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As Egypt promotes the trail of the Holy Family as a major tourist experience, Ahram Online republishes an account of stops and cities where the Virgin Mary, Joseph and Jesus found safety and shelter in the country.
“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.”
(Matthew 2:1-2)
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The story of the holy family’s journey from Palestine to Egypt has long been recorded with dedication by historians and authors around the world. Many look upon the journey as a mark in the history of Egypt, not merely a religious event. Egyptians look with fondness and pride on the passage of the holy mother and her child through the land of Egypt, and the fact that they found solace here.
The flight to Egypt
The Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem of Judaea in Palestine. Upon his birth, wise men preached to the people of the city, declaring that Jesus was the chosen one, and that, “according to prophecies” they had seen in the stars, he would become the next king of the Jews. Upon hearing the news, King Herod was overcome by terror at the possibility of losing his throne. He decided that killing Jesus was the only way to protect his royal status.
In a dream, Joseph, the carpenter, was ordered by God to escort Jesus and his mother to Egypt, where they would find refuge. Both Western and Eastern traditions agree that the method of transport most likely used by the holy family on their journey to Egypt would have been a donkey. In this situation, the Virgin Mary would have been seated on the donkey, holding the child Jesus in her arms and Joseph would have walked by their side, leading the way.
The holy family in Sinai
Keller writes in his book, The Bible as History (1955): “A day’s journey from Gaza brought the holy family to the ancient township of Jenysos, which is mentioned by Herodotus, the Greek historian.” Today, this village, which is part of the Gaza Strip, is known as Khan Younis. “The next town on the holy family’s route would have been Raphia (Rafah), the frontier town between the Gaza Strip and the province of Egypt.”
Continuing for another 44 kilometres, beyond Raphia, and after almost two days of traveling, the mother and child reach Wadi Al-Arish, a point at which they are safe enough to obtain food and shelter. The holy family passes by other towns in Sinai such as Al-Muhammadia and Al-Farma, located 35 kilometres east of El-Qantara City. Churches from the 5th and 6th century have recently been discovered in Al-Farma.
Route to the Nile Delta
The holy family continued on its trip to the Nile Delta, stopping at the city of Musturod, only 10 kilometres from Cairo. “The Virgin Lady”, a 12th century church, was found in the city.
Keller adds in his book: “The city of Musturod was again visited by the holy family on their return journey to Palestine.” After leaving Musturod and passing by Belbes, the holy family travel west to the Valley of Natroun, crossing the western branch of the Nile (the Rasheed branch).
The holy family in Cairo
The movie Journey of the Holy Family portrays the settlement of the blessed family in Al-Mataraya district near Ein Shams (Old Heliopolis). They find shade under a sycamore tree that came to be known as “Mariam’s Tree,” which has evolved into an engrossing attraction for religious tourists. The holy “Mayron oil,” or the “Chrism,” is nowadays prepared from the oil of the tree.
An ancient church was built in the area by the name of “The Virgin Mary” and is visited by people to this day. Paintings can be found inside the church, including maps of the holy family’s journey, as well as a statue of Jesus and his blessed mother guarded by Joseph the Carpenter.
In his book The Geography of Coptic Egypt (1989), French historian Amelenio narrates some of the stories passed down about the miracles of “Mariam’s Tree.”
One such story tells how “the French army sat by the tree, drank from its well and wrote their names on its stems.” It is believed that some of the wounded soldiers were healed by its oil. Amelenio adds: “Al-Matarya district became the most popular shrine in Egypt; a place where people flooded to for blessings and spiritual remedies.”
The second district visited by the holy family in Cairo was Al-Zeitun, where a church by the name “The Virgin Mary” was constructed in Toman Bey Street. It is said that appearances of the blessed lady were witnessed around the domes of the church up until recent years.
Another spot visited by the holy family was Zowela Avenue on at Been El-Soreen Street in El-Gamaleya district. An ancient church is found there with the same name, “The Virgin Mary”. It is considered one of the largest churches in Egypt and is distinguished by its basaltic style.
The holy family moved on to “Old Egypt” (Al-Fustaat) where they dwelled for a short time in a cave in Abi Serja’s Church, within the walls of the Roman Babylon fortress. “The cave is about 20 feet tall, 15 feet wide and does not have any windows,” as described by Amelenio, who believes the holy family’s stay in the cave did not exceed a week. After leaving Al-Fustaat, they moved to Maadi district and settled at the location where the Virgin Mary Monastery and church were later built by the Nile.
Amelenio explains that during Ottoman rule in Egypt, the church had a marina for boats allocated for the transport of people and soldiers traveling to and from Egypt. Some villages in Upper Egypt were visited by the holy family such as Assiut and Minya. In the book History of the Coptic Nation, author Samy Saleh records that the holy family took the same route on their journey back to Palestine. They first go to Maadi, passing through Old Egypt, then follow the road to Ein Shams, back to the city of Mustorod, and finally El-Arish, and from there to Gaza.
The trail of the blessed
At present, many Egyptian historians and archeologists are calling for a project to track each town or city visited by the holy family, so as to make it easier for tourists to visit the blessed spots, thus reviving the symbolism of the holy journey and its message of peace and goodwill to all men.
