How the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation could have a major impact on the global game
Under the supervision of Prince Saud bin Mishal Al-Saud, the SACF has driven a rapid development of the sport in the Kingdom
The privatization initiative that has swept the nation’s football and other sports could benefit Saudi cricket as well
Updated 12 June 2023
Shaghuf Altaf
According to a survey conducted in 2008, 90 percent of International Cricket Council members were in favor of cricket being included in the Olympics.
In addition, the MCC World Cricket Committee, an independent research institution comprised of prominent cricketing figures, also supported the idea of cricket being included in the Olympics. However, 15 years later, the sport appears to be regressing in that respect, with the most recent World Cup featuring only 10 teams — compared to 14 teams in the 2011 and 2015 editions.
Today, the ICC has put forward a new revenue-sharing model for the 2024-27 cycle, which is set to be voted on at the organization’s July board meeting in Durban. Under the proposal, the 12 full members of the ICC would collectively receive 88.8 percent of the organization’s annual earnings, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, or BCC, alone claiming 38.5 percent of the revenue. The remaining amount, which constitutes just over 10 percent, would be distributed among the ICC’s 94 associate members.
The proposed revenue model has been the subject of concern among several associate member boards, who have expressed their apprehension that the proposal heavily favors the powerhouses of cricket and could impede the progression of the sport.
While many associate members lack the resources and financial muscle to have a strong influence on ICC decisions, the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation, or SACF, has the potential to make a significant impact.
Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily in sports as part of its broader Vision 2030. Purchases and partnerships have already been formed by the Kingdom in sports such as football, Formula One, LIV Golf, WWE and, unsurprisingly, cricket.
Under the supervision of Prince Saud bin Mishal Al-Saud, the SACF has been on a transformation, which in return has resulted in the development of cricket in Saudi Arabia. The chairman, Prince Saud bin Mishal Al-Saud, has formed strong relationships with various full member boards and high-profile international cricketers.
“We have developed great relationships with the ICC, ACC, successful international cricket boards and big cricketers,” he told Arab News.
The SACF raised the profile of the sport, invested in local talent, and created opportunities for players of all levels to compete. This resulted in the Saudi National Cricket team winning the inaugural ACC Men’s Challenger Cup 2023 in Bangkok and placing themselves on the map as a rising cricketing nation.
Furthermore, in February of last year, the Saudi Tourism Authority revealed its collaboration with the Indian Premier League — the most lucrative franchise-based cricket league. This was following Aramco’s alliance with the ICC, which includes sponsorship until the end of 2023.
These two agreements demonstrate the significance of cricket and how seriously it is taken by the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia also made headlines around the world when the SACF teased for a proposed franchise-based cricket league, which the Guardian called “(potentially) the world’s most lucrative Twenty20 tournament.”
ICC Chairman Greg Barclay was also asked about the proposed league and was quoted as saying: “Given their advance into sport more generally, cricket would work quite well for Saudi Arabia. They’re pretty keen to invest in sport and given their regional presence, cricket would seem a pretty obvious one to pursue.”
Last week, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman introduced a new initiative in Saudi Arabia aimed at promoting private investment in the sports industry, with a focus on developing national teams and regional sports clubs.
This project was set in motion by the privatization of four major football clubs and is expected to have a ripple effect on other sports. Saudi cricket, which has already hinted at the creation of a franchise-based league, is poised to benefit greatly from the government’s efforts to increase commercialization within the sport.
Having all this leverage, it would only make sense for the SACF to make a noteworthy impact at the upcoming ICC board meeting. Having established partnerships with key players such as boards, players and teams, the support from the cricket community could translate into influence over decisions made by the ICC.
On the other hand, it could be argued that the SACF may face an uphill battle while increasing their impact over the game. The ICC is currently dominated by countries with strong cricketing traditions such as India, England and Australia. As a relatively new player in the cricket world, Saudi Arabia may find it difficult to break into this elite group and establish a significant influence.
