Copts Forced to Build Militias for Self-Defense

Egyptian security isn't protecting its Coptic Christian minority, so they have to do it themselves.

Members of the Coptic community in the working-class neighborhood of Imbaba in northwest Cairo are forming militias for self-defense after recent sectarian clashes left 12 dead and hundreds injured.

Copts in Imbaba, who expect more clashes in coming months, say they have organized small groups to protect churches as well as homes and businesses owned by Copts.

The clashes broke out Saturday night after a group of Muslims attempted to storm a church under the pretext of rescuing a Muslim woman who converted to Christianity. A second church was set on fire.

A small group of Copts who gathered near the US Embassy in Cairo on Sunday called for international protection of Egypt's Christian community and criticized the government for not doing more to protect them.

Sunday night, thousands of protesters staged a sit-in front of the state TV building calling for immediate investigation into the clashes and church burning.

Tens of Copts gathered inside the church at the center of the clashes while the army blocked nearby streets.

Christian protesters are accusing the army of collaborating with crowds of ultraconservative Islamists during the earlier attack on a church overnight. A residential building home to Christians was also burned in the overnight violence.
Elder of Ziyon

Tom Friedman's Latest Stupidity

If you look into the different “shop” windows across the Middle East, it is increasingly apparent that the Arab uprisings are bringing to a close the era of “Middle East Wholesale” and ushering in the era of “Middle East Retail.” Everyone is going to have to pay more for their stability.

Let’s start with Israel. For the last 30 years, Israel enjoyed peace with Egypt wholesale — by having peace with just one man, Hosni Mubarak. That sale is over. Today, post-Mubarak, to sustain the peace treaty with Egypt in any kind of stable manner, Israel is going to have to pay retail. It is going to have to make peace with 85 million Egyptians. The days in which one phone call by Israel to Mubarak could shut down any crisis in relations are over.

Friedman has got to seriously stop thinking that he is God's gift to journalism and wake up from his self-congratulatory coma. Only then can we start to hope that he will clear his brain from years of accumulated flotsam and jetsam and start to see what's really going on.

Mubarak did not do Israel's bidding as Egyptian leader, and neither did Sadat. They did America's bidding. They wanted to continue the scam of being considered "moderate" Arab allies of the US and they wanted to continue to receive billions in aid. But they did nothing that Israel wanted them to do.

The proof, as Friedman well knows but purposefully ignores, is the nature of the peace treaty. For three decades, Israel always tried to normalize relations with Egypt, and Egypt always did everything it could to maintain the coldest peace possible. Israeli tourists went to Egypt, Israel tried to do cultural exchanges, Israel pushed for closer economic and scientific ties. Only when the US pressured Egypt did the Egyptian leadership agree, and that didn't happen often.

Now Friedman says that it is Israel that has to try harder?

It gets worse:

Amr Moussa, the outgoing head of the Arab League and the front-runner in polls to succeed Mubarak as president when Egypt holds elections in November, just made that clear in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Regarding Israel, Moussa said: “Mubarak had a certain policy. It was his own policy, and I don’t think we have to follow this. We want to be a friend of Israel, but it has to have two parties. It is not on Egypt to be a friend. Israel has to be a friend, too.”

Moussa owes a great deal of his popularity in Egypt to his tough approach to Israel. I hope he has a broader vision. It is noteworthy that in the decade he led the Arab League, he spent a great deal of time jousting with Israel and did virtually nothing to either highlight or deal with the conclusions of the 2002 U.N. Arab Human Development Report — produced by a group of Arab scholars led by an Egyptian — that said the Arab people are suffering from three huge deficits: a deficit of freedom, a deficit of knowledge and deficit of women’s empowerment.

The current Israeli government, however, shows little sign of being prepared for peace retail.

After Friedman points out that Amr Moussa is an anti-Israel deologue, Friedman again says that this means that Israel has to try harder! Even though, he himself acknowledges, that Moussa built his career on demonizing Israel.

Friedman later writes:

Alas, though, the main strategy of Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas will be to drag Israel into the Arab story — as a way of deflecting attention away from how these anti-democratic regimes are repressing their own people and to further delegitimize Israel...

Yet only two paragraphs earlier, Friedman admitted that Amr Moussa does the exact same thing!

So the likely new Egyptian leadership is no more likely to avoid using Israel as a scapegoat to deflect its own problems than the old one, and it is already showing signs of acting the way that Friedman notes that Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran act.

All these facts are in this very column, yet Friedman cannot connect the dots which add up to:

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

To Friedman, this doesn't mean that the US must redouble its efforts to turn the so-called Arab Spring into a real chance for true freedom and democracy, of governments that are mature enough to face their real problems transparently and tackle them. Not at all. To him, Arab governments acting like teenage bullies must be met with more Israeli concessions, more pandering to the dictators, more effort to please those who cannot ever be pleased.

Three days in a row of inane, idiotic New York Times articles - and I don't even read the paper.

Thanks, David G, for sending me this trash, knowing I cannot resist responding :)


Elder of Zion

Pew Poll: Egyptians Want to Scrap Camp David

Pew poll: Egyptians want to scrap Camp David, prefer sharia law

Posted: 27 Apr 2011 01:49 AM PDT
A new Pew Research poll of Egypt shows some worrying trends.

No dividend emerges for the United States from the political changes that have occurred in Egypt. Favorable ratings of the U.S. remain as low as they have been in recent years, and many Egyptians say they want a less close relationship with America. Israel fares even more poorly. By a 54%-to-36% margin, Egyptians want the peace treaty with that country annulled.