The Iraqi scholar Suhad Yasin has waged a long battle against financial and administrative obstacles to continue her work on purifying polluted water.
Her graduate studies started later than most and became a long journey over 13 years of dropping out and restarting, but she persevered. Two years ago, the University of Duhok awarded her a doctorate in polymer chemistry.
Now Yasin works from an independent laboratory she set up at the University of Duhok, where she and her students use cheap, available materials to treat polluted water.
Iraq, like many Arab countries, suffers from water scarcity and stress. One study predicts the Tigris and Euphrates rivers will dry up completely by 2040.
Apart from the scarcity issue, some Iraqi waterways also face problems with contamination by heavy metals like aluminum, cadmium and chromium, adding urgency to research like Yasin’s.
An Interrupted Academic Journey
In an interview with Al-Fanar Media, Yasin described her career in industry and academe.
After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of Mosul in 1993, she joined a laboratory in a local pharmaceutical factory, eventually becoming production manager.
As violence increased in Mosul over the next decade, however, Yasin was forced to return to her family’s home city of Duhok in 2006. She got an administrative job at the Ministry of Industry of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
But she did not find administrative work satisfying, Yasin said, so she took a competitive exam to study for a master’s degree at the University of Duhok.
By then a wife and mother, Yasin faced challenges in studying at the University of Duhok, both with learning in English and in overcoming the skepticism of some academics. Her thesis supervisor questioned her ability to complete the work. “He told me, ‘I regret being involved in the supervision of your thesis. It will be difficult for you to complete your studies at your age because of your family responsibilities.’”
But Yasin said his words only increased her motivation. “I needed to prove to my supervisor and myself that I was not a problem, but an energetic researcher who had missed an opportunity,” she said.
Yasin got her master’s degree with excellence in 2009 with a thesis on removing chromium from water using modified pomegranate peel .
Starting from Scratch on a Ph.D.
She then applied to transfer from her job at the ministry to work as an assistant teacher in the chemistry department of the University of Duhok’s Faculty of Science.
She taught at the University of Duhok for six years but was not given an opportunity to pursue a Ph.D. because the university lacked facilities and funds for research in her specialisation. Throughout this time, she continued her research on purifying polluted water.
In 2015, the university offered her an opportunity to pursue a doctorate and she took it. There was considerable opposition to her studying for a Ph.D. at the age of 50, but she managed to convince the head of the department.
Based on the advice of her master’s supervisor, who had changed his mind about her ability, she chose nanofiber technology as the subject of her doctorate. Her new supervisor initially opposed the idea, saying the university could not afford the materials required for research on this topic. But he finally relented when she persisted.
Yasin said she had nothing but the lab walls when she started her doctoral research: no equipment, devices, or “cofactors”, molecular compounds needed in certain chemical reactions. “The resources were almost zero,” she said. “I had to buy everything myself and start from scratch.”
Lining up Support
Yasin contacted professors and scholars from various Arab countries to ask for help. By chance, she heard of a physics professor at the University of Basrah who had designed a device that would help her with her research. “I contacted the professor at the University of Basrah immediately and she agreed to help me,” Yasin said.
Yasin then had to convince her dean at the University of Duhok to manufacture a similar device so she could work. He agreed, but she still needed funding for her research.
She wrote to several international organisations asking for financial support and eventually received a three-year grant of about $207,000 from the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, in 2018. She used the money to establish an independent laboratory at the University of Duhok to conduct her research on using nanomaterials to treat water.
Yasin acknowledges that funding scientific research is a general problem in Arab countries, but she insists that scholars themselves have a duty to find funding for their research.
“We must not stand idly by. I work day and night to get new financial support,” she said. “With each refusal, I realise that I have to work more.”
Suhad Yasin, of the University of Duhok, overcame many obstacles during 13 years of interrupted graduate study to continue her research on purifying polluted water. (Photo courtesy of Suhad Yasin)
Scientists play one of the most significant roles in our world, most importantly today as we deal with a pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 300,000 people. Throughout history, there have been many accomplished and inspiring Sudanese scientists who have changed our understanding of the world around us with their research, discoveries and tangible impact.
Here are some internationally acclaimed Sudanese scientists in Sudan and across the world that you should know about:
Ismail Abdel Rahim El Gizouli
Image source: Ismail El Gizouli
Ismail Abdel Rahim El Gizouli is an energy and environment specialist. He was member of the bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2002 to 2008 and was re-elected for another term from 2008 to 2015. He then acted as interim chairman of the IPCC in 2015. In addition, he was the vice-chair of the Facilitative Branch of the Compliance Committee of the UNFCCC from 2005 to 2007 and was the Chair of the Facilitative Branch and Co-Chair of the Compliance Committee of UNFCCC from 2007 to 2009.
He received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematic and Physics from the University of Khartoum in 1971 and a Master of Science in Operation Research & Statistics from the University of Aston in Birmingham, UK in 1980.
El Gizouli worked as a freelancer and conducted many consultancies for the African Development Bank, World Bank, UNEP, FAO and African Energy Policy Research Network (AFREPRN). In 1998, he joined The Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources in Sudan as a consultant on all UNDP-Government joint climate change projects.
