Now its the real test of sincerity and commitment to freedom, liberty, human rights and democracy that USA and West should come forward to fully support the oppressed people of Arab/Muslim countries, not by mere lip service....
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Loonwatch, like many around the world has been glued to events in Egypt. Will it go the way of Tunisia, full blown revolution, or will brutal repression quell the revolt as happened in Iran?Only time will tell. You can follow the live stream of what is happening in Egypt at AlJazeera’s Live Stream.The governments of the West in general and the US in particular have given luke warm platitudes about their support for peace, rights etc. Hillary Clinton in the beginning stages of the protests this week left a sour taste in the mouths of the protestors when she essentially extended her support for the Mubarak regime,I urge all people to exercise restraint. I support the fundamental right of expression, but our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people
This is realpolitik speak that translates to “we want the status quo” and the Egyptian people know it and they resent it because it exposes the hypocrisy of the so-called beacon of “democracy and freedom.”Vice President Joe Biden blurted out some hours ago what perhaps may be the true sentiments/wishes of the US government:Mubarak is no dictator, he shouldn’t step down…
How out of touch is Biden? Is he blind? Does he think we are children?Today Hillary Clinton came out with a statement that on its surface seems to contradict Biden’s revelatory position,“People in the Middle East, like people everywhere, are seeking a chance to contribute and have a role in decisions that will shape their lives…The Egyptian government needs to understand that violence will not make these grievances go away”
While these statements indicate an improvement in rhetoric they fall far short of a condemnation of the violence and repression perpetuated by the Mubarak regime.The events in Tunisia and Egypt have all but thrown a wrench in the stereoptypes perpetuated by anti-Arab/anti-Muslim racists and Islamophobes.It proves that regime change need not come at the point of a gun, and that Democracy can be born in the Middle East through organic change from the grass roots as opposed to the Bush Doctrine.It proves that the stereotype that Arabs and Muslims are incapable of change unless it be either theocratic or despotic is a racist lie. These protests are for better living conditions, jobs and DEMOCRACY!It also proves that despite attempts at enflaming sectarian division between Muslim and Christian Egyptians by extremists in both the extremist Muslim and anti-Muslim camps they are more united than ever. During protests Egyptian Copts protected their Muslim brethren as they prayed and vice versa!It exposes quite clearly the hypocrisy and double standards of many in the West who give zero credit to the Arab and Muslim peoples, it also exposes their close link and dealings with decadent despotic regimes. We can’t help but notice the difference between the reaction to protests in Iran and these protests, can it be that denunciations are affected by how friendly or adverse one is to the regime in question?The Egyptian people have tasted liberation, have tasted the idea that they can take destiny into their own hands and bring about –realchange– that can lead to a brighter future, may they succeed in transitioning to Democracy.Update #1: Tear gas canisters are…drum roll…MADE IN THE USA:Update #2: From mp11,“Spencer is having a hard time turning the protests in Tunisia and Egypt into a Jihad.
In his latest offering he tells his stupid readers that when Muslims call for democracy and freedom they are in fact calling for Shariah.
“Calls for democracy effectively amount to calls for Islamic rule.”
Update #3: Some 2,000-3,000 people thronged around a military vehicle near Cairo’s Tahrir square, a Reuters witness said. They climbed on it, shaking hands with the soldiers, and chanted: “The army and the people are united” and “The revolution has come”.(AlJazeera English)Update #4: Mubarak breaks his silence, attempts to look defiant. Is he adding fuel to the fire?
Loonwatch, like many around the world has been glued to events in Egypt. Will it go the way of Tunisia, full blown revolution, or will brutal repression quell the revolt as happened in Iran?
Only time will tell. You can follow the live stream of what is happening in Egypt at AlJazeera’s Live Stream.
The governments of the West in general and the US in particular have given luke warm platitudes about their support for peace, rights etc. Hillary Clinton in the beginning stages of the protests this week left a sour taste in the mouths of the protestors when she essentially extended her support for the Mubarak regime,
I urge all people to exercise restraint. I support the fundamental right of expression, but our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people
This is realpolitik speak that translates to “we want the status quo” and the Egyptian people know it and they resent it because it exposes the hypocrisy of the so-called beacon of “democracy and freedom.”