The military is now almost universally seen (88%) as having a good influence on the way things are going in Egypt. Fully 90% rate military chief Mohamed Tantawi favorably.

Egyptians are welcoming some forms of change more than others. While half say it is very important that religious parties be allowed to be part of the government, only 27% give a similar priority to assuring that the military falls under civilian control. Relatively few (39%) give high priority to women having the same rights as men. Women themselves are more likely to say it is very important that they are assured equal rights than are men (48% vs. 30%). Overall, just 36% think it is very important that Coptic Christians and other religious minorities are able to freely practice their religions.

Egyptians hold diverse views about religion. About six-in-ten (62%) think laws should strictly follow the teachings of the Quran. However, only 31% of Egyptian Muslims say they sympathize with Islamic fundamentalists, while nearly the same number (30%) say they sympathize with those who disagree with the fundamentalists, and 26% have mixed views on this question. Those who disagree with fundamentalists are almost evenly divided on whether the treaty with Israel should be annulled, while others favor ending the pact by a goodly margin.

If more than half of those who favor Shari'a law are not sympathetic to "fundamentalists," this means that the Arab definition of "fundamentalist" is much different than the Western definition. After all, wanting to have the nation ruled by religious law is, by definition, a fundamentalist position.

This means that Western journalists and pundits who try to paint the Muslim Brotherhood as outside the mainstream of Egypt are missing the real story.


Only 20% of Egyptians hold a favorable opinion of the United States, which is nearly identical to the 17% who rated it favorably in 2010. Better educated and younger Egyptians have a slightly more positive attitude toward the U.S. than do other Egyptians.

Looking to the future, few Egyptians (15%) want closer ties with the U.S., while 43% would prefer a more distant relationship, and 40% would like the relationship between the two countries to remain about as close as it has been in recent years.

So in what sense is Egypt considered an "ally" of the US again?

Egyptians Sabotage Gas Pipeline to Jordan, Israel

Saboteurs on Wednesday blew up a pipeline running through Egypt's North Sinai near the town of El-Arish that supplies gas to Israel and Jordan, a security source told Reuters.

"An unknown armed gang attacked the gas pipeline," the security source said, adding that the flow of gas to Israel and Jordan had been hit.

"Authorities closed the main source of gas supplying the pipeline and are working to extinguish the fire," the source said, adding there was a tower of flame at the scene.
--
Neighbouring Jordan depends on Egyptian gas to generate 80% of its electricity while Israel gets 40% of its natural gas from the country. Syria also imports gas from Egypt.

Israel's Leviathan gas field can't go online fast enough.

Elder of Ziyon

Coptic Church Burned in Rafah, Egypt

Muslims burn St.George Coptic Orthodox Church in Rafah, Sinai-Egypt, and are cracking Crosses.

Written on the wall of the church abroad:

No Christians in the land of Islam!! Islamic Army Desert ...

Also written: "No God but Allah-Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah..."

The church completely burned and stolen - was cracking Crosses from above the tower and domes ... Occurred after the revolution of 25 January, 2011

Egypt: Women of the Revolutio9n

Political activist Gigi Ibrahim played an instrumental role in spreading the word about the protests.

"I started [my political activism] by just talking to people [who were] involved [in the labour movement]. Then I became more active and the whole thing became addictive. I went to meetings and took part in protests. I learned very quickly that most of the strikes in the labour movement were started by women.

In my experience women play a pivotal role in all protests and strikes. Whenever violence erupts, the women would step up and fight the police, and they would be beaten just as much as the men.

I have seen it during the Khaled Said protests in June 2010 when many women were beaten and arrested. Muslim, Christian - all types of women protested.

My family always had problems with me taking part in protests. They prevented me from going for my safety because I am a girl. They were worried about the risks. I would have to lie about attending protests.

When the police violently cleared the square on January 25, I was shot in the back by a rubber bullet while trying to run away from the police as they tear gassed us. I returned to the square, as did many others, the following day and stayed there on and off for the next 18 days.

As things escalated my dad got increasingly worried. On January 28, my sister wanted to lock me in the house. They tried to stop me from leaving, but I was determined and I went out. I moved to my aunt's place that is closer to Tahrir Square and I would go there every now and again to wash and rest before returning to the square.

At first my family was very worried, but as things escalated they started to understand and to be more supportive. My family is not politically active at all.

The day-to-day conditions were not easy. Most of us would use the bathroom inside the nearby mosque. Others would go to nearby flats where people kindly opened their homes for people to use.

"[When the pro-Mubarak thugs attacked us] we were unarmed, we had nothing. That night I felt fear but it changed into determination"

Gigi Ibrahim

I was in Tahrir Square on February 2, when pro-Mubarak thugs attacked us with petrol bombs and rocks. That was the most horrific night. I was trapped in the middle of the square. The outskirts of the square were like a war zone. The more things escalated the more determined we became not to stop. Many people were injured and many died and that pushed us to go on and not give up.

I thought if those armed pro-Mubarak thugs came inside the square it would be the end of us. We were unarmed, we had nothing. That night I felt fear but it changed into determination.

The women played an important role that night. Because we were outnumbered, we had to secure all the exits in the square. The exits between each end of the square would take up to 10 minutes to reach, so the women would go and alert others about where the danger was coming from and make sure that the people who were battling swapped positions with others so that they could rest before going out into the battle again.