He has participated in many international, regional and national conferences, meetings and symposiums in industry planning, sustainable development, energy, environment and climate change. In addition, he published many papers and is one of four authors of two energy-related books published by ZED Books England. He also contributed as Review Editor to many IPCC Reports including Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System, Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (Main Report and Technical Summary), Working Group III contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report (Mitigation of Climate Change) and Fourth Assessment Synthesis Report.
Dr Balgis Osman Elasha
Dr Balgis Osman-Elashais senior scientist at the forefront of global research on climate change. She has been a climate change expert at the Compliance and Safeguards Division at the African Development Bank (AfDB) since 2009. She holds a PhD in Forestry Science, a master’s degree in Environmental Science, and a Bachelor of Science with honour in Forestry and Agricultural Science. She has more than 17 years of experience in the field of climate change with a special focus on vulnerability and adaptation assessment related to African countries and the Middle East, emphasising the human dimension of global environmental changes.
Dr Osman-Elasha has reviewed a number of scientific papers to Elsevier and other highly reputable journals as well as a guest editor to a number of scientific publications. Before joining the African Development Bank, she was a senior researcher at the Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources (HCENR)-Sudan. Her research focuses on vulnerability and adaptation assessment in drought-prone in Africa.
Dr Osman-Elasha is the winner of the UNEP Champions of the Earth Award for outstanding environmentalists and the winner of Lead Authors-Nobel Peace Prize. She is also a member of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Professor Elfatih Eltahir
Professor Elfatih Eltahir is the Breene M Kerr Professor of Hydrology and Climate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a focus on sustainable development in Africa. Elfatih earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Khartoum, a Master of Science in hydrology from the National University of Ireland, and a Master of Science in meteorology and a Doctor of Science (Sc.D) in Hydroclimatology from MIT.
Professor Eltahir received the US Presidential Early Career Award in 1997. He is an elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and a member of the Sudanese National Academy of Science. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the International Center of Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. In 1999, Professor Eltahir received the Kuwait Prize in Applied Sciences for his work on Climate Change, making him the youngest person to receive this prestigious prize, offered to scientists from Arab countries. In 2017, Professor Eltahir received the Hydrologic Sciences Award from the American Geophysical Union.
Dr Hiba Salah-Eldin Mohamed
Image source: iend.org
Dr Hiba Salah-Eldin Mohamed is a molecular biologist at the University of Khartoum. She studied zoology at the university, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1993, followed by a master’s degree in 1998. She then received her PhD from the University of Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) in Cambridge, the UK in 2002. Her doctoral research, “The Role of Host Genetics in Susceptibility to Kala-azar in Sudan”, was under the supervision of Jenefer Blackwell, a well-known Professor of Molecular Parasitology. Mohamed remained at the CIMR as a postdoctoral fellow. She, along with Professor Blackwell, were later awarded the Wellcome Trust Research Development Award (2004-2007). She then moved back to Sudan and joined the University of Khartoum to be a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology.
Mohamed was awarded the 2007 Royal Society Pfizer Award for her research on understanding the genetics of kala-azar, which is also known as Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL). In 2010, Mohamed was appointed a Fellow of the Global Young Academy.
Dr Abdel Rahman’s breakthrough in growing sugar cane method involved taking cells from plant leaves, shoots or roots and growing them in a liquid culture to produce artificial seeds able to germinate. Her results and patented techniques garnered global attention and attracted interest from huge research and production companies across the world. The breakthrough led to cheaper and more productive cultivation in developing countries.
Dr Abdel Rahman passed away in 2015 at the age 59 in the UK after a fight against cancer.
Professor Mohamed H A Hassan
Image source: TWAS
Professor Mohamed H A Hassan is co-chair of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), a global network of science academies, and Chairman of the Council of the United Nations University (UNU).
He received his higher education in the UK from Newcastle University and University of Oxford. After obtaining his Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics from the University of Oxford, he returned to Sudan to lecture at the University of Khartoum. He later became the Dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences at the university.
Professor Hassan has published several articles in Theoretical Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy; Wind Erosion, Dust and Sand Transport in Dry Lands; and Science and Technology in the Developing World.
He was the founding Executive Director of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), President of the African Academy of Sciences, and Chairman of the Honorary Presidential Advisory Council for Science and Technology in Nigeria.
He also serves on a number of boards of international organisations worldwide, including Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training (START) in the USA; Bibliotheca in Alexandrina in Egypt; the Council of Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum in Japan; the International Science Programme in Sweden; the Science Initiative Group (SIG) in the USA; and the Centre for International Development (ZEF) in Germany. He is a member of several merit-based academies of science, including TWAS; the African Academy of Sciences; Islamic World Academy of Sciences; Academia Colombiana deCiencias Exactas, ísicas y Naturales; AcadémieRoyale des Sciences d’Outre-Mer, Belgium; Pakistan Academy of Sciences; Academy of Sciences of Lebanon; Cuban Academy of Sciences; and Academy of Sciences of South Africa.
