It’s All About Crushing Egypt’s Revolution, Mr. Friedman
“On the Egyptian military’s priority list, nothing comes before crushing the revolution, not even the USA and its $1.3 billion annual aid.
Dr. Ashraf Ezzat
“Egypt’s Step Backward” is Mr. Thomas Friedman’s latest pieces on post-Mubarak Egypt. Published in the New York Times on Feb. 21, Mr. Friedman gives his precise perspective on the current political scene in Egypt, but I wished he had scratched the surface harder and digged deeper.
Mubarak’s era, as brutal and autocratic as it has been, was much easier to read and predict than this foggy and volatile transitional period the Egyptians are currently enduring through. Therefore, I would like to throw in few clarifications on the discussed issue, as a native observer of Egypt’s political street.
This whole soap opera about Egypt NGOs and the crackdown on pro-democracy workers, including American and European staffers is but a clever move in a long series of actions in a cunning scheme to counteract the revolutionary tide on the Egyptian street and save the day for a faltering regime.
It has nothing to do with the absurd allegations of a foreign agenda playing out in Tahrir square“Mossad & CIA steering the Egyptian revolution” that the Egyptian state media and regrettably some of the foreign alternative media have been raving about.
Those allegations, while being carelessly peddled and obscenely detached from reality, are so insulting to the struggle of pro-democracy activists and to the lives that were sacrificed during the past year.
What Mr. Friedman didn’t mention, though I’m sure he is aware of, is the fact that Egypt was, and still is, a police state.
Over the last 4 decades the infamous state police apparatus has swelled and mushroomed, due to an exceedingly overdose of totalitarianism and corruption, into something more powerful than politicians, the judiciary system and even the army.
The mighty security apparatus had the power to oversee all of the country’s internal affairs except, of course, for the military’s economic empire.
Any enterprise, local or foreign, once flagged by the apparatus for any fake security concerns, which was often the case, its operations were immediately put to a halt and the people behind it somehow pursued with well knit legal traps.
Maybe Mubarak has been ousted but the president was not the regime, the state military/police apparatus is.
Fayza Abul Naga, Egypt's minister of planning and international cooperation
As much as I can understand why Mr. Friedman is picking on Egypt’s minister of planning and international cooperation, Fayza Abul Naga, whose testimony against democracy workers has bolstered the fake case before the Supreme Court, but I’m afraid there’s a lot more to this than the buried grudge of this old Mubarak’s loyalist.
Abul Naga is just a pawn in this post-Mubarak political game, she didn’t file the case against democracy workers on her own account. She was told to frame the US for the illegal funding of pro-democracy organizations and for sustaining the state of chaos in the country as well. she was told to stick Israel and the US in the testimony to make it look like a case of foreign meddling in the Egyptian sovereignty.
After a year of endless and deadly confrontations with pro-democracy protesters the police have reached this conclusion “ the only way to stop protesters from going back to Tahrir square is to do away, once and for all, with the pro-democracy activists, no matter who they are, Egyptians or even foreigners, and no matter what kind of strings are attached”
With Mohamed El-Baradei out of the way, the presidential race has narrowed down to a number of candidates/puppets who are likely to do business with the military behind closed doors. And those who remain loyal to the revolution and defiant to the military/police authority are currently being bullied by the state security thugs (not the CIA/Mossad agents)
As the military/state security commanders are bracing for the final battle of reinstating and securing the old regime nothing comes, on their priority list, before crushing the revolution, not even the USA and its $1.3 billion annual aid which the top brass know damn well that it is no more than a concealed bribe for playing friends with Tel Aviv. And therefore they are not really woried over the American threats to withhold aid payment.
This is not about national Egyptian dignity nor the American/Egyptian relations, this is all about saving the sinking ship of Egypt’s oligarchs, Mr. Friedman.
Egypt’s Step Backward
By Thomas L Friedman
SADLY, the transitional government in Egypt today appears determined to shoot itself in both feet. On Sunday, it will put on trial 43 people, including at least 16 American citizens, for allegedly bringing unregistered funds into Egypt to promote democracy without a license.
Egypt has every right to control international organizations operating within its borders.
But the truth is that when these democracy groups filed their registration papers years ago under the autocracy of Hosni Mubarak, they were informed that the papers were in order and that approval was pending.
