The Egyptian state security prosecutor extended the detention of cartoonist Ashraf Omar for another 15 days. Ashraf was taken from his home in a midnight raid on July 22. His detention has been extended once before. He has been charged with “being involved in a terrorist group, disseminating false news and misusing social media tools.” […]
The Paris Olympics end tonight, which means cartoonists won’t be able to crank out “Daily Things As If They Were Olympic Events” cartoons for another four years. I’m not sure whether that counts as c’est dommage or tant pis, but ca y est. Frank Mariani depicts the medal race between the US and China. I’m […]
Egyptian cartoonist Ashraf Omar was seized on July 22 by plainclothes officers from his home in Giza in the middle of the night. While official documents report he was arrested on July 24, Ashraf’s wife, Nada Mougheeth, and their attorney accuse Egyptian security forces of torturing Ashraf between the time he was seized from his […]
From the New York Times: An Egyptian cartoonist, whose work is occasionally critical of government figures, was arrested in the capital, Cairo, on Sunday and charged with running a webpage without a license, the country’s Interior Ministry said in a statement. The arrest of Islam Gaweesh appears to be part of an intensified clampdown on […]
Medium has posted an article on the issue of touchy political and religious issue of blasphemy in Egyptian cartooning. Blasphemy is a punishable offense in Egypt. According to the penal code, “Any use of religion to promote or advocate extremist ideologies… with a view toward stirring up sedition, disparaging or showing contempt” toward one of […]
Egyptian telecom mogal Naguib Sawiris has apologized for reposting images of Mickey and Minnie Mouse wearing Muslim attire through his Twitter account. Many Egyptians found the images offencive to their religion (Sawiris is Coptic Christian) and have called for a boycott of his business. The tweeted images showed Mickey Mouse wearing a traditional Islamic robe […]
It appears having gained freedom from Mubarrak this spring, Egyptians are still working out the free speech part. A conservative group of Muslims took offense to a cartoon by Mustafa Hussein and allege that a recent cartoon of his defamed Islam and made a mockery of Salafists (Salafists being the conservative Muslim group). In retaliation, […]
Over at E&P Rob Tornoe writes about Egyptian editorial cartoonist Sherif Arafa and his role in the Egyptian revolution. As Egyptians protested by the thousands in the streets of Cairo in the weeks leading up to the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, the government attempted to respond by cracking down on the media and shutting […]
A couple of weeks ago I reported that a 50+ year old comic about the life and non-violence movement of Martin Luther King, Jr. had been translated into Arabic and distributed among the Egyptian protestors in Tahir Square. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette picks up on how the comic book was found and it’s connection to the […]
Comic Alliance reports that a translated version of a 50 years old comic book relating the non-violent civil disobedience movement of Martin Luther King, Jr. was distributed throughout Tahrir Square in Egypt by the American Islamic Congress. The group advocates peace and civil rights through non violent means. From Comic Alliance: In a recent newsletter […]