The women were also taking care of the wounded in makeshift clinics in the square. Some women were on the front line throwing rocks with the men. I was on the front line documenting the battle with my camera. It was like nothing that I have ever seen or experienced before.

During the 18 days neither I nor any of my friends were harassed. I slept in Tahrir with five men around me that I didn't know and I was safe.

But that changed on the day Mubarak stepped down. The type of people who came then were not interested in the revolution. They were there to take pictures. They came for the carnival atmosphere and that was when things started to change.

When the announcement came we all erupted in joy. I was screaming and crying. I hugged everyone around me. I went from being happy and crying to complete shock. It took a while for it to sink in.

The revolution is not over. All of our demands have not yet been met. We have to continue. This is where the real hard work begins, but it will take a different shape than staging sit-ins in the square. Rebuilding Egypt is going to be tough and we all have to take part in this. There are organised strikes demanding workers’ rights for better pay and conditions and those are the battles to be won now."
Salma El Tarzi, 33, filmmaker
What kept us going was the conviction that we did not have any option - it was either freedom or go to jail
Al Jazeera

It's Arab and It's Personal

The Arab revolution is on the march, and there is no turning back.

Sweeping transformation is coming – sooner rather than later – but, just as Arabs realise change is a must and are making it happen with much fanfare, their regimes and many world leaders don't seem to get the message.

Americans, Europeans and Israelis – like Turks and Iranians, as well as Russians and Chinese, or even Brazilian leaders – are yet to internalise the dramatic transformations in the Arab region and change their policies accordingly.

They're either playing catch up, hedging their bets or are terribly indifferent to the spirit and magnitude of change at play among the Arabs.

Some of the world's powerful capitals might find it easier, safer even, to continue to deal with those Arab autocrats they've dealt with over the last several decades. And yes, it's easier to manipulate dictators, bribe their technocrats, or for example, sell them useless expensive weapons.

But must long term European, African and Chinese 'national interest' come at the expense of Arab rights and progress?

Whatever they do – or don't do – is bound to affect their interests in the region for long time to come.

Dictators and friends

Clearly foreign leaders are approaching the Arab revolution from the perspective of their national interest, however they define their mission, or whichever way that might translate into reality.

So that after much hesitation and double dealing, the Obama administration seems to have adopted an ad hoc, country-by-country approach that weighs the merits, benefits and liabilities of change in any given country.

And hence Washington remains uncertain about radical democratic changes in Egypt, pushes for regime change in Libya, procrastinates in Syria, takes a late and weak stand on Yemen's wobbly 33-year regime, and embraces the autocratic regime in Bahrain.

The same could be said of Europe's leading powers, albeit with few nuances here and there, as in the case of Germany that has avoided military involvement in Libya and is indifferent to the uprising in Bahrain.

Western sceptics and hyper-realists reckon that change isn't necessarily better than the status quo; that Islamists might be gaining momentum; and argue for a 'better the devil you know than the one you don't' approach.

Considering it's been easy for Western powers to make clients out of autocrats and do good business with dictators, they are probably worried that the newly elected, accountable and transparent governments might be more resistant to their pressures and dictates. As they should.

Either way, the overzealous French president Sarkozy and the hyper British prime minister Cameron, are quite eager to force their way back to the Arab region from the Libyan gate with a hope of re-dividing it into areas of influence in light of the relative US strategic downsizing under president Obama.

What Arabs?

For their part, the three non-Arab regional powers – Turkey, Iran and Israel – who've long competed over influence in a divided and torn Arab landscape, have been caught off-guard by the breathtaking upheavals in the neighbourhood.

This is especially the case considering that over the last few years, all three have exploited the deep divisions in the Arab world that followed the Gulf war in order to advance their national interests and even assert their hegemony in the Arab world.

Since the revolution started, Israel, for example, has lobbied Washington to keep Mubarak in power and asked for billions to shield itself from 'the Arab spring'. Tehran has made out of Bahrain's Shia majority its cause célèbre, and Turkey has hedged its bets on Libya and supported the Syrian regime's stability as part of its new strategic sphere of influence.

That's not to equate Ankara's attempt to improve its diplomatic interests whilst advancing its economic and strategic interests, with Israel's belligerent attempts at intimidation through two wars against the Palestinians and the Lebanese, or with Tehran's attempts to champion pan-Arab causes internationally while at times pushing for sectarian agendas regionally.

Because of their proximity to the Arab world, these three regional powers are bound to be affected by the new Arab strategic configuration in a greater way than the distant West. And that's why they're expected to change their strategic calculus accordingly.

So far however, they've pursued an ad hoc and case-by-case narrow approach, similar to that of the Western powers that doesn't, or wouldn't like to, see the Arab world emerging as a bullish new force on the regional or world stage.

Why democracy?

Needless to say, the Russian and Chinese silence has been deafening. Since they abstained at the UN Security Council on Libya's resolution 1973, Moscow and Beijing have buried their heads in the sand.

The Chinese leadership would prefer it if the whole Arab revolution 'challenge' went away or resolved itself sooner rather than later. In fact, Beijing has censored news of the Arab revolution in Egypt and elsewhere, probably for fear that its population might get the wrong, or rather the right, idea.

It's perhaps no coincidence that the Arab revolution has come against the backdrop of the international economic crisis, and therefore seems to reject both models at hand: the neo-Liberal 'Washington Consensus' or the predictable autocratic 'Beijing Consensus' that seemed to gain currency since.

