Egyptian lawyer says raping women who wear ripped jeans is a man’s ‘national duty.’ We strongly suggest that horny Hollywood move en masse to Egypt where they should fit right in.
Tag: Egypt
Prominent Egyptian cleric urges all men, women and children to grow beards
Egyptian Salafists are trying to persuade other Muslims to grow beards to show devotion to Allah. You won’t believe their bizarre twist on Muslim tradition.
Salafists belong to a puritanical Muslim sect that has become associated with violent jihad. Now there’s a group of Egyptian Salafists that’s trying to persuade other Muslims to grow beards to show their devotion to Allah. But you won’t believe their bizarre twist on Muslim tradition.
The Egyptian Gazette has the details:
These Salafists are calling for a million men to be bearded before the holy fasting month of Ramadan which starts in August.
“This freedom is a fruit of the January 25 revolution. In the presence of the [now disbanded] State Security Police under Mubarak, asking Egyptians to grow beards was like dreaming of touching the moon,” says Sheikh Safwat Hegzai, a Salafist cleric.
… Sheikh Mohamed Hassan, a veteran cleric with strong Salafist leanings, has lauded the campaign, hoping that 80 million Egyptians (this would include all Egypt’s women and children too) grow a beard like the Prophet Mohamed.
Secularists and liberals have denounced the campaign for a million Muslims to grow beards, saying the timing of such a campaign could lead to a rift in Egyptian society.
We would imagine that a nation of 80,000,000 bearded women will, indeed, cause a rift. It will also cause burqa sales to skyrocket.
Source: Egyptian Gazette
February 10: Obama administration says Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t want an Islamic state in Egypt.
April 17: Muslim Brotherhood says, “We want an Islamic state in Egypt.”
The folly of the Obama’s Smart Power™ on display.
The folly of the Smart Power™ promised by the Obama administration was put on full display again on Sunday when Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood made an announcement that surprised no one.
Well, no one except Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, that is.
AlMasryAlYoum.com has the details:
Mahmoud Ezzat, the Muslim Brotherhood’s deputy Supreme Guide, said in a forum held in the Cairo district of Imbaba on Thursday that the group wants to establish an Islamic state after it achieves widespread popularity through its Freedom and Justice Party.
Meanwhile, Brotherhood leader Saad al-Husseiny, said at the forum that the group aims to apply Islamic legislation and establish Islamic rule. His remarks rattled the leaders of several political parties, who said the statements, which were at odds with the concept of a civil state, would worry liberals.
Of course, back in February we were assured by Clapper that the Muslim Brotherhood had no interest in establishing an Islamic state in Egypt. No, they were just a bunch of guys who got together to do public service. Kind of an Islamic Kiwanis Club.
The Daily Caller reminds us of Clapper’s remarkable ignorance back in February:
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said at a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is a secular organization.
Clapper said the Egyptian opposition group, which many American commentators have expressed fears of coming to power in a post-Mubarak Egypt, is a “very heterogeneous group, largely secular.”
Clapper said that the group “has eschewed violence and has decried Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam” and “have pursued social ends, a betterment of the political order in Egypt.”
He also said the the Muslim Brotherhood, which has branches in many Muslim countries, has “no overarching agenda, particularly in pursuit of violence, at least internationally.”
Sigh. Smart Power™ at its finest.
Source: AlMasryAlYoum.com, DailyCaller.com
Nobel Peace Prizes ain’t what they use to be: Mohamed ElBaradei wants to declare war on Israel
Remember the good ol’ days when Nobel Peace Prizes were awarded to people who actually lived lives filled with peaceful pursuits? People like the Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, and Mother Teresa.
Remember the good ol’ days when Nobel Peace Prizes were awarded to people who actually lived lives filled with peaceful pursuits? People like the Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, and Mother Teresa.
Well, those days are gone. Long gone. More recent Nobel Peace Prizes have gone to unabashed terrorist Yasser Arafat, newly-minted war monger Barack Obama, and Egyptian Presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei.
YNet reveals ElBaradei’s warmongering:
Former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who had previously announced his intetions to run for the presidency of Egypt, said Monday that “if Israel attacked Gaza we would declare war against the Zionist regime.”
