Latest news with #Abdeen
CairoScene
09-07-2025
- Health
- CairoScene
Neurosurgeon Dr. Ahmed Abdeen's Testimony From Gaza
In times of great injustice under occupation, doctors become anchors, witnesses, and bearers of unbearable truths, far beyond the confines of conventional medicine. In Gaza, one of those witnesses is Dr. Ahmad Abdeen, a young Palestinian doctor who lived through the unimaginable: treating the wounded under bombardment, operating with scarce resources, and holding on to a vow made over a decade ago. Before Israel launched its genocidal invasion, Dr. Abdeen had planned to complete his education as a neurosurgeon in Gaza, and establish a specialised neurosurgery hospital in his homeland. As the bombs fell and demolished his house, he was forced to leave to Egypt, where he continues to work in the hopes of finishing this critical mission. He speaks with the urgency of someone who has seen what the world prefers to look away from. His story is one of survival, purpose, of continuing, studying, and believing in the value of every life pulled from beneath the rubble. I sat with Dr. Abdeen because stories like his rarely get told fully, and even more rarely by the people who lived them. In his voice lives Gaza, its pain, its strength and its unwavering will to live. His journey into medicine didn't start in lecture halls. It began on the asphalt, in a moment of unforgettable loss. He was 14 when he saw his brother Hashem bleeding and dying in front of his eyes after a car accident in Gaza. He stood helpless as Hashem needed emergency brain surgery, but there were no specialists, no resources, no chance. Hashem spent 15 days in the ICU before passing away. 'On the day of his burial, I made a vow before God and before Hashem: that I would become a doctor, specialising in neurosurgery, to be the help he never had and to save lives that might otherwise vanish like his,' Dr. Abdeen told me. In 2016, he took the first step toward fulfilling that vow when he was accepted into Ain Shams University's medical school. It would be the first time he went to Egypt to pursue his medical education. His joy was mixed with anxiety; how would he afford the tuition and living costs? With a will that didn't break, he studied tirelessly. From the first year, he ranked top amongst international students and second amongst Egyptians. Then came unexpected relief: a generous woman from Kuwait sponsored his tuition for six years. She became, after God, the reason he was able to continue and achieve his dream. He graduated with honours, ranking first amongst international students. 'My academic journey wasn't easy,' he said. 'I was a stranger in a foreign land, yearning for my country and my family. But I carried a mission larger than exile or deprivation, a mission named loyalty to Hashem, mercy for people, and hope for Gaza.' He had been able to go back to Gaza and fulfil some of these ambitions. 'We sang with our laughter and wove priceless memories from the small details of life,' he said, recalling the years he spent with his family. 'Our hearts knew peace, our homes held safety, and our dreams had space to imagine the future.' When Israel began its assault on Gaza, his path in neurosurgery felt like a calling, clear, urgent, and undeniable. He felt the genocide was a divine test. Would he stand by his people, as he had vowed? He knew every minute in the hospital could save a life, maybe a child like Hashem. When he went to the European Gaza Hospital on his first day as a volunteer, he felt like he had walked into the heart of a living wound. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for what he saw. 'I entered hoping to help, but I found myself in the middle of an unmatched catastrophe,' he said. 'I saw souls screaming, not with voices, but with eyes that had cried every tear they had. I saw children, women, and elderly people torn apart, scattered, alive in dead bodies, and dead with dreams that never came true.' It was like a nightmare. He saw dismembered human remains stacked in hospital corners, as if they were inventory - as if they weren't somebody's son or mother or sister. He saw bodies wrapped in white cloth, waiting for space in the morgue. In the operating room, he saw hundreds of injured people crying - not asking to live, just begging for the pain to stop. He saw a 24-year-old woman, half her body missing, bleeding from a severe head wound. They saved her after hours of surgery. When she woke up, she wept, asking, 'Where is my man?' He couldn't answer. Hours later, the rest of her body arrived in her sister's shroud, who had been martyred the same night. He saw a boy who lived through a massacre, the only survivor from his entire family. The boy looked at them, as if asking: Why me? What now? 'What I witnessed in six months, I doubt any surgeon in the world sees in a lifetime,' Dr. Abdeen said. 'Every corner of that hospital screamed. Every scream is now etched in my mind. They chase me when I'm awake. They bring me to tears in my sleep. What I saw was a different kind of struggle: the struggle to stay human in the face of extermination. And that's why I'll keep going. I will carry this message as long as I live.' 'The cases I dealt with at the European Gaza Hospital went far beyond anything I studied or trained for,' he continued. 