WWIII

Tags

Al Qaeda, Arab Spring, China, Egypt, General Al Sisy, Hamas, Middle East, Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar, Russia, Sinai, Syria, Turkey, USA, WWIII

The war clouds are gathering, and like Nostradamus predicted, it looks like it will start in the Middle East. The pundits and historians will probably write books about the reasons that led up to it, the circumstances under which it started and the contributing factors to the conflagration. All would be correct, but none would give the true incentive behind such a war. Greed.
Greed is not solely for money, but greed for influence and domination is just as much to blame as greed for money. Not money in the conceivable sense of ordinary mortals, but wealth at its highest and most corrupt.
The obvious demarcation lines drawn between the two warring factions are now being drawn. There are two camps forming with certain countries falling into one or the other. Though geography has something to do with the choice of venue of this coming war, yet it could have been elsewhere just as easily, if it hadn’t fallen in with certain plans for certain areas in the world whose mineral wealth is so attractive. The Middle East is very rich with raw materials, and not just the conventional fossil fuel, but much less conventional ones like the silica found in the desert sands, and the sun and wind found in most of the area.
Though the “young” continent is still rich in its own raw materials, yet it’s economy has been so badly handled that it is near bankruptcy. Believing in the concept that loans are what make the world of finance go round, they lost site of the basic fact that eventually you will have to pay up. The day of reckoning is coming near, and that ability by the young continent is nowhere to be seen. So the real rulers of the world got together and set up a plan for their line of domination to continue. They drew the details of the different roles to be played by the different countries, and manipulated politicians, governments and whole peoples into playing their assigned roles. Though this unknown group has managed to stay in power for centuries, yet very little is known about them, because secrecy is of utmost importance for their work to be successful. Yet rumors started leaking, and with the leaps and bounds in communication technology, these rumors started coalescing into more concrete information. This information is combatted by the group through disinformation and through romanticizing the rumors to give them a slightly ridiculous edge to keep the majority of the people swaying between belief and ridicule of the idea of a conspiracy on mankind.
Be this as it may, the end result is the same. There is a cycle to the necessity of war, for war is what improves the economy. It drastically reduces the population, thus leaving more natural resources to those remaining, and thus reviving the economies needing such revival. It is therefore imperative, as part of the plan to start a conflagration, to set up the circumstances under which it would occur, it’s timing, it’s venue and it’s main protagonists. We are now at the point where the stage is being set, and roles are being assigned.
The actual fighting has already started in two hot spots in the Middle East. Syria, and Sinai in Egypt. After ensuring that as many influential states as possible in the Middle East are turned into what is termed “failed states”, the group is now starting its demarcation lines and assigning the roles of the participants.
The catalyst in most of the cases is the highly nurtured and very we’ll trained and financed, what is euphemistically called “Islamic terrorists”. This is a group that has been set up by highly intelligent, totally unscrupulous persons from the Middle East, who have been mandated to identify a seemingly valid grievance, take it to a heightened level of either patriotism, or better still, religious fervor, by which most youth and a large number of adults of medium intelligence and education are turned into fanatics of one sort or another. Thus the Muslim Brotherhood came into being.
The stage was being set and the elements were put in place. The Brotherhood became the exaggerated version on the ground, of the worst rumors set about by the group to camouflage their existence. They became a secret cult with its own rituals and stringent initiation rules. A bastardized version of Islam was set up through which total control of its followers was ensured, as well as the eradication of any concept of morality. Lying was not only allowed, it was lauded as a mean of survival, and all human frailties were, with diabolical genius, turned into virtues. All the deadly sins were sanctified under certain circumstances, murder, adultery, lying, stealing, greed, pride, anger and even gluttony, all were sanctified and even encouraged in the name of the preservation of the Brotherhood. From this original cult sprang other factions, the most famous of which are Al Qaeda, Hamas, Jameat Islameya and all the little terrorist groups that sprouted the world over. This was holding a tiger by the tail. But their hold was tight and the control was fairly adequate. They were very successfully used in getting rid of the Russians from Afghanistan, at the same time giving them a practice run at how to bring about a failed state.
The fist obvious step on the ground, with the actual conflict of conventional armies was the second war on Iraq, whereby the young continent managed, very adeptly, to demolish a prosperous country where the majority were highly educated and which had a strong army. Not only was said army disbanded, but the infrastructure of the country demolished, it’s extremely rich resources robbed, it’s people fragmented and sectarian violence instigated, but worse still, it’s culture and rich history destroyed. If there is any comprehensive definition of crimes against humanity, this should be it.
The second step in the WWIII set-up plan was the “Arab Spring”, where old, corrupt dictators were easily toppled by a “popular uprising” by the highly romanticized idealistic, brave youth. This started with Tunis, then Egypt, Libya and Yemen. But when the fever started running into Bahrain, this was very ruthlessly and very silently squashed. The plan for the Arab Spring was that the local Muslim Brotherhood take over the rule of these countries and act as surrogates for the USA. The plan for these countries was fragmentation. This was done a few years earlier to the Sudan.
The plan was going very well, the Brotherhood took over in Tunis, then very openly in Egypt. Libya was more difficult as it was never a State with institutions to begin with, so the Brotherhood could not take over, but it was becoming a failed state par excellence. Yemen was a surprise, in a strange twist, the old regime, through slightly different faces, reinstated itself. This was a bit of a set back, but manageable.
It was Egypt that seriously upset some of the plans. With Syria’s Assad mired in a supposed civil war, the only large army left in the area was that of Egypt. This had to be broken. So the puppet Brotherhood President, Mohamed Morsi was instructed to let in large numbers of Mujahedeen from Gaza to start luring in the Egyptian army into a quagmire guerrilla war reminiscent of Torah Bora in Afghanistan. This was a miscalculation. A true popular uprising took place in Egypt against the rule of the Brotherhood, and the Egyptian army gave it it’s support. Then the part of the army that was always assigned to Sinai took over cleaning it up from all intruding terrorists, which included Hamas and Al Qaeda. A very fierce, vicious war took place, and until the underground tunnels linking Gaza to Sinai were demolished, the supply of arms and personnel to the terrorists was unending. Eventually most of the tunnels were stopped and then the tables turned against the intruders. The head of the Army, General Al Sisy, in July, met with the heads of the main Sinai tribes and struck a deal with them, whereby they became informants to the army and helped eradicate the foreign terrorists. It is not known what Al Sisy has promised them, but they seem to trust him and have kept their word. The war in Sinai has now taken the form of sporadic individual terrorist attacks on different army installations. The fierce fighting on the ground is now over with a great number of the terrorists either dead or incarcerated. So the plan to break the Egyptian army has backfired badly.
Added to that is the fact that although the Brotherhood is still putting on a show in Egypt, with small numbers dispersed all over to give the impression of the prevalence of unrest, yet basically their effect is more detrimental to their cause than anything. They have, through their uncontrolled violence against unarmed civilians, managed to alienate the majority of the population, to a point where the people are starting to take matters into their own hands and mete out their own brand of justice. This, of course is understandable, but is very dangerously near the appearance of a failed state, so the government should take precautions that these incidents do not get out of hand.
The preparations for WWIII are still on hand worldwide, and have taken some surprising turns.
To be continued

