Sinai Opium Growers Repent, Turn to Medicinal Herbs

Sinai herbalist Ahmed Saleh, a 38-year-old Bedouin tribesman, tells Mohannad Sabry how he persuaded local opium growers to switch their crop to herbal gardening.

Egypt

Hamas’ Changing Role in Egypt

Hamas has seen improved ties with Cairo following the January 25 revolution and the election of Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi, writes Adnan Abu Amer.

Palestine

Egypt and Hamas Try to Resolve Differences

Relations between Hamas and Egypt are far from perfect, writes Omar Shaban.

Palestine

Nude Feminism Challenges Islamist Discourse

Nude protests are not an expression of women's freedom, but an extreme form of action that feeds the oppression of women in the Arab world, writes Yasmine Nagaty.

Egypt

Hope for US-Iran Talks; Egypt in Crisis

Signs of a possible breakthrough in nuclear talks with Iran in Almaty; Egypt’s crisis deepens with reports of torture by the Muslim Brotherhood; Al-Monitor’s Pulse Pages now available in Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish.

Egypt

Egyptian Salafist Considers Sinai The 'Next Frontier'

The lawyer for veteran jihadist Jamal, who has been linked to the US consulate attack in Benghazi, told Al-Monitor's Mohamed Fadel Fahmy that his client called the Sinai the next frontier in the "conflict with the Zionists and Americans."   

Egypt

Activists Challenge Egypt's Views On Women's Status in Society

Many woman activists in Egypt are challenging the sincerity of President Mohammed Morsi's recent announcement of a new intiative "to support the rights and freedoms of the Egyptian women," writes Daria Solovieva.

Egypt

Egypt’s Interest in Iraq, Iran Is Economic, Not Ideological

Despite the concerns of Gulf states that Egypt’s recent rapprochement with Iraq, and by extension Iran, is founded on an ideological basis, experts assert the reason is purely economic, Abdelrahman Youssef writes.

Egypt

Could Violence in Egypt Spin Out of Control?

Bassem Sabry writes that he's never been more worried about Egypt since its revolution than he is right now.

Egypt

Sinai Tourism Hits Rock Bottom, Business Owners Blame Morsi

Writing from South Sinai, Mohannad Sabry meets with local business owners in the tourism sector who tell him that they keep hoping for political stability to bring back tourists — but that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's inability to govern has been making a bad situation worse.

Egypt

Israeli, Norwegian Tourists Kidnapped in Egyptian Sinai

The kidnapping of an Israeli man and Norwegian woman in Egypt's Sinai peninsula occurs as the Egyptian government has undertaken a "highly secretive operation" to secure the region, writes Mohamed Fadel Fahmy from Cairo.

Egypt

Lawless Sinai Becomes Flashpoint For Egypt With Israel, Hamas

The growing presence of armed groups in the Sinai threatens to destabilize the area, potentially drawing Israel, Egypt and Hamas into confrontation, Noura Khouri writes.

Egypt