Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Egyptians win the right to drop religion from ID cards

All Egyptians are required to obtain a national ID card at age 16. The card states their religious affiliation, and since 2000 there have only been three options: Muslim, Christian, and Jewish.

The cards are necessary for accessing almost all aspects of life in Egypt, from opening a bank account to immunizing children.

But on March 16, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court upheld a lower courts' 2008 ruling that all Egyptians have a right to obtain official documents, such as ID cards and birth certificates, without stating their religion.
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10 comments:

  1. thankgodimatheistApril 22, 2009 at 3:40 PM

    Good. It took the Lebanese a couple of civil wars before they realised how awful it is to have your religion on your ID card. People used to be slaughtered according to their ID's looks.

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  2. vApril 22, 2009 at 4:21 PM

    Hallelujah...lol

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  3. SaifApril 22, 2009 at 5:21 PM

    It does not mean anything.  Just probably they got pressure from the US to do this thing so that they can keep collecting the Camp David $$$$
    Look at that man Mubarak today he invited Liberman And Netanyahu to Egypt.  What a Clown!

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  4. YasminApril 22, 2009 at 5:22 PM

    whoopie.  religion still governs every aspect of your life there.

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  5. SaifApril 22, 2009 at 5:24 PM

    Yasmina how can you be sure you can blog safely when you are there,,,, pay attention to the news they arrest bloggers you know.  Or should I keep my mouth shut about Egypt while you are there :D  ???

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  6. vApril 22, 2009 at 8:55 PM

    I hope you realize the religious outburst (above) was me being facetious :)

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  7. YasminApril 23, 2009 at 12:32 AM

    oh, Saif, you're right.  :(   I totally forgot about that.

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  8. YasminApril 23, 2009 at 12:33 AM

    maybe they have internet cafes there.

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  9. MarionApril 23, 2009 at 8:06 AM

    And this is while he has been accusing Sayed Nasrallah of violating Egypt's sanctity and sovereignty by trying to help the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, where Egypt is the only Arab country with a border to Gaza which is closed on behalf of their "sanctitiy and sovereigty" relationship with Israel ....

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  10. VAAApril 23, 2009 at 4:39 PM

    TGIA
    <span style="color: #404040; font-size: 11px;">It took the Lebanese a couple of civil wars</span>
    -------
    Don't kid yourself tgia. It's only formality. Name/Surname and place of birth is a sure pointer to your religion.
    I mean if the name is Michael and the Birth place is "Ashrafieh" ,it would be clear that you're not Mohammed.

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