The fact that now — after Mubarak has been deposed by a revolution — these groups are being threatened with jail terms for promoting democracy without a license is a disturbing sign. It tells you how incomplete the “revolution” in Egypt has been and how vigorously the counter-revolutionary forces are fighting back.
This sordid business makes one weep and wonder how Egypt will ever turn the corner. Egypt is running out of foreign reserves, its currency is falling, inflation is rising and unemployment is rampant.
Yet the priority of a few retrograde Mubarak holdovers is to put on trial staffers from the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, which are allied with the two main United States political parties, as well as from Freedom House and some European groups.
Their crime was trying to teach Egypt’s young democrats how to monitor elections and start parties to engage in the democratic processes that the Egyptian army set up after Mubarak’s fall. Thousands of Egyptians had participated in their seminars in recent years.
What is this really about? This case has been trumped up by Egypt’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Fayza Abul Naga, an old Mubarak crony.
Abul Naga personifies the worst tendency in Egypt over the last 50 years — the tendency that helps to explain why Egypt has fallen so far behind its peers: South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brazil, India and China.
It is the tendency to look for dignity in all the wrong places — to look for dignity not by building up the capacity of Egypt’s talented young people so they can thrive in the 21st century — with better schools, better institutions, export industries and more accountable government.
No, it is the tendency to go for dignity on the cheap “by standing up to the foreigners”. That is Fayza’s game.
As a former Mubarak adviser put it to me: “Abul Naga is where she is today because for six years she was resisting the economic and political reforms” in alliance with the military. “Both she and the military were against opening up the Egyptian economy.”
Both she and the military, having opposed the revolution, are now looking to save themselves by playing the nationalist card.
Egypt today has only two predators: poverty and illiteracy. After 30 years of Mubarak rule and some US$50 billion (RM300 billion) in US aid, 33 per cent of men and 56 per cent of women in Egypt still can’t read or write.
That is a travesty. But that apparently does not keep Fayza up at night.
What is her priority? Is it to end illiteracy? Is it to articulate a new vision about how Egypt can engage with the world and thrive in the 21st century? Is it to create a positive climate for foreign investors to create jobs desperately needed by young Egyptians?
No, it’s to fall back on that golden oldie — that all of Egypt’s problems are the fault of outsiders who want to destabilise Egypt.
So let’s jail some Western democracy consultants. That will restore Egypt’s dignity.
The New York Times reported from Cairo that the prosecutor’s dossier assembled against the democracy workers — bolstered by Fayza’s testimony — accused these democracy groups of working “in coordination with the CIA,” serving “US and Israeli interests” and inciting “religious tensions between Muslims and Copts”.
Their goal, according to the dossier, was: “Bringing down the ruling regime in Egypt, no matter what it is”, while “pandering to the US Congress, Jewish lobbyists and American public opinion”.
Amazing. What Fayza is saying to all those young Egyptians who marched, protested and died in Tahrir Square in order to gain a voice in their own future is: “You were just the instruments of the CIA, the US Congress, Israel and the Jewish lobby. They are the real forces behind the Egyptian revolution — not brave Egyptians with a will of their own.”
Not surprisingly, some members of the US Congress are talking about cutting off the US$1.3 billion in aid the US gives Egypt’s army if these Americans are thrown in prison. Hold off on that.
We have to be patient and see this for what, one hopes, it really is: Fayza’s last dance.
It is elements of the old regime playing the last cards they have to both undermine the true democratic forces in Egypt and to save themselves by posing as protectors of Egypt’s honour.
Egyptians deserve better than this crowd, which is squandering Egypt’s dwindling resources at a critical time and diverting attention from the real challenge facing the country: giving Egypt’s young people what they so clearly hunger for — a real voice in their own future and the educational tools they need to succeed in the modern world.
That’s where lasting dignity comes from. NYT
Egyptian Revolution Songs
Egyptian Revolution Songs:
Songwriter/Performer Ramy Essam Sings: ‘Bread, Freedom, Social Justice’; Rappers Protest the ‘Lies of the Military’ against Backdrop of Graphic Images of Security Forces’ Brutality in crushing the Egyptian revolution.
Shit Zionists Say [OFFICIAL VIDEO]
The latest in the Shit ___ Say meme has hit the internet: Shit Zionists say.
