Al-Badeel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Format | print/online daily |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Mohamed El-Sayed Said |
| Publisher | Future Foundation for Press, Media, and Advertising |
| Editor | Mohamed Ziada |
| Founded | July 16, 2007 |
| Political alignment | independent |
| Language | Arabic |
| Ceased publication | November 2015 |
Al-Badeel (Arabic: البديل, lit. "the alternative") was a privately owned Arabic-language Egyptian newspaper known for its left-wing orientation. Its first issue was published on July 16, 2007. It was founded by Mohamed El-Sayed Said, vice-president of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies and Al-Badeel editor-in-chief from its founding until September 2008, when he was replaced by Khaled al-Balshi.
Print publication ended on April 10, 2009, due mainly to lack of funds. The Board of the Progress for Peace and Advertising Company, the publisher, tried unsuccessfully to raise capital.[1] Al-Balshi and a number of the journalists revived the publication in electronic form in November 2010.[2] Rumors circulated in 2011–12 about a complete end of the publication after a series of strikes and factional protests among the journalists. Controversies included Ibrahim Eissa's appointment as Editor-in-Chief[3] and allegedly arbitrary dismissals of some journalists. In November 2015, publication ended due to poor circulation.[4]
Arrests and injuries of journalists
Arrests and injuries of Al-Badeel journalists began to occur before the Egyptian revolution of 2011:
- Journalist Youssef Shaaban was arrested on charges of drug possession after participating in a solidarity march on Abou Soliman Street for residents displaced by gentrification in the Mahatet El Raml neighborhood of Alexandria[5]
- Journalists Ahmed Ramadan and Islam Abu Al-Ezz were referred to military tribunals after the 2012 Abbassia protest, leading to declarations of solidarity with them by several political movements
- Two employees, journalist Sara Ramadan and photojournalist Hassan Al-Banna Mubarak, were attacked by conservative firebrand imam Ahmed Muhammad Mahmoud Abdullah (nicknamed "Abu Islam"), head of the Ummah Channel and the Islamic Enlightenment Center, during an interview on 9 October 2012; their colleagues claimed Abu Islam had beaten and detained them afterwards, whence the police were contacted[6]