In an interview with the Al-Watan newspaper he said: “In case of any future Israeli attack on Gaza — as the next president of Egypt — I will open the Rafah border crossing and will consider different ways to implement the joint Arab defense agreement.”
He also stated that “Israel controls Palestinian soil” adding that that “there has been no tangible breakthrough in reconciliation process because of the imbalance of power in the region — a situation that creates a kind of one way peace.”
“One way peace” sounds like something that occurs immediately prior to a “kinetic military action.”
If this guy doesn’t become President of Egypt, he surely has a future in the Obama administration.
Source: YNet
Intelligence expert: Google rankings can help predict political unrest
Don’t worry about the Muslim Brotherhood. Don’t panic. Don’t freak out. The terrorist organization doesn’t inspire enough Google searches to be a force for ill in Egypt.
Don’t worry about the Muslim Brotherhood. Don’t panic. Don’t freak out. The terrorist organization doesn’t inspire enough Google searches to be a force for ill in Egypt.
At least that’s the theory that some in the military intelligence community would have us believe.
A lot of your tax dollars were wasted by NPR to bring you this report:
Consider the debate raging in Washington, D.C., about the Muslim Brotherhood as the revolution unfolded in Egypt, he [Lt. Col. Reid Sawyer, an Army intelligence officer and head of West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center] says. There were concerns in the U.S. intelligence community that the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic political group, might come to power.
“If the decision makers could have understood how little the Muslim Brotherhood was animating the online searches inside of Egypt,” Sawyer continued, “how might it have led to different decisions or different discussions, at least, that were being held in the halls of Washington?”
In other words, few seemed interested enough in the Muslim Brotherhood to search for them on Google. So how much of a role could the group have been playing in day-to-day conversations in Egypt?
It is unfortunate that Al Gore hadn’t invented the internet back in the summer of 1789. Otherwise we could all have been assured that France stood little chance of becoming a military dictatorship. After all, hardly anyone – on or around July 14th of that year – would have had much interest in Googling an obscure little Corsican by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte.
– Written by Kip Hooker at TheVitaminPress.com
Source: NPR.org
Smart Power™ personified: Youth groups behind Egypt uprising refuse to meet with Hillary
Hillary Clinton promised that she would use Smart Power™ as Secretary of State. You know, instead of that Dumb Power the Bush administration apparently used.
Hillary Clinton promised that she would use Smart Power™ as Secretary of State. You know, instead of that Dumb Power the Bush administration apparently used.
Mediaite.com reveals how that’s working out in Egypt:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Cairo this morning, but she won’t be meeting with a coalition of six youth groups that emerged from Egypt’s revolution last month. In a blunt snub, members of the January 25 Revolution Youth Coalition said “based on (Clinton’s) negative position from the beginning of the revolution and the position of the US administration in the Middle East, we reject this invitation.”
ABC News reports a Clinton spokesperson had no immediate reaction to the snub, but a State Department official told the network a meeting had been planned for Tuesday, and Clinton still plans to meet with “members of civil society and transitional government officials” as she urges “Egyptians to continue on the path toward democracy.”
“Members of civil society.” Take that, uppity Egyptian youth groups. A stinging rebuke from Ms. Pants Suit Smart Power™.
Source: Mediaite.com
Heartbreak: Chris Matthews thinks Obama’s Libya speech had no dignity
The comparison is inescapable. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews really is beginning to sound like an abused spouse. “Yes, officer, he whacked me around but I love him and don’t want him punished.”
The comparison is inescapable. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews really is beginning to sound like an abused spouse. “Yes, officer, he whacked me around but I love him and don’t want him punished.”
Mediaite delivers the details:
Chris Matthews had an immediate reaction to President Obama’s statement on the ongoing unrest in Libya and it was not positive. Even liberal commentators Howard Fineman and David Corn agreed that Obama’s statement was weak, and since Libya is no Egypt, Obama will have to talk tougher in the future.
