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Category Archives: Egypt
Geert Wilders gives press release in response to Egyptian government condemnation of him
Short, sweet, and to the point. here is the official Wilders response to the story posted here:
Geert Wilders reacts to the Egyptian government protesting his book:
“Fortunately we have freedom of opinion here. The Egyptian military regime should concern itself with the rights and protection of Christians in Egypt and preventing further bloodshed rather than worrying about me.”
Hon. Geert Wilders’ New Book Offends Egypt Even Before It is Published
An article over at The Iconoclast:
Please click above for the whole article.
Hon. Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party (PVV) in the Netherlands
The Dutch Ambassador to Egypt, Susan Blankhart was called to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, today, to protest ‘defamation of Islam’ in a new book by the Hon. Geert Wilders. Wilders’ book is scheduled to be released here in the US, next April. The Egyptians were likely using this opportunity as a media event. We note that this occurred while our State Department’s conference on The Istanbul Process Combating Intolerance conference was taking place in DC. With representatives from member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the EU, the OSCE, gathered in Washington why miss an opportunity to stifle any criticism of Islam and deny Free Speech? After all this plenary session in DC is developing ‘best practices’ to rein in religious intolerance. How Orwellian of them.
Egyptian Human Rights blogger, Mahmoud Elsokby posted the Al Ahram report about this most recent example of intolerance by Egypt in the throes of electing a majority Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist parliament, “Egypt Summons Dutch Ambassador over anti-Islamic remarks”.
Egypt’s foreign ministry Wednesday summoned Dutch Ambassador Susan Blankhart to protest against what it perceives to be a defamation of Islam by parliament member Geert Wilders.
According to Dutch reports, Wilders is set to release a book in April next year to “examine the true nature of Islam.”
The right-wing politician is no stranger to controversy, having released numerous statements that were deemed defamatory to Islam by the Arab and Muslim world.
His statements include accusing Islam of being violent by nature and saying that the Quran should be banned.
According to Egyptian diplomatic sources, the foreign ministry insisted it could not tolerate “such unacceptable acts that could affect the spirit of cooperation, which should prevail between countries.”
In June, a Dutch court cleared Wilders of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.
Egyptian authorities have recently banned him from entering the country during a visit of a European Parliament delegation.
However, the Al Ahram report had an error. According to the Freedom Party (PVV) headquarters in the Netherlands:
The end of Sharm el-Sheikh? Islamist parties call for ban on Westerners drinking, wearing bikinis and mixed bathing on Egyptian beaches
And so it begins.
Click below for the whole thing.
Part of the story from
The Daily Mail:
- 1.4m Brits head to Egypt every year on holiday – 70% of them to Red Sea beach resorts
- Tourism down a third after violent unrest saw overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak
- Hardline Al-Nour party committed to imposing strict Islamic law in Egypt
- Sharing of hotel rooms by unmarried couples could also be banned
Last updated at 2:17 PM on 13th December 2011
Bargain holidays for Westerners looking to get a bit of sunshine and a drink by the pool in the winter could be a thing of the past on Egypt’s Red Sea coast.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which won success in the first round of parliamentary elections last month, is set on turning Egypt into a ‘sin-free’ holiday resort.
But the end of sun worshippers flying to resorts like Sharm el-Sheikh could spell disaster for an economy that has already been battered by this year’s political unrest.
On the way out? Tourists lap up the sunshine at Naama Bay, Sharm el-Sheikh. Islamist parties want to stop Westerners drinking alcohol and wearing skimpy beachwear
Tourism magnet: Some 1.4million Brits travel to Egypt every year – the vast majority of them heading for its Red Sea beach resorts
Azza al-Jarf, a candidate for the Muslim Brotherhood, told supporters: ‘Tourists don’t need to drink alcohol when they come to Egypt; they have plenty at home.
‘They came to see the ancient civilisation, not to drink alcohol.’
Since its success in the first round of elections on November 28 and 29, the Brotherhood and the even more fundamentalist party of Salafi Muslims called Al-Nour have been under pressure to define their stance on a wide range of issues – including Islamic law, personal freedom and tourism. Continue Reading →
The articulators of knowledge in the West have completely undermined reality
Raymond Ibrahim’s testimony to the US House of Representatives Human Rights Committee; on Shariah, Dhimmitude & the Copts; is a moving and eloquent absolute must watch.
In fifteen short minutes Mr Ibrahim amply demonstrates how the contemporary persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt is a direct mirror of identical suffering meted out to his people for the fourteen previous centuries, using historical sources to back up his case.
This is no “accidental aberration” he conclusively proves, by pointing to the Quranic injunctions – the literal commands of god – that instruct Muslims to behave in the ways that lead to the inevitable suffering of any non-Muslim who falls under the reach of Islam’s power.
