Top headlines
- IMF says Egypt needs progress on fiscal and structural reform
- Egypt categorically rejects Ethiopia’s unilateral filling of GERD in letter to UN Security Council
- Egypt cancels contracts for 240,000 T of stranded Ukrainian wheat
- Egypt frees 7, including journalist, researcher after pardon
- Two Israeli youth were killed, 5 injured in Sinai car crash
- Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood rejects ‘struggle for power’, exiled leader claims
Main headlines
Monday
- Egypt leads Arab states in generating solar and wind power, set to raise capacity to 6.8 GW by 2024
- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights wants to reinforce presence in Egypt
Tuesday
- Tala Safwan: Egyptian TikToker held in Saudi over “immoral” video
- COVID-19 pill Molnupiravir will be available in pharmacies starting Wednesday
Wednesday
- IMF says Egypt needs progress on fiscal and structural reform
- US is committed to maintaining Egypt’s water security: US special envoy
- FMs of Egypt and Greece discuss boosting bilateral relations
Thursday
- Egypt cancels four cargoes of Ukrainian wheat that it contracted to buy before Russia’s invasion, even as Kyiv prepares to restart grain exports
- Two Israeli youth were killed, 5 injured in a car crash in Sinai
- India’s ReNew to invest $8 billion to set up green hydrogen plant in Egypt
Friday
- Egypt categorically rejects Ethiopia’s unilateral filling of GERD in letter to UN Security Council
- Egyptian prosecutors deny prominent jailed activist faced harm
- Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood rejects ‘struggle for power’, exiled leader claims
- Israeli hurt in fatal Sinai crash claims Egyptians mistreated group, withheld help
Saturday
- Egypt frees 7, including journalist, researcher after pardon
- Egyptian market awaits CBE’s decision on interest rates after latest move by US Federal Reserve
- Egypt plans to increase cultivated area with wheat to 7.5 million feddans in 2023
- Mass funeral for roving sweets vendor
Sunday
- Detentions loom over Egypt’s political dialogue
- Egyptian political parties and MPs welcome El-Sisi’s policy of pardoning jailed activists
- Egyptian missing in Libya for 18 months returns home
- New statue of Mohamed Ali Pasha by Egyptian sculptor installed at National Military Museum
Reports
- Nile dam dispute still stalled following US, GCC+3 summit in Jeddah. Ayah Aman
- Fact box: National political dialogue in Egypt follows years of crackdowns. Reuters
- Egypt’s small farms play big role but struggle to survive.France 24
Read
- Mideast nations wake up to damage from climate change. Lee Keath
- An Egyptian woman’s brutal killing sparks renewed hijab debate. Hany Ghoraba
From Twitter
Plus
- House of Horrors? The bone-chilling past of Egypt’s Baron Palace
Nervana 
A Review of Israeli Movie “Image of victory”
(photo credit: IRIS NESHER
War dramas are tricky productions. They may be heavily one-sided, lacking objectivity in order to glorify or demonize one side over the other. The latest Israeli drama, Image of Victory, revisits the 1948 war between Egypt and Israel. Although it attempts to avoid the one-sided bias trap, it ends up creating an epic politically correct version of the Egyptian side of the war, regurgitating much of the Nasser-era leftist propaganda.
According to one report, the film highlights both Israeli and Egyptian heroism, with actor Amir Khoury portraying real-life Egyptian journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, an aspiring photojournalist on the frontlines who was pressured by his government to create the “image of victory” and not report on the true losses and costs of the war.
It is indeed refreshing to see an Israeli movie portraying the Egyptian army as being well organized and heavily armoured, disciplined, and well-mannered by respecting the rules of engagement. However, watching an Israeli film resurrecting views expressed by the late Heikal, as if they are sacred undisputed facts, is surreal and unsettling. The film’s script embraced the spirit of Heikal, who despised the late King Farouk of Egypt, by making the Egyptian part of the film look like a resurrection of 1950s Egyptian melodramas, with a full and unapologetic demonization of the king.
In an effort to create a balanced look to the film, director Avi Nesher opted to adopt a popular Egyptian narrative: that the Egyptian monarchy sold out its soldiers. However, this is a mythical concept that lacks solid evidence, as researcher Chloe Bordewich highlighted in her latest piece. The need to battle the narrative of the 1948 war is not new, and blaming the king has become the prevailing narrative since he was ousted 75 years ago. No, the Egyptian army was not fully prepared to fight in Palestine. Yes, a PR machine sold the public a rosy picture of the war, at least in its initial stages. However, one can argue that those same gross errors were repeated in the 1967 defeat, 19 years after the ousting of the king.
The director, who supposedly believes “in doing extensive research” and that “the more truthful it is, the more entertaining,” made a far better decision to stick to narrative of the capturing of Kibbutz Nitzanim, instead of delving into the myth of bad king versus honourable army.
The movie also opted to sanitise the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood in the war as well as the growing resentment between the army and the brothers. It created the role, played by actor Ala Dakka, of an Egyptian “firebrand” who believes in the cause for which he is fighting. How convenient!
Moreover, how can a movie labelled as the “most expensive Israeli movie ever” and whose director takes pride in doing extensive research fail to make its characters speak with a correct Egyptian accent? All the actors in the movie speak with a mediocre accent that does not even remotely resemble an Egyptian dialect. They sound alien and silly. Are there no dialect coaches in Israel?
With its flawed take of Egyptian history and ridiculous Egyptian dialect, Image of Victory was neither truthful nor entertaining. In a long conflict, like the Arab –Israeli conflict, embracing decontextualized history and playing loosely with facts are the last things needed. Image of Victory may have good intentions, but it is a flawed politically correct drama that is neither objective nor accurate. The circumstances behind Egypt’s defeat in the 1948 war should trigger an internal debate within Egypt, not entice an Israeli drama to enforce a lazy version of events.
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