And then there's the African Union leaders and envoys who've sadly tried this week to revive the dying Libyan regime by advancing an initiative that foresees keeping Gaddafi and family in power or in the political landscape of a future Libya!

Like the rest of the Arab world, Libya is in dire need not for stability but for change. Not for mending fences with its 40 year old dictatorship, but for removing the dictator and its dictatorship.

Alas, some of these African leaders probably feel like they owe Gaddafi for the support Libya lent them in previous years or would rather limit Western military intervention in their continent, but that should in no way blind them for doing the right thing by the Libyan people.

Missing the point

It's basically business as usual for many of these foreign leaders, and establishments, who've grown used to treating the Arabs piecemeal.

Lacking a strategic outlook, not to say the imagination to envisage a transformed Arab region, they insist on more of the same narrow geopolitical approach to a new Arab awakening that holds the promise to bring about a more peaceful, more prosperous, and more constructive player in regional and global affairs.

Alas, complications, setbacks and contrasts among various uprisings in the Arab region are providing Arab leaders with the alibi to insist that they're "different" and that what applies to their Arab neighbours doesn't apply to them. It also gives justification for foreign powers to pursue more-of-the-same cynical zero-sum policies towards the Arab region.

That's why eventually, it's up to the Arab revolution to put regional and international powers on notice as it pushes for the removal of Arab autocrats.

Fortunately, Western and international public opinion is very supportive of the Arab revolution, certainly more than their leaders.

The strength of the Arab revolutionaries lies not only in their defiance of dictatorship – impressive as that is – but in their cross-regional unity that pushes for change.

Their power lies in the fact and reality that their revolution is Arab in its scope, Arab in its identity and pan-Arab in its geography.

Whatever happens in one Arab country ends up effecting what happens in another, such as the Arab domino effect. As the Yemeni and Libyan regimes fall, as they must, the Arab revolution will once again gain momentum and global recognition as it did after changes in Egypt and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, it's going to be indispensable for Arab revolutionaries to unify their slogans and goals across the region. Their pursuit for justice, human rights, freedom of expression, and freedom from want is one and the same, and must be underlined in every street and every public square and chat room.

Eventually, the transformations blowing through the region will touch every child and adult, effect every family and neighbourhood, rewrite school books and reinvent the human landscape in the entire region.

And above all, it will end peoples' fear, and decades of oppression.

Remember, the revolution is Arab. And it's personal.
Source:
Al Jazeera

Hundreds of Christian Copts Fleeing Democratic Egypt

From Al Masry al-Youm:

Since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak in February, many Coptic Christians have begun making plans to leave the country, fearing instability and the rising power of Islamist political groups.

Lawyers who specialize in working with Coptic Egyptians, who account for around 10 per cent of the country’s 80 million citizens, say that in the past few weeks they have received hundreds of calls from Copts wanting to leave Egypt.

Naguib Gabriel, a prominent Coptic lawyer and head of the Egyptian Federation of Human Rights, said his office had been receiving at least 70 calls per week from people wanting to know how they can emigrate.

“Every day people come to me and ask how they can get to the American or Canadian embassies. They are insisting on leaving Egypt because the risks of staying here are too great," Gabriel said.

“We’re at a crossroads,” he added. “Many Christians are afraid of the future because of the fanatics in the mosques.”

At least 15 people, Christians and Muslims, were killed last month in a chain of violence which erupted because of a relationship between a Coptic man and Muslim woman in a village south of Cairo. At least 10 people were killed in similar clashes in the Cairo neighborhood of Moqattam in March.

In recent days there have also been clashes involving the Salafi movement -- a hard-line, literalist Islamic sect that has recently been flexing its political muscle throughout Egypt.

According to recent reports, a Coptic service center in Cairo was closed down last month after being picketed by Salafis, while fights broke out in the Fayoum Governorate south of the capital after the sect tried to force the closure of a shop selling alcohol.

It all seems a far cry from the days when demonstrators in Tahrir Square were declaring, “Muslims and Christians are one hand."

Sam Fanous, who runs a company helping Egyptians emigrate and settle in Canada, said that over the past month his office had been “bombarded” with requests from Copts who wanted help in leaving the country.

“I have people coming to my Cairo office until midnight. Often I tell my assistant to shut down the phones because we have so many people calling,” he said. “The majority of people want to emigrate. Some ask about asylum, but I explain they cannot get refugee status from Egypt.”

Fanous said most of the people coming to him were well-off professionals.

“Some want to go and not come back. Some want to take their families and then come back until it becomes time to leave," he said.

Some details:

In the last two weeks three attacks on churches were undertaken by Salafis or Islamic Fundamentalists in Egypt. The Salafis demanded churches move to locations outside communities and be forbidden from making repairs, "even if they are so dilapidated that the roofs will collapse over the heads of the congregation," says Father Estephanos Shehata of Samalut Coptic Diocese.
...
On Sunday March 27 nearly 500 Salafis, armed with swords, batons and knives, stood in front of St. Mary's church in the Bashtil district of Imbaba, Giza demanding its closure because "this is a Muslim area and no church should be allowed here." They closed the church door and held a number of the parishioners inside, including children. The terrorized Copts called the army to get them out, especially the children, who were traumatized. The military police arrived, freed the congregation and dispersed the Muslim mob, who lurked nearby "to see if they need to attack again in case the Copts returned to the church," said a Coptic witness.

