I spy with my little eye

The arrest by the Egyptian authorities of Ilan Grapel, an American-Israeli spy, dominated Egyptian news yesterday. The authorities alleged that he was actively fomenting trouble, stirring sectarian conflict and recruiting agents for Israel. On Twitter, however, the issue was treated with skepticism and biting humour. Under the quickly created “elgasos” (spy) hashtag, there was an endless stream of cynical comments:

“To be honest, if this man were a spy for real, he must be prosecuted on grounds of stupidity”.

“As a matter of fact, if a spy managed to do all that, he ought to be declared innocent and we must arrest the whole Egyptian people”.

“Is this man stupid or what? He comes to Egypt to spy at the time of security vacuum? Isn’t Israel worried about its spies?”

“The spy was arrested because he worked illegally and didn’t obtain a work permit”.

Spontaneous, off-the-cuff humour never ceases to amaze me.

Can the Muslim Brotherhood learn from history?

In his autobiography I was President, Mohamed Naguib, Egypt’s first president (June 18, 1953 to November 14, 1954) chronicles the events following the successful coup that overthrew King Farouk in 1952. The book charts the path taken by Egypt’s military leaders from promises of establishing a civilian democratically elected government to the disbanding of political parties and autocracy. Naguib indicates quite clearly the direct role played by the MB in destroying Egypt’s aspirations for democracy. By siding with Nasser against Naguib, they mistakenly thought that they were securing themselves a distinguished place in the nascent political system. They little understood that they were digging their own graves:

During this period, the MB represented the one force that was capable of tipping the balance in favour of either of the two forces competing for power at that time: Nasser’s power and mine. Nasser had to win them to his side. But as soon as he secured their support against me and won the battle, he turned against them and got rid of them. This was what happened.

The MB made a strategic mistake. They had imagined that the disbanding and destruction of political parties would be to their advantage because it made them the only existing political entity. They simply did not realize that a single stick was much easier to break, a conventional wisdom we were taught as children and still teach our children.

… Through my representative Mohamed Riad I made clear my views regarding the necessity of putting an end to military rule and the return of the army to their barracks. I explained the importance of the establishment of a democratic, parliamentary life, the return of political parties and the lifting of censorship on newspapers. But the MB objected to all that and demanded that military rule stayed in power. They also objected to the return of political parties and parliamentary life as well as to the lifting of martial law. They wanted the status quo to continue unchanged. They wished to keep me as sole leader while removing Abdel Nasser and the rest of the revolutionary council from power. They wanted the prospective civilian cabinet to include MB members but reserved the right to approve its formation. They also wanted Rashad Mehanna, one of their members, to be given the post of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. A secret consultation committee should be set up of military leaders loyal to me and an equal number of MB members. The committee should ratify all laws before being passed and approve the the government. It was as though the MB wished to have total control over the government without bearing any of the responsibilities.

When Mohamed Naguib refused their offer, they had no problem in supporting Nasser and military dictatorship. The rest is of course history.

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Did God punish Egypt for the sake of the Muslim Brothers?

Did God punish Egypt for the sake of the Muslim Brothers?

This is what the Supreme Guide of the MB recently asserted. When Gamal Abdel Nasser persecuted the Muslim Brothers in 1954 and 1965 Egypt was miltarily defeated in 1956 and 1967 respectively. So according to our Muslim Brother, Badie, the fight was between Nasser and the MB, with God taking the side of the latter. The question to ask is: and where, pray, do the Egyptian people fall in this equation?Unfortunately for the MB the Egyptian people do not exist. This is no great wonder. A former Supreme Guide openly expressed his disdain for Egypt when he said “Egypt can go to hell”.

An open letter to Israel (written after the flotilla disaster)

It was with a mixture of admiration and awe that the world heard of your valiant attack against the aid convoy headed for the Gaza Strip on 30 May 2010.

As you have invariably and tirelessly pointed out in similar situations in the past, you acted here in legitimate self defence. Although the activists on board the peace ships were still in international water when your soldiers attacked them, they were clearly in breach of international law. You had strong reason to believe that they came in bad faith and with malicious intent to foment trouble. And of course they attacked your commandoes first, without the least provocation. Your men who only boarded the ships to welcome them and steer them safely to the shore found themselves under a vicious and unexpected attack, which naturally forced them to retaliate. The unfortunate exchange occasioned the death of no more than nineteen and wounding only fifty, though the toll is still rising. So all we can say to the so-called freedom loving activists is that they deserved what they got.

The activists’ most heinous and unforgivable crime was to try to bring food and supplies into Gaza, which you have managed to turn into the vastest human cage in history. Your achievement in enforcing and maintaining the blockade on this troubled area is truly worthy of the Guinness Book of Records. No similar model exists or has ever existed before. Later generations will no doubt remember and appreciate your actions, and the annals of history will proudly record how you helped prevent little children from growing up to become terrorists. Depriving them of food and education, and leaving their souls to fester in hate and loathing, is only a means to an end. Machiavelli must be dancing in his grave to see his principles so religiously applied and so enormously successful.