The Salafi Preacher

Tags

apartment building, children, Christian Orthodox Pope, Christians, Egypt, Facebook, hate, national upbringing, Salafi

There are many people who post on Facebook such opinions as would raise the hackles of the majority of their readers, but none so like those who choose to antagonize one particular faction of society. A couple of days ago I read a post by someone who was quite tactless in his description of the Christian Orthodox Pope. Not only was he very ill-informed, his style was such, that it raised a sense of anger and disgust, not only among Christians, but more so among Muslims.
As a Christian I am used to such opinions and such tactless people. It is not something new. Quite a few years ago, when we were still living in town in an apartment building, there was a minute mosque – what is called a “zawya” – across the road from our apartment building, with a huge microphone directed at us. Every Friday, noon prayers would blare at the building. Not only would the Preacher, the Sheikh, hook it up to the radio, he would also turn it to the loudest volume possible. Then would come the time of the sermon. Never have I heard a more hate-filled sermon in my life. Every week was the same. “Oh God, orphan their children, kill off their offspring, widow their spouses”. Curses were heaped upon all those who were not of “the true faith of Islam”. Sometimes he would specify those as the Jews, others as the Nazarenes (from Nazareth – denoting Christians). So I learned at an early age that being wished ill and being cursed by some supposed men of a God was the norm and nothing to get riled about. So now I take it in my stride. The post on Facebook was not the first, and will not be the last. But what did give me pause and did cause me a great deal of concern was a video clip of a supposed Sheikh, a Salafi, preaching to schoolboys not more than ten years old.
His face was never shown on the film, and although the clip was identified as being filmed in Syria, the accent of the preacher is Egyptian, and he talks about part of the school curriculum called “National Upbringing”, which is definitely something that we have here in Egypt.
What scared me about this clip is the continuous harping and repetition of a doctrine of such hatred as to make my hair stand on end. Not only is he telling those impressionable young boys that what they are being taught about nationalism is all wrong, and that it is against Islam, but he took it further and specifically described Christians as infidels and that the only right thing to do with infidels is to kill them. He did speak about Bashar Assad and about the Syrians, but his main emphasis was on the school curriculum that should not be believed, the feeling of nationalism that is practically a sin, as only Islam is the right path to take. The link to that clip is http://www.coptstoday.com/Copts-News/Detail.php?Id=66151 .
It is the existence of such preachers, and their devastating effect on the young minds they are preaching to, that has me really worried. I understand that such preachers are found a great deal in Upper Egypt, where poverty and ignorance prevail. There they find fertile ground for their doctrine of hate. It is there that the worst atrocities against Christians have taken place.
If Egypt is to be saved from the fate that is bring planned for it, then every man, woman and youth must take up arms in eradicating such teachings. If we wait for the government to do something about it, we will lose our lovely country to the advocators of hate and violence. We have to get together with like-minded people, with like-minded NGO’s, and start identifying these Salafi Preachers, then ensuring that they are contained, and can no longer influence the youth, the future of this country. Like our late sarcastic poet Galal Amer said: “Try to douse the fire of ignorance before turning on the light of knowledge; this is the disease and the cure.”
Egypt has to be cleaned up of such people full of hatred and misconceptions before we could start building on the positive and the good.
God bless and protect my beautiful Egypt.