St. George's Church in Beni Ahmad, 7 KM south of Minya was also subjected to Muslim intimidation. The 100 year-old church received three years ago an official permit from Minya governorate allowing for the expansion of its eastern side as well as the erection of a social services center within a small plot of land belonging to the church. Three Salafis together with a large crowd of village Muslims visited the church on Wednesday, March 23 and ordered the church officials to stop construction immediately and undo what they had completed, otherwise they would demolish the church after Friday prayers. They also demanded the church priest, Father Georgy Thabet, leave the village with his family.

...The Diocese stepped-in and contacted the authorities who in turn asked them to contact the military governor. A meeting was held between representatives from the church, the Salafis, the army and security in Minya. The Salafis requested the demolition of what was built and the departure of the priest and his family. In the end the military told the Copts they cannot interfere in this case. "In other words the authorities have sold the Copts to the Salafis, to do what they like with them and the church," commented local Coptic activist Mariam Ragy.


Catholic Online adds:

People are anxious to know where this wild ride will end. They are anxious because what happens to the Copts will signal the fate of many others. The Copts are the largest religious minority in the region, and Egypt holds a certain preeminence in the region. Consequently, if it does not end well for the Copts, it is not likely to go well for other Christians throughout the region. Unfortunately, at this point all we know for certain is that life for the Copts in Egypt after Mubarak hangs in the balance.

The Salafis are also attacking Sufi mosques:

16 historic mosques in Alexandria belonging to Sufi orders have been marked for destruction by Salafis. The newspaper notes that Alexandria has 40 mosques associated with Sufis, and is the headquarters for 36 Sufi groups. Half a million Sufis live in the city, out of a municipal total of four million people.

Aggression against the Sufis in Egypt has included a raid on Alexandria's most distinguished mosque, named for, and housing, the tomb of the 13th century Sufi, al-Mursi Abu'l Abbas. Born in the then-Muslim city of Murcia in southeastern Spain, al-Mursi emigrated to Alexandria. He was a disciple of and successor to the Sufi sheikh Abu'l Hassan al-Shadhili, founder of the powerful Shadhili Sufi order, which remains influential throughout north Africa, south Asia, the Muslim communities of the Indian Ocean, and Indonesia.

Salafis have alleged that Sufis are agents of the west as well as heretics. The extremists want to take control of Sufi mosques, after they destroy shrines within their precincts. One object of their manoeuvres is the Qaed Ibrahim mosque in Alexandria, which was the site of mass protests, involving thousands of people, co-ordinated with those in Cairo's Tahrir Square, during the movement against ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

The Alexandrian Sufi leader sheikh Gaber Kasem al-Kholy has said: "Coptic Christians are a main target for those extremists, but we need to speak out about the suffering of the Sufi people. We have a considerable number of followers, and we are willing and able to protect Egypt's legacy."

The Army Crackdown on Tahrir

I received this email about last night's events in Cairo's Tahrir Square, when army and security forces crackdown down on protestors who had set up camp in the square. There is still a lot of confusion about what happened, with the army claiming that thugs from the NDP had attacked the square and claiming it intervened to disband them. Activists say this is untrue. Reuters reported (and here's an updated version of that same article) that the army intervened against the protestors after curfew, firing shots in the air. The videos at the bottom of this post have the sound of a lot of gunfire, but there have been no reports of wounded or casualties to my knowledge (Update: Reuters says 2 dead, 15 wounded @11am). David Dietz also has an eyewitness account of the night, including brutality, in this post.

Another night of army brutality, nearly 1500 protesters were spending the night in Tahrir square tonight including 30 army officers that joined the demonstrations today and remained with the demonstrators throughout the night.
The Arabist

Egypt Feigns Interest in PalArab Rights

Palestine Times reports that Egyptian foreign minister Nabil el-Arabi stated that Egypt considers Gaza to be one of its biggest priorities.

El-Arabi was speaking at a press conference with his Austrian counterpart, Michael Spindelegger.

He said, "We consider the situation in Gaza is a priority for Egypt, especially because what was happening is not acceptable from a human rights perspective."

Here's an idea: Egypt can allow Gazans to freely choose to become Egyptian citizens! After all, we know that many Gazans want to become Egyptian citizens, but Egyptian law discriminates against Palestinian Arabs from among all Arabs in its naturalization laws. Egypt has other laws that discriminate specifically against Palestinians as well.

If Egypt is so concerned with the human rights of Gazans, why not allow their brethren who want to move to Egypt to do so freely? Why not eliminate the discriminatory laws in effect in Egypt today?

Why not stop being such hypocrites?

UK - It's Our Money

Last Friday, I took the above picture at the rally against corruption in Midan Tahrir. The man in the middle is holding a sign that says "UK, it's our money" to protest at slowness of recovery of the Mubaraks' (and others) assets in Britain. The money has probably already left Albion, but British Ambassador Dominic Asquith says that the Egyptian government has yet to provide the proof that the money was illegally acquired that British law requires.
The Arabist

Western Darling El Baradei Defends Gaza

Egypt's Masrawy and other Arabic media outlets are quoting Egyptian presidential hopeful Mohammed ElBaradei as saying that Egypt may go to war if Israel attacks Gaza.

He is quoted as saying that if he becomes President, in the event of any future attack on Gaza he would discuss ways to implement the joint Arab defense agreement, for all Arab atates to respond "in the face of Israeli aggression."