'Every wound told a story, every person was a walking reminder of everything we were up against.' Dr. Abdeen treated shredded limbs, complete cervical spine fractures, open wounds left untreated because of the siege and lack of basic medical supplies. Often, they worked under bombardment, receiving mostly child victims with terror in their eyes and bodies torn apart, with hospitals being raided by occupation forces who not only killed and arrested the wounded, but also targeted the doctors themselves. 'This reality was nothing like any textbook, nothing like the training offered in safe hospitals,' Dr. Abdeen said. 'Practicing medicine in Gaza was about resilience, and a deep, human courage in the face of daily death.' At first, Dr. Abdeen seemed eager to talk about the medical side, the technical stuff, the impossible conditions. But when I asked about the emotional toll, he fell into silence for a moment. 'During my time at the European Gaza Hospital, there was no space for collapse, not even time to think about emotions,' he told me. 'Sometimes we worked three days straight without seeing our own displaced families, who were surviving in tents. I only saw them for an hour or two every few days.' But the true physical impact of this burden did not hit him until he left Gaza. When he had once again arrived in Egypt, the symptoms started to show: intense guilt, loss of appetite, chronic insomnia, nightmares, and involuntary crying. He felt like he had abandoned them, even though he'd left to serve them better. 'I sought out psychologists in Egypt, and then in the US, trying to make sense of the anxiety that clung to me,' he said, running his hand through his hair. 'But the truth is, nothing calmed me, because the war didn't stop. Death still chased my people. My family remained under siege.' I was surprised that he was being so open about therapy. But Dr. Abdeen didn't seem to care about keeping up appearances any more. 'It was only then that I realised: the only way to survive what I had lived through was to continue. To channel my pain into my studies. To turn suffering into hope. To make every step I took toward specialisation a step closer to returning, to one day become a doctor who could save those we couldn't save then.' His hope in God and his certainty that He is with him every step of the way is the only thing that stopped him from falling apart. 'Being a doctor there was the greatest honour of my life,' Dr Abdeen said, and it was then that I saw him smile for the first time. 'Because it brought together humanity and dignity.' He never felt a conflict between being a doctor and being Palestinian. In Gaza, you don't choose between your roles, you live them all at once. He was treating the wounded while being displaced like them, searching for his own family in the tents, and then going back to save whoever remained beneath the rubble. 'It stood as proof of a people whose strength endures, even when the world turns away and silence surrounds them,' he said. 'In Gaza, the doctor isn't separate from the cause; he becomes a part of it. His practice of medicine is a continuation of life, in the face of every attempt to erase it.' The experience deepened the way he views medicine. It turned it into a calling from God. It amplified his sense of duty toward his people and carved into him the belief that medicine is not just knowledge or technique, but a sacred covenant between him and God, and the proof of the promise he made to Hashem. 'This experience made me even more determined to continue, to return one day as a doctor who carries hope into the rubble, and light into the darkness.' When I asked him about his message to the world, Dr. Abdeen leaned forward. 'What's unfolding in Gaza stands as one of the greatest ethical tests of our time, far beyond a humanitarian crisis. To every Arab or Muslim doctor outside Gaza, I say: there will come a day when you will stand before God and be asked why you didn't use your knowledge to save your brothers and sisters, while they were being slaughtered in full view of the world, with medicine blockaded and medical staff exhausted. Do not be complicit in the silence. Every minute without action is a life lost.' To students, he would tell them that their excellence is their greatest weapon. Don't underestimate the power of a word, a picture, a prayer, a stance. The path of knowledge is the path to victory, but do not remain neutral in an age of massacres. 'To every free young person, Arab or not, Muslim or not, I say: Gaza stands as a mirror to the world's conscience, a place where the weight of humanity is deeply felt. If you don't act now, know that the injustice will eventually reach you. Silence doesn't stop it, it brings it closer.' Despite all the pain and massacres he's witnessed, as a doctor and as a displaced person, there was still a light in his heart that never faded. Because his hope does not lie in this world, but in his deep faith and unwavering certainty that God does not abandon His people, that every wound has an end, every night has a dawn, and every hardship is followed by ease. I decided to ask him what he would tell himself before entering Gaza. Dr. Abdeen closed his eyes in thought, and said, 'Ahmed… be proud. You are about to step into the most sacred land and the greatest test. You will witness pain, massacre, betrayal, but also the most powerful patience and strongest will humanity has ever known. I would say: If I weren't from Gaza, I would have wished to be from Gaza, so I could live this dignity, carry this sacred burden, and be among my people, who teach the world the meaning of resilience. Enter Gaza with your heart, your soul, your knowledge, and your vow. You are going to carry a trust that only those chosen by God can bear, a light in the age of darkness.'