Your detractors may allege that your actions represent a crime against humanity. But the answer to those unfounded claims is simple: human rights are for human beings and not for sub-humans such as the one and a half million Palestinians who are in fact terrorists, either actual or potential. Even if Gazan children obstinately held on to life and refused to be exterminated as a result of this blockade, they would become so psychologically devastated that they would be rendered totally harmless in future.

By keeping an army of occupation in the West Bank and putting Gaza under total siege, you have not only redefined colonialism but have also re-invented it anew. Your Lilliputian state may be just as diminutive as its eighteenth-century counterpart but it is, one must admit, far more ruthless. With your arsenal of top-notch weaponry which you no doubt use with discretion to discipline and punish, you have turned into the greatest and most honoured bully in the world, with the blessings of your friends and supporters in high places.

But will the world listen to your pleas and stop the aggression of Palestinians and their activist supporters who are bent on disturbing your peace-loving nation and threatening its very existence? Is it not possible for you to enjoy peace within your legally acquired, ever-expanding borders? Let us just hope that the world continues to slumber on while you fulfil your mission of love and humanity, a taste of which we have just seen in the waters of the Mediterranean!

Western leaders must stop kissing the hands of Arab dictators

The topography of autocracy in the world today shows a marked concentration of brutal, despotic regimes in the Arab world. No Arab regime, whether monarchic or republican, can claim to be exempted from the pattern. While it wouldn’t be fair to blame the rise or longevity of those despotic regimes on the West, it would be blatantly unfair to deny the role played by various Western governments in aiding Arab tyrants, boosting their images and facilitating their robbery and abuse of their people.

A combination of internal factors such as poverty, poor educational infra-structure and prevalent paternalistic traditions have no doubt contributed to the emergence of tyranny as a recognizable structure in Arab societies, allowing those home-grown dictators to hold on to power for decades on end virtually unchallenged.

But Arab despots in fact survived and thrived under the guidance of western governments/leaders and with their blessings. Western leaders, on their part, seemed only too willing to oblige their autocratic counterparts and had surprisingly few qualms in displaying their partiality in public, often referring to them as staunch allies or forces of stability and of good. Most shocking of all, however, was the footage showing Berlusconi kissing the hand of Gaddafi. To dismiss this gesture as the momentary aberration of a man with questionable attitudes, to say the least, would be to misunderstand the symbiotic relationship between these despots and their Western allies, the bond between organisms that survive by feeding on each other.

Western leaders in fact have been kissing the hands of our brutal, blood-thirsty dictators, both literally and figuratively, for many decades now. As prime minister, Tony Blair accepted a Christmas holiday paid for by Mubarak in 2001, and more recently French Prime Minister Fillon also had a taste of lavish Egyptian hospitality. Did it occur to either of them that these holidays were actually sponsored by the citizens of a country where the minimum monthly wage was less than USD 50? This is hardly likely.

But paid holidays are perhaps only the icing on the cake of booties and we may yet to learn the full extent of this exchange of gifts, for how many spoonfuls of sugar were offered to make those unpalatable regimes go down? Equally disturbing is the complicity of various Western institutions with autocratic regimes, particularly academic establishments of the caliber of the London School of Economics which had no scruples in accepting a gift of 15 million pounds by the Libyan regime. Did the venerable establishment know that Gaddafi in one of his amazing speeches ranted against schools and universities as “a corrupt western invention” that he wanted to replace with some form of traditional home schooling? If such were his views of western academia, why on earth was he keen on securing a Ph.D. for his son from LSE? And why did LSE oblige?

Western governments have helped, and still continue to help, Arab despots to hold on to their power. Led by the US, they supplied Mubarak, as well as other Arab tyrants, with their arsenal of weapons, which included riot gear, tear gas and electric batons, although they must have been aware that these implements would be used against unarmed civilians. Particularly obnoxious is the supply of fancy, state-of-the-art torture gadgets that had been ingeniously invented to be used by security services against dissidents. Were all these part of the aid package that the US sent to Egypt? Had they been funded by American tax-payers? Are the American people informed about these deals? Why do Western governments which claim the high moral ground turn a blind eye to the brutal practices of their accomplices and strongmen? These are pressing questions that still need convincing answers.

In allowing their banks to become secret treasure boxes for Arab dictators, Western governments are also guilty of partnering with them in the theft of their people. By withholding information on the fortunes amassed by the Mubaraks and Gaddafis of the Arab world, they have made it possible for those rulers to operate with impunity, away from the gaze of their impoverished population.

The inevitable question is why western banks should accept to deposit huge funds which they know could not have come in a legitimate manner. According to Egyptian law, for example, a president should not engage in any form of business and should not make any financial gains out of his position. This in fact renders illegal all the wealth that he and his family have accumulated over his thirty years in power. This wealth is in fact the property of the Egyptian people. It should therefore be returned without fuss or mess, and without unnecessary legal wrangles that are only intended to confuse and divert attention.