The Nour Party – The Salafis

Tags

Egypt, Flag of Egypt, Loyalty, Machivellian, Muslim Brotherhood, Respect, Salafis, Scandals, the National Anthem

This is the party set up by the Salafis to represent them on the Egyptian political scene and to act as their vehicle towards ruling Egypt. They do not stand up in respect for the National Anthem, they do not respect the Flag of Egypt and have no loyalty to, or empathy with, those who died for their country’s freedom.
To my way of thinking they are even more dangerous than the Muslim Brotherhood, for they are learning very quickly the lessons of politics and politicians. They have come a very long way in a very short time, and although they have not managed to keep their scandals to a minimum. They managed to cover them up as much as possible. Though their member who, contrary to their beliefs, had a nose job done, then to cover it up lied and made a police report that he was mugged and robbed of LE 100 thousand. True he was supposedly kicked out of the Party when he was caught, but the damage was done. The other member who was caught in a car on a street – in flagrante – with a woman, and again who lied to the police, but was still convicted of a misdemeanor in a public area. And last but not least, those members of Parliament who put forward requests for laws to be passed that would legalize marriage to a nine-year old girl, would ban the English language from being taught and would lower the age of adulthood to help them marry children. pedophilia seems to be their norm. They are far more dangerous to society than ever the Muslim Brotherhood were.
Despite all that, their pragmatism and Machiavellian behavior has propelled them to the forefront of the Egyptian political scene. They are, if possible, even more rigid and backward in their views of religion and society than ever the intolerable Muslim Brotherhood were.
They have stuck to the fact that politics make for strange bedfellows, and have united with whatever factions, no matter how different in principles from theirs, to achieve certain goals and certain gains.
At one time, when the Muslim Brotherhood’s star was on the rise, they caught on to their tails and flew with them. But when they were ousted from power, the Salafis were more circumspect, and though publicly appeared neutral, secretly they helped them just to make sure that they still had an in with them, in case they got back in power. They bolstered their sit-in at Rabea and actively took part in many a terrorist act. They were conspicuously absent from the June 30 revolution.
Now that the have finally been convinced that the MB will not get back in power in the foreseeable future, so they start playing the game which they are quickly perfecting. They are now making noises about mobilizing their people to vote “yes” to the new Constitution. Were they not the Party that tried every possible trick to derail the road map? Were they not the party that objected at every turn to each and every article in the new draft of the Constitution ? Was not the role of their representative on the Committee of a Fifty to create stumbling blocks in getting the Constitution actually drafted, and in trying to plant land mines that would explode in the face of those drafting it?
Why now do they come out and announce that they will mobilize for it? What gas changed, and how are they adapting yo that change and what is the purpose and motivation behind it?
They are now turning into an adversary yo be recognized and reckoned with. They are far more intelligent, and far more subtle in their dealings than ever the MB were. Therefore they are far more dangerous.
I hope that the powers that be are aware of the extent of their perfidious, and their adaptation. Without such awareness, and that of the people in general, we are quite liable to fall into their trap like we did into that of the MB. Vigilance by those in authority, and by the people in general, should be exercised, and a great deal of caution should be taken when dealing with any member of that part.
May God bless and protect my beloved Egypt.