Vice President Joe Biden blurted out some hours ago what perhaps may be the true sentiments/wishes of the US government:
Mubarak is no dictator, he shouldn’t step down…
How out of touch is Biden? Is he blind? Does he think we are children?
Today Hillary Clinton came out with a statement that on its surface seems to contradict Biden’s revelatory position,
“People in the Middle East, like people everywhere, are seeking a chance to contribute and have a role in decisions that will shape their lives…The Egyptian government needs to understand that violence will not make these grievances go away”
While these statements indicate an improvement in rhetoric they fall far short of a condemnation of the violence and repression perpetuated by the Mubarak regime.
The events in Tunisia and Egypt have all but thrown a wrench in the stereoptypes perpetuated by anti-Arab/anti-Muslim racists and Islamophobes.
It proves that regime change need not come at the point of a gun, and that Democracy can be born in the Middle East through organic change from the grass roots as opposed to the Bush Doctrine.
It proves that the stereotype that Arabs and Muslims are incapable of change unless it be either theocratic or despotic is a racist lie. These protests are for better living conditions, jobs and DEMOCRACY!
It also proves that despite attempts at enflaming sectarian division between Muslim and Christian Egyptians by extremists in both the extremist Muslim and anti-Muslim camps they are more united than ever. During protests Egyptian Copts protected their Muslim brethren as they prayed and vice versa!
It exposes quite clearly the hypocrisy and double standards of many in the West who give zero credit to the Arab and Muslim peoples, it also exposes their close link and dealings with decadent despotic regimes. We can’t help but notice the difference between the reaction to protests in Iran and these protests, can it be that denunciations are affected by how friendly or adverse one is to the regime in question?
The Egyptian people have tasted liberation, have tasted the idea that they can take destiny into their own hands and bring about –realchange– that can lead to a brighter future, may they succeed in transitioning to Democracy.
Update #1: Tear gas canisters are…drum roll…MADE IN THE USA:
Update #2: From mp11,
“Spencer is having a hard time turning the protests in Tunisia and Egypt into a Jihad.
In his latest offering he tells his stupid readers that when Muslims call for democracy and freedom they are in fact calling for Shariah.
“Calls for democracy effectively amount to calls for Islamic rule.”
Update #3: Some 2,000-3,000 people thronged around a military vehicle near Cairo’s Tahrir square, a Reuters witness said. They climbed on it, shaking hands with the soldiers, and chanted: “The army and the people are united” and “The revolution has come”.(AlJazeera English)
Update #4: Mubarak breaks his silence, attempts to look defiant. Is he adding fuel to the fire?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With Muslim Brotherhood Set to Join Egypt Protests, Religion’s Role May Grow
Khaled Desouki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The most chaos to be found Thursday in Egypt was in Suez, above, but Alexandria has been a focal point for past protests.
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — Demonstrators in Egypt have protested against rising prices and stagnant incomes, for greater freedom and against police brutality. But religion, so often a powerful mobilizing force here, has so far played little role.
That may be about to change.With organizers calling for demonstrations after Friday prayer, the political movement will literally be taken to the doorsteps of the nation’s mosques. And as the Egyptian government and security services brace for the expected wave of mass demonstrations, Islamic groups seem poised to emerge as wildcards in the growing political movement.
Reporters in Egypt said on Friday that, after rumors swept Cairo late Thursday that the authorities planned to throttle the protesters' communications among themselves, access to the Internet, text messaging services and Twitter was not possible on Friday morning in Cairo, Alexandria and possibly other cities.
Heightening the tension, the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest organized opposition group in the country, announced Thursday that it would take part in the protest. The support of the Brotherhood could well change the calculus on the streets, tipping the numbers in favor of the protesters and away from the police, lending new strength to the demonstrations and further imperiling President Hosni Mubarak’s reign of nearly three decades.
“Tomorrow is going to be the day of the intifada,” said a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood here in Egypt’s second largest city, who declined to give his name because he said he would be arrested if he did. The spokesman said that the group was encouraging members of its youth organization — roughly those 15 to 30 years old — to take part in protests.
But Islam is hardly homogeneous, and many religious leaders here said Thursday that they would not support the protests, for reasons including scriptural prohibitions on defying rulers and a belief that democratic change would not benefit them. “We Salafists are not going to participate in any of the demonstrations tomorrow,” said Sheik Yasir Burhami, a leading figure among the fundamentalist Salafists in Alexandria.