The “Big Three” — India, Australia, and England — have been dominating decision-making about the sport for the past decade. In 2014, these three cricket boards proposed a controversial plan that gave them greater decision-making powers and a larger share of the ICC revenue.
Critics of the plan argued that this was an unfair distribution of resources and would further widen the gap between rich and poor cricketing nations. Due to lack of transparency as well as other concerning factors, the plan was ultimately rejected by the ICC in 2016.
The controversy surrounding the plan highlighted a need for fairness and equality in the governance of cricket. Today, an associate member — Saudi Arabia, finds itself in a position that is unprecedented in the history of cricket.
Ultimately, the extent to which the SACF chooses to make their voices heard depends on their leadership and their long-term goals. However, there is no doubt that today Saudi Arabia is a major stakeholder in the cricketing world.
Hunger and malnutrition are rising across Gaza as Israel’s blockade leaves mothers with few options
Residents and humanitarians warn that acute malnutrition among children is spiraling
Updated 04 May 2025
AP
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: The little boy is in tears and, understandably, irritable. Diarrhea has plagued him for half of his brief life. He is dehydrated and so weak. Attached to his tiny left hand is a yellow tube that carries liquid food to his frail little system.
At 9 months old, Khaled is barely 11 pounds (5 kilos) — half of what a healthy baby his age should be. And in Gaza’s main pediatric hospital ward, as doctors try to save her son, Wedad Abdelaal can only watch.
After back-to-back emergency visits, the doctors decided to admit Khaled last weekend. For nearly a week, he was tube-fed and then given supplements and bottled milk, which is distributed every three hours or more. His mother, nervous and helpless, says that’s not enough.
“I wish they would give it to us every hour. He waits for it impatiently ... but they too are short on supplies,” Abdelaal says. ” This border closure is destroying us.”
The longer they stay in the hospital, the better Khaled will get. But Abdelaal is agonizing over her other children, back in their tent, with empty pots and nothing to eat as Israel’s blockade of Gaza enters its third month, the longest since the war started.
Locked, sealed and devastated by Israeli bombings, Gaza is facing starvation. Thousands of children have already been treated for malnutrition. Exhausted, displaced and surviving on basics for over a year and half of war, parents like Abdelaal watch their children waste away and find there is little they can do.
They are out of options.
Acute malnutrition among children is spiking
Hospitals are hanging by a thread, dealing with mass casualty attacks that prioritize deadly emergencies. Food stocks at UN warehouses have run out. Markets are emptying. What is still available is sold at exorbitant prices, unaffordable for most in Gaza where more than 80 percent are reliant on aid, according to the United Nations.
Community kitchens distributing meals for thousands are shuttering. Farmland is mostly inaccessible. Bakeries have closed. Water distribution is grinding to a halt, largely because of lack of fuel. In desperate scenes, thousands, many of them kids, crowd outside community kitchens, fighting over food. Warehouses with few supplies have been looted.
The longest blockade on Gaza has sparked a growing international outcry, but it has failed to persuade Israel to break open the borders. More groups accuse Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war. Residents and humanitarians warn that acute malnutrition among children is spiraling.
“We are breaking the bodies and minds of the children of Gaza,” Michael Ryan, executive director of emergencies at the World Health Organization, told reporters in Geneva. “Because if we don’t do something about it, we are complicit in what is happening before our very eyes. ... The children should not have to pay the price.”
Israel imposed the blockade March 2, then ended a two-month ceasefire by resuming military operations on March 18, saying both steps were necessary to pressure Hamas into releasing the hostages. Before the ceasefire collapsed, Israel believed 59 hostages were still inside Gaza, 24 of them alive and still in captivity.
It hasn’t responded to accusations that it uses starvation as a war tactic. But Israeli officials have previously said Gaza had enough aid after a surge in distribution during the ceasefire, and accused Hamas of diverting aid for its purposes. Humanitarian workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the UN monitors distribution strictly.
