(...) The recent cold winds to hit Cairo and Egypt came as a shock to some. These cold winds came from the decrees of President Mohamed Morsi. He was supposed to be the protector and developer of democracy according to many. He has turned out — for many — to be quite different. He essentially grabbed the powers of the judicial, executive and the legislative branches of the baby democracy that is developing in Egypt. He stole the candy from the baby, according to many in Egypt.
Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood supporters cheered in delight. Just about everyone else felt the cold winds. They also felt that their revolution was falling prey to a manipulative, dangerous and very clever man. The person who the Brotherhood really wanted at first had the last name of Al-Shater, “the clever one”. The real clever one turns out to be the person that many called “the spare tire” — the American-educated “former” leader in the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Morsi Isa El-Ayat. The last part of his name might give some in the west pause, if they are thinking.
Egypt for now is looking more like Iran in 1979 than ever before.
The liberals and intellectuals were the original igniters and leaders of the Egyptian revolution; the Muslim Brotherhood took it from them. There were discussions about inclusivity, but as the Copts, liberals, Wafd and others left, the Constitutional and other committees made no effort to reincorporate them. There was a collective crocodile sigh and the leadership went on with the committees.
The press, other media, academics, government officials and more are being packed by members of, or loyalists to, the Muslim Brotherhood. Discussions about applying a somewhat strict version of Sharia in Egypt get more heated by the day, while the opposition apparently continues to be sidelined from the game. The extremist Salafis seem to have more voice in the new Egypt than the academics or even the experienced umdas (village leaders) in some areas.
Sectarian tensions are mounting. The recently elevate Pope of the Copts has stated publicly that he rejects the mounting power of the extremists and wants his flock to be considered full members of Egyptian society. Given that the Copts make up around 8-10 percent of the country, that makes sense.
A working democracy requires inclusivity. It needs a sort of equality supported not just voting, but other civil and social rights too. It took the United States over a century to move toward greater voting and other rights for minorities. These were hard fought battles that started with the bloodiest war in American history, the Civil War, and went on into the 1960s with the various civil rights and voting acts. This process is ongoing. (...)
Then the heat disappears And the mirage Fades away
I rec.an email from a friend the other day entitled "Being a Muslim Woman". It's quite long and to be honest very scary.The scary part is that she says,In 20 yrs there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S.to elect the president by themselves! Rest assured they will do so. You can look at how they have taken over several towns in the USA...Dearborn Michigan is one,and there are others. It's happening here in Canada also,but I think it will be sooner here because we have such a wimpy freekin Govt.
Like when the Irish took over Boston with their strange foreign religion and stubbornly refused to integrate into our society! Terrifying!
So what do you suggest? Mass deportations? Forced sterilizations? Segregated camps? Will that be enough, or should we just round them up and final solution them?
For the irony-impaired: the above is an example of sarcasm. I apologize for having to add this tedious disclaimer but...criminy some people are thick. Don't try this at home. Closed course with professional typist. Objects in mirror are close to apoplexy.
Their strange foreign religion? I'm Irish born and I never knew we had a strange foreign religion. Thanks for setting me straight. As for what do I suggest? I dont have a suggestion for you,because criminy,it sounds like you have it all figured out.Mass deportations,forced sterilizations segregated camps.What a wonderful mind you have.
BTW. I really don't give a rats rectum what you want to do with them. Maybe you could ask the family of the murdered Ambassador to Iran,or the families of the people killed on 9/11,or the families of the American,Canadian and British Soldiers , killed by roadside bombs and other cowardly devices. For the the irony impaired , the above is an example of .........Ahhhh f*ck it, who gives shit,have a nice f*cking day !
The US ambassador to Libya was killed last night in an attack on the American Consulate sparked by a video mocking Mohammed, Islam’s prophet. The video itself was hardly seen at all by anyone in the United States, but a translation to Arabic posted on YouTube suddenly incited anger and violence in the Muslim community.
The film—titled “Innocence of Muslims”—was produced, written and directed by a man named Sam Bacile, a real-estate developer from California. Bacile is an Israeli-American, and his film drew about $5 million in donations from Jewish donors across the country, he has said.
Few people in the United States had seen the video, but it was promoted by Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who’s penchant for burning Qurans has put him in the spotlight before. His promotion likely put the film on the radar of Islamic activists, who objected to what the New York Times calls a “buffoonish caricature of the prophet Mumammad,” who, in the film, calls a donkey “the first Muslim animal.”
Bacile is now in hiding, although he’s not ready to take back what he said in his movie. While he’s not sure who translated it into Arabic, he doesn’t blame his film for the deaths of the ambassadors. “I feel the security system (at the embassies) is no good,” Bacile told NBC News. “America should do something to change it.”
But Bacile also knew the potential risks of making such a movie. Steve Klein, a consultant to Bacile on the film, had warned him. The Guardian reports:
Klein said he had vowed to help Bacile make the movie but warned him: “You’re going to be the next Theo van Gogh.” Van Gogh was a Dutch film-maker killed by a Muslim extremist in 2004 after making a film that was perceived as insulting to Islam.