Parody is a frequent ingredient in satire and is often used to make social and political points. And likewise, in their latest video, instead of only focusing at poking fun; the Shit ___ Say takes the meme as an excuse to make not so thinly veiled commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Egypt Revolution – Tweets from Tahrir(Video)
Egypt’s youth tweeted out the 18-day ouster of Hosni Mubarak, and are still reporting the unfinished revolution.
Take a good look at those Egyptian youths as they talk in the video. With such unhesitant voices, bold and shiny eyes, educated minds and fearless souls how could the revolution not eventually win?
Despite all the marches, the long sit-ins and even the harsh crackdown and the killing this whole thing that kicked off in Tahrir square on January 25, 2011 is definitely far from over.
Compassion
“A tribute to Palestinian school kids killed in a tragic bus accident in Ramallah”
By: Dr. Mazin B. Qumsiyeh
A truck crashed into a Palestinian school bus, killing at least nine people including eight children
West Bank, February 17, 2012: We had a really bad day today. Nine Palestinian very young children were killed and 40 other children injured (some severely) in one horrific fiery traffic accident today and another child was killed in a separate traffic accident.
The day started with me breaking a glass and then having to talk to a lawyer about a notice I just received to go to military court on 1 April (more on this later as it becomes clear what I will be charged with). Then I am rushing to do interview live on an international TV station then driving to Ramallah for an important meeting and then to my afternoon classes at Birzeit University.
Well, I never made it to the Ramallah meeting because the road was blocked for this horrific accident; an Israeli licensed trailer truck (driven by an Israeli Arab citizen) carrying fuel hit the Palestinian bus carrying children on a trip head on and the bus turned over and burst in flames (the bus burned not the trailer!).
This happened near the Palestinian village of Hizma and the villagers rushed to save the children. The Israeli cars could double back and go through the wall on the Israeli only roads. We in the Palestinian cars had to wait as ambulance after ambulance took the dead and injured away
Forgetting about my own personal troubles, I thus started to think based on the issue of compassion and dignity more. A story like this should generate compassion and it certainly helps us identify decent human beings (like the Israelis and Palestinians of all religions who helped save the lives of so many children).
But why did so many ignore it or feel no compassion because it is not their children or belong to their self-identified (fictional) group. A 33-year old Palestinian Khader Adnan is on his 61 days of hunger strike (because he is held without charge in so called administrative detention by Israel). How many will care if he dies or care now about him? Regardless of his background, isn’t he someone’s husband, someone’s father, someone’s son, someone’s uncle? Below is a letter from a friend about Khader Adnan’s situation.
These and other stories that break our hearts do not seem to elicit even a blip of compassion and care from millions who may tangentially hear about these things. Some people say there is “compassion fatigue” among some of us but I disagree.
I believe once you have true compassion for fellow human beings you can never tire of it; compassion here is defined as compassion for all human beings not selected members of your “tribe”, “nation”, “religion” or other concocted group identity (to me this is the opposite of compassion).
Watch the firsthand video of the horrible crash here ( disturbing scenes were blurred out)
Eleven years ago (4 June 2001), I published this letter in Haaretz titled “Sincere condolences” about another tragedy which is relevant here:
“Upon hearing the news of the wedding party turned to tragedy by collapse of the building in Jerusalem, my shock and sadness were intense. It only got worse and turned to tears when I later saw the video footage and read about the alleged construction problems. The video footage reminded me of the footage of my sister’s wedding. I was touched by the ordinariness and beauty of this event and then the tragedy that ensued. I grieve for the victims and my thoughts and prayers are with the families and with you all.
Please accept my sincerest and humble condolences. I am a Palestinian American who works for human rights, including the Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their homes and lands. I believe that all people of Israel/Palestine must and will eventually live in one democratic and secular state with a constitution that protects all its citizens and treats them equally.
We are so similar and it is a shame that political ideas (Zionism and other forms of nationalism) divided us. In 1967, as a 10-year old child in Beit Sahur, I witnessed something that still touches me to this day – a reunion between my grandfather and his Jewish best friend from high school. Two old folks who had not seen each other between 1948 and 1967. Two old folks who cried like children. Both are gone now. I thought of this, and how much I miss the wisdom of my grandfather as I saw the recent events and the tragedies and the victims of violence in our homeland.