A mother wants to help her son — but can’t
Khaled has suffered from malnutrition since he was 2 months old. His mother managed it through outpatient visits and supplements distributed at feeding centers. But for the past seven months, Abdelaal, 31, has been watching him slowly shrivel. She, too, is malnourished and has had hardly any protein in recent months.
After an exhausting pregnancy and two days of labor, Khaled was born — a low-weight baby at 4 1/2 pounds (2 kilos) but otherwise healthy. Abdelaal began nursing him. But because of lack of calcium, she is losing her teeth — and producing too little milk.
“Breastfeeding needs food, and I am not able to give him enough,” she says.
Khaled has four other siblings, aged between 9 and 4. The family has been displaced from Rafah and now lives in a tent further north in Mawasi Khan Younis.
As food ran out under the blockade, the family grew dependent on community kitchens that serve rice, pasta and cooked beans. Cooking in the tent is a struggle: There is no gas, and finding wood or plastic to burn is exhausting and risky.
Ahmed, 7 and Maria, 4, are already showing signs of malnutrition. Ahmed, 7, weighs 17 pounds (8 kilos); his bones are piercing his skin. He gets no supplements at feeding centers, which serve only kids under 6. Maria, 4, has also lost weight, but there is no scale to weigh her.
“My kids have become so frail,” Abdelaal laments. “They are like chicks.”
Nutrition centers around Gaza are shutting down
Since March 2, UN agencies have documented a rise in acute malnutrition among children. They are finding low immunity, frequent illness, weight and muscle mass loss, protruding bones or bellies, and brittle hair. Since the start of the year, more than 9,000 children have been admitted or treated for acute malnutrition, UNICEF said.
The increase was dramatic in March, with 3,600 cases or an 80 percent increase compared to the 2,000 children treated in February.
Since then, conditions have only worsened. Supplies used to prevent malnutrition, such as supplements and biscuits, have been depleted, according to UNICEF. Therapeutic food used to treat acute malnutrition is running out.
Parents and caregivers are sharing malnutrition treatments to make up for shortages, which undermines treatment. Nearly half of the 200 nutrition centers around Gaza shut down because of displacement and bombardment.
Meanwhile, supplies are languishing at the borders, prevented by Israel from entering Gaza.
“It is absolutely clear that we are going to have more cases of wasting, which is the most dangerous form of malnutrition. It is also clear we are going to have more children dying from these preventable causes,” UNICEF spokesperson Jonathan Crickx says.
Suad Obaid, a nutritionist in Gaza, says parents are frequenting feeding centers more because they have nothing to feed their children. “No one can rely on canned food and emergency feeding for nearly two years.”
At Nasser Hospital, four critical cases were receiving treatment last week for acute malnutrition, including Khaled. Only critical cases are admitted — and only for short periods so more children can be treated.
“If we admit all those who have acute malnutrition, we will need hundreds of beds,” says Dr. Yasser Abu Ghaly, acknowledging: “We can’t help many, anyway ... There is nothing in our hands.”
The system for managing diseases has buckled
Before the war, hundreds of families in Gaza were registered and treated for congenital defects, genetic or autoimmune disorders, a system that has broken down mostly because food, formulasor tablets that helped manage the diseases quickly ran out.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Farrah, head of the pediatrics and obstetrics ward at Nasser Hospital, says hundreds of children with genetic disorders could suffer cognitive disorders as well, if not worse.
“They are sentenced to death,” he says.
Osama Al-Raqqab’s cystic fibrosis has worsened since the start of the war. Lack of meat, fish and enzyme tablets to help him digest food meant repeated hospital visits and long bouts of chest infections and acute diarrhea, says his mother, Mona. His bones poke through his skin. Osama, 5, weighs 20 pounds (9 kilos) and can hardly move or speak. Canned food offers him no nutrition.
“With starvation in Gaza, we only eat canned lentils,” his mother says. “If the borders remain closed, we will lose that too.”
