How can one document – or a series of documents – have such a profound impact on the daily rights that we take for granted? And what makes a good constitution?
Episode 4 – The Bashmurite Revolution
Most history books will tell you that Copts welcomed the Arab Conquest of Egypt in 693 AD with open arms, because it was seen as a welcome change from an oppressive Byzantine regime. But there was one story of rebellion that most books missed: the Bashmurite Revolution.
Join Sherif as he lays out the facts of this little-known series of revolutions, and what we can learn from it today!
Episode 3 – The Role of the Coptic Pope
Being a Pope in Egypt has a unique job description. It’s a delicate mix of spiritual duties and political maneuvering. Mixing the two can often be difficult, and when mixing the two, there can be some interesting results.
Political activist Mina Riad joined us to discuss how these two sides have been mixed in the past, and how the current Coptic pope Tawadros II might be different than previous popes.
Episode 2!
Episode 1
Two episodes in!
So far, we’ve had two episodes broadcast, and the feedback we’ve been getting is amazing!
However, we haven’t had a chance to upload them to YouTube yet! We’re working on it, so stay tuned! In the meantime, have a look at this thought-provoking piece. Feel free to message me if you have any questions/comments/concerns!
Cheers!
Sherif
Governance at the Hands of the Cigarette Shack Boys
By: Sherif Rizk
Despite the bitter divide between Egyptians, there is one thing that we can all agree on: the former regime is hated. But, what qualms do we have exactly with the “former regime”?
If you ask a liberal, she’ll give you a long list of grievances: everything from far-reaching corruption, to incompetency in governance. If you ask an Islamist, he’ll give you a list of religious grievances (which mostly relate to a lack of religiosity). Even supporters of the former regime hate it for not being able to consolidate power when it faced its biggest crisis.
But the real issue with not defining our issues with the former regime is that it gives the Brotherhood a carte blanche to justify its authority as the “protectors of the revolution”. By not defining what specific grievances we had with the former regime, the Brotherhood is capable of using the former regime as a scapegoat for many of its own incompetency.
One thing we know is that the Brotherhood’s incompetency only seems to multiply with each day. Yet, with a dispersed and fractured liberal opposition, and a lack of political/legal accountability, the Brotherhood is poised to position itself in a deadlocked political environment where only a dramatic shake-up would change the status quo. This means that no matter how incompetent the Brotherhood is at governance, there is no mechanism to remove them from power.
So in order to hold the Brotherhood accountable, we need to compare them with the regime that they are supposedly replacing. If the Mubarak regime will be remembered for its corruption, lack of political/social freedoms, and governing incompetency, then we can confidently say that the Brotherhood has failed substantially more than its predecessor in less than a year of its rise to power. Meanwhile, it took Mubarak 30 years to reach a similar level of failures as the Brotherhood.
Mubarak once said that the Brotherhood weren’t competent enough to run a cigarette shack, let alone a country the size of Egypt. It’s a pity that those words came from him, and not someone we trusted more.
IT’S HERE!!!
First Broadcast Date!
Hello all!
After much work and anticipation, it seems like late February/early March will be the starting date for The Rizk Assessment.
Our first episode will briefly examine the different perceptions that Canadians have about Egypt and the Copts. Something to think about: to what extent does your political opinion depend on your knowledge? And how confident are you in the extent of your knowledge?
Stay tuned for more information!
Sherif
Coming Soon – The Rizk Assessment!
As of today, we still haven’t finished shooting our first season of The Rizk Assessment, but we are almost there!
Our team of researchers and studio staff have been absolutely great in supporting this project from day one – I know I wouldn’t be able to do this without their support!!
In the meantime, I will do my best to keep you updated on our progress and maybe even show you some behind-the-scenes stuff. Keep an eye out, folks!
Until next time,
Sherif Rizk
The Rizk Assessment 