In protests outside the Libyan embassy, angry citizens decried Bacile’s depiction of their prophet. Some of them wore Guy Fawkes masks, while others held signs saying “Worshippers of the Cross, leave the Prophet Muhammad alone.” Protestors also climbed the walls of the American embassy in Egypt and seized an American flag. They were continuing to protest Wednesday morning. The New York Times reports:
Zeinobia also reported that confusion about the origins of the film was so general that one group of fundamentalist Muslims was “calling for another huge protest at the embassy of Netherlands, demanding its closure because the Dutch government is producing an insult film against Islam.” Dutch diplomats responded with a statement denying these claims, she noted.
While the Koran does not spell out a prohibition against depicting Mohammed, some Islamic traditions forbid it.
For the irony-impaired: the above is an example of sarcasm. I apologize for having to add this tedious disclaimer but...criminy some people are thick. Don't try this at home. Closed course with professional typist. Objects in mirror are close to apoplexy.
I rec.an email from a friend the other day entitled "Being a Muslim Woman". It's quite long and to be honest very scary.The scary part is that she says,In 20 yrs there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S.to elect the president by themselves! Rest assured they will do so. You can look at how they have taken over several towns in the USA...Dearborn Michigan is one,and there are others. It's happening here in Canada also,but I think it will be sooner here because we have such a wimpy freekin Govt.
Like when the Irish took over Boston with their strange foreign religion and stubbornly refused to integrate into our society! Terrifying!
So what do you suggest? Mass deportations? Forced sterilizations? Segregated camps? Will that be enough, or should we just round them up and final solution them?
For the irony-impaired: the above is an example of sarcasm. I apologize for having to add this tedious disclaimer but...criminy some people are thick. Don't try this at home. Closed course with professional typist. Objects in mirror are close to apoplexy.
I rec.an email from a friend the other day entitled "Being a Muslim Woman". It's quite long and to be honest very scary.The scary part is that she says,In 20 yrs there will be enough Muslim voters in the U.S.to elect the president by themselves! Rest assured they will do so. You can look at how they have taken over several towns in the USA...Dearborn Michigan is one,and there are others. It's happening here in Canada also,but I think it will be sooner here because we have such a wimpy freekin Govt.
(...) The flashpoint appeared to be the film about the Prophet Muhammad, portions of which in recent days have been circulating on the Internet. Contravening the Islamic prohibition of portraying the prophet, clips from the film show him not only as flesh and blood—but as a homosexual son of undetermined patrimony, who rises to advocate child slavery and extramarital sex, for himself, in the name of religion.
"The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others," Mrs. Clinton said Tuesday night.
"But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind," she said in reference to the attacks.
The film's 52-year-old writer, director and producer, Sam Bacile, said that he wanted to showcase his view of Islam as a hateful religion. "Islam is a cancer," he said in a telephone interview from his home. "The movie is a political movie. It's not a religious movie."
Mr. Bacile said he raised $5 million from about 100 Jewish donors, whom he declined to identify. Working with about 60 actors and 45 crew members, he said he made the two-hour movie in three months last year in California.
The film has been promoted by Dr. Jones, who said Tuesday that he planned to show a 13-minute trailer that night at his church in Gainesville, Fla.
"It is an American production, not designed to attack Muslims but to show the destructive ideology of Islam," he said in a statement. "The movie further reveals in a satirical fashion the life of Muhammad."
In the hours leading up to the rally in Cairo, the U.S. Embassy there invoked the First Amendment rights to free speech, but said the film constituted an abuse of those rights.
"The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims—as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions," it said in a statement. "Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."
It wasn't clear whether the brief invasion of U.S. Embassy grounds in Cairo—one of the largest diplomatic facilities in the world—would damage America's relationship with the new Islamist-backed Egyptian administration. (...)
A US official has been killed and another wounded as an armed mob attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi. The attack came hours after protesters stormed the US Embassy in Cairo in indignation over a US film they say insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
“One American official was killed and another injured in the hand,” Libya's Deputy Interior Minister Wanis al-Sharef told AFP. “The other staff members were evacuated and are safe and sound.”
The attackers in Benghazi set fire to the building, according to witness reports, who say much of the consulate was burned. There were reports of gunfights between the attackers and Libyan security force. At least three members of the security forces were taken away in an ambulance, Reuters reported. (...)
CAIRO - Israel airlifted its ambassador home and sought U.S. intervention with Egypt to help secure its embassy here early Saturday, hours after thousands of Egyptian protesters besieged the building, with several managing to gain entry and fling Hebrew-language documents from a balcony.
Protesters knocked down a 12-foot concrete wall that had been built last week to protect the embassy, which is near the top floor of a 21-story residential building in the upscale Dokki area. At least two protesters scaled the front of the building to pull down the Israeli flag, hanging from the 20th floor. It was the second time in recent weeks that demonstrators had removed the flag...
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident, which led to the departure of the Israeli ambassador and nearly all of his staff, a serious breach of bilateral relations...
NOT cool. I've seen this movie before, and I didn't like the plot. The Egyptians better get their acts together. Quick.
Good article! Oy, now it's the Jews! That is not good! Any excuse to start another war in the Middle East.
