Nov 1, 2011
So who’s responsible for the Maspero deaths?
Jun 30, 2011
الحرية الأكاديمية غير قابلة للمساومة
Jun 15, 2011
Who's afraid of Mohamed El Baradei?
prospective Egyptian presidential runner, is a man to watch out and fear. Why else would Egyptian state TV ban his appearance on one of its programs?
The Mubarak regime had a long list of personalities who were banned from appearing on state TV. The list included outspoken critics of the regime as well as Islamist clerics of various persuasions. It was clear that El Baradei was a persona non grata, for he never made an appearance on state TV. After the revolution, the ban seems to have been lifted. Islamists became regular guests on TV shows and the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide was given ample and celebratory airspace.
When it was announced that El Baradei was scheduled to appear with popular preacher Amr Khaled, who had been banned himself from appearing on state TV, we thought it was meant as a gesture of inclusion after so much exclusion, an acknowledgement of his right as an Egyptian citizen to appear on national TV which is paid for by taxpayers’ money.
But the news arrived that El Baradei was not allowed to appear. The question is: what exactly is threatening in El Baradei? Could it be that he is advocating the dangerous message that all Egyptian citizens are equal? It’s a subversive view to be sure, one that might destroy the very foundation of society.
There are reports circulating now that El Baradei might still appear on the Amr Khaled show after all. To the decision makers who, in the span of a few hours, allow, then ban and later re-allow, all I can say is we “must just pray that when your head's finished turning, your face is to the front again.”
Jun 14, 2011
I spy with my little eye
“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.
Jun 12, 2011
Can the Muslim Brotherhood learn from history?
Jun 11, 2011
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”.
May 31, 2011
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!