Rahma Al-Qadi’s baby was born with Down syndrome seven months ago. Since then, Sama gained little more than half a pound (300 grams) and was hospitalized multiple times with fever. Her mother, also malnourished and still suffering from infection to her wound after birth, continues to breastfeed her. Again, it is not enough.
Sama is restless, doesn’t sleep and is always demanding more food. Doctors ask her mother to eat better to produce more milk.
Lifting Sama’s scrawny legs up, her mother says: “I can’t believe this is the leg of a 7-month-old.”
A father’s lament: ‘Waiting for death’
Abdelaal’s kids fetch water and wait in line at soup kitchens because she cannot. To get there, they must climb a small hill. When she can, she waits for them at the bottom, fearing they may fall or drop the food.
When they do bring back food, the family divides it over several meals and days. When they get nothing, they share beans out of a can. Abdelaal often surrenders her share. “My kids,” she says, “are more deserving.”
Her husband, Ammar, has a heart condition that limits his movement, so he cannot help either. “Because of lack of healthy food, even as adults, we have no energy to move or exert any effort,” Ammar says. “We are sitting in our tents, waiting for death.”
The kids plead for fried tomatoes or cooked potatoes. But produce is unavailable or too expensive. A kilo of each would cost her $21. A bar of biscuits costs $2. Canned sardines cost nearly $10 — a fortune.
“In two years, my child won’t be able to walk because of lack of food,” Abdelaal says.
Smiling through her helplessness, Abdelaal brought Khaled out of the hospital for a few hours to visit his family on Friday. They gathered around a can of cold beans. She wishes Khaled’s doctors could give her the treatment to take back to the tent, so she could be with her family.
“I am exhausted before birth and after birth from lack of food,” she says. “We are not able to live.”
Israel urged to give media ‘unrestricted’ Gaza access
The FPA, which has filed an appeal with the Israeli Supreme Court challenging the ban, said its members “salute our Palestinian colleagues who continue to report the story at great personal risk”
Updated 03 May 2025
AFP
JERUSALEM: The Foreign Press Association Saturday called on Israel to allow news media “unrestricted” access to Gaza, off-limits to outside journalists operating independently since the war there began in October 2023.
“We call on Israel to stop the never-ending delays, uphold the fundamental principles of press freedom and allow unrestricted entry for journalists to Gaza,” the Jerusalem-based association wrote in a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day.
The FPA has more than 350 members working for foreign media outlets in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
An AFP journalist sits on its board of directors.
The association criticized Israel for an “unprecedented ban preventing foreign journalists from entering Gaza,” calling the decision a “mark of shame for a country that claims to be a beacon of democracy.”
The FPA, which has filed an appeal with the Israeli Supreme Court challenging the ban, said its members “salute our Palestinian colleagues who continue to report the story at great personal risk.”
“Nonetheless, the Israeli restrictions have severely hindered independent reporting and robbed the world of a full picture of the situation in Gaza,” the association added.
The war that continues to devastate Gaza was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
With the exception of a journalist for US outlet CNN who entered a field hospital in Rafah operated by the United Arab Emirates in 2023, the only outside journalists allowed into Gaza, which is under Israeli blockade, did so with Israeli forces.
Their reports were subject to military censorship.
The UN Human Rights office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said it “sombrely marks World Press Freedom Day as Palestinian journalists continue to be killed or injured at an alarming rate with impunity.”
The office said it had independently verified the killing of 211 journalists in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, including 28 women.
Israel’s military has accused many of the journalists killed in its strikes of being “terrorists,” members of the Palestinian militant groups Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
Hamas’s attack on Israel which sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
According to health ministry figures in Hamas-run Gaza, the overall death toll in the territory since the war broke out is more than 52,400.