My grandfather wrote to me in 1974 that if he was to give me one piece of advice for the future it would be to realize that the world changes and that we have to remove our own shackles, which come to us from society and culture. It is time we started thinking and reflecting carefully on the futility of separation, nationalism, and militarism.
It is time to insist on and teach ourselves to live together in equality and humanity. If the Berlin wall tumbled, Apartheid in South Africa was dismantled, and Europe is unifying, why can’t we do the same? Imagine if the billions of dollars we spend on weapons were spent to better our economies, desalinate sea water, develop closer relationships and friendships, and provide therapy for the over 17,000 injured in the recent violence.
In the midst of our tragedies, let us work together for a better world.
Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh teaches and does research at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities in occupied Palestine. He serves as chairman of the board of the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People and coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Sahour He is author of “Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle” and “Popular Resistance in Palestine: A history of Hope and Empowerment”
Harris & Dawkins on Science and Morality
“If someone doesn’t value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide that proves they should value evidence.
If someone doesn’t value logic, what logical argument would you invoke to prove they should value logic?”
Sam Harris
Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins discuss science and morality.
At The Sheldonian Theatre, University of Oxford.
Egypt Military Rejects US Threats & Braces for General Strike
“A phone call from the American embassy in Cairo used to be the sure thing to straighten up such a wretched mess. But this time it wasn’t enough.”
Dr. Ashraf Ezzat
Egyptian investigative judges investigating the foreign funding of NGOs, enter a press conference at the Justice Ministry in Cairo on Feb. 8, 2012
Egypt’s ruling military council has rejected US threats to end aid payments to the country.
US-Egypt tensions have risen considerably following the decision to ban 43 pro-democracy staffers- including 19 Americans- from travel and refer them to a Cairo court on charges of violating laws regulating the operation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Among those hit by travel bans is a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, as well as other foreign staffers of the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute.
A statement released on the council’s official Facebook page stressed that Egypt is a country with a rich heritage that cannot be pressured or blackmailed into doing someone else’s bidding.
The council also added that Egypt’s international relations with the US and other countries were governed by the common interests of both parties, and that “Egypt does not bow to the domination of anyone.”
… Now, such a statement, coming out from a military that has been indulging in an obscenely large American aid (US$1.3 billion annually) for the past 30 years, is quite perplexing and calls for some contemplation.
To begin with, and to put the reader into perspective, the whole “crackdown on foreign NGOs Cairo offices” with the decision to prosecute 43 staffers is but a cheap political stunt we Egyptians have seen it so many times before but with slight variations.
The catch goes like this. … In dealing with any foreign investment, be it in the field of industry, publishing, tourism, etc, Egyptian authorities would grant the applicant for investment, or in our case, the NGOs, a temporary permit to operate in the country until all the required paper work is completed, but of course the paper work is never completed and the final authorization is never granted for security reasons.
If things went smoothly and convenient for the authorities, nobody would bring up this final authorization issue, if not, the targeted venture/business would be suspended and its workers/staff legally convicted of breaking the regulation rules and also of illegal foreign funding.
It’s a dirty old trick, but works fine and even looks good before any court of law.
A phone call from the American embassy in Cairo used to be the sure thing to straighten up such a wretched mess. But this time it wasn’t enough.
Workers from a non-governmental organization National Democratic Institute, wait as Egyptian officials raid their office in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, 29 December, 2011
The American embassy aggressively intervened; Leon Panetta, the US defense secretary, telephoned Egypt’s military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, and asked him to lift the travel ban on the American citizens, even a delegation from the supreme council of armed forces (SCAF) flew to Washington for negotiations over the issue.
The awfully weird thing is that SCAF grew more hostile and adamant about legally pursuing this NGOs case after the generals had cut short the visit to the U.S and returned to Cairo.
Something unusual happened back there in the Pentagon behind closed doors. “Egypt military generals play risky game with U.S” The associated press reported … Watch the video here.
Were the Egyptian generals so naïve and stupid as to jeopardize 30 years of US alliance and support over this small NGOs’ issue … or is this a whole new deal aimed at helping the military to censor freedom of expression and silence the growing tide of dissent in Egypt?
But on the other hand, SCAF may also fear it has much more than US aid to lose if it fully embraces a democratic transition that could bring civilian oversight of its considerable financial assets and curb its long-standing domination of power.
In the meantime, Egypt’s ruling generals have deployed additional soldiers and tanks across the country in preparation for the anniversary of former president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster from power on 11 February.