Mohamed Osman Baloola
Image source: Mohamed Osman Baloola’s Facebook page
Engineer Mohammed Osman Baloola is a Sudanese scientist and inventor who was named among The World’s 500 Most influential Arabs in 2012 and 2013 for his work on diabetes ‘remote monitoring and control system for diabetes symptoms’. He has been a Teaching Assistant of Biomedical Engineering at the Ajman University of Science and Technology since 2010. Baloola won a science and innovation award at the Arabian Business Awards 2011 in Dubai. In addition, he won AED40,000 (USD11,000) during a Sharjah Television competition for his invention of a remote monitoring and control system for diabetes patients via mobile phone.
Baloola received a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Ajman University of Science and Technology in 2009. He later joined Ajman University as a Teaching Assistant in the faculty of Engineering.
Dr Muntaser Ibrahim
Image source: Research Gate
Dr Muntaseer Ibrahim is a Sudanese geneticist and professor of molecular biology at the University of Khartoum, where he leads its Institute of Endemic Diseases, a research and training centre on endemic diseases in the university. His research focuses on human genetic diversity in Africa. Dr Ibrahim is a founding member of the African Society of Human Genetics and co-founded the Sudanese National Academy of Science (SNAS). He is also a member of The World Academy of Sciences. He has co-authored more than 180 original peer-reviewed research publications, including work published in Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature, Nature Genetics, and other major journals.
Dr Nashwa Abo Alhassan Eassa
Image source: Picuki
Dr Nashwa Abo Alhassan Eassa is an assistant professor of physics at Al-Neelain University in Khartoum. She received a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Khartoum, a Master of Science in nanotechnology and materials physics from Sweden’s Linköping University, followed by a PhD from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in South Africa.
Dr Eassa founded the non-governmental organisation ‘Sudanese Women in Sciences’ and is a member of Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World’s South African Institute of Physics. In 2015, Dr Eassa won the Elsevier Foundation Award for Early Career Women Scientists in the Developing World. She has been a candidate as Arab Countries Vice-President for Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World.
Professor Widad Ibrahim Elmahboub
Professor Widad Ibrahim Elmahboub is a great scientist and astrophysicist. She has proved herself as a distinguished and competent scholar and scientist in her field. Having finished her college studies in applied mathematics and astrophysics in Sudan and Egypt, she was received a master’s degree in Engineering Physics by Wisconsin-Madison University, followed by a doctorate degree in astrophysical engineering.
Prof Elmahboub started her scientific career as a professor of astrophysics and remote sensing systems at Hampton University. Then she moved on to the research and analysis of planetary components at NASA with the main focus on enhancing the accuracy of satellite-based remote sensing imaging and data. Prof. Elmahboub has introduced a highly accurate computer-simulated mathematical model followed by the implementation of the algorithm and atmospheric correction method which enabled scientists and astrophysicists to obtain much more accurate and refined satellite images of Mars surface. Additionally, Prof Elmahboub has authored, co-authored and edited many articles in scientific journals and periodicals on remote sensing imaging technology, spectroscopy and simulated mathematical modelling.
Professor Sharief Babiker
Image source: ICCEEE’s Facebook page
Professor Sharief Babiker is a professor in the Electronics Department at the University of Khartoum and a Chairman of the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanities ‘IEEE_sudan’ Subsection.
Prof Babiker received his bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering at the University of Khartoum, a master’s degree in telecommunications and information systems obtained in Essex University, the UK, followed by a nanoelectronics PhD degree at Glasgow University, Scotland. By the end of 2000, Prof Babiker was working on submicron semiconductor devices research at the Nanoelectronics Research Centre, University of Glasgow as well as on aerospace projects at Thales Avionics, the UK.
The Jordanian pharmacologist Nancy Hakooz has been chosen as the first recipient of a prestigious new prize for a scientist from a developing country, given by the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics.
The society, known as ISSX, is the premier scientific organisation for researchers who study how organisms metabolise and dispose of xenobiotics. Xenobiotics are compounds that are foreign to an organism or are not part of its normal nutrition. Examples include drugs, food additives, and environmental pollutants.
The new prize, called the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Xenobiotic Research by a Scientist from an Underrepresented Nation, will honour researchers either for a single major contribution to research in the field of xenobiotics, or for significant sustained contributions over time.
Hakooz, a professor of pharmacogenetics in the University of Jordan’s School of Pharmacy, was chosen to receive the inaugural award “in appreciation of her efforts in studying the effect of genes on drug response, and her studying the genes of genetically isolated peoples such as the Circassians and Chechens in Jordan.”
She will receive the award at the society’s international conference in Seattle in September
In an interview with Al-Fanar Media, Hakooz said it was important for Arab scientists to be represented in international scholarly societies like the ISSX. “We have distinguished research in this field, despite the lack of capabilities,” she said.
A Practical Element in Her Research
During her research career, Hakooz has focused on practical aspects of the topics she studies, such as how genetics affect the appropriateness of certain drugs for specific patients.
“Not all patients benefit from the same drug or the same dose, since there are genetic differences between people,” she said.
“If we can study the effect of these differences on the effectiveness of a drug in patients, then the prescription for each drug will be different from one person to another,” she said. “This is called personalising medicine, meaning that the drug is provided in accordance with each patient’s condition.”
Studying a Subject She Loved
Hakooz says she chose to study pharmacy “out of love and conviction.” She had many choices of what to study at university, she said, because her excellent grades in high school. “However, I was satisfied to study what I really loved.”