Matthews’ surprising review of Obama’s speech:
“This statement could have been put out by the first President Bush. It has the aspect of an Arabist statement. I shouldn’t be too strong here, but it doesn’t have any dignity. I mean — Ronald Reagan — to his credit, said ‘evil empire’ before the fall of the wall.”
No dignity? This coming from a guy who publicly kisses Obama’s butt five nights a week? Hah! Good one, Chris.
Source: Mediaite
Important spam alert from IHateTheMedia.com
If you receive an email asking you to donate money to help those impacted by the civil unrest in Egypt, don’t fall for it. It’s a pyramid scheme.
If you receive an email asking you to donate money to help those impacted by the civil unrest in Egypt, don’t fall for it. It’s a pyramid scheme.
Freaky: Green ghost horseman rides over the crowds in Cairo
Is it the ghost of King Tut? The ghost of King Farouk? The ghost of Yul Brynner? The ghost of Keith Olbermann’s career?
Is it the ghost of King Tut? The ghost of King Farouk? The ghost of Yul Brynner? The ghost of Keith Olbermann’s career?
Check out the 1:20 mark of this video clip and you see a translucent, green figure floating through – and over – the crowd of rioting Egyptians. It appears to be a rider atop a horse.
What the hell is that?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UKz3GVrHI8
Source: Fox News
Dueling quotes: Joe Biden on Egypt vs. Joe Biden on Egypt
You can count on Joe Biden for consistency. Well, maybe not consistency as much as stupidity. Let’s just let the Vice President explain in his own contradictory words.
You can count on Joe Biden for consistency. Well, maybe not consistency as much as stupidity. Let’s just let the Vice President explain in his own contradictory words.
Here’s Joe on January 27 when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak looked like he might cling to power:
“I think the time has come for President Mubarak to begin to move in the direction that – to be more responsive to some of the – some – some of the needs of the people out there,” Biden said…. “Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things…. And I think that it would be – I would not refer to him as a dictator.”
And now let’s move forward to Joe on February 11 as soon as Mubarak resigned:
Vice President Joe Biden said Friday that the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak “is a pivotal moment in history” and that it is America’s hope it will bring “a path toward democracy.”
Thanks, Joe. We always know we can count on you for the straight story.
Source: OutsideTheBeltway.com, Miami Herald
Headline of the Year: The New York Post on Mubarak
you can always count on the New York Post to come through with the best headlines on any story. Like this one on Hosni Mubarack.
When iOwnTheWorld.com runs the front page of the New York Post, you can consider it just another demonstration of their lack of creativity. When we do it, you can consider it an exposé of their lack of creativity.
Either way, you can always count on the New York Post to come through with the best headlines on any story. Like this one:
H/T: iOwnTheWorld.com
Line drawn in the sands of the Sahara: Mubarak says, “Screw you, Obama.”
Hosni Mubarak, who was supposed to resign on Thursday night, didn’t. And he flipped a figurative middle finger at President Obama in his non-concession speech.
Hosni Mubarak, who was supposed to resign on Thursday night, didn’t. And he flipped a figurative middle finger at President Obama in his non-concession speech.
We know the guy’s a brutal dictator, but damn, how many times have you wished we had a president with balls instead of two First Ladies?
RadioPatriot quotes Mubarak:
During the meeting with the Military Council Mubarak made the following statement:
“We are brothers, soldiers, we have bled together for Egypt, we have shed blood together. Today, we are faced by an enemy who demands we hand Egypt over to our enemies. The people of Egypt have been silenced by these insurgents and we have been more than patient. Will we all sit here and obey the Obama regime? Will we not once again, with honor stand up to our enemies? Will we not continue to stand for Egypt with honor?
Brothers, would you have me crawl away at the command of Obama? Would any of you crawl away like a dog that has been kicked? Would any of you bow down to the fools he has chosen to take our nation from us?
I leave to you, men of honor, the fate of Egypt, the honor of Egypt and in so doing, I know you will decide that which is right and honorable. We have known each other all our lives, we grew to be men together, we have eaten bread in each others houses and honored each others families. Will we now throw all that away for political expediency?”
Translation: “Screw you. I am a warrior, not a community organizer. Now shut the hell up and leave me alone.”