The Independent
16-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Irish politician detained again by Egyptian authorities
An Irish parliamentarian has been detained again by Egyptian authorities after trying to retrieve his phone at a Cairo police station. His partner has urged the Irish deputy premier to intervene in the case. Paul Murphy, a TD (MP) for People Before Profit-Solidarity, had been detained on Friday while attempting to march to the Rafah crossing into Gaza as part of a large demonstration to deliver aid into the blockaded enclave. He was one of a number of Irish people who were expected to take part in the march. The opposition politician said his phone and passport were confiscated before he and others were put on a bus to Cairo airport, where they believed they would be deported. All Irish people who were detained were then released but some did not have their phones returned. On Monday, Mr Murphy went to a police station in the Egyptian capital to retrieve his phone. People Before Profit said this was done on the advice of the Irish embassy. He then sent messages from the station that he was concerned that his passport had been taken again and was told he could not leave. He then attempted to leave, but the party said he and others have been prevented from doing so. 'I have been detained in the Abdeen police station in Cairo,' the party quotes Mr Murphy as saying. 'On the advice of the Irish embassy, I went to the station at 12.30pm Egyptian time to enquire about my phone that they took. 'They took my passport again, had me talk to the secret police and left me in a room with an interpreter. They claim they are looking for my phone. 'I just attempted to leave but they said that I cannot leave. I understand that other march participants have also been detained.' Mr Murphy's partner and Dublin councillor Jess Spear has appealed for the Irish Government to intervene. 'I appeal to Tanaiste Simon Harris to intervene urgently with the Egyptian authorities,' she said. 'The Tanaiste must ensure that Paul and all the Global March to Gaza participants are released, have their passports returned and are allowed to continue their humanitarian mission to try and get aid to the people of Gaza.' The Global March to Gaza is a civilian movement that aims to march from Egypt to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and increase pressure so that vital supplies to the besieged region are unblocked. A blockade on Gaza was imposed by Israel when it ended a ceasefire with Hamas earlier this year. This has deepened fears of famine, while a new Israeli-US aid system has been marred by violence. It comes as Israel's 20-month military campaign in Gaza continues, during which an estimated 55,000 Palestinians have been killed. Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages on October 7 2023.
