Nude Islamic Artist-Activist Draws Fire Plus Support

THE TELEGRAPH

Israeli women posing for a photograph in Tel Aviv,
to show solidarity with Egyptian blogger Aliaa Magda Elmahdy 

EGYPT - Nudity is strongly frowned upon in Egyptian society, even as an art form. Some liberals feared that the posting by 20-year-old university student Aliaa Magda Elmahdy would taint them in the eyes of deeply conservative Egyptians ahead of Nov. 28 parliamentary elections in which they are trying to compete with fundamentalist Islamic parties. Elmahdy and her boyfriend Kareem Amer, also a controversial blogger, have challenged Egypt's social strictures before. Amer, who spent four years in prison for blog posting deemed insulting to Islam and for calling Mubarak a "symbol of tyranny," chided liberals who condemned Elmahdy. [link]