Category Archives: Egypt

Panic in Egypt over Muslim Brotherhood’s call for Islamic rule

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20/04/2011 ASHARQ-E.COM

By Mohammed Hassan Shabaan

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- Statements by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Deputy General Guide Dr Mahmoud Izzat about the implementation of Islamic Shariaa and punishments in Egypt has aroused strong fears among the liberal and left-wing political powers. They consider this to be a dissent from the national unanimity and a violation by the Muslim Brotherhood of its public stance and a wriggling out of the commitment to the civil state.

Statements by a number of Muslim Brotherhood leading members have revealed that the group pursues the establishment of an Islamic government system, and to implement the Islamic Shariaa punishments in Egypt.

Al-Misri al-Yawm last week reported statements by Saad al-Husseini, member of the Guidance Bureau of the Muslim Brotherhood, at a popular rally organized by the group in Bulaq District in which he said: “At this period, we would like to lead the society to achieve its Islamic identity in preparation for the Islamic rule.” The newspaper also said that Dr Mahmoud Izzat, deputy general guide of the group, stressed: “The implementation of the Islamic Shariaa punishments comes after owning the ground. The punishments have to be implemented after Islam enters the lives, ethics, and dealings of the people.” Continue Reading →

“A non-Muslim should not rule over Muslims”: Egypt protests against Christian governor continue

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From Jihad Watch. Please click over for the whole article.

I wrote here this morning that these protests are happening “because Islamic law forbids non-Muslims to hold authority over Muslims.” And now comes direct confirmation that this is exactly why Muslims are protesting in Qena.

Egypt to Confront Muslim Protests Against Christian Governor,” by Mariam Fam for Bloomberg, April 20:

Egypt traffic dispute turns into sectarian brawl

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I think if anyone was looking for a definition of ‘savages’, they could direct people to the following story:

Posted: Apr 19, 2011 5:06 PM Updated: Apr 19, 2011 5:06 PM Hometown Stations

CAIRO (AP) – Two Muslims were killed in southern Egypt after a dispute over a speed bump with a Christian family spiraled out of control and turned into destructive sectarian riot, reported the state news agency Tuesday.

Local residents of small village in the province of Minya were incensed by the presence of a large speed bump outside the villa of a prominent Coptic Christian lawyer and member of the former ruling party, which has since been dissolved.

The dispute with the house guards turned violent and they opened fire, killing two bystanders and incensing the local community.

A mob then ransacked a cafe owned by the lawyer and several homes of local Christians.

Christians make up 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 80 million and for the most part live in peace with the Muslim majority, though they complain of discrimination. Sectarian strife occasionally breaks out, particularly in the southern, poorer parts of the country.

In recent weeks, however, following the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, many religious conservatives in the countryside have become more assertive and anti-government protests occasionally take on a sectarian tone.

In Qena province, south of Minya, five days of protests led by ultraconservative Salafi Muslims have been calling for the resignation of a newly appointed Christian governor.

Egypt Islamists defiant over Christian governor

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SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — Protesters led by hardline Islamists in southern Egypt held their ground Monday, saying they won’t end their campaign of civil disobedience until the government removes a newly appointed Coptic Christian governor.

The protesters, many from the ultraconservative Salafi trend of Islam, have been sitting on train tracks, taken over government buildings and blocked main roads in the southern city of Qena, insisting the new governor won’t properly implement Islamic law.

Attempts by the newly appointed interior minister, who hails from the same area, to defuse the crisis were rebuffed and protesters insisted their sit-in, which began Friday, would continue.

Since the Feb. 11 ousting of President Hosni Mubarak in popular protests, Islamist groups have have been flexing their muscles and are vowing to take a more active political role as Egypt is still drawing its transition to democracy. Continue Reading →

Muslim Brotherhood to launch TV channel in May

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Hany ElWaziry Al Masry Al Youm

<p>Saad al-Husseini, member of the Muslim Brotherhood&#39;s guidance bureau</p>

Photographed by other

The Muslim Brotherhood announced plans to launch TV channel “Egypt 25” next month to represent their proposed Freedom and Justice Party. The group also said it plans to move its headquarters from the Manial to Moqattam neighborhood of Cairo.

