Latest news with #Faten
The National
2 days ago
- General
- The National
Food in a bottle: Symbolic gesture highlights Egypt's Gaza dilemma
An Egyptian man in a widely shared video clip throws a partially filled plastic bottle with rice into the Mediterranean and prays that it reaches the starving in Gaza. "Forgive us!" he pleads, addressing the Palestinians in the war-devastated enclave that borders Egypt. "God, please take this away and deliver it to Gaza!" The food-in-a-bottle gesture quickly resonated in Egypt, where unconditional support for the Palestinian cause and anti- Israeli sentiment are ingrained in the hearts and minds of most of its 107 million people. Girls in the Sinai Peninsula, which neighbours Gaza, have now been filling bottles with rice and lentils and casting them into the sea. 'These are from the children of Sinai to the children of Gaza,' said one girl as she poured lentils into a plastic bottle. Another clip appears to show a man in Gaza retrieving one of the makeshift donations. "Our Egyptian brothers, one bottle has arrived," the man joyfully announces as he stands with the sea behind him. Some have suggested using balloons to send food to Gaza, with a warning that the wind direction and speed must be carefully calculated before release. "Tell us if this can work because maybe it can be the beginning of hope and we can all tell God on judgment day that it was all we could do," Faten wrote on a social media platform. On Sunday, relief aid began entering Gaza from Egypt alongside air drops by Jordan and the UAE after Israel temporarily eased restrictions on the entry of humanitarian assistance into the strip. That will likely bring an end to the social media storm stirred by the food-in-a-bottle video, but the broader challenges the Gaza war poses for Egypt's government are far from over. Delicate position The Gaza war and its fallout have left Egypt with the delicate and complex task of balancing its national interests with its historical role as the leading champion of the Palestinian cause. At stake is its 1979 peace treaty with Israel that is widely viewed as a cornerstone of the current regional order and the foundation of nearly 50 years of close ties between Egypt and the US, by far Israel's closest western backer and the donor of billions of dollars in aid to Egypt over the years. The US-sponsored treaty has often looked fragile, even irrelevant, with the Gaza war and Egypt's repeated condemnation of Israel's actions causing relations to plummet to their lowest since 1979. Another balancing act thrown up by the Gaza war is Egypt's close working relationship with Hamas – designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union – which came about as a by-product of Cairo's joint mediation alongside Qatar and the US to end the conflict. An equally foreboding challenge for Egypt is to stop Israel from making life so difficult or even impossible for Palestinians in Gaza that they would cross the border to settle in the sparsely populated Sinai, a scenario that Cairo sees as a threat to its national security that would hollow out the Palestinian cause. Since the war began, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi 's government has repeatedly sought to ease public discontent over the conflict, and, in a similar vein, other regional crises such as those in Libya and Sudan, as well as the Nile water dispute with Ethiopia. Egypt and Gaza are closely tied by social and political bonds. Egypt is the only Arab nation that shares a border with the Strip. The coastal enclave has consistently been part of Egyptian empires dating back to Pharaonic times. Most Gaza families have an Egyptian connection through centuries of intermarriage or tribal ties across the border in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. In the modern era, Egypt administered Gaza between 1948 and 1967, when Israel captured the enclave along with Sinai and the West Bank. The growing anger among Egyptians over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached a level that has compelled Mr El Sisi to address the nation on Monday, to debunk accusations that it was not doing enough to end the war. "Don't ever think that we could ever play a negative role towards our brothers in Palestine, or that we would do that because of the gravity of the situation," he said in the televised address. "We play a role that's honest, sincere, respectable and honourable. That never changed and never will." The potential for public discontent over Gaza spilling over is seen by some as realistic, particularly as many Egyptians are already struggling with rising prices for everyday goods and services, a challenge some associate with broader issues in government policy. Street demonstrations in Egypt are barred without a permit, including those in support of Palestinians in Gaza or criticising Israel. When limited protests were allowed in the early days of the war, some demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans and attempted to occupy a central Cairo square, the symbolic heart of the 2011 uprising that led to the end of Hosni Mubarak's 29-year rule. 'Feeble accusations' Deepening the government's predicament, Al Azhar issued a strongly-worded statement accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, condemning what it called the international silence over the famine there, and bemoaning a lack of concrete action to feed starving Palestinians. Millions read the statement and shared it online before Al Azhar withdrew it and released a follow-up, saying it had "bravely" taken it off social media out of a sense of responsibility before God, to spare the Palestinians more bloodshed and not interfere with efforts to reach a ceasefire. The message made no mention of any government directive. Meanwhile, activists have been calling on the government for weeks to open Egypt's border crossing to allow food and other essential items through. For its part, the government has insisted it was Israel, whose military occupies the Gaza side of the border, that closed the crossing. Sending humanitarian aid to Gaza without co-ordination with Israel could lead to armed clashes and possibly war, pro-government commentators argued. "Egypt emphasises the shallowness and lack of logic in those feeble accusations," the Foreign Ministry said. "Their content runs contrary to Egypt's positions and interests while ignoring the role it has been – and is – playing since the start of Israel's aggression against Gaza, whether the tireless efforts to reach a ceasefire, relief operations and the entry of humanitarian assistance through the Rafah crossing," it added. It accused "some malicious groups and parties" – Egyptian parlance that refers, among others, to the banned Muslim Brotherhood - of what it described as a campaign designed to turn attention from what caused the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It called on Egyptians to exercise "extreme caution" when dealing with those "lies".
