Friday Wrap: End of November - Beginning of December

A great sneak into the worldwide issues….

1)       The ‘Muslims of France’

 A century ago, they were called "colonials"; in the 1960s, they were known as "immigrants"; today, they are     "citizens".

There are an estimated five million Muslims in France today, which is the largest such population in Western Europe.

Guys! This is a very unique phenomena. Even though they have left their own country(most of them came from north African countries) for nearly a century now, they still can maintain their identity and culture as muslims.

The question is how do they do it?

2)      Egypt election tallies favour Islamists

Official results have not yet been released, but unofficial election tallies offered by Egypt's political parties suggest a strong showing for Islamist parties, particularly the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The electoral commission has promised to release official results on Thursday, though only for the seats contested by individual candidates.

Maybe the time has finally come for the Egyptians to freely vote and determined their future

Picture: Egyptians line up to fulfill their responsibilities to vote for their own political party that favours their heart in the first batch of results of Egypt's landmark parliamentary elections

3)      Palestina Amore

On May 31, 2010, an Israeli military raid on an aid flotilla sailing to the blockaded Gaza Strip resulted in the deaths of nine unarmed peace activists, prompting international condemnation over what was perceived as a brutal and unjustified use of force.

Five of those on board of one of the ships were Italian nationals who were part of the humanitarian mission attempting to break the blockade by delivering goods and construction materials to the occupied Palestinian territory.

But the deadly attack on the flotilla has only served to further motivate Italian supporters of the Palestinian cause.

Amazing! Either you are a muslim or non-muslim, the issue of Palestine will always be the issue of humanity throughout the history of mankind.
*Amore means 'to love' in italian language

4)      The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers

Another interesting story….

Foreign Policy presents a unique portrait of 2011's global marketplace of ideas and the thinkers who make them.

Pictures(from left to right): Alaa Al Aswany, Mohamed ElBaradei, Wael Ghonim, Ali Ferzat, Tawakkol Karman

Among the listed are:

1.       Alaa Al Aswany – Egyptian Novelist. For his efforts in channeling arab malaise into arab renewal

2.       Mohamed ElBaradei - After a celebrated career as International Atomic Energy Agency director-general that won him the Nobel Peace Prize, ElBaradei returned to Cairo last year to offer a political alternative to the stagnant rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

3.       Wael Ghonim - He has since teamed up with ElBaradei to criticize Egypt's ruling military junta for failing to lay out a clear road map for a transfer of power to civilian rule and for using military trials to silence protesters.

4.       Ali Ferzat - Ali Ferzat has been irritating Syria's heavy-handed powers for four decades with his biting political cartoons, evincing a razor-sharp wit and a withering eye for hypocrisy.

5.       Tawakkol Karman - The day after demonstrators toppled Tunisian despot Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in January, Tawakkol Karman, a 32-year-old mother of three who runs an organization to protect freedom of expression and human rights, rallied a few of her friends outside Sanaa University to cheer the Tunisians' success -- the first sign that the Arab Spring had reached Yemen.

Some people might ask where is Bill gates? Barrack Obama? Dick Cheney? Angela Merkel?

Well guys, this year it is different because all of the top seats of global thinkers have been filled by the individuals that have make a groundbreaking effort and a lot of sacrifices for the sake of the fate of their country. They are the revolutionaries who had put all of their countless effort to spark a chain of reaction in this year arab spring.

This Week Special: A sneak peak into the lives of the ‘Sisters of the Brotherhood’

The Brotherhood, which was founded by the Egyptian schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928, is perhaps the most prominent Islamic revival movement in the world today. In Egypt, the movement was violently suppressed under President Gamal Abdel Nasser and banned but tolerated under President Hosni Mubarak, who used fear of an Islamic bogeyman to ensure Western support for his regime. Now, on the eve of the country's first elections following Mubarak's fall, the Brotherhood is poised to become one of the most dominant political and cultural forces in Egypt. But its name aside, many women play active roles in the Brotherhood -- and vigorously defend the organization from allegations that it is a misogynistic or unrepresentative organization.

Amr (center), 28, plays with the youngest of her three siblings in a friend's house in New Cairo. A graduate from the School of Law in Cairo, she doesn't work in order to spend time with her children, because, she explains, "I believe my role as a mother is much more important than my job."  Amr joined the Muslim Brotherhood eight years ago, after getting married. She is adamant in saying that -- contrary to the beliefs of outsiders -- the organization is extremely democratic. "We are consulted for every big decision," she says. "Evan if I'm at home, there will be always someone from the organization coming to ask my point of view on the main topics."

Marwa Mohsen, 30, poses inside an office of the Muslim Brotherhood in the outskirts of Cairo. She joined the Brotherhood when she was 20, after becoming friends with some Muslim Sisters at her university and becoming interested in Islamic values. "I was struck by their openness," she says. "They never judged me or made me feel uncomfortable for the tight dresses I was wearing at that time." Today, she is an elder  inside the organization, in charge of a group of teenagers she meets once a week to teach them Islamic values and counsel them on everyday problems.

Women from the group participate in Orphan Day in Cairo. During this day, they play with orphaned children and teach them the basics of the Koran. The project is a means to introduce the children to the values of the organization.

The grassroots networks of the Muslim Brotherhood, developed through decades of activism and organization, sets the movement apart from the parties that have emerged after the collapse of Mubarak's regime. "They have the ability to knock on every door," said one Egyptian stationary shop owner, admiringly. "They are the strongest political power in Egypt."

For many pious Egyptians, membership in the Muslim Brotherhood is a family affair. Here, a husband, wife and their children attend a weekly gathering in Cairo.

Wallahualam, wassalam^^....