The move is seen as a warning to activists planning to mark the day with a national strike and civil disobedience campaign to demand a swifter transition to civilian rule.
Prime Minister Kamal Al-Ganzouri told a press conference that calls for civil disobedience were part of a plan to “overthrow the state” and all Egyptians should unite to get through the crises and dangers the country was facing.
Al-Azhar, a prestigious seat of Sunni Muslim learning, also criticized the calls for civil disobedience, the state-owned Al-Ahram news portal reported.
Pope Shenouda, head of the Orthodox Coptic church, said the civil disobedience was against Christian religion, according to the MENA news agency
Egypt’s de facto ruler Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, called earlier this week for plans for the first post-Mubarak presidential election, currently scheduled for June, to be completed quickly.
As Saturday will mark one year since the ouster of President Mubarak, Egyptians remain deeply divided and confused, amid increasing political fog, over how they perceive post-Mubarak Egypt.
Jewish Roots of Islam’s Extremism
“Both Judaism and Islam proceeded from the same fundamental premise, influenced by the same tribal culture and practically followed the same orthodox pattern“
Dr. Ashraf Ezzat
“Police arrest two after residents chase officers, hurl rocks, and burn trashcans to protest the removal of a sign that calls for the separation of men and women on a main street.”
… The first guess most people will conjure up on listening to this piece of news is that the report was probably talking about some Muslim extremists in Afghanistan or may be Somalia, not so far-fetched a guess, but to everybody’s astonishment the “Haaretz” report was talking about Jewish extremists and specifically in Tel Aviv, the very heart of the state of Israel.
Anyway, those who thought of Muslims as more fitting into this story of flagrant discrimination against women ought not feel totally disappointed for it actually doesn’t make much difference whether we were talking about Jews or Muslims as long as extremism is concerned. For both Judaism and Islam proceeded from the same fundamental premise, influenced by the same tribal culture and practically followed the same orthodox pattern.
So much, indeed, was Muhammad indebted to the Jews for a great portion of his teaching on this and other subjects that the Qur’an has been described as a compendium of Talmudic Judaism. (Blair, The Sources of Islam, p. 55).
A lot of westerners are not to be reproached for associating Muslims with violence, racism, intolerance and discrimination, after all, this kind of anti-Muslim propaganda is what they have been fed over the last decade and specifically following 9/11, and ironically by a Jewish-controlled mainstream media.
And if they haven’t been told different, how we expect them to know better .. or even refrain from subscribing to the impending and irreparable Israeli/American folly in Iran?
And since this is no mainstream hypnosis, we might as well hit you with part of the true story about the relation between Judaism and Islam.
In the wake of 9/11, an extremely important milestone in the history of Mossad, and as the mainstream media spotlights began to focus on Islam as the new global enemy, many in the US & Europe were made to think of Muslims as some aliens who landed on planet earth with their weapons of mass destruction, hate-mongering dogma and premeditated plans to annihilate the west.
And as the shrewd prelude of the ‘clash of civilizations’ was being played out, incessant questions about Islam that begged an answer, soon surfaced on almost everybody’s mind “why we never knew enough about Islam; how was it founded? What’s Islam all about and why is there so much extremism in this religion?
The Qur'an
According to Islam online, Islam is the religious faith of Muslims, based on the words and religious system founded by the prophet Muhammad and taught by the Qur’an, the basic principle of which is absolute submission to a unique and personal god, Allah- notice the etymological correlation with Elohim- the designated word for the god of the Hebrews.
Muslims also believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed at many times and places before, including through Abraham, Moses and Jesus, whom they consider prophets. They maintain that previous messages and revelations have been partially changed or tampered with over time, but consider the Qur’an to be both the unaltered and the final revelation of God. In other words, with the revelation of the Islamic verses “the pens have been lifted and the pages dried out”
Arabian variation on a Hebrew theme
Should anyone decide to study those reportedly unaltered and final words of god in Qur’an, he will be astounded by how much the holy book of Muslims is crammed with old stories from the Bible and specifically the Hebrew scriptures.