After she received her bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Jordan in 1992, Hakooz worked for a year as a teaching assistant in the School of Pharmacy. She then got a scholarship to study for a doctorate at the University of Manchester, in the United Kingdom.
She obtained her Ph.D. four years later, specialising in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, the branch of pharmacology concerned with the movement of drugs within the body.
Challenges for Arab Researchers
After returning to the University of Jordan in 1997, Hakooz tried to work on research similar to her studies at the University of Manchester, but she ran into difficulties for lack of funding and support. She needed lab animals, she said, but their cost was very high, and it was not easy to obtain them in Jordan at that time.
The lack of sustained funding is one of the major challenges facing scientific research in Jordan, she said. Others include the lack of a group research culture, in which scientists exchange advice and knowledge.
When she first returned from abroad, Hakooz said, she found researchers working on isolated “islands”. However, things have become better in the last ten years, with much better collaboration among research groups, she said.
To have a group culture, she tells young researchers, it is not a requirement that all of them do the same type of research, but that they support each other through research participation, each in their own discipline.
Medicinal Clinical Trials in Jordan
Despite these challenges, Hakooz believes Jordan has a great opportunity to become a regional centre for clinical studies of new drugs. Jordan has distinguished, globally recognised research centres that could participate in such studies, she said.
Pharmaceutical companies need to conduct clinical trials of new medicines in more than one place to collect data on a drug’s effectiveness and safety, Hakooz said.
An important question, she said, is, “How similar are the genetics of the people who participate in drug trials?”
Being able to answer that question will allow researchers to say whether the drug will be just as effective when it is widely circulated, she said. “The answer may be positive or negative. In order to be sure, we must participate in those experiments.”
Women in Higher Education
In addition to conducting research, Hakooz has held several administrative positions in her academic career.
She served as the founding dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Zarqa University, in northern Jordan, between 2010 and 2016. She was also a vice president of the university for three years during the same period.
In 2016, she returned to her alma mater, the University of Jordan’s School of Pharmacy. Four years later, she become the head of the college’s department of biological and clinical pharmacy.
On women’s leadership in Arab higher education institutions, she said: “In our country, administrative positions are granted, not acquired, and are not open to competition.”
“At the University of Jordan, for example, we have one female vice president compared to four male vice presidents, and three female deans compared to 21 college deans,” she said.
“Academic leadership positions in public universities are governed by a permanent factor, which is personal acquaintances because they are governed by appointment.”
“Administrative positions in academia come and go,” she added. “My genuine passion is teaching and seeing my students’ eyes shine when they catch a new idea.”
After being chosen for a prestigious international award, the Jordanian scientist talked to Al-Fanar Media about her work and the challenges for researchers in the Arab region. (Photo: Nancy Hakooz).
Following the launch of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 in 2016, the Kingdom is on its way to becoming the world’s biggest construction site with a total investment of SR4.13 trillion ($1.1 trillion) in infrastructure and real estate projects, according to global real estate consultancy Knight Frank.
The real estate firm projected that Riyadh’s population will reach 17 million by 2030, up from about 7.5 million today. The city has unveiled real estate projects worth $104 billion since the Kingdom’s National Transformation Plan launch in 2016.
“Vision 2030 has lit the embers of excitement across the Kingdom, and with NEOM positioned as a crown jewel in the transformative plans, people are eager to be part of history,” Faisal Durrani, partner and head of Middle East research, Knight Frank told Arab News.
Saudi Arabia will easily become the largest construction site in history, with planned construction projects in the Kingdom being over 555,000 residential units, over 275,000 hotel keys, over 4.3 million square meters of retail space, and over 6.1 million square meters of office space, Durrani said.
The consultancy firm is currently monitoring 15 giga-projects in the Kingdom, many of them new standalone supercities, said Harmen de Jong, partner and head of real estate, Strategy& Consulting in the Kingdom.
NEOM is expected to house 9 million residents across 300,000 new homes once completed, making it the largest giga-project announced to date, Jong added.
Among 1,000 Saudi households surveyed, Diriyah Gate came third in popularity as a place to own a home, behind NEOM and The Red Sea Project.
NEOM is radically redefining urban living in resource-poor regions, Durrani said. At the same time, sub-cities like the Octagon, Trojena and the Line will set new benchmarks for luxury living in the area.
Around 30 percent of Saudi homeowners are prepared to spend more than $800,000 on a second home at NEOM. “Developers have their work cut out to satisfy this pent-up demand,” Durrani added.
De Jong said that the construction progress of part of the projects stands at 29 percent, with only $7.5 billion of subprojects being commissioned.
Riyadh’s rebirth
Another head-turning giga-project is the $20 billion Diriyah Gate which will give Riyadh 20,000 homes when it is completed in 2027, creating a city-sized historic district.
Knight Frank estimated that about $2.3 billion had been spent on Diriyah Gate’s construction.
“Not to be outdone, Riyadh’s repositioning as a commercial nerve center of the Kingdom is well underway. And businesses from the world over are already clamoring to be at the center of the Middle East’s second and much-needed global hub,” Durrani said.
Durrani added that the planned development of 2.8 million square meters of world-class office space could not come at a better time with Grade A office occupancy levels hovering around 97 percent across the city.
