A recent comment made by chairman of the Egyptian State Information Service, Ambassador Salah Abdel Sadek, blames the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon Tom and Jerry for the alarming violence and extremism in the Middle East today. The cartoon, which was released…
Shortly after Egypt’s judiciary allowed the satirical puppet Abla Fahita to be charged with “violating public morality,” she has now drawn the ire of Parliament as well by referring to its members as “impaired.” Some lawmakers are pressing for her…
Egyptian cartoonist Makhlouf was among dozens of people arrested late last week in advance of planned street protests today. After being held overnight and released without charge early Friday morning, he said on Facebook that his high profile may have…
A wildly popular satirical puppet who appears on Egyptian television is being called into court on June 26, accused of “violating public morality” with her bawdy jokes. The case against Abla Fahita (Aunt Fajita) was brought by lawyer Samir Sabry,…
Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji remains in prison pending an appeal of his conviction for “violating public modesty” with an excerpt from his book Use of Life. A few brave government officials, including Minister of Culture Helmy al-Namnam, have spoken out…
Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji was sentenced to two years in prison this weekend for “violating public modesty” with an excerpt from his book Use of Life, which was published in a state-owned newspaper two years ago. Naji was previously acquitted…
In the aftermath of his overnight arrest last week, Egyptian cartoonist Islam Gawish is speaking out through media interviews to make clear that he will not be intimidated into stopping or modifying his work. In fact, he says the Sisi…
Egyptian cartoonist Islam Gawish was arrested on Sunday, allegedly for operating a website without government authorization, but was released yesterday without charge. Although his cartoons tend towards social rather than political satire, it appears an arresting officer found some of…
Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji and newspaper editor Tarek e-Taher are going back to court to be retried for allegedly “harming public morality” just a few short weeks after being acquitted of the same charges. Naji and el-Taher were first brought…
Last week, Egyptian novelist Ahmed Naji and Tarek el-Taher, a newspaper editor who printed an excerpt from Naji’s book Use of Life, were acquitted on charges of “harming public morality.” The charges had been brought on behalf of a reader…