H/T: RadioPatriot
Orders from headquarters: Saudi King Abdullah told Obama to lay off Mubarak
Saudi Arabia has threatened to prop up President Mubarak if the White House tries to force a swift change of regime in Egypt.
Looks like President Obama’s bow to the king of Saudi Arabia only convinced the former that the latter considers himself subservient. Because now the King has issued orders to the President.
The London Times reports:
Saudi Arabia has threatened to prop up President Mubarak if the White House tries to force a swift change of regime in Egypt.
In a testy personal telephone call on January 29, King Abdullah told President Obama not to humiliate Mr Mubarak and warned that he would step in to bankroll Egypt if the US withdrew its aid programme, worth $1.5 billion annually.
America’s closest ally in the Gulf made clear that the Egyptian President must be allowed to stay on to oversee the transition towards peaceful democracy and then leave with dignity.
“Mubarak and King Abdullah are not just allies, they are close friends, and the King is not about to see his friend cast aside and humiliated,” a senior source in the Saudi capital told The Times.
Two sources confirmed details of the King’s call, made four days after the people of Egypt took to the streets. The revelation of Saudi concerns sheds new light on America’s apparent diplomatic paralysis and lays bare the biggest rift between the nations since the oil price shock of 1973…
“With Egypt in chaos, the kingdom is Washington’s only major ally left in the Arab world and the Saudis want the Americans to remember that,” said a source in Riyadh.
Well, that’s where the Saudis are wrong. They apparently haven’t heard about President Obama’s magnificent Cairo speech. You know, the one that convinced everyone in the Muslim world to love us. From what we hear it was very effective and we are universally adored in the region.
So put that in your hookah and smoke it, Abdullah.
Source: Times of London
Smart power! United States favorability in Egypt has dropped from 30% to 17% in the last four years
But Barack Obama gave that pretty speech in Cairo. But Barack Obama said the world would love us when he became President. But Barack Obama said he’d use Smart Power™ to regain the national stature that George Bush squandered. But…but…but…
But Barack Obama gave that pretty speech in Cairo. But Barack Obama said the world would love us when he became President. But Barack Obama said he’d use Smart Power™ to regain the national stature that George Bush squandered. But…but…but…
Investor’s Business Daily reports:
When Barack Obama first ran for the White House, a key argument he made was that he could “heal” America’s battered image in the eyes of the world, especially with Arabs, in the wake of the occupation of Iraq and other Bush administration policies. In June 2009, he gave a much ballyhooed speech in Cairo that the White House dubbed a “new beginning.”
Despite this new beginning, the administration has been largely on the sidelines during the tumult in Egypt, little able to affect or even stay ahead of the events. One reason may be that the U.S. is actually less popular in Egypt today than it was during the Bush years.
According to Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, the U.S. had a 30% favorability rating in Egypt in 2006. That is not much to be proud of, but by 2010 it had sunk to a mere 17%. (Pollster Nate Silver has argued that polls show a recent rise in pro-U.S. feelings in Egypt, but the methodology of that data has been questioned.)
We’ve given it considerable thought and we believe one more speech is exactly what this situation calls for.
Source: Investor’s Business Daily
The Egyptian crisis: Analysis by anagram
The wisdom of the universe is revealed through anagrams. We went to the Oracle of Anagrams and asked her to share her wisdom about the Egyptian situation.
The wisdom of the universe is revealed through anagrams. We went to the Oracle of Anagrams and asked her to share her wisdom about the Egyptian situation.
MIDDLE EAST = LETS DIE MADLY
HOSNI MUBARAK = OH I’M SUNK ARAB
HOSNI MUBARAK = I RAN AMOK BUSH
HOSNI MUBARAK = I SHRUNK OBAMA
OMAR SULEIMAN = A MORALE MINUS
ANDERSON COOPER = PONDER CARE SOON
CAIRO, EGYPT = AT EPIC GORY
ISLAMIC REVOLUTION = A CLUMSIER VOLITION
Shocker: Chris Matthews says Obama makes him “ashamed as an American”
Believe it or not, MSNBC’s leading Obama sycophant appeared on Morning Joe to harshly criticize the way President Obama has handled the Egyptian crisis.