The Brotherhood plans to launch the channel within two weeks, at which time it will announce the budget for the station, said member Sobhi Saleh.

“We make use of media professionals and experts from within and outside our administrative offices and from within and outside Egypt,” said Saad al-Husseini, a member of the group’s guidance bureau.

Al-Husseini said the group is checking the opinions of its local councils in various governorates on its party platform, which he said would be announced after the committee responsible for drafting the platform discusses the feedback.

The Muslim Brotherhood said it is waiting for a fair trial for former President Hosni Mubarak, his family, and the officials of the former regime in retribution for the deaths of protesters. A fair trial would prevent future presidents from repeating the ‘pharaonic acts’ of the old regime and would also help Egypt recover any stolen funds, according to the group.

In a press statement, the group supported activists’ decision to suspend Friday protests this week, saying it would give authorities time to conduct investigations into corrupt officials.

The group added in its statement Thursday that people will take to the streets again if their demands are not met.

The Brotherhood also called on all classes to contribute to national production and prove that Egyptians are capable of saving their country from an economic crisis.

Muslim Brotherhood (MB)

Clinton warns creeping intolerance threatens to derail Arab democratic revolutions

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Clinton does not get that this is true democracy. It is the will of the majority that influences the actions of the state. This woman needs a dictionary. 

YAHOONEWS/CANADIANPRESS…BERLIN – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Friday that rising intolerance toward women and religious minorities threatens to derail democratic transitions around the Arab world and spread violent extremism.

Accepting an award named for a pre-Nazi era German Jewish businessman, politician and foreign minister who was murdered for his promotion of inclusion and tolerance, Clinton said she was disturbed by recent developments in post-revolt Egypt in which women and Coptic Christians were singled out for attacks and abuse. They are signs, she said, that extremists are intent on seizing transitions for their own aims.

The 1922 assassination of Walter Rathenau, was “a cautionary tale about how these transitions can be undermined by intolerance and hijacked by extremists,” she told a ceremony in Berlin.

She said the incidents in Egypt were testing the unity of pro-democracy demonstrators whose peaceful protests ousted Egypt’s authoritarian president and could fracture the reform movement.

Clinton said she feared similar backsliding elsewhere in the Mideast and stressed it was critical for Egyptians and other Arabs whose nations are in the throes of change to resist intolerance and demand that their new leaders embrace open and inclusive governments.

“It will be critical,” she said, for citizens and leaders “to work together to resist these dangers and keep their nations on track to become open, inclusive, pluralistic democracies.”

“Democracy is a never-ending task that requires participation and protection and it is only possible if every citizen can enjoy its benefits,” she said. “Societies thrive when all their people contribute and participate. But they stagnate when women are excluded or minorities are persecuted.”

Washington Times: Egyptian blogger jailed for 3 years

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The charges sound an awful lot like the classic Islamic charge of, “spreading mischief upon the land” to me.

Eeyore

From The Washington Times:

Hope for a birth of liberty in Egypt took a serious blow on Monday when a military tribunal sentenced Maikel Nabil to three years in prison for the crime of free speech.

Mr. Nabil is a 26-year-old blogger who had been on the barricades in Cairo’s Tahrir Square demonstrating for the ouster of authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak, and later kept up the pressure for democratic reform from the transitional military government. “We are against what the army is doing to steal our revolution,” he wrote. His criticism pressed the limits of liberalism in the new Egypt. On March 28, Mr. Nabil was taken from his home by Egyptian soldiers and charged with “insulting the military institution, dissemination of false news and disturbing public security.”

Educated, secularist advocates for freedom like Mr. Nabil are the people the ruling classes in the Middle East fear the most. They are also the ones the United States should most ardently defend. He appeared at the anti-Mubarak protests with a banner reading “civil [government], not military or religious.” The military has a special grudge against Mr. Nabil because he is a conscientious objector who resisted compulsory service. He said in an interview last October, “I think that conscription is a kind of slavery; I have worked many years for my freedom.” Mr. Nabil also represents a challenge to the proponents of Shariah law for Egypt, both as a Coptic Christian (though frankly skeptical of organized religion), and as an advocate for women’s rights.