Sisy for President – Pros and Cons

Tags

benevolent, Egypt, MB, President, Sisy, terrorist

Pros and Cons of Sisy for President.
The landslide response to Sisy’s request for the people to mandate and order him to deal with terrorism and potential terrorism is indisputable, despite numerous attempts by the MB and their media machine, backed by their foreign allies, to try to plant doubts about that. His popularity among Egyptians is a fact. But his suitability to become the next President is debatable. I shall not give my personal opinion till the end, as I would like each to make up their mind according to the facts that follow.
First. The people feel eternally grateful to Sisy for what is perceived as being rescued from a fate worse than death at the hands of the MB. Egypt was systematically and deliberately being raped and fragmented, having its basic character changed, with alien concept imposed. Sisy was the one person, representing the army and its striking force, who could have rescued our beloved country, and he did. So Egypt fell in love with its savior. All very natural and expected. But what of the perceived character of that savior.
Second. Not only did he rid Egypt of the terrorists ruling it, but he also kept his promise to retire back to the background and handed over the reins to the Head of the Supreme Court who became our interim President. This has raised him in the esteem of many an Egyptian who had fears of a resumption of military rule.
Third.the Armed a Forces seem to be one of the few entities whose budget is properly managed, so there is cash to spare for special projects. Sisy in a very clever and benevolent gesture undertook the alleviation of financial burdens falling on two factions within society that could use the most help. In one stroke he paid all the debts incurred by mothers who bought appliances for the dowry of their daughters on the installment basis, then were unable to continue the payments. These mothers were jailed. Sisy paid their debts and had them freed. The second factions were the small farmers who got into debt buying seeds and fertilizers and pesticides, then were unable to pay the debt as the interest was t.he only thing they could afford. Sisy paid their debts up to LE 10,000 each. You can imagine what those two gestures have done to a huge number of families, and the goodwill it generated towards Sisy and the army.
Fourth. As the army has one of the best departments for civil engineering in the country, they undertook the completion of one of the main highways in the country, finished it in record time, and plan to take over another highway that has been under construction for quite a few years, and is still unfinished. Egypt’s infrastructure desperately needs that.
Fifth. Not only did he undertake to alleviate the monetary burdens of Egyptians, but he did something that we thirsted for throughout the year of Morsi’s rule. He gave us back a sense of dignity. He put Egypt back on the same footing as other countries on the international stage. He made us proud.
Sixth. The army’s performance in Sinai. The very vicious war waged on all terrorists let in by Morsi into Sinai, and who are now being backed and financed by enemies of Egypt who want its downfall and fragmentation, this war is relentless and very, very bloody. The shutting down of the underground tunnels through which Hamas used to smuggle arms and fighters into Egypt, and goods and gasoline out of Egypt, have now been nearly all stopped. The terrain is murderous, therefore the progress is rather slow, but very thorough. This is very much appreciated by the Egyptian people, as this is stopping the flow of arms into Egypt, and the draining of our much-needed resources.
Seven. The military talks, negotiations and arms deals with Russia have given us a feeling of balance in Egypt’s foreign relations, and diversified our sources, so we are no longer bound to the type of antiquated arms dictated upon us by the US through its AID. This has given Egyptians a sense of freedom and independence that has been sorely lacking for a few decades now.
All the above are the pros. Now to come to the cons.
First. By Sisy becoming President this will give ammunition to all those governments and people with hidden agendas to say that they are vindicated and that what took place on June 30 was a military coup after all.
Second. The timing for Sisy might be too soon, as the state Egypt is in is still very volatile and precarious and anyone at the helm would catch a great deal of flack, internally and externally.
Third. The fear of some Egyptians that he might turn into a dictator, not only because of all the adulation showered on him by the people, but also because of the very dedication of the military spirit to strict rules and regulations, which when applied to civil life might smack of oppression.
These cons are all too real.
My conclusion is that Sisy would make an excellent President in another four years. What we need now is a dignified, honorable statesman with diplomatic experience to become the President. Under the new Constitution, which I think will be passed very comfortably, the president will have limited powers, and will share those with the Prime Minister. I think it is far more important who is going to be our Prime Minister than who is going to be our President. It is far more important to ensure that the right people are elected to Parliament, and that the PM is chosen very carefully. The position of a Minister of a Defense should remain in the capable hands of Sisy, till, over the next four years he grooms someone to take over. In an ideal world, I would suggest Amr Moussa for President and Ahmed Ghoneim for Prime Minister. Moussa has the diplomatic experience for that post, and Ghoneim has the economic vision to the future which is needed in that period. Hopefully in four years we would have been able to limit all terrorist activities in Egypt, that the economy would have recovered somewhat, and that Egypt would be on the right path to becoming one of the leading states among nations.
God bless my beloved Egypt.

