work or not.

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Egypt: Another Doweika Tragedy Waiting to Happen!

Students at the faculty of Engineering in Alexandria University created a group on Facebook called “The Mokattam Catastrophe to be repeated in the faculty of Engineering.”

The student's cry follows a tragedy in Doweika, a Cairo slum, where rocks came tumbling on homes, killing and maiming scores of poor people.

In the description of the group the students wrote:

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Egypt: Who are those People … in the People's Assembly?

In the aftermath of the Egyptian Parliament going up in flames, people's reactions ranged from utter shock, sadness, to gloating. Blogger Wael Nawara conducted an independent poll asking bloggers, readers, and Egyptian internet users to answer the following question: Does the Egyptian Parliament truly represent the people?

The poll's results were announced today on his blog:

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Suez Canal donates 1,000,000 Egyptian Pounds to Doweika Victims

Like Asser Mattar, many Egyptians were happy to find out that Suez Canal canceled its annual celebration on September 14 to donate a total of one million Egyptian Pounds to support the victims of the Doweika tragedy. Scores of people were killed and injured when huge rocks fell on 35 homes in the slum in one of Cairo's poorest neighbourhoods.

In his Facebook note, Asser started by quoting Suez Canal revenues in August 2008:

One of the main headlines that I read on a monthly basis is that the revenues of
Suez Canal broke a new record. Yes, it happened on a monthly basis for at least
the whole past year. The revenues never decrease, and the Suez Canal tolls for
those of you who don't know are collected in US dollars, which is equal nowadays
to approximately 5.4 Egyptian pounds.

After the Doweika catastrophe,
where at least six hundred people were buried alive under the rubble of Moqattam
hill, Asser decided to calculate how much time does it take Suez Canal to earn
the one million pounds.

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Jihad Hackers

The Egyptian blogosphere has turned into the new jihad field for Muslim, Coptic, and secular fundamentalists.

Quranic Studies defines jihad as "Jihad is simply the process of "exerting the best efforts," involving some form of "struggle" and "resistance," to achieve a particular goal."

It is no big secret that the number of Egyptians who believe that Egypt should become a secular nation are increasing. Mainly, intellectual bilingual well-educated people have realized that inter-faith strives are holding the country back.

"This group is open to anyone that wants to make Egypt a better place to live in, and that believes in:

1. All Egyptians are born free and equal in dignity and rights
2. All Egyptians have the right of free thought and religion.
3. All Egyptians are equal before the law.
4. Any Egyptian is entitled to all rights and freedoms without distinction such as race, gender, religion or origin.
5. An Egyptian Secular (civil) state is the only way to achieve these objectives." Says the creator of Egypt, A Secular Nation group on facebook.

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The Egyptian Ministry of "Hisbah" - Fact or fiction?

This word "hisbah" has been popping up a lot in my face lately and it is usually associated with three things: 1) Saudi Arabia 2) The Muslim Brothers 3) An Egyptian intellectual, writer, artist, or thinker.

Islam Q&A defines hisbah and men of hisbah as people who are dedicated, voluntarily or paid, to refuting and denouncing apparent immorality. They continue what the vice police leave unfinished. Among the public immoralities that they fight comes a long list that starts from men and women dating, to non- Muslims openly manifesting their beliefs and religious symbols, promiscuous images, movies, and books, or promoting anything that leads to adultery, homosexuality, and gambling.

The most recent hisbah lawsuit in Egypt was against renowned best selling author and the editor in chief of Akhbar Al Adab newspaper Gamal El Ghitani whom he lost to Muslim fundamentalist cleric Sheikh Youssef Al Badry. - The novelist has to pay 20,000 Egyptian Pounds or the Sheikh will take over his newspaper.

This is not the first time Sheikh Al Badry succeeds in terrorizing Egyptian intellectuals:

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The Call

I don't understand. Is it me? Have I not been clear about this? How many times do I have to repeat that I am not into politics? What is it about me or my writings that could rock "their" boat? I am simply a middle class Egyptian girl, who wants to see Egypt a better place. Whether I am talking about relationships and their mess, taboos and their backwardness, society and its hypocrisy, men and their mazes, women and their shortcomings, people and their ignorance, streets and their hazards, or laws and their utter lack of sense - I am talking about the same thing ... I am talking about Egypt.

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Dear MAN ... I left you

Dear MAN

A fond farewell is due
for I am leaving you.
This time I know it is not about my temper
or my flighty untamable nature.
I know I was good;
I was caring and loving.
I fought my demons;
but a real man you were not.
Instead of the knight in shining armor,
just another jockey I got.
Here I am and there you are,
miles and miles of feelings apart.
I no longer dwell in your heart,
and you no longer have a place in mine.

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Personal DNA Report

You are a Generous Visionary.

You are a Visionary

Your imagination, self-assuredness, and knowledge of the world combine to make you a VISIONARY.

You have clear notions of how things could be, and the confidence to try to make them that way.

You enjoy having a routine, and prefer comfort and familiarity to risk and adventure.

Not needing others' approval to forge ahead, you are confident in your designs for the future.

Your imagination allows you to envision the world as a better place.

You're better at thinking of the big picture than you are with details, and you can see wonder in abstract things.

Style and appearances are important to you, and you have a good eye for beauty.

You are somewhat rigid in your beliefs, which comes from both confidence and an aversion to change.

You are good at creating works of art in forms with which you're familiar.

Your independent streak allows you to make decisions efficiently and to trust your instincts

You tend to do things on the spur of the moment, not sticking to a set schedule.


If you want to be different:

Appreciate the earthly, functional elements of things.

Your clarity of vision sometimes prevents you from being open to new ideas. Try expanding your horizon of experiences, and experimenting with novel ways of doing things.


How you relate to others
You are Generous

Your awareness of those around you, along with your nuanced perceptions of the world at large, makes you the GENEROUS person that you are.

You value time to yourself and understand how rich your private world can be—you know that you don't have to go wild to have a good time.

You are excited and energized by ideas and often enjoy things more through observation than through experience.

This tendency gives you an appreciation for different perspectives and opinions about the world.

Being as aware of others as you are doesn't mean you find it easy to trust them immediately—this is something that happens more slowly for you.

Despite this, you are aware of the complexities of many situations and are reluctant to pass judgments on others.

Although you have fewer friendships than some people, those that you have are meaningful and are important to you.

You value spending time alone—it is while reflecting on the world around you that you often learn something new about yourself or begin to understand something that's been bothering you.


If you want to be different:

Given how attuned you are to others' thoughts and feelings, you might find that trusting people more is a way to broaden your perspective even further.

While you know how much can be learned from observing the world around you, remember that much of life can be lived by experiencing it, not just by understanding it.

Personality Chart:

Confidence 86
Openness 28
Extroversion 34
Empathy 58
Trust in others 6
Agency 36
Masculinity 84
Femininity 28
Spontaneity 88
Attention to style 54
Authoritarianism 54
Earthy/Imaginative Imaginative 60
Aesthetic/Functional Aesthetic 74

My personalDNA Report