For the rest, click to WATI

Muslim population in Western Europe rising

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IB NEWS… The population of Muslims in Western Europe has been steadily rising in recent decades, largely due to immigration from the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa.

In Southeastern Europe, much of which once formed part of the Ottoman Empire, Muslims have been present for many centuries, but they are a relatively new phenomenon in the western part of the continent.

On the whole, Muslim’s represent about 5 percent of the population of the EU 27.

Far-right politicians in Europe have long warned that the Muslim numbers will continue to grow due to higher birth rates. Marine Le Pen, the head of France’s anti-immigrant National Front party, who openly discusses the rising number Muslims in France, could conceivably win next year’s presidential election, according to polls.

While the percentage of Muslims as part of the overall population of western European nations are in single digits, a 2009 study by the Telegraph newspaper in the UK estimated that by 2050, Muslims will account for 20 percent of the European Union’s populace. Long before that, Britain, Spain and The Netherlands will reach and surpass that figure. Continue Reading →

Egypt: Coptic Church bombing suspects released

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Cairo, 11 April (AKI) – Twenty people arrested on suspicion of taking part in the deadly New Year’s bombing of a Coptic Church in the port city of Alexandria have been freed from prison, according to Egyptian newspaper Al-Dustur.

The release of the suspects was ordered by general Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, part of the military council that took power in February after nationwide anti-government protests ousted president Hosni Mubarak after around 30 years in power, the report said.

Twenty-four people were killed and around 100 injured during the bombing that sparked rioting and protests and drew international condemnation.

Coptic Christians account for about 10 percent of Egypt’s population.

At least one of those freed claim to be have been detained to silence his criticism of the the state.

Ibrahim Ibata says he was arrested because he claimed his friend was killed by police during an interrogation.

Some of the suspects have called a press conference for Thursday during which they are expected to describe their alleged torture in prison.

Three Churches Attacked, Egyptian Military Sides With Radical Muslims

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From AINA.ORG:

(AINA) — 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.

The latest of these incidents took place in the village of Kamadeer, in Samalout, Minya province on April 5, which escalated to the point where it was feared the church would be torched and demolished, as was done in the case of St. George and St. Mina Church in village of Soul, Atfif, on March 5 (AINA 3-5-2011). For three days Muslims occupied the entrance to St. John the Beloved Church in the village of Kamadeer with their mats, praying and sleeping there while thousands of village Copts staged a sit-in for three continuous days in front of the Minya governorate building, vowing not to leave until they got their church back. “Even if it takes one year, we will still be here,” said Fr. Youssab in the rally. The Coptic demonstrators demanded the reopening of their church and prosecution of the squatters (video of Coptic sit-in). Continue Reading →

Muslim Gang Leader Terrorizing Christians in Egyptian Village

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From AINA.ORG

Cairo (AINA) — Ten human rights organization staged a rally on March 30 in front of the building of the Attorney General to bring to public attention the tragedy of some nine thousand Coptic villagers living in terror since end January in the Upper Egyptian villages of Badraman and Nazlet Badraman in Deir Mawas, Minya. Rights activists and Badraman villagers were joined by attorney activist Peter elNaggar, who filed a complaint with the Attorney General against 34-year-old Muslim police informer Ali Hussein, nicknamed “Holaku” after the ruthless Mongol leader.

Hussein was accused of terrorizing the Copts, raping their wives, kidnapping their children for ransom and extortion. Attorney elNaggar said that I f proven these charges are punishable by the death penalty.

Security forces were informed last January of the incidents in both villages, “but they just turned a blind eye,” said Coptic activist Nader Shoukry, who publicized the story last week after registering all crimes against the Coptic villagers.

The terror started on January 28, when Ali Hussein assaulted Copt Khalil Suweiha and his family. Mr. Suweiha filed a report with the police in Deir Mawas but was forced to drop the charges after being threatened with death by Hussein and his 200-man armed gang. Continue Reading →

Egypt Air wipes Israel off the map – a sign of where Egypt could be headed

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H/T AA

From The Telegraph:

By Praveen Swami World Last updated: March 25th, 2011

94 Comments Comment on this article

egypt-air-460

Israel has quietly dropped off Egypt Air’s route map this week.