Christmas in Egypt

Tags

Christmas, Discrimination, Egypt, Egyptians, MB, Muslim Brotherhood

Today I went shopping at the usual supermarket that I use and was not surprised to see the preparations for Christmas. A whole wing was dedicated to Christmas trees, decorations, baubles, tinsel, lights. You can even find suites for Santa. Of course all made in China. But still. For a predominantly Muslim country, this section is doing very brisk business. I was looking around to see if there are any new decorating ideas when I ran into two veiled young women. We got talking and I was surprised when they saw the cross around my keck, they asked me to please pray for Egypt. I told them that I have been praying for Egypt and Egyptians since 25 January 2012. Then they volunteered to tell me that each one of them will be buying a small Christ tree with all its decorations. I smiled and said that this was normal, because every year I invite and get invited to if tars during Ramadan. They then both started talking about their Christian friends, emphasizing that there is no difference between Muslim and Christian that we are both of the same blood.
This meeting is very indicative of what is happening in Egypt now. We have forever been one people, of the same ethnic origin, same blood, same language, same customs and traditions. We look alike, we dress alike, till lately when the Wahabi influence made the veil prevalent among women. We eat the same food, celebrate certain customs the same, have marriage and death social rituals that are the same. One people, two religions. The strong sense of ordinary Egyptians that part of them is being targeted has had a miraculous effect. Now people bend backward to try to reassure any Christians they meet, even strangers, like what happened to me today. A feeling of guilt is strongly apparent in everyday behavior. Even friends on FaceBook quite often apologies to Christians generally whenever a particularly atrocious crime is committed against Christians because they are Christians. This weapon used by the MB in targeting Christians for violence has had the totally adverse effect to what they were hoping. First of all, their aim is to spread fear among Christians to the extent that they voluntarily start mass immigration. This is part of the grand plan by Obama in attempting to void the Middle East of any Christians, because of the type of new order planned for the Middle East. This plan is to divide each and every country in the Middle East to four or five little entities and keep them warring among themselves so that there is no one large strong country that could stand up to Israel. The reason they want the Christians out is because of fear of their own people protesting the ill-treatment of Christians by predominantly belligerent Muslim states. This is the reason the relations between the US and the Vatican have reached an unprecedented low, with the withdrawal of both ambassadors.
The MB’s second aim is to try to cause a rift between Christina and Muslim Egyptians. Here their plan again backfired badly. Not only have they failed to incite enmity towards Christians, on the contrary, they have managed to unite the majority of Egyptians in one camp, mainly against the MB and their terrorist practices. Although the friendly relations between Christian and Muslim Egyptians have been affected over the past few years by the rise in The Wahabi extremist teachings, yet the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood for a year has managed to practically wipe out that influence.
To begin with, this is a very extreme type of Islam that is totally alien to the centrist, easy going laid back Egyptian character. It only took hold among the very poor and those who were recruited at an early age by the cult of the Brotherhood. But after the rule of Morsi, their draw backs have become so obvious that ordinary Egyptians sat up and took notice, and took it a step further and started protesting. One of the main reasons behind the Egyptians’ second uprising on June 30, 2012, was the discriminatory attitude of the Brotherhood against the different factions of Egyptians. They discriminated, first between a Brotherhood member and a non-member, giving preferential treatment to the former. They discriminated against women, as second class citizens whose role in life was strictly as a propagating machine, and sometimes for the pleasure of men. They discriminated against Christians as infidels who should be gotten rid of, preferably through death. And worse still against the Bahaais whom the considered even worse than Christians.
This policy of discriminating against the majority of Egyptians has now resulted in isolating them. The majority of Egyptians, men, women, Christians, Sunnis and Bahaais are now all united against the Muslim Brotherhood. Especially after they started using random force and deliberate violence against Egyptians as a whole, and the deliberate damaging of property.
It is no longer a question of Christians and Muslims, it is now a questions of all Egyptians against terrorism in the for of the Muslim Brotherhood. Last year was the first time in my lifetime that I see a huge Christmas tree decorated and lit in Tahrir square on December 31. It is celebrating Christmas Egyptian style. We used the tree, we used the lights, but instead of baubles, we used little plaques with the names of those fallen for the sake of Egypt’s freedom. There were songs for Egypt, mixed with Christian hymns sung in celebrating in the new year according to the Gregorian calendar. This is typically Egypt.
God bless my beloved country.

MB Women Jailed – Criminals or Victims?

