By Paloma Haschke
8.30 – 10.30am
Sightseeing – The Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza
12.00 – 12.45pm
Daily News Egypt
Formerly called the Daily Star of Egypt, this newspaper affiliated to the International Herald Tribune is the only independent print in English in Egypt. For those reasons, Daily News Egypt is considered as a foreign newspaper by the authority and the majority of Egyptian who don’t read news in English.
It has been created in 2005, right before the changes in constitution and the first multiparty elections in the country’s history. The journal’s watershed moment has been the Gaza War at the end of 2008, beginning of 2009. The security apparatus multiplied their efforts to control the publication process.
The last call the newspaper has received from the censorship bureau was the day former Tunisian dictator Ben Ali resigned. It was because of an op-ed entitled “Ben Ali paved the way” published by Daily News Egypt and dealing with the way Tunisia has showed a third way to the Arab world, other than military coups or civil wars. 
Even if Hosni Mubarak is not in power anymore, the system is going back to the way it was before, with unpredictable red lines and government controlled media. It is allowed to criticize the former regime but not the current rulers.
What has changed though is eh increasing degree of irresponsibility of national media. Everyone wants to be heard and therefore be the first one on the scoop. Those sensationalist practices imply a lack of verification of the information source.
4.00 – 5.30pm
Al Azhar Mosque
Lecture “Moderate Islam” by Dr. Nahla Al Haraki
The religion is based on five pillars:
- Attestation of faith (shehada)
- Prayer (salat)
- Fast (soum) during Ramadan
- Zakat
- Pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca.
Islam, which also means peace, can be reduced to four main definitions:
- Peace with Allah
- Peace with yourself
- Peace with people around you
- Peace with the universe.
Islamic studies are a science and therefore it is possible to place each trend of Islam on a graph to identify the degree of fundamentalism of a certain movement.
Islam is different from and can’t be reduced to Muslims’ actions all over the world. It should be practiced with moderation for the believers to be able to enjoy their life as long as they stay in the limits of what has been forbidden by God.
6.00 – 7.30pm
Sightseeing – El Moez Street and Khan Al Khalily
Stay Connected