The airline’s explanation is that “flights to Tel Aviv are operated by Air Sinai, which is a separate company.” It explains that “our website exclusively show destinations to which our own EA flights travel to.”

I’ve been unable to find a phone number, website or postal address for Air Sinai. That’s because it doesn’t seem to exist.  Wikipedia states it “ceased airline operations in its own right in 2002 and operates as a ‘paper airline’ for its parent company, Egypt Air.”

Like a fair few other people, I suspect, I’m wondering if this is a sign of things to come in the Egypt-Israel relationship, because of the growing influence of people who would like to see Israel erased from maps, not just route maps.

Egyptians who backed the movement against Hosni Mubarak, the country’s unlamented former ruler, are beginning to realise that the revolution they sacrificed so much for isn’t headed quite where they’d expected.

Earlier this month, more than three-quarters of Egyptian voters backed constitutional amendments which will facilitate the early election of a new parliament and new president. This gives the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s best-organised and largest political force, an advantage: its opponents just haven’t had time to get their act together. Continue Reading →

BAT YE’OR: BIG DANGER OF MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD WINNING IN UPCOMING ELECTION IN EGYPT

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An interview with Egyptian ex-pat, Bat Ye’or, at the Norwegian website, Document.no.  KGS

NOTE: Special thanks to Cecilie for the translation

Bat Ye’or: The Brotherhood wants to Islamize modernity, not to modernize Islam

Bat Ye’or, thank you for letting  Document.no. interview you.  There has recently been a revolution in your native country, Egypt. Everybody was apparently surprised by the fall of Mubarak’s regime. Were you surprised too?

Yes, of course.

Few commentators seem to have any clear idea of where the road leads to for Egypt. The subsequent future events compared with both the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the revolution in Iran in 1979. Where do you think the country is heading now?

We are on the way to the end, I fear, for the Muslim Brotherhood is the only well-organized and structured movement with clear objectives and an international power base. It also seems that it has almost unlimited access to financing. I am of the opinion that any comparison with Western revolution is meaningless, because we are dealing with a Shariah society that works within a political view of reality that rejects the foundation of our own. I have also noticed with great sadness  that the attacks and murders of Copts have increased.

Foreign Correspondents in Egypt say that the protesters’ anger was a cry for justice, and they recognized that there was something genuinely positive in the uprising. But the most cautious would add that this is not something upon which to build a community, given that it is easier to unite against someone than it is to find the way forward together. Can all this youthful energy have some positive impact, or is it disorganized?

I agree with the correspondent’s point of view. But democracy, freedom, jobs and justice can only be developed if you develop the right institutions and have a grasp of the economy. Egypt is a poor country with more than 80 million inhabitants, of whom a large percentage are illiterate who can not cope with the  challenges of the 21st century. I do not doubt the abilities of the academic and educated elite, but the social problems are so huge. The general trend towards a more traditionally religious society based on the Koran will also not contribute to modernization.

Do  the Egyptian masses want democracy in any meaningful sense of the word, or do they lack a clear understanding of what it is all about?

They surely want democracy, but when you listen to what they have to say, it seems  they think there is something tangible that they can grasp and carry, and not an abstract idea that needs time and requires effort from the entire nation to be accomplished. Democracy is not just majority rule. It involves a political independent judiciary, equal rights for all – including non-Muslims and non-Arab minorities such as Kurds, Assyrians and Berbers – and freedom of expression and acceptance of pluralism and criticism. But all this is forbidden both in Sharia law and in the Cairo Declaration of 1990 on human rights in Islam. In order to achieve democracy, one must first eliminate the Sharia.

Professor Bernard Lewis says that there is something in the Muslim tradition that is vaguely reminiscent of democracy; in other words these consultative groups consisting of key people, clan leaders etc. Is such a corporate model, the best you could hope for?

Such meetings, in which unelected tribal leaders make decisions, have nothing whatsoever to do with a modern democracy as we know it.

Continue Reading →