Now, don’t you get misled into assuming that I’m substantiating Judaism as the ultimate and genuine revelation from god that is truly worthy of following, a claim that could easily be challenged by tracing the Hebrew stories of genesis with the whole epic sequence of Adam & Eve to the Sumerian mythology and by tracing the monotheistic theme in Judaism to Akhenaten’s worship of Aten , or even by watching the Israelites’ backbone story of Exodus denied any entry to the ancient Egyptian texts , rather I’m only trying to underline and pin-point this ‘copy-and-paste’ relation between Judaism and early Islam- so much for the new religion “ Kopimism”
The Sacrifice of Isaac by Caravaggio
Within the confines of the Qur’an you will meet Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon and the rest of the Hebrew mythological patriarchs. Their stories are retold again but with variations that allowed the new prophet’s –unaltered- religion to somehow fit into the Abrahamic tales as its finale.
Reading the Qur’an will practically feel like recounting familiar stories from the Midrash and Talmud but with a Mohamedanian/Arabic flavor.
For example, the story of binding of Isaac, as awfully sadistic and inhuman as it is, is retold in the Qur’an in the same melodramatic scenario where Abraham bound his son, Isaac, before placing him on the altar, all set to sacrifice him as commanded by Yahweh, but in the Muslim version Isaac is conveniently replaced with Ishmael and Yahweh/Elohim with Allah.
Throughout the whole Qur’anic narrative we will encounter other countless examples of stories, Noah’s flood, slavery of the Jews in Egypt, the Exodus, the wandering in the wilderness, etc., copied from the Torah, with exactly the same historical anachronism and exaggeration, and pasted into the Qur’an.
But alongside the biblical stories we will also encounter, as we wade through the chapters of Qur’an, a tribal narrative very similar to that of the oral discourse of the Jewish rabbis and their formulation of god and the world around us as exactly found in the Talmud.
Historically speaking, Mohammed- who was illiterate and had worked as some sheep herder for many years of his teens- had the privilege of mingling with the elite of the Arabian society- a turning point in his life- only after he had been married to Khadija bint Khuwaylid – a business woman of intellect, culture and vast wealth and influence and who practically asked to marry him. And this is actually when the story of Islam commenced.
After his marriage, a new window into the multiculturalism in the Arab peninsula had suddenly been opened for the newly married shepherd, and of all the new experiences, contacts and new ideas he was introduced to, Mohammed was most intrigued by the Jews’ fascinating stories and their pride in relating to a long line of prophets that goes back to Abraham and his special pact with god.
Qiblahtain Mosque, Situated in Madinah. In the beginning and influnced by the Rabbinic tales, the Muslims offered their prayers facing in the direction of Jerusalem!
Mohammed knew that the Jewish story had to be continued with new characters, locations and even with a whole new divinity. But as Muhammed was carving up the body of his new religion, little did he know that he was standing in the precarious shadow of Judaism.
There are abundant examples of the Qur’anic records which are reliant on Jewish sources that can be traced either to the Bible or to Talmudic records such as the Midrash, Mishnah, etc.
There were a host of Jewish communities settled in Medinah and other parts of the Hijaz- major cities in the Arab peninsula- from which Mohammed almost certainly obtained his knowledge through direct conversation and from listening to rabbis educated in Talmudic laws. And this is where and how Islam acquired its radical edge- next of course to being the product of a tribal culture.
In the Jewish Talmud- a word repeatedly mentioned in the Qur’anic verses- the rabbis put attitude before everything else, so they made sure that jews were superior to the gentiles in intellect, in morality and as a race. And likewise did Mohammed in the Qur’an and managed to keep this prejudice but with a new attitude as he featured the Arabs as god’s best of the nations ever- a new variation on the “chosen people” theme.
For it is important to know that Mohammed was acquainted with Jewish teachings not by reading the Bible, Talmud and Midrash, but through serious conversations with the Jews. (Rosenthal, Judaism and Islam, p. 8).
Now, with history, copying ancient tales and theology aside, I ask you to take a look at the so called extremists in both Saudi Arabia – the hub of ultra-conservative Muslims- and Israel- the world’s political asylum for ultra-conservative Jews, and see if you could tell the difference between the Haredim community and the wahhabis’.
Dogma brothers
Salfi vs. Haredi
Once again, you will be surprised by how similar ultra-conservative Jews and Muslims are in regard to their looks (the untrimmed beard, the 19th century outfit), their cuisine (Kosher and Halaal) and their interpretation of the ever-changing world around them through the rigid scriptures they recite and hold as the only and indisputable truth … and yes, and most of all, you will be bewildered by how similarly they both perceive and treat the woman pretty degradingly.