Mahindra Racing secures season-best result in Monaco E-Prix as Rowland takes first place
The team had arrived in Monaco on the back of nine consecutive points finishes
Updated 03 May 2025
Arab News
MONACO: Mahindra Racing recorded its strongest result of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship season to date with a second-place finish in the opening Monaco E-Prix on Saturday.
Nyck de Vries secured a runner-up finish in the Principality behind eventual winner Oliver Roland of Nissan, while team-mate Edoardo Mortara crossed the line in fourth, moving Mahindra up to third in both the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ standings.
Jake Dennis scored the third and final podium sport for Andretti.
The team had arrived in Monaco on the back of nine consecutive points finishes and a perfect Duels qualification record so far in Season 11 with its M11Electro car.
That consistency continued in qualifying, where de Vries advanced to the Semi-Finals and secured fourth on the grid. Mortara qualified ninth, giving Mahindra two cars in the top 10.
De Vries made a strong start, moving into third at the first corner before managing his race through two full-course yellow periods, a mandatory PIT BOOST stop – which requires a 34-second stationary recharge – and two Attack Mode activations. He moved into second in the closing stages and held position to the flag despite late pressure from behind.
“I’m very happy to be on the podium today, especially in front of my family and friends here in Monaco,” said de Vries. “The car was excellent, and we executed a very strong race strategically, so the whole team deserve a lot of credit for the work that we’ve done.
“Tomorrow is another day, and another race, but we’ll enjoy this result, and it’s great to have some confirmation of the progress we’re continuing to make, and a reward for the work we’ve done so far. We know the next steps will be harder, but this is encouraging.”
Mortara also moved forward through the race despite running with minor front wing damage following contact from another car. He climbed from ninth on the grid to fifth by managing his energy and using the PIT BOOST period to gain track position. He passed Nico Mueller on the final lap to take fourth.
“It’s a strong result for the team, and I was very happy to come through the field and score some good points today,” said Mortara. “Even with some minor damage, we were able to make progress and fight towards the front, which is very encouraging and another sign we are on the right path with our development of this new package.
“It’s a great start to the weekend, and hopefully we can have another positive result tomorrow.”
Team Principal and CEO Frederic Bertrand praised the team’s performance and execution, particularly under the new PIT BOOST format that was introduced this season.
“These are the days we’ve been working towards as a team, and it’s important to enjoy them whilst also being hungry for more,” said Bertrand.
“Today was a great example of what we have been building. We’ve extended our run of qualifying for the Duels and scoring points in every race this season, and I was particularly pleased to see not only how Nyck was able to fight at the front, but how Edo moved through the pack despite some small damage.
“PIT BOOST races are still a bit of an unknown for the whole paddock, but our engineers and mechanics executed a great strategy, and we were able to use it to our advantage again, as we did in Jeddah.
“Overall, a very pleasing result. It’s always nice to end the day with a trophy, but our focus remains to keep up this level of performance consistently and keep being ambitious and aim for even higher.”
Mahindra will return to action on Sunday for the second Monaco E-Prix of the weekend.
How Napoleon’s Egypt campaign sparked a printing revolution in the Arab world
Greatest legacy of the 1798 Napoleonic invasion of Egypt lies not in what the French took, but in what they left behind
Rare books on display at Abu Dhabi International Book Fair reveal printing roots of Egypt’s modern intellectual awakening
Updated 3 min 39 sec ago
Jonathan Gornall
LONDON: On Sunday, July 1, 1798, a vast fleet of ships appeared off the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Aboard the flagship Orient was the French general Napoleon Bonaparte, still six years away from being proclaimed emperor of France but fresh from a series of military victories in Europe and determined to undermine Britain’s influence in Egypt and the Middle East.
With him were 50,000 men, hundreds of horses, numerous artillery pieces and, incongruously, 200 members of the Commission des Sciences et des Arts, a group including engineers, mathematicians, astronomers, geographers, writers, artists — and 22 printers.
Back in France, between 1809 and 1829 the survivors of this group of savants would produce the 37-volume Description de l’Egypte, a triumphant catalogue of all things Egyptian, ancient and modern.
