Camilia Shehata : Egypt's new religious war

A few days ago, the independent Egyptian political newspaper Al-Dostour ran this article by Wael Abdel Fatah. In his article, Abdel Fatah discusses the regularity by which the state, society and the media infringe upon the privacy and private lives of individuals. These infringements, according to Abdel Fatah, are indicative of an increasingly-intrusive "tribalisation" of politics and a sickeningly "herd-like" society.

Abdel Fatah draws parallels between the photos and videos of Leila El-Baradei and Camilia Shehata.

Photos of the former in swim suits, bikinis and in places serving alcohol appeared on blogs and Facebook groups dedicating to the defamation of Nobel Prize laureate, former IAEA director and pro-democracy activist Mohammed El-Baradei. Likewise, Camilia's private life was hijacked by the nation: her alleged conversion to Islam is at the heart of a heated confrontation between Muslims and Islamic institutions on the one hand and Christians and the Church on the other