According to tribal culture and values- the shared roots of Judaism and Islam -women’s ‘misbehavior’ is not only a shame on the family but on the community, the village, the tribe, the neighborhood and the neighbors.
When it comes to women’s rights, both Haredim and Wahhabis or Salafis kind of speak the same language. It’s a racist and hate language actually. For them the woman is a constant reminder of the mythological first sin and how Eve (the woman) seduced Adam (the man) and therefore got him kicked out of God’s heavenly kingdom.
And again leaving the rituals, with all the wailing at the wall and the rotation around the Kabaa aside, both hard-line Muslims and Jews view the woman, according to their tribal and religious culture, as a man’s possession and a reflection of his honor and who should never be equated with him.
Both the wahhabis/salafis and the haredi believe that the woman should be segregated from men in public domain, should cover up and should confine to her home and to only go out in case of absolute necessity.
Na’ama Margolis, the eight-year-old girl student in Beit Shemesh who has been subjected to harassment by Haredi men
Bearing that deeply entrenched misogynistic concept in mind, we won’t find it peculiar to read about women, covered up from head to toes and banned from driving cars in Saudi Arabia, for it is a practice that could propagate prostitution and lead every unmarried woman to eventually lose her virginity and turn into some whore…
Nor would it be strange to hear of “Mehadrin” buses – those Israeli buses which are separated by gender and require women to sit at the back … or to even hear of the shocking story of Na’ama Margolis, an eight-year-old girl student at the Orot LeBanot School in Tel Aviv who has been subjected to harassment by Haredi men, in beit shemesh, who believed she dressed immodestly and therefore spat on her face and hurled stones and insults at her like “prutza” (whore) and “shiksa” (the Yiddish term for a non-Jewish woman).
What’s painfully ludicrous is that hard-line Muslims and Jews recognize each other as bitter enemies unaware, through their blatant ignorance of history, of the fact that they both claim authority from practically the same dogma.
“Absolutely, I would not hesitate to spit on any woman who is not dressed in a modest way as the Torah commands, yes, even if she was a 7-year-old girl. After all, I’m a sane man” commented one of the Beit Shemesh haredim community interviewed by Israel’s TV Channel 2’s Shai Gal- watch the whole shocking video with English subtitles here.
“We are trying to determine what kind of society we are – is this a democracy where the majority decides, or is there a minority that pushes everyone in one direction?” asked city councilor Rachel Azaria, who has led the fight against haredi extremism in Jerusalem for years.
Mrs. Azaria’s question didn’t pass unanswered, and while the wahhabis and the salafis are reaping the fruits of the Arab spring and gaining more strongholds in the region, that haredi from Beit Shemesh assured his interviewer form Israel channel 2 with a defiant tone that “whether you like it or not, all of Israel will be ultra-Orthodox. And nothing anyone can do about it.”
But I tend to disagree with that fanatic ultra-orthodox Jew or any of his Muslim counterparts for that matter. Indeed, there is something which all of us can do that will help us take the first exit out of this speedy and crazy way to Armageddon , we can draw the line, that thin and often overlooked one, between history and myth.
History, history! We fools, what do we know or care.
Egypt Soccer Violence: The Military’s Political Game
“Egyptians infuriated by the deaths of 74 people in soccer violence staged protests in central Cairo and clashed with the police forces, as the army-led government came under fire for failing to prevent the deadliest incident since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.”
Dr. Ashraf Ezzat/ Cairo, Feb 4, 2012
Protesters chant anti-government slogans during a protest condemning the death of soccer fans at Port Said stadium, near the Interior Ministry in Cairo, Feb. 2
For the third day in a row, Deadly clashes continue to rage in Egypt over football riots leaving 12 killed and more than 2500 wounded in street clashes over authorities’ failure to stop Port Said football violence.
State media reported renewed scuffles between members of the security forces encircling the building of the ministry of interior and demonstrators who included hardcore soccer fans, aka Ultras, known for confronting the police and who were on the frontlines of protests against the military throughout the last year.
The Ultras played a prominent role with anti-government activists in the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak a year ago, and a spokesman on their behalf has suggested pro-Mubarak forces were behind the soccer incident, or at least complicit.