The port city of Rashid, or Rosetta, is located on the Nile Delta where French soldiers discovered the famous stone stele in 1799 - key to deciphering Egyptian scripts. (Getty Images)
Their achievement would not be shared by Napoleon’s army. A month after the landing, virtually all of Napoleon’s ships were destroyed at the Battle of the Nile by a British fleet commanded by Horatio Nelson.
The following year Napoleon and a few men returned to France in secret. The general he left in charge, Jean-Baptiste Kleber, was assassinated a few months later by an Aleppo-born student living in Cairo.
The remains of the French army, decimated by disease and endless conflict, surrendered to British forces in 1801 and, under the terms of an ignominious treaty, were ferried back to France on the enemy’s ships.
IN NUMBERS:
• 50,000 Men who accompanied Napoleon to Egypt.
• £30,000 Price tag of Expedition de Syrie jusqu’a la prise de Jaffa.
• 1820 Year in which Bulaq Press was established in Cairo.
To rub salt into the French wounds, many of the Egyptian antiquities that had been looted by Napoleon’s troops and scholars fell into British hands. Some, including the Rosetta Stone, the ancient granite stele inscribed with a decree in three languages that allowed the cracking of the code of Egyptian hieroglyphs, found their way to the British Museum, where they remain to this day.
But arguably the greatest legacy of the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt lies not in what the French took, but in what they left behind — the art of printing with movable type.
Some of the products of this unintended consequence of Napoleon’s ill-fated Egyptian adventure can be seen this week at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair — an extraordinary collection of rare books and pamphlets that together tell a fascinating story.
The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. (Supplied)
“Aware of the printing press’s potential as a tool for governance and propaganda, Napoleon brought with him advanced French printing technology — something entirely new to Egypt,” said Pom Harrington, the owner of London-based Peter Harrington Rare Books.
Pom Harrington, the owner of London-based Peter Harrington Rare Books. (Supplied)
Just days after landing near Alexandria, Napoleon’s team of printers established the Imprimerie orientale et francaise, under the direction of the linguist and orientalist Jean-Joseph Marcel and the Marc Aurel, the 18-year-old son of a printer and bookseller.
It was, incidentally, Jean-Joseph Marcel who first recognized the third script on the Rosetta stone as Egyptian Demotic, which proved to be the ancient linguistic key to unravelling the mystery of hieroglyphics.
A first-edition copy of one of their first publications, a pamphlet containing seven reports of expeditions against Ottoman forces in Syria, is at the show.
This picture taken on July 26, 2022 shows a close-up view of the cartouche of the Ptolemaic dynasty Pharaoh Ptolemy V "Epiphanes" (210-180 BC) inscribed with the rest of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic text in the upper portion of the Rosetta Stone, on display at the British Museum in London. (AFP)
This picture taken on July 23, 2022 shows a view of the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum in London. (AFP)
The £30,000 price tag of Expedition de Syrie jusqu’a la prise de Jaffa (Expedition from Syria to the capture of Jaffa) reflects its extreme rarity. No copies of the pamphlet are known to exist in institutional libraries, none has ever appeared at auction and the manuscript is not even listed in Albert Geiss’ exhaustive Histoire de l’Imprimerie en Egypte, published by the Institut Francais d’Archeologie Orientale in Cairo in 1907.
Following the French victory over Ottoman forces at the Battle of the Pyramids on July 21, the press was relocated to Cairo, where it was renamed the Imprimerie nationale du Caire.
Another valuable book on show in Abu Dhabi is an extremely rare first-edition copy of the first Arabic dictionary to be printed in the Arabic world. The Vocabulaire francais-arabe, contenant les mots principaux et d’un usage plus journalier (French-Arabic vocabulary, containing the main words and those of more everyday use) was printed between September 1798 and September 1799.
