For The Daily Beast: While Cairo hands down death sentences, Ankara allows the Brotherhood to open TV stations. A close look at a rivalry shaping many Mideast conflicts. ISTANBUL — Walid Sami fusses over a cup of green tea in the crowded apartment he shares with another Egyptian and six Syrians in a quarter of Istanbul’s Fatih district overlooking the Golden Horn. “Turkish tea is too bitter,” says Sami, 28, tall and thin with a wispy beard, dressed in worn blue jeans and a green…Continue Reading “Turkey Nurtures Egypt’s ‘Terrorist’ Muslim Brothers”
For The Atlantic: On June 29, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi stood before millions crowding Tahrir Square on the eve of his inauguration, telling them “you are the source of power and legitimacy. There is no person, party, institution or authority over or above the will of the people.” A year later, millions of Egyptians have gathered in cities across the country demanding his resignation. Morsi won the country’s first free elections, but since then he and his party, the Muslim Brotherhood, have alienated one…Continue Reading “Seeking New Leadership, Millions of Egyptians Take to the Streets”
For the Christian Science Monitor: As the Egyptian opposition’s demands for the resignation of President Mohamed Morsi and fresh elections gain momentum, the beleaguered president’s supporters are slamming the opposition as secular and hostile to Islam. In the deeply religious country, it is a serious criticism, and it has brought many Egyptians to Mr. Morsi’s side. But his opponents point to support from the leading voice of the Sunni establishment in Egypt. Earlier this month, Ashraf Abdel-Moniem, a conservative preacher and a vocal supporter of…Continue Reading “Egypt's top religious authority: It's not anti-Islam to be anti-Morsi”