I believe it is the moral responsibility of the countries where the personal fortunes of international heads of state have been deposited to disclose all their details. It is also their ethical duty to return all the money either stashed away in their banks or floating in their financial institutions. This should apply to unseated tyrants as well as to those whose seats are shaking at the moment. I realize of course that in the ruthless world of business where money and power are Siamese twins, such views will easily be dismissed as starry eyed, naïve and impossible to implement. But I am certain that the majority of the population of western nations would not approve of such shady collaborations if they were given the proper information.

Western governments must stop kissing the hands of dictators. If they did, there would not be any need to bomb those very dictators later. I hope that Western leaders realize that the transition from hand kissing to bombing is as absurd as it is morally outrageous. I sincerely hope that the free people of the world would stand and speak against the complicity between those magnificent despots and their western accomplices.

Killing of Pregnant Muslim Woman in German Court

Widespread Anger Among German Muslims and in Egypt and Arab World

Dr. Marwa Sherbini was three-months pregnant when she was murdered in court by her molester. Her murder has sparked off angry protests around the Muslim world.
For eight long minutes, the 28-year old German man of Russian origins continued to stab Marwa Sherbini. For eight long minutes, she suffered the stabs in full view of the panel of judges inside the Dresden courtroom. When the German police finally arrived on the scene, they shot her husband who was desperately trying to save her. The image of middle-easterners as potential terrorists, an image propagated by the media for years now, led them to the wrong conclusion that Elwy Okaz, genetic researcher at Max Planck Institute, must have been the perpetrator of the violence.

Marwa Sherbini’s Four-Year Old Son Watched his Mother Being Butchered

Four-year old Mustapha was witness to the massacre of his mother and the injury of his father. After the incident, he was left in the custody of German Authorities until his aunt arrived to take him home back to Egypt, suffering from severe shock. He will need rehabilitation to be able to cope with the trauma he experienced. In all probability, the tragedy will leave a permanent psychological scar on his whole life.

Marwa’s Body Arrived in Egypt

Marwa Sherbini probably never imagined that this was how she would return home after her years with her husband in Germany. Hosts of grieving mourners stood at 8pm on 5th July, 2009, as the body of the Egyptian pharmacist arrived at Cairo Airport. The dominant feeling was one of deep anger. Her funeral in her native city of Alexandria the following afternoon was marked by masses of people who probably never knew her. Among the mourners were young students from her old school, the EGC, who came to pay their last respects to her.

Media Silence Regarding the Murder of the Muslim Woman in the Courtroom

The official stand of the German authorities has been one of muted regret. European media in general, and German media in particular, gave the brutal attack no prominence at all, regarding it as an isolated incident and presenting the attacker as a man who is mentally disturbed. The question that immediately comes to mind is where Marwa Sherbini went wrong. She sought justice and had no doubt in her mind that she would get it. The cruel irony was that she was murdered in the very place that should have protected her and afforded her the highest degree of safety and justice. She trusted the propaganda that Europe was a place of freedom and equality for all, regardless of gender, race or religious persuasion. She did not realize that in Europe some human beings are more equal than others. She had paid for her misconception with her very life.

Racism and Xenophobia in Europe

A Veiled Egyptian Woman is Killed in a German Court by Fanatic

A 32-year old Egyptian pharmacist was stabbed to death inside a German Court on July 1^st, 2009, by a 28-year old German man of Russian origins. The killing raises questions and fears about the rising tide of ant-Muslim feelings in Europe.

Dr. Marwa Sherbini was a star pupil at her Alexandria School, El Nasr Girls’ College (EGC), one of the oldest and most prestigious educational establishments for girls in Alexandria. Her personality and academic achievements led to her selection as Head Girl of the school before she joined the Faculty of Pharmacy at Alexandria University, graduating in 2000 with flying colors. After she got married to Elwy Okaz, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute, she moved with him to Germany.

Marwa Takes her Son to Play in the Park

In a Dresden park, Marwa took her 3-year old son Mostapha to play. A German man, probably piqued by her headscarf, insulted her and called her a terrorist. She filed a case against him in German courts. When she won the case and the court fined him 750 Euros for having abused her, he appealed against the verdict.

Marwa Stands in Dresden Court to Give Evidence

As Marwa stood in court to give evidence, the man took out a knife and stabbed her 18 times. Present were her son and her husband, who ran to rescue her. But the assailant stabbed him 3 times. A German security officer in court shot the husband in the leg probably mistaking him for the assailant. The husband who lapsed into a coma was taken to hospital suffering from serious injuries to the stomach and liver.

Recalling Geert Wilders’s Anti-Islam Film

The killing of the Muslim woman raises many questions regarding inter-racial relationships and co-existence in Europe. It brings to mind the right-wing short film Fitna (2008) made by the Dutch politician Geert Wilders in which he launched a scathing attack against Islam, portraying it as a religion of violence that poses a serious threat to European life and values . The film displays a verse from the Quran beside images of the twin tower attack of 9/11. He ends his film with statistics indicating that Muslims’ rate of “breeding” will change the demographic structure of Europe in future. This is designed to instil fear in the hearts of Europeans regarding the growth of Muslim population in Europe. The message of hate seems to have cone to roost in this latest act of xenophobic aggression and it looks likely that violence against Muslims will continue.