The first Arabic dictionary published in the Arabic world, printed by the French press in Cairo in 1798 or 1799. (AFP)
The final eight pages of common phrases reflect the imperial expectations of those who would use the dictionary to communicate with their temporary Egyptian subjects. Alongside more typical phrases, some of which would be of use to modern travellers today, such as “I am hungry” and “I am going to Cairo,” is the altogether less common instruction “Etrillez mon cheval” — “Brush my horse.”
One of the most fascinating documents produced in Cairo by the French press was an account of the interrogation and trial of Suleiman Al-Halabi, the young man who stabbed to death Jean-Baptiste Kleber, Napoleon’s successor in Egypt as commander of the French army.
Printed in 1800, a year before the end of the French occupation, of the 500 copies that were printed of the Recueil des pieces relatives a la procedure et au jugement de Soleyman El-Hhaleby, assassin du general en chef Kleber (“Collection of documents relating to the procedure and judgement of Soleyman El-Hhaleby, assassin of general Kleber”), only 14 survive.
An account of the investigation and trial of Suleiman al-Halabi, executed in 1800 for the assassination of the commander of the French army in Egypt. (Supplied)
Suleiman Al-Halabi’s execution on June 17, 1800, the day of his victim’s funeral, was a gruesome affair; after his right forearm was burnt to the bone, he took four hours to die after being impaled on a metal spike.
The Cairo press was shut down after the French withdrew, and the printing presses were sent back to France, “but its impact was lasting,” said Harrington.
“The French conquerors could not have foreseen that the introduction of printing with movable types would lead to a revolution in printing in the Arab world, demonstrating to Egyptian scholars the transformative potential of print.”
The influence of the short-lived French printing house lingered on through individuals including Nicolas Musabiki, whose father Yusuf had been trained during the French occupation.
Nicolas later played a crucial role in the Bulaq Press, established in Cairo in 1820 by Muhammad Ali Pasha, the Ottoman viceroy and the ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848.
The Bulaq Press, established in Cairo in 1820 by Ottoman viceroy Muhammad Ali Pasha, was inspired by the French press that was brought along by Napoleon in his conquest of Egypt. (Photos courtesy of Bibliotheca Alexandrina)
“Ali Pasha is seen as the founder of modern Egypt and was clearly inspired by Napoleon’s printing presses,” said Harrington.
“In 1815 he sent the Syrian Nicolas Musabiki to Italy to study type-founding and printing, and ordered three presses from Milan, along with paper and ink, also from Italy.
“The establishment of the Bulaq Press meant that he could print manuals for the military, official guidebooks for the administration, and textbooks for new schools.”
Bulaq’s presses “primarily used the Naskh script, valued for its legibility and formality, making the new texts easily readable.”
Among the rare finds featured in the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is the Alfiyat Ibn Malik, a 13th-century Arabic textbook. (Supplied)In Europe, printing with movable type had begun in the 15th century — the Gutenberg Bible was printed in Germany in 1455.
An 1835 Bulaq edition of the classic Arabic grammar written in the 13th century by Muhammad ibn Malik, an eminent grammarian and specialist in Islamic law. (Supplied)
“The delay in printing in the Arab world was certainly linked to the notion of calligraphy not only as an art form, but also as an expression of spirituality,” said Harrington.
“It wasn’t until the introduction of lithographic techniques that the beauty of Arabic script could be adapted to printing more easily.”
The Bulaq Press printed its first book, an Italian-Arabic dictionary, in 1822. But one of its greatest triumphs is on show at Abu Dhabi: the first complete edition in Arabic of the Thousand and One Nights, printed in 1835.
Two pages from the Galland manuscript, the oldest text of The Thousand and One Nights. Arabic manuscript, back to the 14th century from Syria in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
The first edition of the collection of Arabic folk tales printed anywhere in the Arab world, fewer than a dozen copies are known to exist in libraries. Privately held copies are even rarer; this copy, from the collection of the French historian and orientalist Charles Barbier de Maynard, who died in 1908, is priced at £250,000.