The soccer violence will likely strike news followers as most unfortunate and tragic accident, but for the supreme military council of armed forces of Egypt (SCAF), a council reluctant to relinquish power, it will definitely strike a different chord.
For a military institution that is supposed to hand over power to civilians by next July, after a monopoly of power for more than six decades, any incident that would allow chaos and insecurity to prevail will certainly be welcomed.
A stampede is an act of mass impulse among a crowd of people in which the crowd collectively begins running with no clear direction or purpose. But last Wednesday’s soccer violence that left 74 killed and at least 1,000 people injured in the Egyptian coastal city of Port Said when soccer fans invaded the pitch after local team al-Masry beat Cairo-based Al Ahli, has been no accidental stampede.
The fingers are once again pointing at the police’s complicity in the bloody incident as well as the overall instability and insecurity that has been afflicting the country since the fall of Mubarak.
The scenes and initial investigations proved all the gates to the football pitch were deliberately ordered open minutes before the end of the match, and also showed the police forces stood still and did almost nothing to prevent the disaster.
“It seems the whole thing had been planned beforehand.” said Mahmoud el-Sayed, one of the football players at Al-Ahly club (the most famous football club in Africa)
While the violence escalated in Port Said stadium, the police forces practically did nothing to prevent it.
While a whole year has lapsed since the Egyptian revolution erupted, it is getting more and more obvious every day that toppling Mubarak was the easy part of the revolt and the real battle, if you like, that has been raging throughout the last year is between the will of the people and the mighty apparatus of the police and the military, who have practically been running the show in Egypt since 1952.
What happened in the stadium of Port Said, a continuation of the security vacuum policy, could only be explained as part of a plan by the military council and the interior ministry to push the country into chaos and force Egyptians to embrace military rule.
That fact that SCAF succeeded in securing parliamentary elections (completed in January 2012) across nine different governorates but were incapable of securing a football match where clashes were possible raises few legitimate doubts about the hidden motivations behind the soccer riots and the seriousness of the military to cede power to a civilian government as well.
Egypt’s ruling generals have put themselves on a collision course with the country’s new parliament after declaring that MPs will not have the final say over the drafting of a fresh constitution. Being referred to as “the guardian of constitutional legitimacy”, SCAF is pushing for a constitution draft that includes guiding principles for Egypt’s new constitution, but also, and most importantly, introduces amendments that would shield the military from civilian oversight.
SCAF is being pressured to hand over power to a civilian administration and a civilian president as soon as possible. But the top brass, refusing to get out of the scene empty handed, suggest the armed forces should have the final word on major policies even after a new president is elected.
But that is not likely to resonate well among the revolutionaries and political activists and will be the more reason for protests and violence to escalate on the Egyptian street, for the Arab spring has confirmed one thing: the army is not fit to govern – neither in Egypt nor in Syria or Yemen.
Newt Gingrich Financier “Wishes he fought for Israel Not America”
“I’m not israeli, the uniform that I wore in the military UNFORTUNATELY was not an israeli uniform, it was an American uniform.” -Sheldon Adelson
Newt Gingrich
“All we care about is being good Zionists, good Israelis..” -Sheldon Adelson
The 3rd richest American, he gave over 10 million dollars of his own money to support Gingrich’s campaign for the Republican nomination which saved Gingrich’s campaign according to the NY Times. He declared that he stands behind Gingrich all the way due to his unconditional support, some would say subservience, to Israel.
In return Newt called the Palestinians an “invented people” and promised to send CIA snipers in to fight Israel’s wars for them.
In this speech to an Israeli audience supporting the Israeli newspaper that he owns, Sheldon declares his allegiance to Israel and gets laughs when he boasts that his son will become a sniper and operate American drones to hunt Palestinian civilians.
If he had said this about any other country Fox News and its lackeys would be calling him a traitor and asking him to give up his American citizenship. Only in this case, Sheldon is a personal friend of Rupert Murdoch and was allowed to use Fox News’s “fair and balanced” platform for his Israeli paper as a personal gift.
Why the Jews won’t Let Ron Paul Win?
For he is not an Israel firster, Ron Paul is enduring under a fierce Zionist war aimed to discredit and remove the man — who dared criticize Israel’s manipulation of USA– from the 2012 presidential race.
And that is exactly why he will not be allowed to win.