While the largest demonstrations have taken place in the capital, Cairo, and the most chaos Thursday was to be found in Suez, Alexandria has been a focal point for past protests. The beating death of a young businessman named Khaled Said last year led to weeks of demonstrations against police brutality and calls to overhaul the security services.
The city on the Mediterranean, long Egypt’s gateway to the outside world, has mirrored the country’s steady erosion over decades of authoritarian rule. It has gone from being a cosmopolitan showcase to a poor, struggling city that evokes barely a vestige of its former grandeur. The New Year’s bombing of a Coptic church here was a reminder of the direction of the city, identified by European intelligence services as a hub for radicalizing students who come to study Arabic. Many of the most radical Salafists — those who would support the use of violence — were arrested by the government after the bombing.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Sheik Gaber Kassem, leader of the mystic Sufi community here, said the Sufis were discouraging their followers from taking part in the demonstrations, which the government has deemed illegal.
“We are going to be in the mosque and we’re going to be in front of the mosque, but we are not going to march in the streets,” said Mr. Kassem, adding that they were in favor of freedom of expression and had taken part in legal protests Tuesday, but that they were against the violence and chaos that were likely on Friday.
Relative calm prevailed here on Thursday, as activists said they were preparing for Friday’s demonstrations. With riot police and plainclothes security personnel watching, dozens of lawyers protested in front of the courthouse, calling for two of their colleagues who had been arrested at Tuesday’s demonstration to be set free and shouting, “People, people, take to the streets.”
Hamid Said, 29, who founded the Nasar Center for Human Rights in Alexandria, said that to date the protests here had not been led by Muslim groups, as the government claimed. “You did not have the Muslim Brotherhood protesting here, you had normal people protesting against their problems,” said Mr. Said, a lawyer who said he had been arrested five times since 2008, but never detained for more than a few days.
Mr. Said cited political oppression and police brutality as the leading causes of frustration among the people. He said that he had once applied for a position for which he was well qualified, but that he lost out to the son of a government minister.
Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, a Muslim cleric known as Abu Omar, said that many conservative Muslims would not support a secular politician like Mohamed ElBaradei, theNobel Prize winner and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. “ElBaradei and the others, they have no connection to religion. If Hosni Mubarak goes, they will replace him with someone else like him,” said Abu Omar, who came to prominence after it was disclosed that he had been kidnapped by the Central Intelligence Agency from Milan in 2003.
Religious leaders like Mr. Kassem said they could not rule out that many of their followers would join the protests.
The spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood in Alexandria said that efforts by the government to hinder groups from gathering, like blocking access to social networking sites, would no longer be effective.
“It’s already clear that we will go out tomorrow. The message is already out,” he said. “Tomorrow all the Egyptians are going to be on the streets.
A version of this article appeared in print on January 28, 2011, on page A10 of the New York edition.
A version of this article appeared in print on January 28, 2011, on page A10 of the New York edition.
Mischief on Land Rejected:
اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الۡمُفۡسِدِيۡنَ
“.. and do not seek mischief in the land, for Allah does not love the mischief makers.”(Al-Qasas;28:77) اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الۡمُفۡسِدِيۡنَ
“When it is said to them: “Do not make mischief on earth,” they say: “We make peace. Be aware! They are the ones who make mischief but they do not realize it.”(Al-Baqara;2:11-12 similarly also at 2:60, 206, 3:63, 7:56).
“The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace In This world, and a heavy punishment is theirs In the Hereafter. Except for those who repent before they fall into your power: in that case know that Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.”(Qur’an;5:33-34).
Exploitation of poor people, plundering the state resources, corruption, getting innocent citizens killed, not formulating policies whereby the citizens are protected, economically and physically to live in peace. Compromising sovereignty of State, acquired after great struggle and sacrifices in all terms, inducing loss of life of millions in partition ..... Is it not creating mischief through the land?
What is high treason?
Where are the theologians?
Where are the lawyers?
Where are honorable members of civil society?
Busy in other issues?
Please straighten up your priorities.
Resist oppression vigorously but peacefully..the right granted by the constitution...which rulers defy at will...
Other links:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/iran-sees-revolution-its-rival-egypt
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iran-cleric-mideast-unrest-replay-of-our-1979-islamic-revolution-1.339796