That thrill up Chris Matthews’ leg has turned into a lump in the back of his pants.
Believe it or not, MSNBC’s leading Obama sycophant appeared on Morning Joe to harshly criticize the way President Obama has handled the Egyptian crisis.
Matthews said Obama’s words and actions have made him “ashamed as an American.” He reamed the President for his disloyalty to Egypt’s leader, Hosni Mubarak.
“Barack Obama,” Matthews said, “as much I support him in many ways, there is a transitional quality to the guy that is chilling.”
“I believe in relationships…” he continued. “You treat your friends a certain way. You’re loyal to them.”
Don’t read too much into this, because Matthews is like an abused wife who has her husband arrested and then drives down to the jail to bail him out. By this time next week he’ll once again be telling us he loves Obama.
Robert Gibbs wants Egyptian change now, but has a little trouble defining “now.”
Robert Gibbs insisted that President Obama wants a transition of power in Egypt now. But all that tough talk started to fall apart when a reporter had the temerity to ask what Obama’s definition of now is
Robert Gibbs put on one of his more remarkable bravura performances in a White House press briefings last week.
He insisted that President Obama wants a transition of power in Egypt now. But all that tough talk started to fall apart when a reporter had the temerity to ask what Obama’s definition of now is and heard Gibbs define it as sometime between yesterday and September.
This clip shows the entire boring press briefing, so save yourself some pain by going to the 14:45 mark in this clip. (Transcript follows the video.)
Q Thank you, Robert. When you talk about the transition happening now, how do you define “now”? Because now means today not September.
MR. GIBBS: Well, no, now means yesterday — because when we said now we meant yesterday.
Q Right.
MR. GIBBS: So I mean I think the definition of now is —
Q But when you say now today, it means now —
MR. GIBBS: And I meant yesterday —
Q — or yesterday.
MR. GIBBS: This is — again, I want to be clear. This is — though we are in the here and now, now started yesterday. Again, I think that’s what, Dan — what the people of Egypt want to see is not some process that starts a week, a month or several months from now. This is a —
Q So you’re not satisfied with September as an out date for President Mubarak?
MR. GIBBS: If you’re asking if now is September, it is unseasonably warm, but it is not September. Now means now. The transition — there are things that the government needs to do. There are reforms that need to be undertaken, and there are opposition entities that have to be included in the conversations as we move toward free and fair elections that we’ve advocated for quite some time.
Q So is the White House then satisfied with Mubarak in power until September?
MR. GIBBS: Again, I am not going to get into all the details of what they discussed. The conversation was frank and the transition must begin now.
Bill Clinton said, “It all depends on what your definition of is is.” The Gibbs Corollary is, “The definition of now is different now than it was then.”
Source: WhiteHouse.gov
Legacy enhancement: Jimmy Carter not only lost Iran, he lost Egypt
Jimmy Carter’s presidency has always been known for two things – economic malaise and losing Iran. Now he can add a third achievement to that dismal legacy – losing Egypt.
Jimmy Carter’s presidency has always been known for two things – economic malaise and losing Iran. Now he can add a third achievement to that dismal legacy – losing Egypt.
Carter has always taken great pride in the fact that he was the midwife at the birth of the Camp David Accords, which were signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat on September 17, 1978.
Now it turns out that Carter’s proudest achievement is just as disastrous as his other achievements.
The Jerusalem Post has the pathetic particulars:
“After Camp David, all the Arab world sees that we are no longer a leader. Camp David made us a slave”
Like many at Tahir square on Tuesday night, 26-year-old Mohammed Salama of Cairo spoke of an eagerness for Egypt to shelve its nearly three decade old peace agreement with Israel, but insisted he does not want the country to go to war with Israel. In his hands he held a sign reading in Arabic “Netanyahu is worried about Mubarak”, which he said he wrote because “this is my country and my leader, I don’t want him to care about Israel, only about my country.”
… Salama’s friend, Hazan Ahmed, 29, said the years of peace with Israel are tinged with the sting of humiliation, and that Egyptians still feel they’re country is not completely free of the Israeli occupation of the Sinai which ended under Camp David.