He also delves persuasively and depressingly into the historical events, and current dangerously misguided modes of thought (from history classes to the media), which have conspired to erect the “intellectual hurdles” that make unintelligible to a contemporary audience…
“…something that is fourteen hundred years old and is so obvious to anyone who has studied it or looked at it.
President Obama, please, “Stop Supporting the Muslim Brotherhood…”
“…the founders of Hamas and al-Qaeda are not moderate.”
As a Coptic Christian Egyptian female I can’t even begin to imagine the life that the political activist Cynthia Farahat has led, let alone the deep terror which must be filling her heart at the prospect of the future awaiting her and her people.
There will be the childhood and young life marred and marked by oppression, fear and persecution; the religious, academic and political exclusion; and the constant threat of violence, abduction, robbery and rape. With the months and years ahead promising nothing more than worse, much worse, to come.
Here is a short excerpt of her testimony to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the US House of Representatives.
Islamic cleric bans women from touching bananas, cucumbers for sexual resemblance
h/t Cockney Doll
One can see immediately from this, how much better life will get now in Egypt thanks to the Arab Spring. Except maybe for fruit stands. Remember this from NPR in Iraq?
bikyamsr
Islamic cleric bans women from touching bananas, cucumbers for sexual resemblance
Cucumbers are forbidden for women, says Islamic sheikh.
CAIRO: An Islamic cleric residing in Europe said that women should not be close to bananas or cucumbers, in order to avoid any “sexual thoughts.”
The unnamed sheikh, who was featured in an article on el-Senousa news, was quoted saying that if women wish to eat these food items, a third party, preferably a male related to them such as their a father or husband, should cut the items into small pieces and serve. Continue Reading →
CAIRO (AP) – Egypt’s ultraconservative Islamist party plans to push for a stricter religious code in Egypt after claiming surprisingly strong gains in the first round of parliamentary elections, a spokesman said Friday.
Well, that didn’t take long.
This is a partial article from…
USA TODAY
Please click above for the rest
Final results are to be announced later in the day, but preliminary counts have been leaked by judges and individual political groups.
Islamists led by the Muslim Brotherhood and radical Salafists appear to have taken a strong majority of seats in the first round of Egypt’s first parliamentary vote since Hosni Mubarak‘s ouster, a trend that if confirmed would give the religious parties a popular mandate in the struggle to win control from the ruling military and ultimately reshape a key U.S. ally.
Spokesman Yousseri Hamad says the Salafi Nour party expects to get 30% of the vote. Their party appeared to lead the polls in the Nile Delta province of Kafr el-Sheik, in the rural area of Fayoum, which is known for high rates of illiteracy and poverty, and in parts of their longtime stronghold of Alexandria.
Hamad also said the party faced its toughest challenge in Cairo because of the small presence of Salafi supporters there.
The strong showing would put them in a strong position to influence policy, although it’s unclear how much power the new parliament will have with the ruling generals still in power.
Hamad said that his party is willing to cooperate with the rest of the secular, liberal and Islamist forces, “if it will serve the interest of the nation.”
This week’s vote, held in nine provinces, will determine about 30% of the 498 seats in the People’s Assembly, parliament’s lower house. Two more rounds, ending in January, will cover Egypt’s other 18 provinces.
The new parliament, in theory, is tasked with selecting a 100-member panel to draft Egypt’s new constitution. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took control of the country after Mubarak’s fall in February, has suggested that it will choose 80 of those members.
The Nour Party is the main political arm of the hard-line Salafi movement, which unlike the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood is a new player on Egypt’s political scene.
Inspired by the Saudi-style Wahhabi school of thought, Salafists have long shunned the concept of democracy, saying it allows man’s law to override God’s. But they formed parties and entered politics after Mubarak’s ouster to position themselves to make sure Shariah law is an integral part of Egypt’s new constitution.
Salafi groups speak confidently about their ambition to turn Egypt into a state where personal freedoms, including freedom of speech, women’s dress and art are constrained by Islamic Shariah codes.
“In the land of Islam, I can’t let people decide what is permissible or what is prohibited. It’s God who gives the answers as to what is right and what is wrong,” Hamad said. “If God tells me you can drink whatever you want except for alcohol, you don’t leave the million things permitted and ask about the prohibited
Thousands of Muslims Attack Christians in Egypt, 2 Killed, Homes and Stores Torched
From AINA:
Nov 30 2011
(AINA) — Thousands of Muslims attacked and besieged Copts in elGhorayzat village, population 80,000, killing two Copts and severely wounding others, as well as looting and torching homes and businesses. A quarrel between a Copt, John Hosni, and Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer, who later died in hospital, turned into collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village of elGhorayzat, in the Maragha district of Sohag province. Muslims vowed not to bury Abdel-Nazeer until John Hosni is punished. Mr. Hosni fled from the village with his family, “fearing a wholesale massacre of Copts,” reported activist Mariam Ragy. Continue Reading →
Egypt: Partial results show Islamist lead in vote
By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian judges overseeing counting say Islamist parties are so far leading in initial, partial results from Egypt’s parliamentary elections.
