Pro-Democracy Iftar Organized in Egypt

Sufi Muslims, Copts, and several Egyptian political movements are calling for a mass iftar (breaking of the Ramadan fast) on 12 August to demonstrate the unity of Egypt and to call for the establishment of a civil, democratic state. More here.

Copts Reject Calls for an Islamist State

Coptic Orthodox political organizations are rejecting calls by Islamists at Friday's demonstrations on Tahrir Square to transform Egypt's January Revolution into a religious revolution, reaffirming their commitment to the establishment of a civil state with equality and freedom for all of its citizens. More here.

Copts, Secularists to Join Friday Protests

Coptic Orthodox and secularist political movements have announced that they intend to participate in demonstrations tomorrow on Tahrir Square alongside Islamist organizations, which had called for protests on a 'Friday of Identity' to defend a supposedly Muslim Egyptian national identity. It appears that the demonstrations will now be in support of 'popular will,' though whether all the Islamist groups originally intending to participate agree with the new designation. More here.

Secularism Grows in Lebanon

A secularist movement demanding 'one size fits all' civil laws regulating inheritances, marriage, and divorce and a personal status law for women is gaining momentum in Lebanon, with some 30,000 demonstrators taking to the streets the day before Lebanon's Mothers' Day last month. More here.