According to Knight Frank, an international airport worth $147 billion is also set to open shortly. Nearly 74 percent of the $200 billion national infrastructure investment goes toward the new airport.
“The city is also attracting a huge number of internal migrants, and with readily available support to get on the housing ladder, house prices are rising rapidly and currently stand some 26 percent higher than this time last year,” he said.
Well-being hub
The Kingdom is also improving and providing world-class urban environments for its residents with the $500 million Riyadh Sports Boulevard and the $23 billion Green Riyadh, planting 7.5 million trees in the Saudi capital to transform it into a green, vibrant metropolis.
It also extends to the 19,000 hospital beds planned for $13.8 billion, of which $8.6 billion will be spent in Riyadh Province alone.
According to de Jong, over 80 new educational institutions are being constructed for $82 billion.
“What’s more, healthcare, education and well-being sit at the core of the transformative plans, which will contribute to an extraordinary evolution in the Kingdom’s physical realm, making it unrecognizable from what we see today by the end of the decade,” Durrani said.
Navigating AIDA IV through new Suez Canal on opening day: Meet Egypt’s 1st female shipmaster.
Marwa El-Selehdar reveals how she became Egypt’s first female shipmaster and her journey to be part of the new Suez Canal celebrations.
As the government promoted the new Suez Canal as “Egypt’s gift to the world,” Marwa El-Selehdar, the country’s first and youngest female shipmaster, received the good news.
The 24-year-old would assist in navigating a naval vessel through the new waterway during the opening celebrations on 6 August, she was recently informed.
“I never thought that my dream would finally come true. I am going to be part of the inauguration as a second naval officer on the deck of the training ship AIDA IV,” El Selhdar told Al-Ahram newspaper.
El-Selehdar believes that her participation as the youngest and first Egyptian and Arab female shipmaster would bolster the image of the “civilised Egyptian women.”
“I was filled with joyous fear when I first learned about my participation.”
A 2012 graduate of the Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) in the coastal city of Alexandria, El-Selehdar said that becoming a shipmaster was a childhood dream.
“In my first time ever training on board a ship, [My] Captain Abdel Hamid El-Qady and the rest of the crew made me feel at home,” El-Selehdar recalled.
Initially enrolled as a student in the maritime transport department at AASTMT, El-Selehdar was later encouraged to move to the marine navigation department at the school when she found out that there were no rules that prohibit females from studying to become shipmasters, she said in a television interview back in 2010.
Her determination to join the marine navigation department was further fuelled when she heard that a female student from the African Island of Djibouti won a scholarship to study at the department.
“I challenged myself and asked for a transfer from the maritime transport department to the marine navigation department. Amid a wave of refusals, this was the battle I had to fight in order to achieve my dream,” El-Selehdar said.
As she joined a male-dominated profession, El-Selehdar says that her mother encouraged her [as a woman] to continue on the path she chose.
Egypt has been preparing for grand celebrations for the opening ceremony of the new Suez Canal waterway on Thursday.
On Tuesday, nine swimmers who belong to the Egyptian Paralympics team – set to compete in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics — crossed the new waterway holding a huge Egyptian flag.
Incoming visitors to the country had their passports stamped with “Egypt’s gift to the world” by Customs authorities.
After fulfilling her first dream of becoming a shipmaster, El-Selehdar is ready to achieve her second dream of living through the opening of the new canal.
“I always thought this project was a major one, but I never realised we would actually witness this remarkable and extraordinary event,” El-Selehdar said.
source/content: english.ahram.org.eg (headline edited) text / pix: marineinsight.com
The new cloud datacenter region launches with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365, giving organizations access to hundreds of scalable, highly available and resilient cloud services.
Today, Microsoft announced the launch of its new datacenter region in Qatar, marking a major milestone for Microsoft as the first hyperscale cloud provider to deliver enterprise-grade services in the country. The new world-class datacenters are open for business with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 available today.
The continued investment is in response to Qatar’s growing demand for high performance computing, and fast and reliable access to Microsoft services. The new datacenter region will play a pivotal role in providing access to scalable, highly available, and resilient cloud services to accelerate the digital transformation and advance intelligent cloud adoption of businesses, customers, and partners across Qatar.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, H.E. Mr. Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said: The launch of the Data Centre today is considered an important milestone in the process of transforming the State of Qatar into an advanced and pioneering digital center in the Middle East and the world. This journey was inspired by the Qatar National Vision 2030, which aims to establish a diversified and competitive national economy.”
His Excellency continued: “These pioneering projects in the field of digital transformation, communications and information technology would not have been achieved without the ambitions of the country’s wise leadership and its vision to this vital sector, believing in its crucial role in the development of other economic sectors. Legislative and legal regulation of the sector and enhance its attractiveness.
“Microsoft has more datacenter regions than any other cloud provider and today we are proud to deliver the first hyperscale cloud datacenter region to Qatar. This development will increase opportunities for organizations of all sizes and across all sectors to leverage our trusted cloud to innovate, better serve their customers and achieve their business goals – ultimately supporting continued economic growth that benefits all residents.” said Ralph Haupter, President of Microsoft EMEA.