Tags

Demonstration law, demonstrations, Egyptian Penal Code, jail time, MB International Organization, Muslim Brotherhood, oppressive state, terrorist organization, young women

This incident has taken huge proportions and has gone international, deliberately by the MB International Organization, which had orchestrated it from A to Z.
The story began during the rule of Morsi, when his terrorist organization proposed a law regulating demonstrations and setting very strict conditions, some of them even ridiculous, like demonstrating so far away from the area you are objecting to, as to make the demonstration lose its essence and meaning. The penalties also were extremely harsh, and the police was given a free hand in dealing with the demonstrators. So this law had a very bad name since that time.
After Morsi was removed, the law was re-visited, re-drafted, revised by the interim government and finally approved by the interim President. But the fever against this law remains high by those who did not bother to look at the new version. First of all to demonstrate, as in anywhere in the world, you have to notify the police of the date, time, duration, venue and number expected, so they can ensure the safety of the demonstrators, provide the adequate number of police for protection and control, and ensure that it does not clash with another demonstration. The next point of difference to the MB proposed law is that the penalties are all monetary and no incarceration. There are certain basics found in all countries that have laws regulating demonstrations. These are adhered to strictly in the law that was passed. Once the law was signed by the President, it came into effect.
As is the usual case with the MB, they set up a plan to challenge this law so that if it is applied , then police brutality would be claimed, also a repressive state that oppresses freedom of speech would be cited. If the law was not applied, then they would claim a failed state that cannot even apply its own laws. For the Muslim Brotherhood it was a win/win situation.
The plan set up was very clever indeed. The elements used were young women and very young girls, minors. These were told to start demonstrating in Alexandria, early in the morning, to barricade Syria street in the area called Rouchdi, to disrupt traffic and to start throwing stones at shop windows, using cocktail molotov and if faced by the residents and shop keepers of the area to use knives. The girls were very enthusiastic in their execution of this plan, to the extent that quite a few residents and shop keepers were injured, and photos of their bloodied heads were shown. The stone throwing was very vicious and accurate. A great deal of damage to property resulted from that. The police finally intervened, and the girls surrendered after a slight resistance, just enough to add resisting arrest to their account. Twenty one were arrested, out of which six were minors, that is under 18 years old.
As this incident took place after the issuing of the law regulating demonstrations, and because it was a deliberate attempt at challenging this law, everything that was stated by the law as prohibited, was done. The law said not to stop traffic, they did, the law said not to disturb the peace, they did, the law said not to use force, they did., the law said not to deface buildings with graffiti, they did, the law said not to damage property, they did. The law said not to physically hurt people, they did. Another law says not to resist arrest, they did. Yet another law had categorically stated that the organization of the Muslim Brotherhood is disbanded and that it is illegal to belong to such an organization, and the girls claimed their membership to that organization very openly in dress, posters and slogans.
The trick played by the planners of this incident was to try to embarrass the government and the courts into either letting them go, or into prosecuting them according to the PENAL LAW. As they had not notified that this was going to be a demonstration, the law regulating demonstrations could not be applied. They had to be accused of what they were caught doing, under the penal law, the punishment of which is much harsher than that of the one regulating demonstrations.
Here the plot thickens. Once the girls were arrested and taken into custody, a hue and cry was raised that it is now the young women and girls of the MB who are being targeted by the “coup’s oppressive government”. Once it was found that six of those taken into custody were minors, they were turned over to juvenile court. But the remaining 14 being adult, were to face an adult court accused of several counts of misdemeanors. Each count could give them a maximum of three years of jail time. This was very clearly explained to them, but the plan of the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood had another thing in mind. How could these girls be made to look like martyrs, David facing Goliath ? Their next step was very clever, but very obvious.
On facing the court the lawyer hired to defend them refused to utter a word. According to Egyptian law if your lawyer does not defend you, you have the right to another. The girls refused to change their lawyer. The Judge presiding then, again as per law, asked them if they would like to personally defend themselves, and they refused. They had previously been caught red-handed and when taken into custody and questioned, confessed to all the accusations, stating defiantly that they knew what they were doing and that they did all that deliberately. The Judge had no option but to pass sentence in an open and shut case. So each one of the 14 adult women was given jail time of 11 years and one month.
This was exactly what had been planned by the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood and now they had a case they could take to the international media, where poor, defenseless young girls were given an extremely stiff sentence by a brutal regime bent on oppression and the persecution of those opposing it.
Everybody fell into the trap. Many an Egyptian felt that the sentencing was too stiff, not realizing that the Judge is restricted by the letter of the law and had no leeway since they were caught red-handed, had confessed and professed no acknowledgement of wrong-doing or of remorse, that he HAD to pass these sentences. Many people were not informed that because they had not resorted to the law regulating demonstrations, they had automatically been tried under the regular Egyptian penal law, which has much harsher penalties for such misdemeanors. Many people are still not aware that these sentences are now going to be part of their permanent record, that they are now considered in the eyes of the law and of society, as convicted felons with a criminal record.
These girls are the victims of a ruthless terrorist organization that has no compunction in using those who believe in it in the most vicious way possible. To the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood these girl are expendable. They have done what is needed in providing them with the tool to try to tarnish the image of the interim government and the judicial system in Egypt. Up till now the general public is split between sympathy for young girls being jailed for so long, and those who see that they were criminals, did criminal acts punishable by law, and got their just deserts. But there is a middle road, though the legal complications look insurmountable.
These are young girls who were brainwashed and led to believe that what they were doing was fighting for a religious cause and that they will be considered as the highest form of fighters, the martyrs. When sentence was pronounced they were so happy, laughing and grinning at the cameras, holding up the sign of Rabaa and feeling very proud and entitled. These are young women whose future has been drastically affected. They now have a criminal record. They will have to serve rather long years incarcerated. When they get out of jail they will still be under probation for another four years. When word got around that a Presidential pardon might be forthcoming, the girls said, if it materializes they will refused it. In essence these girls would have lost all their youth, the best years of their lives, in jail. What for? To serve the political purposes of a ruthless terrorist organization. In my view they are victims, not of the law, but of outlaws who have brainwashed them and used them. They are victims of a society that made them available to such an outlawed organization, and they are victims of a broken down education system that made them vulnerable to such ideas and capable of being brainwashed. If anything, this case epitomizes the tragedy that is Egypt today.