ElBaradei is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

West Experts Baffled: Muslim Brotherhood Runs Egypt

In post-revolutionary Egypt, where hope and confusion collide in the daily struggle to build a new nation, religion has emerged as a powerful political force, following an uprising that was based on secular ideals. The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group once banned by the state, is at the forefront, transformed into a tacit partner with the military government that many fear will thwart fundamental changes.

It is also clear that the young, educated secular activists who initially propelled the nonideological revolution are no longer the driving political force — at least not at the moment.

As the best organized and most extensive opposition movement in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood was expected to have an edge in the contest for influence. But what surprises many is its link to a military that vilified it.

“There is evidence the Brotherhood struck some kind of a deal with the military early on,” said Elijah Zarwan, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. “It makes sense if you are the military — you want stability and people off the street. The Brotherhood is one address where you can go to get 100,000 people off the street.”

“We are all worried,” said Amr Koura, 55, a television producer, reflecting the opinions of the secular minority. “The young people have no control of the revolution anymore. It was evident in the last few weeks when you saw a lot of bearded people taking charge. The youth are gone.”

In the early stages of the revolution, the Brotherhood was reluctant to join the call for demonstrations. It jumped in only after it was clear that the protest movement had gained traction. Throughout, the Brotherhood kept a low profile, part of a survival instinct honed during decades of repression by the state.

The question at the time was whether the Brotherhood would move to take charge with its superior organizational structure.

It now appears that it has.
But the more secular forces say that what they need is time.

“I worry about going too fast towards elections, that the parties are still weak,” said Nabil Ahmed Helmy, former dean of the Zagazig law school and a member of the National Council for Human Rights.

As I said, I am shocked. Only last month the NYT's own Nicholas Kristof waxed lyrical about the courage of the Facebook youth of Egypt and said we should be ashamed to even think that they would not be taking Egypt in a new, liberal, democratic direction.

And I, an anonymous blogger who does not have the prestige or experience of Nick Kristof and who has never even visited Egypt, had the audacity to respond:

Kristof is making a major mistake. He is confusing bravery for political maturity.

No one doubts the protesters' bravery. No one doubts their integrity, or their desire for change, or even their desire for democracy.

But there are serious doubts at their ability to translate the raw desire for freedom into a functional, liberal, democratic government.

It is hard work to create the institutions necessary. More importantly, it takes time - and time is not on the side of the protesters.

It is now fashionable to pooh-pooh the dangers of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kristof's liberal circles, but no one can doubt that the Islamists are better organized and much more politically mature than the Facebookers of Tahrir Square. It takes time to set up an organization, to define a clear agenda, to build a fundraising mechanism, to attract volunteers, to build a means to communicate with all the people - including in rural areas, and to do all the myriad details from physical buildings to a phone system to a mailing list.

True freedom cannot flourish until Egyptians have been exposed to a wide range of ideas on a level playing field. The existing Islamist groups are running circles around the "Egyptian youth" we hear so much about. Kristof is so caught up in the emotions of the moment that he cannot think outside Tahrir Square, to the 99% of the country that is not as emotionally invested in who their leaders would be. To them, the nice people with beards who build a free Islamic school for their kids are the only game in town.

Enthusiasm does not ensure effective state building and true freedoms. Kristof, instead of spouting straw-man arguments, should be advocating ways for his jeans-wearing heroes to channel their sparks of enthusiasm and bravery into the hard, thankless and often boring work necessary to build a new Egypt from scratch.

How dare I disagree with such an outstanding pundit and accurately predict nearly everything in this article written by his employer a month later? How could I have the chutzpah to mention that the New York Times is paying someone to spout wishful-thinking nonsense while I, and many others, could see what was to happen from thousands of miles away?

(I didn't see a partnership with the army, I admit...that is actually stunning and far more worrisome than what I had written.)
Elder of Ziyon

This is More of a Revolution Than You Might Think

I have a new column up at al-Masri al-Youm, reflecting on the State Security raids, which made me think that Egypt needs some sort of reconciliation process to deal with the magnitude of what is being discovered and chart a way forward. Every day, more evidence of corruption, torture and abuse is being uncovered. The Egyptian judicial system will take decades to deal with it. While it needs to play a role, there also needs to be something akin to a truth commission to hear people's testimony — both victims and abusers — and then move on to building a better Egypt.

While ministries shuffled paper and red tape, state security kept tabs on people. This goes beyond the issue of torture, which it certainly practiced abundantly, or the racketeering, blackmailing and other schemes its officers carried out with impunity. What those who gained access to its offices discovered is that, much like the Ministry of Transport might keep an inventory of its buses and trains, State Security maintained an elaborate database on citizens, the threats they represented, their weaknesses, relationships and other every little detail of their lives.
The Arabist

POTUS Feels GOP & Israel Ruin His Egypt Plan

Rubin, who writes many blog posts and articles, believes that this is the most important post he has written in a long time. According to Barry, the Obama administration is pursuing a disastrous policy by trying to distinguish between the ‘bad Islamists’ from al-Qaeda and the ‘good Islamists’ from the Muslim Brotherhood.

Now we come to the paragraph I warned about, the explanation for how the administration may be about to plunge into the biggest disaster in U.S. foreign policy of…well, of a very long time.

Here it is:

“The administration is already taking steps to distinguish between various movements in the region that promote Islamic law in government. An internal assessment, ordered by the White House last month, identified large ideological differences between such movements as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and al-Qaeda that will guide the U.S. approach to the region.”