CairoScene
07-06-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
Alexandria's Tim's Claims That the Secret to Good Coffee is Love
Alexandria's Tim's Claims That the Secret to Good Coffee is Love Somewhere between the rise of millennial self-loathing and the matcha-powered war on caffeine, society seems to have turned on coffee—or at least on loving it too much. Maybe we've just seen one too many 'Don't talk to me before my coffee' t-shirts. Whatever the reason, coffee has become a bit of a cliché. It makes sense. Hardcore coffee lovers are routinely mocked for their devotion to Turkish roasts and pour-overs, while branding teams repackage the drink into a million hollow aesthetics. In the process, coffee has lost its soul. Muhammad Abdeen, founder of Alexandria café Tim's, is on a mission to restore it. A true coffee enthusiast, Abdeen once found himself adrift in a world of empty cups—until he rediscovered what made him fall in love with coffee in the first place. Before Tim's, Abdeen ran Mugs, a small, cosy café. 'Mugs taught us everything,' Abdeen tells SceneEats, 'from selecting the right beans to understanding how service, ambience, and human connection can turn a simple cup into an experience. Every lesson, every moment from Mugs, lives on today in every corner of Tim's. Mugs wasn't just a business—it was the blank page where every first was written. The first blend tested, the first espresso pulled, and the first regular customer remembered by name.' But over time, the business took over. The spark dimmed—until a quiet moment on a trip changed everything. 'The idea for Tim's didn't come from a business plan. It came from a feeling,' Abdeen says. 'It happened during one of my travels; I was sitting in a quiet café in a small corner of a city, watching how people connected over coffee. The light, the music, the way the barista moved with care—it all came together. And then, there was her: the girl behind the bar in Dubai, doing her job with genuine love, attention, and grace. Her passion struck a chord.' At that moment, Abdeen realised something was missing—not in the coffee industry, but in the coffee experience. He had visited hundreds of cafés, owned his own and lived and breathed coffee for years. But now, he wanted to build something different—something that combined everything he learned with the emotional richness he felt just then. It was that barista from Dubai who suggested Tim's name—and became the reason it exists at all. Everything at Tim's is built around the emotional core of coffee: connection. From the scent of freshly baked pastries at the door to the mellow hum of warm music, the space invites you to stay. Housed in a sprawling, high-ceilinged venue, especially rare for Downtown Alexandria, the café showcases Tim's globe-sourced signature blend with an atmosphere to match. 'The music is warm, thoughtful, never overpowering—setting a mood that makes you want to stay a little longer.' And people have stayed. Since opening, Tim's has become a magnet for coffee lovers across the city. Its success speaks to the very thing that inspired it: sincere, unpretentious love—for coffee, and the people who drink it.
Web Release
21-05-2025
- Business
- Web Release
ElGameya Fintech Closes 7-Figure USD Investment Round
ElGameya, Egypt's leading fintech platform digitizing the traditional ROSCA savings model, today announced the successful closing of a new 7-figure USD investment round, aiming to accelerate the development of its technology platform. The round was led by AYADY for Investment and Development, with participation from prominent investors including Jedar Capital, Cubit Ventures, Ventures Notes, P-Maestro and a group of both local and international angel investors. Founded in 2020, ElGameya aims to modernize and streamline the culturally rooted ROSCA (Rotating Savings and Credit Association) model, which is an integral part of the financial culture in Egypt and many other countries. Through its user-friendly mobile app, the company enables individuals to join diverse circles and choose their preferred amount, duration, and convenient payout turn, while ensuring security and transparency in all transactions. It also offers flexible solutions for obtaining financing and targets meeting the financial needs of various segments of society by providing associations designed to suit the needs of diverse segments of the community, whether for short-term or long-term goals such as education, marriage, or launching a small business with affordable monthly installment plans. Ahmed Abdeen, Founder & CEO of ElGameya, commented: 'We are thrilled to close this successful funding round, which serves as a strong vote of confidence in our vision and business model. Having high-caliber investor like AYADY onboard empowers us to accelerate our expansion and deliver accessible, innovative financial tools to more people across Egypt and beyond. We believe fintech has the power to transform lives, and ElGameya is determined to be at the forefront of that transformation.' 'Over the past year, the company has achieved sustained 50% month-on-month growth, with roughly one million registered users. We have also formed strategic partnerships with more than 150 companies and schools, all of which benefit from our services,' added Abdeen. Osama Saleh, Chairman of AYADY For Investment & Development, stated:'Our investment in ElGameya aligns with our commitment to supporting startups that leverage technology to meet real societal needs. We see ElGameya as a standout model capable of empowering large segments of the Egyptian population with reliable, flexible savings and credit solutions. This resonates with our broader mission to promote financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth.' Amr Aboulazm, Founding Chairman of ElGameya, added: 'We are proud to have earned the trust of such an esteemed group of investors. This funding round marks a pivotal step in our journey to establish ElGameya as a market leader in digital savings solutions in Egypt & the region. We believe digital ROSCAs have a vital role to play in enhancing financial literacy and expanding access to safe, adaptable savings and credit tools, especially for those who remain excluded from traditional financial systems.' Hazem Kamel, Managing Director- Private Equity at NI Capital (the investment manager of AYADy), commented: 'Our investment in ElGameya reflects our strategic focus on backing high-potential fintech startups that can deliver innovative solutions and real economic impact. The ElGameya team has demonstrated deep market insight and the ability to execute. We look forward to seeing them achieve even greater milestones in the future.' This investment underscores a fintech opportunity on the rise at a time when the fintech sector across the Middle East and North Africa is witnessing unprecedented growth and increasing investor interest. ElGameya stands out as a strong example of an Egyptian startup leveraging this momentum to drive meaningful innovation and scale impact.