Providing new opportunities for customers and partners
The Qatar cloud data center region will drive growth and scale for Microsoft customers and partners in the country. Microsoft customers across multiple industries, including the Ministry of Communication and Information technology, TASMU PLATFORM, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, and many others, have already embraced the Microsoft Cloud to develop digital capabilities and innovate in their industries. Microsoft partners such as EY, Ooredoo, Vodafone, QDS, PWC, ICT, Malomatia, Intel, Mannai, Meeza, Starlink, and Veeam are delivering transformative solutions across the Microsoft Cloud to drive customer success.
Building future-ready skills for employability
Earlier this year, Microsoft, in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), launched the National Skilling Program, with the goal to upskill over 50,000 people in Qatar through providing digital skills acquisition programs over the next four years. To date, the program had benefited over 14,000 people.
Microsoft has also established a first-of-its kind Digital Center of Excellence to help bridge the skills gap amongst the IT community and help accelerate digital transformation, in collaboration with leading universities such as MIT xPro, the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) and HEC Paris.
Delivering reliable, trusted, and resilient cloud, securely
Businesses of all sizes and industries can now host their cloud workloads in Microsoft’s Qatar datacenter, taking advantage of enterprise-grade reliability and performance. Customers can begin leveraging Microsoft Azure to develop advanced applications using AI, data and analytics, IoT and hybrid capabilities with advanced digital security and more, as well as Microsoft 365, the world’s productivity cloud that delivers best-of-breed productivity apps delivered seamlessly through cloud services.
With over 100 compliance offerings – the broadest set of compliance offerings and programs of any public cloud provider – the Microsoft cloud significantly empowers customers to meet local compliance and policy requirements. This includes the National Information Assurance Certification issued by the National Cyber Security Agency, which Microsoft received earlier this year.
“With its longstanding history as an early adopter of technology, Qatar has completely embraced cloud solutions and revolutionized entire industries to develop a new, advanced digital economy. Today’s announcement will enable the country to take these groundbreaking innovations to the world, showcase its standing as a leader in digital transformation and cement Qatar’s place as a global hub for innovation,” said Lana Khalaf, Microsoft Country Manager.
To learn more about the Microsoft cloud datacenter region in Qatar, please visit the website.
Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who plays for Sevilla FC, has become the first ever Arab goalkeeper to win the Spanish football league’s best goalkeeper award, the Ricardo Zamora Trophy.
Morocco and Sevilla FC goalkeeper Yassine Bounou has made history as the first Arab goalkeeper to win the Ricardo Zamora Trophy, which is awarded to the Spanish football league’s best goalkeeper of the season.
The coveted trophy, which has been awarded since 1958, is handed to the La Liga keeper with the lowest goals-to-games ratio, having played a minimum of 60 minutes in at least 28 matches.
Bounou, who has played for Sevilla since 2019, conceded 24 goals in 31 matches during the 2021-2022 season, finishing ahead of Real Madrid and Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois who conceded 29 goals, while 32 goals were scored against Real Sociedad’s Alex Remiro. Bounou also received 13 clean sheets, meaning that no goal was conceded in those matches.
The Morocco international first joined Sevilla on loan for a year, before signing a permanent four-year contract with the Andalusian giants in 2020.
The goalkeeper, who is nicknamed ‘Bono’ by football fans, is also the first ever Sevilla player to win the award.
He also became the second African to win the prize after Cameroonian Jacques Songo’o, who played for Deportivo La Coruna and was awarded the trophy in 1997.
Bounou’s efforts also lead to Sevilla’s fourth-place finish in La Liga, enabling the team to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League, alongside Spanish heavyweights Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.
Canada-born Bounou, who has earned 40 caps for the Moroccan national team, will be one of the Arab players to watch in this year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where the Atlas Lions will be making their sixth appearance.
source/content: english.alaraby.co.uk (The New Arab) (headline edited)
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) became the third Middle Eastern nation to send a man into space in 2019 when it launched Hazza Al Mansouri to the International Space Station, making him the nation’s first astronaut according to catapult. The UAE then rose to the position of the 40th spacefaring nation. Now, Sultan Al Neyadi is another astronaut embarking on a new journey to set new records. An announcement was made earlier last week that UAE’s Al Neyadi will be flying to the orbiting lab on SpaceX’s Crew-6 mission, which is expected to launch in the first half of 2023 from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre in the U.S. His participation was arranged through a previously disclosed agreement with Axiom Space, a Texas-based aerospace company.
Al Neyadi was chosen among a group of Emirati astronauts to serve as the first Arab astronaut on a protracted space mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew-6 mission will be launched by NASA and SpaceX. Al Neyadi will carry out numerous intricate and sophisticated scientific experiments throughout the flight as a part of the UAE Astronaut Program.
Last year, the UAE made history with its unmanned Hope Probe to Mars by becoming the first Arab country and the fifth globally to reach the Red Planet. The mission has since discovered a new type of aurora on Mars, challenging scientists’ understanding of the planet, which was thought not to possess auroras at all. It is clear that the UAE is looking for possibilities to utilize advanced satellite communications, and use cutting-edge space technology on Earth. Therefore, the UAE established the National Space Fund which is an AED 3 billion fund from UAE Space Agency.