Judges say the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s most powerful fundamentalist group, had the biggest share of votes so far from partial counts in the cities of Alexandria, Luxor, Port Said, Fayoum and Kafr el-Sheik, with between 30 to 70 percent of the votes counted in those places. Vote counting in the capital Cairo was still to early to show any trend.
The judges say the Nour Party, made up of ultraconservative Islamic Salafis, and an alliance of lliberal-secular parties come next. They were unable to give proportions for each faction.
The judges spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
STRATFOR video on todays Egyptian elections
Cairo rally: One day we’ll kill all Jews
From YNET News:
Muslim Brotherhood holds venomous anti-Israel rally in Cairo mosque Friday; Islamic activists chant: Tel Aviv, judgment day has come
Eldad Beck
Published:11.25.11, 20:29 / Israel News
Arab hate: A Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo’s most prominent mosque Friday turned into a venomous anti-Israel protest, with attendants vowing to “one day kill all Jews.”
Some 5,000 people joined the rally, called to promote the “battle against Jerusalem’s Judaization.” The event coincided with the anniversary of the United Nations’ partition plan in 1947, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state.
Related articles on Ynetnews:
- TV journalist: I was sexually assaulted in Cairo
-
‘Treacherous Jews’
Speakers at the event delivered impassioned, hateful speeches against Israel, slamming the “Zionist occupiers” and the “treacherous Jews.” Upon leaving the rally, worshippers were given small flags, with Egypt’s flag on one side and the Palestinian flag on the other, as well as maps of Jerusalem’s Old City detailing where “Zionists are aiming to change Jerusalem’s Muslim character.”
Propaganda material ahead of Egypt’s parliamentary elections was also handed out at the site.
Hate in Cairo (Photo: AFP)Spiritual leader Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb charged in his speech that to this day Jews everywhere in the world are seeking to prevent Islamic and Egyptian unity.
“In order to build Egypt, we must be one. Politics is insufficient. Faith in Allah is the basis for everything,” he said. “The al-Aqsa Mosque is currently under an offensive by the Jews…we shall not allow the Zionists to Judaize al-Quds (Jerusalem.) We are telling Israel and Europe that we shall not allow even one stone to be moved there.”‘We have different mentality’
Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen, as well as Palestinian guest speakers, made explicit calls for Jihad and for liberating the whole of Palestine. Time and again, a Koran quote vowing that “one day we shall kill all the Jews” was uttered at the site. Meanwhile, businessmen in the crowd were urged to invest funds in Jerusalem in order to prevent the acquisition of land and homes by Jews.
- Please click the link at the top for the rest of this disturbing story
More female journalists attacked in Egypt
More proof that Western news agencies are simply incapable of seeing reality for what it is, preferring instead to sacrifice their own personnel for the preservation and maintenance of their narrative. Specifically, that Islam is not the problem and that women are in no more danger in Islamic states than they are anywhere.
Or at least it would appear that they operate under these premises. If not, then they are guilty of quite a serious crime.
H/T Richard:
From News24.com
Beware, female journos in Cairo warned
2011-11-25 15:11
Paris – Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders urged media organisations on Friday to take care to protect female reporters from sexual assault while covering unrest in Egypt, following several serious attacks.
The group initially warned women journalists not to work in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, epicentre of the revolt against Egypt’s junta, at all, but after protests from press unions decided instead to advise great caution.
“It is more dangerous for a woman than a man to cover the demonstrations in Tahrir Square. That is the reality and the media must face it,” RSF said.
“It is the first time that there have been repeated sexual assaults against women reporters in the same place. The media must keep this in mind when sending staff there and must take special safety measures.
“We are not saying the international media should pull out and stop covering events in Egypt, but they need to adapt to the threats that currently exist. Women journalists going to Tahrir Square should be aware of this situation.” Continue Reading →
Egyptian Military Using Nerve Gas on Protesters
Thanks Richard:
From NEWSMAX:
The Egyptian military has been using a banned chemical agent to deal with hundreds of thousands of protesters, according to several news sources.
At least 23 Egyptians have died and more than 1,700 have succumbed to a lethal gas military forces have been using during the past three days in clashes in and around Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
The International Business Times reports that demonstrators have been struck with “dangerous levels of CR gas over the past two days of protests” and Australia’s The Age said Wednesday that the canisters are marked “Made in the USA.”
CR gas is an intense and lethal version of CS gas, called “tear gas,” widely used by police for crowd control. Continue Reading →
The metamorphosis of the Egyptian revolution at Tahrir Sq.
This MEMRI clip shows how, exactly like Iran’s revolution, Egypt went from a lot of frustrated and angry liberals to ‘fundamustards’ (hard core orthodox Muslims of the Islamic Brotherhood variety) brandishing Al-Queda banners and demanding full sharia law implementation.
And like Iran, I wouldn’t bet against it.