Gulf Weekly
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- Gulf Weekly
Lego lady!
Motorsport maverick Faten Amin, the first Bahraini woman in a host of top organising roles in the sport, has taken her journey off-road with her collection of unique Lego F1 sets. The 39-year-old Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) digital content executive is blending her love for the sport with her relatively recent hobby of Lego set-building. 'I have 66 sets so far, but not all of them are built – about 14 to 15 sets are not built yet,' she told GulfWeekly during the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix held at the BIC in mid-April. 'I like to have a collection, rather than having one or two sets, and Lego kept bringing out more sets, so my hobby just keep on growing.' But Faten is more than just a collector. She's created a unique niche for herself by documenting her Lego builds through ASMR-style videos on TikTok, capturing the satisfying clicks of each piece coming together. 'When I build the sets, I do a video where it's music-free to keep the focus on the ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) click, making sure that it is very clear,' she added. Last year, Faten made history as the first Bahraini woman to serve as Clerk Of the Course (COC) for the FIA Formula 3 Championship during the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix. This year, in addition to her duties at the BIC, she had a dual role for the support races happening during the race weekend – deputy COC for the Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East and chief communications for F2. However, she was able to make time to stock up on new Lego sets, one of which she even got signed by the Ferrari duo of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. 'Ever since I was young, I was always fascinated by Lego but I never had the time or budget for it,' she reminisced. 'However, that changed in 2019, when my husband bought me a Lego Movie Maker set because I do stop motion videos. The set could actually help me do stop motion with Lego, and it teaches you everything. 'He saw the set and knew it was perfect for me. Ever since then, I just kept on buying the sets that I wanted, like the Friends set, the McLaren, and it just grew.' The first set that she worked on was a small speed champion car, which she completed in about 90 minutes. Up next was the 2022 McLaren F1 car, which took her about 10 hours. What started as a casual interest quickly transformed into a serious collection, with Faten now boasting an impressive collection spanning diverse themes, from F1 racing sets to botanical collections featuring delicate roses and tulips. 'When I'm building these sets, I can meditate with no thoughts at all,' she explained. 'It just clears the mind. That's what I like. I like to sit and clear my mind out of everything from life. That's why I enjoy building it. It's like my yoga session with building Legos.' Her most challenging build to date was the Ferrari Daytona set, a 24-hour project she completed just a few days before giving birth – something that didn't even hold her F1 organising ambitions, as she served as the COC last year while pregnant. A veteran marshal since 2005, Faten has been a pivotal figure in Bahrain's racing community. Last year, she made history by becoming the first female Clerk of the Course for Formula Three – a remarkable achievement she accomplished while eight months pregnant. Her collection reflects her motorsports passion, with numerous F1 and racing-themed Lego sets taking pride of place in her home. She even treasures a small piece of carbon fiber from an F2 wing – a memento from her early marshalling days. 'I've always been passionate about motorsports,' Amin explains. 'From watching NASCAR as a child to marshalling at local races, it's been a lifelong love.'