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- The Guardian
‘No one recognised him, even as he said his name': last video of rescued man shows horror of Sudan torture camps
In the last video of Alwaleed Abdeen, taken in the school turned prison in which he had been held for six months, he was so emaciated that friends could barely recognise him – even when he spoke his name to the camera held by his rescuers. Lying on a dirty floor as he spoke, the 35-year-old's bones were visible through his skin after months of detention and torture at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, which controlled most of Sudan's capital, Khartoum until late March. The video was taken by soldiers from the Sudanese government army, and was among many recorded as they drove the RSF out of the city and made grim discoveries of graves and prisons, revealing the conditions many residents endured under the RSF. 'Honestly, I was shocked by what I saw on that video – I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing his body so thin from the hunger, the sickness and torture he endured,' says Mohammed Awad, a neighbour of Abdeen's. 'Whoever can torture and kill a peaceful person like Alwaleed so brutally, they are a person of no faith, no morality, no humanity.' Like Abdeen, Awad had remained in the wealthy Arkaweet neighbourhood of Khartoum despite it becoming overrun by the RSF, whose senior commanders took over abandoned houses as their lodgings or used them to store weapons. Abdeen stayed because his elderly parents refused to leave. He had been briefly detained by RSF forces on several occasions since the war between the RSF and army began in April 2023, before he finally disappeared in October 2024. Awad says he does not know how Abdeen was captured but that many in the area were taken prisoner while trying to reach markets to buy food. Last month, the Sudan Tribune reported that 50,000 people have been forcibly disappeared by the RSF during the war, based on data from the Sudanese Group for Defending Rights and Freedoms. Awad said citizens who remained in Khartoum struggled to access food, water, electricity and medical care after health facilities were taken over by the RSF; shortages which led to Abdeen's mother dying from illness during his detention. 'They brutally arrested citizens and tortured them without any care for their rights, especially in Arkaweet,' says Awad. 'Our homes, women, were not safe. They threatened by gunpoint to steal, loot, beat and abuse.' The video of Abdeen in detention was taken in Jebel Awliya, on the road south out of Khartoum. In another video from the area, the same soldier recorded images of bodies and says they died of hunger and thirst. The news that Abdeen had died later in hospital prompted a wave of mourning on Sudanese social media because of his popularity in the city, where he was a well-known figure. Abdeen was considered a force in Sudan's entrepreneur scene, helping co-found the Khartoum edition of Ted Talks and innovation hubs such as 249 Startups, which helped young entrepreneurs. He also won fellowships to study in the UK and US. As friends shared their memories, many wished that final video was not their lasting memory of him and posted images of him healthy and happy. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion 'I want to have the image of the Alwaleed I remember,' says Dalia Yousif, who considered him a business mentor. She says he was a kind, generous man, who was always eager to help others and did so by championing Sudanese entrepreneurs, not only in the capital but in marginalised areas such as Darfur. 'He was passionate about what he was doing but also about what other people were doing. So he was always trying to not just grow himself but also empower others to grow with him,' says Yousif. Reem Gaafar, a neighbour of Abdeen's, who met him at an arts workshop, says his death brought home the reality and violence facing people in Sudan. She had hoped he had escaped the area, as many in Arkaweet had. She initially refused to watch the prison video, having avoided such imagery throughout the war. But then her sister told her the man pictured was one of their neighbours. 'I screamed. I was in shock, my mum came running to my room. The shock of seeing him in that way, to know that all of this time he was in that situation,' she says. 'All this time we were living our lives and he's been in this awful situation, detained, starved. No one even recognised him from that video, even as he said his name. It was like you were looking an old, sick man.' 'I am ashamed because I know this happened to thousands of people, some in worse situations, to women, but when you see it happen to someone you know, it is a whole different thing.'