Addiction – The Other Side

Tags

Egypt and the Egyptians, MB, Salafis, support group

On the other hand there were some really positive addictions by the Egyptian people as a result of the 25 January 2011 revolution. Egyptians who were not consciously aware, became so, to the love they have for Egypt. What might be described as a wave of patriotism does not cover the depth and breadth of that emotion. Many an Egyptian, who in former years, repeated a joke at the expense of the country, has now become a staunch defender of Egypt and loudly attacks anyone who is foolish enough to criticize it. Ordinary people whose nose was constantly to the grind, trying to keep their heads above water and to barely survive, have now lifted their heads, are standing tall, lifting the flag and willing to die for Egypt. A ver famous saying that some attribute to the later Pope is: Egypt is not a country we live in, it is a country that lives inside us. So very true. Especially now, when, after a ling period of dormancy, a group awakening has taken place and the people are now aware of the extent of their love for Egypt.
Quite often one does not value a thing until they are about to, or actually lose it. This has been the case with Egypt and the Egyptians. It took the threat of losing the essence of the Egypt that we have known and loved, to have us rise in its defense and put our lives on the line to have it returned to us the way we knew and loved it. The one year under the rule of the terrorist organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, and their representative, Morsi, was enough to open the eyes of many an Egyptian. The desperate attempts on their part to “Brotherize” the country were a death knoll to their rule. Egyptians have been forever a peace-loving people, very moderate, easy-going people. People who love to have a good time, who love music and dancing, who appreciate poetry, painting and sculpture, who revere the arts and enjoy the. There is not a single social or religious occasion that does not have its own songs and its own music. Every small or large social occasion must have some kind of music to denote festivity. Then we get the Brotherhood and their cohorts the Salafis trying to prohibit music and dancing and the cinema as being frowned upon by religion. While the Islamic religion is totally innocent of such libel. It is their own narrow, warped interpretation, with no basis whatsoever in religion.
This joie de vivre which is an inherent quality of Egyptians was what motivated them to rise against a bigoted, dark ages mentality, that tried to impose its narrow-minded view of the world on a people who love life and enjoy living in the sun.
This addiction resulted in another. The getting together of like-minded people. People who have never met, or would have never met under normal circumstances, got together and became friends because of their unified goal. This has enriched many lives and has generated a positive energy that has been very beneficial to a large number of people. The inevitable bouts of depression and fear that take over periodically are now being easily battled by this strong support system that grew out of the closeness of individuals united in the love of a country.

Addiction

Tags

Addiction, arguments, cure, demonstrations, Egyptians, excitement, placid, violence