The impact of the Bulaq Press is celebrated by Egypt’s state library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which in an online history credits it with having played “an essential role in disseminating science and knowledge throughout the country.
“As books and legible material became available, a new class of intellectuals emerged, to later form the basis for a comprehensive modernization of the whole society.
“Other outcomes included an increase in the number of private schools and the emergence of female education. As the class of intellectuals broadened, self-expression and free opinions appeared in the press and daily newspapers.”
The Bulaq Press “was the main force behind this historical transformation that transferred Egypt from the Dark Ages of ignorance and backwardness and into the age of knowledge, freedom and awareness.”
The advantages of modern printing with movable type, demonstrated by the Bulaq Press, were quickly appreciated elsewhere in the Arab world. The first printing press in Makkah was set up in 1882, and the first newspaper — called Hijaz — followed there in 1908.
King Fahd Glorious Qur'an Printing Complex in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. (SPA/File photo)
In 1949, a specialist publishing house was set up in Makkah to produce the first copies of the holy Qur’an to be printed in Saudi Arabia — a task that previously had been left to printers in Egypt.
In 1984, the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an opened in Madinah and has since produced hundreds of millions of copies of the holy book in Arabic and in multiple translations.
The Bulaq Press, also known as the Amiria Press, survives to this day. Its operations were paused during the British occupation of Egypt, but in 1956 it was revived by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the then Egyptian president, and has continued publishing books and other materials as part of the country’s ministry of trade and industry.
Syria briefly detains head of Palestinian group: faction officials
An official from the Damascus-based PFLP-GC told AFP that “secretary-general Talal Naji was arrested” in the city
A third faction source said “Naji was asked... to report to one of the security branches and has not returned“
Updated 03 May 2025
AFP
DAMASCUS: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command officials said Syrian Arab Republic authorities on Saturday briefly detained the head of the faction, which was close to ousted ruler Bashar Assad’s government.
Talal Naji’s detention came just weeks after Palestinian group Islamic Jihad’s armed wing said the new authorities had held two of its officials on unspecified charges.
The United States, which considers Palestinian factions including the PFLP-GC to be “terrorist” organizations, has said Washington will not ease Assad-era sanctions on Syria until it has verified progress on priorities including acting against “terrorism.”
An official from the Damascus-based PFLP-GC, requesting anonymity as the matter is sensitive, told AFP that “secretary-general Talal Naji was arrested” in the city.
Another official confirmed the arrest, while a third faction source said “Naji was asked... to report to one of the security branches and has not returned. Most likely he was arrested.”
Two PFLP-GC officials later confirmed Naji had been released, with one saying he was held for 10 hours and freed after “local and international mediation.”
The official said it remained unclear why he had been arrested.
The second source confirmed Naji’s release, saying: “He’s at home and in good health.”
Last month, a statement from the Al-Quds Brigades said Islamic Jihad’s Syria official Khaled Khaled and organizing committee member Yasser Al-Zafri had been detained for days “without explanation.”
The Iran-backed group expressed hope “that our brothers in the Syrian government” will free the pair, noting their detention comes as the group is “fighting the Zionist enemy” in the Gaza Strip.
In late March, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Syria’s new authorities should “fully renounce and suppress terrorism, exclude foreign terrorist fighters from any official roles (and) prevent Iran and its proxies from exploiting Syrian territory.”
The PFLP-GC was founded in 1968 after breaking away from the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
When conflict erupted in Syria in 2011 with the brutal repression of peaceful pro-democracy protests, the PFLP-GC stood firmly by Assad’s government.
After militants and rebels overran parts of the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus in 2012, the PFLP-GC’s armed wing fought alongside Syrian government forces to take it back.
The group is designated as a “terrorist organization” by the United States and European Union and is accused of masterminding the deadly bombing of Swissair Flight SR330 in February 1970, as well as several attacks on Israeli civilians.