“The Egyptian army can’t enter Sinai, we feel that it is still Israel. There are Israeli people there all the time, but when we go, we have to stop at checkpoints and we get turned back. We don’t feel that Sinai is Egyptian.”…
Ahmad Ragab, 42, spoke more vehemently towards Israel saying “look, all Egyptian people hate Israel, only Sadat wanted Camp David …”
Nice work, Jimmy. You so-called peace plan has been festering in the hearts of Egyptians for 30 years.
Maybe you should write another anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic book that explains how the Jews caused this problem.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Egyptian protestors are schizophrenic: Part II
Some of the Egyptian protesters hate Hosni Mubarak and call him a Jewish collaborator. But others protesters, who seem to hate him just as much, call him Hitler.
Some of the Egyptian protesters hate Hosni Mubarak and call him a Jewish collaborator. But others protesters, who seem to hate him just as much, call him Hitler.
Make up your minds, damn it. Which one is it?
Part I: New survey discovers that Egyptians are schizophrenic
15 reasons for the Egyptian riots that the mainstream media never mentions
IHateTheMedia.com’s crack team of investigative reporters and Egyptologists has put some alternate reasons that explain the outbreak of rioting in Cairo.
Oh, sure, the mainstream media tells you the Egyptians are rioting because they’re pissed at America and because they’re pissed at Israel and because they’re pissed at Mubarak and because they’re pissed at each other. But there are other reasons the Egyptians are pissed. Reasons the mainstream media never talks about.
Luckily, IHateTheMedia.com’s crack team of investigative reporters and Egyptologists has ferreted out some others reasons for the rioting in Cairo. Such as:
1. Angelina Jolie being cast in the remake of Cleopatra.
2. Nation’s failure to inspire a Top 40 hit or stupid dance craze since the mid-1980’s. (See video on left.)
3. Tired of Iranian dominance of the “Crazy Muslim Caucus” at Arab League meetings.
4. Facebook’s “Everybody Draw Ramses Day.”
5. Twilight series of books and movies doesn’t feature a mummy character along with the vampire and werewolf kid.
6. Cairo Blockbuster bringing back late fees.
7. They just found out that the Library of Alexandria was burned down.
8. Practicing soccer hooliganism for upcoming World Cup.
9. Redneck cops tasering innocent camels.
10. Haven’t had a chance to break out the camel cavalry outfits and sabers since World War I.
11. Rioting is their way of saying, “My religion of peace will bash in more heads than your religion of peace.”
12. Introduction of an innovative new program called “Winning the 14th Century.”
13. Muslim chicks dig rioters.
14. Rumor that Justin Bieber was playing at Tahir Square.
15. It’s an Islamic thing. You wouldn’t understand.
Maybe Arnold wasn’t the worst governor in history: Jerry Brown compares California to Egypt
He’s only been in office for two weeks, but Jerry Brown is already making people long for the good ol’ days when Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor.
He’s only been in office for two weeks, but Jerry Brown is already making people long for the good ol’ days when Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor. His State of the State speech on Monday night must have been the most disjointed, poorly-delivered political speech in history. And we’d say that even if he hadn’t used the situation in Egypt to push another tax increase.
Let’s just let the Los Angeles Times take if from here:
Citing the pro-democracy unrest in Egypt and Tunisia, Gov. Jerry Brown called it “unconscionable” that GOP legislators are vowing to block his attempt to ask voters to extend tax hikes to balance the budget.
“When democratic ideals and calls for the right to vote are stirring the imagination of young people in Egypt and Tunisia and other parts of the world, we in California can’t say now is the time to block a vote of the people,” Brown said in his first State of the State address in nearly 30 years.
He said the budget has tough choices but that the people “have a right to vote” on the package.
Let’s see. Mubarak’s been in power for 30 years and Egypt is a corrupt state on the verge of collapse. California’s Democrats have run the state legislature for 30 years and California is a corrupt state on the verge of collapse.
On second thought, maybe the comparison isn’t so outlandish.