The fund will promote innovative initiatives that assist foreign and Emirati businesses in working together on applications in the engineering, sciences, and research fields related to space. A constellation of sophisticated remote sensing satellites using radar technologies will be the fund’s first project to be sent into orbit and will offer unmatched imaging capabilities.
This fund is crucial since it has made other projects possible and enabled economic diversification. A unifying factor among many of the Gulf Region’s nations is the transition away from an economy reliant on the production and sale of oil. In addition to the UAE, other nations like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait are currently investing billions of dollars in research and development to open up new businesses, which has gradually raised regional interest in space.
The UAE’s trajectory is one that is ambitious to expand its space sector which was made official In March 2019. This is when the UAE Government launched the National Space Strategy 2030, which sets the general framework for the UAE’s space industry and activities carried out by public and private sectors for the years leading up to 2030.
A women’s rights advocate and secretary general of the Moroccan climate coalition, Laila Amili is now working to build a bridge between Moroccan associations and the All-African-Movement Assembly.
From August 29 to 31, pan-African activists from across Africa and the Diaspora will gather in Arusha, Tanzania, for the All-African-Movement Assembly (AAMA) conference promoting justice, peace, and dignity.
AAMA organized a first validation conference in August 2016 in Arusha, gathering 272 people from 40 countries from across the continent.
The pan-African movement is built on five pillars : fighting for more civic and political action; promoting women’s rights and individual freedoms across the continent; advocating for the right to equity and dignity; promoting democratic and corruption-free governance; and calling for climate and environmental justice.
Morocco’s Lingering Gender Injustices
Laila Amili, president of Mains Libres (Free Hands), a Moroccan association fighting for girls and women’s rights, joined the AAMA two months ago. She’s a socialist, a founding member of the Arab feminist network Tha’era, and a climate activist.
In conversation earlier this week with Morocco World News, Amili spoke passionately of her new challenge: working to build a bridge between the pan-African movement AAMA and Moroccan associations.
“We hope to promote African solidarity to build the future we want as Africans: the right to peace, social inclusion, and prosperity for Africans all around the world,” Amili said.
For the Moroccan activist, sharing different experiences from different African actors would be a way to build progress for women’s rights. In Morocco, much of Amili’s activism revolves around fighting against underage marriage and domestic violence, as well advocating for greater female visibility in leadership positions.
It’s been three years since Mains Libres first launched its fight to forge substantive changes in the Moudawana, the Moroccan family code. In particular, the group has ceaselessly called for both the criminalization of child marriages and the protection of divorced mothers’ rights to keep their children.
Underage Article 175 and 176 of the current Moroccan family code, a divorced mother loses child custody if she remarries and her child is over 7 years old.
For Mains Libres, Amili said, “the child should stay with her mother until 15, even if she decides to remarry.”
And when legislative change does occur, as was the case in 2018 with the parliament’s adoption of Law 103.13 about violence committed against women, Amili insists that effective implementation should follow. Legislative change is only meaningful if it actually leads to tangible impact or perceptible changes in the everyday lives of the women who have long borne the weight of gender inequality.
Embracing Africa
“I see that these struggles are common in most African countries,” Amili said. “That’s why a lot of people are willing to join AAMA and participate in African solidarity.”
She recalled that after the first AAMA regional convention in Rabat on July 28, 2022, more Moroccan associations expressed keen interest in pan-African cooperation. This was a notable, emphatic, and overdue break from a long tradition, Amili argued, pointing out that Moroccan activists previously tended to work a lot with Arab or European countries. Now is the time to value and participate in pan-African solidarity, she insisted.
The AAMA summit in Tanzania is even more relevant amid the slow post-COVID across Africa. For Amili, one main reason for the event’s particular significance is the opportunity to discuss with fellow pan-African activists the far-reaching consequences that the pandemic has on the lives of many women across their continent, especially those who were already living in a precarious financial situation.
According to a March 2021 information note from Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP), women were by far the hardest hit by the COVID-induced unemployment in the North African country.
The World Needs Solidarity
In addition to the devastating socio-economic disruptions brought about or further exacerbated by the COVID crisis, people – especially women – from the Global South are also the principal victims of the emerging ecological challenges.
“Us, people from the South, are the ones who are suffering more and more, because of poverty and increasing drought,” Amili said. “Poor people are the main victims of climate change.”
Amili is also the secretary general of the Moroccan coalition for climate justice, a gathering of 230 associations. Having participated in numerous international climate conventions in that role, she deplores the lack of women in leadership decisions.
One of the priorities of the Moroccan climate coalition is to heighten awareness about climate justice to make it “real” and not only written on official papers, said Amili.
Over the past months, one of Amili’s many activities – or duties – as the president of the coalition has been to travel to rural, marginalized areas to raise awareness about the climate and share vital information about environmental challenges with underserved communities whose lives and livelihoods have long been upended by rampant changes that they do not know of, let alone understand.
For Amili, the world can meet several of the challenges it faces if enough people are taught – or learn – to nurture a certain disposition toward empathy and solidarity when making sense of global challenges.
“We need solidarity for peace, human dignity, and human rights,” she said. “One hand can’t build anything, it’s with two, three, or four hands that we can achieve our goals.”
