The 5F Initiative is working to promote religious understanding, acceptance and cooperation, on the individual, societal, and governmental levels. As such, this blog will explore the topic of religious freedom and tolerance in Egypt. We will do our best to expose critical and relevant issues that many Egyptians (and certainly those outside Egypt) may not be aware of.
The Middle East and Africa represent areas with tremendous potential for improvement in human rights, areas that NGOs typically focus their humanitarian efforts on. Egypt, as the link between the two regions, has the potential to become an important catalyst for crucial reforms. The 5F movement and this blog are acting to promote a grass-roots movement to bring about such reforms in Egypt and throughout the Middle East.
Our focus on Egypt will address the rights of religious minorities in Egypt: Christians, Baha’is, and Jews. We will examine their legal and political rights and the enforcement of them, as a means of evaluating the governmental commitment to religious freedom of expression. We will also look on a societal level to gauge the perspective of the average Egyptian, as well as to give a voice to members of the country’s minority religions. Other topics to be addressed include tensions involving Sunna-Shi’a differences, the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the treatment of non-Muslim tourists.
The main focus of the blog will be to provide a platform to those voices that aren’t usually heard, such as those belonging to members of the minority religions. Personal stories and views are thus extremely valuable, and anyone wishing to share is encouraged to email nomadictribe13@gmail.com, with the header ‘AIC 5F Project’.
In the upcoming post, I will introduce myself briefly as the new writer for this groundbreaking program. I will share a few personal stories from my own experiences in Egypt as a Jewish-American traveler, such as praying in the Knis (synagogue) in Cairo and being invited to numerous Iftaar dinners.
For now, I look forward to hearing from readers and I hope that you will look forward to hearing more from me in the coming days.
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