Get it? Al-Qaeda is bad because it wants to attack U.S. embassies, the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon.

BUT the Muslim Brotherhood is good! Because it merely wants to seize state power, transform Egypt into an Islamist state, rule almost 90 million people with an iron hand, back Hamas in trying to destroy Israel, overthrow the Palestinian Authority, help Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood overthrow the monarchy, and sponsor terrorism against Americans in the Middle East.

I’m sure you can see the difference. This is the nonsense that the administration has been working toward for two years. It is the doctrine pushed by the president’s advisor on terrorism, elements in the CIA, and White House ideologues. The State and Defense departments are probably horrified.

Not everyone agrees with Obama. Jennifer Rubin (no relation) urges the Obama administration to condition good relations with Egypt on keeping the Muslim Brotherhood out of the government.

The degree to which the U.S. can influence events is unclear, but we might at least start by articulating that good relations with the U.S. are dependent upon movement toward a democratic government, respect for human rights, and maintenance of the peace treaty with Israel. All of that, we should make clear, is put into question by the sort of Islamic regime that the Muslim Brotherhood would dearly love to establish.

That’s also the view of Representative Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), the new Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

The US should condition aid to Egypt – now at around $1.5 billion a year – on whether the Muslim Brotherhood ends up in the government, Chabot said.

“They’re about Shari’a law, they’re about suppressing women’s rights, and I don’t think that we ought to condone that, I don’t think that ought to be any part of the future of Egypt,” he said. “We might not have the power to implement the US program, but I think with our support – financial and otherwise – that we can maybe encourage things that would ultimately be in their best long-term interests, and Israel’s and the United States’.”

That’s obviously not the view of the Obama administration, which is urging Israel not to ‘fear changes’ in the Middle East.

US President Barack Obama told Jewish donors in Miami on Friday that Israel and the United States should not be afraid of changes taking place in the Middle East.

Obama said that the world needs to be “sober” about the current transformation in the region but stressed that the West shouldn’t fear the future.

Speaking at a fund-raising dinner in Miami on Friday night, Obama said he told a group of Jewish leaders at the White House Tuesday: “We can’t be naïve about the changes that are taking place in the Middle East,” but “we should not be afraid of the possibilities of the future.”

…

Obama acknowledged Friday that when it comes to changes in the region, “there are going to be some bumps along the road,” and charting a path forward will mean US participation and a will “to seize that moment.”
“We’re going to have to be engaged and we’re going to have to be involved and we’re going to have to reach out,” he said. “But I’m actually confident that 10 years from now we’re going to be able to look back potentially and say this was the dawning of an entirely new and better era.”

Curiously, John Hinderaker apparently saw an earlier version of the article quoted above, in which Obama goes further and says

All the forces that we see building in Egypt are the forces that should be naturally aligned with the US, [and] should be aligned with Israel.

John says that claim is “far from self-evident.”

Was Obama talking about the Egyptian protesters who shouted “Jew, Jew” as they stripped Lara Logan naked and beat her with poles? Regardless of whether the “building forces” in Egypt “should be” aligned with the U.S. and Israel, I am not confident that they are. Not “all” of them, anyway.

John goes on to cite former CIA analyst Paul Pillar, who reflects the Obama administration’s optimism:

“Not everyone will find it reassuring that the gamut of prospective regimes runs all the way from the Muslim Brotherhood to al Qaeda, a Brotherhood spin-off. But our old friend Paul Pillar, now retired from the CIA, reinforces the Obama administration’s optimism:”

Paul Pillar, a longtime CIA analyst who now teaches at Georgetown University, said, “Most of the people in the intelligence community would see things on this topic very similarly to the president — that is, political Islam as a very diverse series of ideologies, all of which use a similar vocabulary, but all quite different.”

…

“The main challenge President Obama will face is a political challenge from across the aisle, and one reinforced by Israel,” said Pillar, whose portfolio included the Middle East.

One is left speechless. Turmoil in the Middle East promises a set of new regimes; the optimistic scenario, apparently, is that they will be dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood rather than al Qaeda. And the main problem this will pose for the President will come from the Republicans! And, of course–but why?–those pesky Israelis. We can describe this charitably as a remarkably Washington-centric view.

It’s also an Israel-centric view. The problem with potentially Islamist governments – according to the CIA and the Obama administration — is Israel and the Jews. Why didn’t I think of that?
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4000 Muslims Attack Christians in Egypt

Blazing Cat Fur

(AINA) -- A mob of nearly four thousand Muslims has attacked Coptic homes this evening in the village of Soul, Atfif in Helwan Governorate, 30 kilometers from Cairo, and torched the Church of St. Mina and St. George. There are conflicting reports about the whereabouts of the Church pastor Father Yosha and three deacons who were at church; some say they died in the fire and some say they are being held captive by the Muslims inside the church.

Visiting Tahir Square

he location is Cairo’s Tahrir Square. It’s Sunday afternoon, the sun is shining down on us and cars are piling up by the pavement where dozens of street vendors are standing next to one another hawking their wares on the green hedge, dreaming of a better life and a better Egypt.

Abdel Latif is a 30-year-old husband and father of three. Since graduating with a commerce degree 11 years ago, he has worked at a bazaar in Khan al-Khalili selling t-shirts and souvenirs. “I‘ve been on that pavement for the last three weeks to earn my daily bread and participate in this historic event,” says Abdel Latif with a smile.