Source: Los Angeles Times
New survey discovers that Egyptians are schizophrenic
The situation in Egypt is confusing and the Egyptian people are confused. Very confused. Two recent surveys from Pew highlight exactly what we mean.
The situation in Egypt is confusing and the Egyptian people are confused. Very confused. Two recent surveys from Pew highlight exactly what we mean:
…the Pew researchers found that 84 percent of Egyptians favor the death penalty for people who leave the Muslim religion.
In another survey, Pew found that 90 percent of Egyptians say they believe in freedom of religion.
Our interpretation? Egyptians believe you should have the freedom to become a Muslim, but not the freedom to un-become one.
Part II: Egyptians protestors are schizophrenic
Source: Washington Examiner
Gaza suffering under blockade by Israel. Oh, and by Egypt, too (but let’s not talk about that)
It’s always reassuring, somehow, to see that the rest of the world’s media is just as biased as the American media. Take, for example, this story from the BBC.
The headline says, “UN Chief Says Gaza Suffering Under Israeli Blockade.” Damn those dastardly Israelis. The article continues:
It’s always reassuring, somehow, to see that the rest of the world’s media is just as biased as the American media. Take, for example, this story from the BBC.
The headline says, “UN Chief Says Gaza Suffering Under Israeli Blockade.” Damn those dastardly Israelis.
The article continues:
The UN chief has said Israel’s blockade of Gaza is causing “unacceptable suffering,” during a Middle East visit to reinvigorate the peace process.
Ban Ki-moon told Gazans that “we stand with you” as he visited an area damaged by Israel’s offensive 14 months ago.
His visit to the region comes amid tension over Israel’s plans to build more settlements in East Jerusalem.
But if you force yourself to keep reading, you’ll come to this revelation mentioned in passing all the way down in the tenth paragraph:
Among a list of criticisms of the blockade by Israel and Egypt, Mr Ban said the blockade was counter-productive as it prevented legitimate commerce and encouraged smuggling and extremism.
What’s that? The problem is so severe that Egypt, another Muslim country, is cooperating with Israel by blockading Gaza?
We assume the left will now begin referring to the evil, racist Egyptians in the same way that they refer to the evil, racist Israelis?
But we won’t hold our breath.
Source: BBC via Best of the Web
Even Egyptian dictatorship shows more support for Iranian democracy than Obama does
Barack Obama is an amazing man. He spoke in Cairo on June 4 and instantly transformed the entire Middle East. In fact, the transformation has been so complete that the dictatorial regime in Egypt can now give Obama lessons on how to speak out against the brutal Iranian regime.
Barack Obama is an amazing man. He spoke in Cairo on June 4 and instantly transformed the entire Middle East. In fact, the transformation has been so complete that the dictatorial regime in Egypt can now give Obama lessons on how to speak out against the brutal Iranian regime.
Here’s a translation of a June 18 editorial from the Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram:
Events in Iran have followed in close succession since the announcement that fundamentalist candidate Ahmadinejad was elected to a second term in the presidential elections. Between the mass demonstrations [of the reformists] decrying electoral fraud, and the counter-demonstrations accusing the reformists of allegiance to the West, the international community has stood confused about what position to take towards this democratic outpouring in a country that is on the threshold of acquiring nuclear capabilities, something all international and regional actors consider an unwelcome development.
The caution that has characterized the position of the principle international actors towards the abuses occurring in the streets of Iran, up to and including the killing [of protesters], may be sending the wrong message to the ruling powers there. The upshot of this message is that the strong desire to reach a political resolution to the Iranian nuclear crisis and to avoid a clash with the Iranian authorities is a goal that supersedes all other considerations – even if these other considerations be support for international principles and human rights, and the urging of the [Iranian] government to stop the violence and bloodshed and to lend an ear to the views of the Iranian opposition. [This opposition] has expressed its rejection of the election results and its resistance to a second term for the current president, primarily for domestic reasons, and principle among them [Ahmadinejad’s] failed management of the economy.
In other words, grow some cojones, President Obama.
(“Cojones,” of course, is an Arabic word meaning “backbone.”)
Source: Al-Ahram via Gateway Pundit