He admits that his current job is only temporary, until tourists begin flocking back to the country. Or maybe after the revolution, he muses, he can find a respectable job in an office.

“All merchants get their goods from the same distributors at the same prices,” says Abdel Latif. When asked about competition with other vendors, he says this is far from fierce. “We don’t fight over location or clients,” he says. “God divides his blessings equally among us.”

As we stand talking, a young man passes by and asks about the price of a t-shirt. “Fifteen pounds,” I chime in, in an effort to help generate business. The young man buys two, noting that the same t-shirt goes for LE25 in Heliopolis.

As more and more people gather around Abdel Latif, I roll up my sleeves to help him out--which leads to an hour of hard work. The clientele is from all walks of life, even foreigners--this is when I realize Abdel Latif is fluent in English.

“I sell with the same price to both Egyptians and tourists; it is the new spirit of the revolution,” he says.

After a diplomatic car full of clients drives away, Abdel Latif looks at me and says, “We must encourage the tourist to come back; it’s our only way out.”

“Harassment here is common, especially against foreigners,” he says. According to Abdel Latif, efforts to defend a foreign girl that was being harassed would only get him into trouble. “They’ll accuse me of talking to and protecting spies,” the young vendor explains.

After becoming thirsty from the hot weather and hard work, I see a tea and coffee spread a couple meters away. Om Karim sells tea, water and termis (Egyptian salted beans). “I’m here from dusk until dawn,” she says. Om Karim also sells “martyr cards” at LE1 each commemorating those who were killed in the recent uprising.

As I wander around the square and the Qasr el-Nile Bridge, I notice that new, patriotically-themed products are appearing on an almost daily basis: cotton wrist and head bands in red, white and black; Egyptian flag necklaces; crochet mobile-phone pouches; and, of course, Egyptian flags of every conceivable size.

“The bestselling item is the plate number sticker for LE3,” says Hamdy, another street vendor camped out by the Semiramis Hotel.

Tahrir Square has become the locus for every novelty one can imagine. “Martyrs Square,” as many are calling it, oozes with vitality, creativity and the spirit of patriotism and coexistence. God bless Egypt and the merchant-revolutionaries of Tahrir Square.

Full Video:Very Ugly Attack by Egyptian Islamic army tanks on St.Bishoy ...

You Tube description: Full Video: Very Ugly Attack the Egyptian Islamic army tanks on St.Bishoy Coptic Orthodox monastery 23-2-2011: (hat tip Michael S)

- Beaten monks & Christian youth by live bullets & RPJ mortars.
- Tanks attack & armored vehicles by the Egyptian Muslims army on monks & Coptic youth ,& down the wall of the Coptic Orthodox monastery in Wadi Al- Natroun-Cairo Alexandria high way & and break the Crosses,Door,even the Trees & a sign the monastery , also logging own monastery.
- Battalion Commander Usama & Muslims Army soldiers Swearing at Christian youth & Monks by dirty words with Death threat

Yesterday I posted on Egypt: Muslims Fire on Christian Monasteries

For the second time in as many days, Egyptian armed force stormed the 5th century old St. Bishoy monastery in Wadi el-Natroun, 110 kilometers from Cairo. Live ammunition was fired, wounding two monks and six Coptic monastery workers. Several sources confirmed the army's use of RPG ammunition. Four people have been arrested including three monks and a Coptic lawyer who was at the monastery investigating yesterday's army attack.

Monk Aksios Ava Bishoy told activist Nader Shoukry of Freecopts the armed forces stormed the main entrance gate to the monastery in the morning using five tanks, armored vehicles and a bulldozer to demolish the fence built by the monastery last month to protect themselves and the monastery from the lawlessness which prevailed in Egypt during the January 25 Uprising.

"When we tried to address them, the army fired live bullets, wounding Father Feltaows in the leg and Father Barnabas in the abdomen," said Monk Ava Bishoy. "Six Coptic workers in the monastery were also injured, some with serious injuries to the chest."

The injured were rushed to the nearby Sadat Hospital, the ones in serious condition were transferred to the Anglo-Egyptian Hospital in Cairo.

Father Hemanot Ava Bishoy said the army fired live ammunition and RPGs continuously for 30 minutes, which hit part of the ancient fence inside the monastery. "The army was shocked to see the monks standing there praying 'Lord have mercy' without running away. This is what really upset them," he said. "As the soldiers were demolishing the gate and the fence they were chanting 'Allahu Akbar' and 'Victory, Victory'."

He also added that the army prevented the monastery's car from taking the injured to hospital.

Camp David Peace Accord Saves Lives

Number of Egyptians killed in the wars against Israel in the 3 decades prior to Camp David:

* 1948: total Arab casualties were 8000-15000
* 1956: 3000
* 1967: 10000-15000
* WOA 1967-1970: 6000-13000
* 1973: 8000-18500
* And more, killed in 3 decades worth of localized clashes

Number of Egyptians killed in wars against Israel in the 3 decades since Camp David:

* zero

Egyptian protesters promise to destroy Israel

Looks might ugly. And getting uglier. As crappy as that peace accord was, it was .... peace. If all bets are off, does Israel get her land back?
If protesters intend to attack Israel, how will they replace the Aswan dam? Can Egyptians survive for 938 years in a radioactive slag heap?
Over one half of Egyptians suffer from birth defects including mental illness and retardation.