Over the past three years the Egyptian people have become addicted to quite a few traits that never seemed to register before the revolution of 25 January 2012. Before that date Egyptians were thought of as being placid, fatalistic people, reconciled to their fate, accepting every adversity as part of Gods will. The change in the Egyptian character after January 2011 is really significant. The peace loving, rather laid back traits of the patient people who work in agriculture, what are called, the valley people, suddenly evaporated. Like an easy going half asleep giant suddenly opening his eyes and waking up.
The first addiction was that of demonstrating. Before that only a very, very few used to demonstrate in protest against the government or against anything. The only time that happened was when the Mahala workers rioted against conditions in the spinning and weaving industry, a few years before. But generally all was quiet, but for a new fledgling movement, Kefaya. Still the demonstrators were usually just a few dozen. After January 2011 that changed completely. It looked like the people got infected by a very fast moving virus. The virus of dissent. Of revolt. Of getting together as one man and taking to the streets and shouting their anger and rejection of certain conditions at the top of their voices. Going on marches, getting together with other like-minded people that they didn’t know and going to squares and sitting-in seemed to take over the Egyptian imagination and a fire was lit in the Egyptian soul.
This was seen as a very effective means to reach the goals set by those demonstrating. So this continued into the rule by SCAF then with better reasons during the rule by Morsi and the Brotherhood, and is now continuing as an unbreakable habit. One of those early demonstrators wrote something on his account on twitter just yesterday, that was very indicative. He is now all for demonstrating against the law regulating demonstrations. He wrote, in essence,that even if the best President was elected, if the most fantastic Constitution was written, if the most efficient government took office, he would still demonstrate against the law regulating demonstrations. The young man is manifesting a trait that has now become prevalent among the youth, that of the addiction to demonstrating.
Another addiction suffered by Egyptians is, the high derived from a swift pace of changing and drastic events taking place all the time. Most people have set up one system or another of being immediately notified by SMS or e-mail of any breaking news. This addiction is even more difficult to break, and its withdrawal symptoms are quite violent. A nervous tension, accompanied by impatience and sometimes violent outbursts of temper. Addiction to the high of excitement has taken hold of the once placid, easy going people, who had the patience of Job. Now, if there is a lull in events, or a quiet period, we are nervous and become suspicious and angry that things are happening but no one is telling us about them!
A third addiction is one of political analysis. Now when you have two people arguing, you have three political experts. Every person in Egypt now has his own theories, his own assessments and his own predictions. Needless to say, not a lot of those agree. So arguments and a great deal of pontification takes place on talk shows and in any social gathering.
A fourth and rather sad addiction is one that had been totally alien to the Egyptian character. Violence. Some of the young people, and even some of the not so young, have now found a great satisfaction in violence. Those who do not act out the violence, usually speak it out. The extent of vitriolic speeches is horrendous. The number of court cases for liable are legion. But worse still is the acts of violence. Stone throwing has become practically a must with every demonstration or march. But more than that, and especially with those who belong to the MB, their supporters and those hired by them, the use of arson and weapons has become the norm. If it is not a club, it is a knife or even a sword, and then escalating to all types of guns and rifles, up to automatic weapons, finally reaching hand grenades and even rocket propelled grenades. This addiction to violence is really very frightening, because violence breeds violence. Although up till now the official forces have not retaliated in kind, I don’t know how long that will continue. Worse still is the fact that it is the people now who are retaliating in kind against the MB and their supporters.
A final kind of addiction, and maybe as a result of all the previous ones, is an addiction to jokes and having fun. Even if the jokes have a somewhat cruel edge to them and the ensuing laughter a note of hysteria, yet this is another addiction that we are holding to very tightly, like a saving raft in a stormy sea.
All these addictions are making life rather difficult in Egypt now, but I am hoping that with a little bit of firmness on the part of the executive branch in the application of the law, people will start getting licked into shape and taking care not to break the law. It will take some time, and probably a few stiff sentences, then people will sit up and take notice that now they will be accountable for their actions. Starting today a much stricter application of traffic laws is going to take place, hopefully this will lick us all into abiding by the rules. Once traffic is under control, the habit of abiding by the law will slowly start seeping back into our daily lives, and hopefully we’ll get back to a normal rhythm with mostly law abiding citizens. We have some tough times ahead, but at least we are starting on the right path to detox our Egyptian spirit and cure it from its debilitating addictions.

A Country at War

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Cabinet Directives, demonstrations, Egypt, hope, MB, political relations, Sinai, sovereignty, Turkish Ambassador, USA

Finally we are seeing the Cabinet catch up with what General Al Sisy had announced a few days ago, that Egypt now is in a state of war, and that all entities of the government will act accordingly.
The first indication was the cabinet issuing several directives, one of which was that any foreigner entering Egypt and carrying out a terrorist act, will be pursued, even if outside Egypt. In other words, if terrorists from Gaza come into Egypt for terrorist acts then run back home, they will be followed there and brought back to justice. A long overdue decision.
Another directive was to review all naturalizations and pardons issued during Morsi’s rule. One of his first acts in office was to issue Presidential pardons to all convicted terrorists of Hamas or The Brotherhood, and even to some hardened criminals who were his cell mates when he was imprisoned. These pardons will be reviewed, and already some have been revoked and warrants for their arrest issued. Especially as most of them have been active in terrorist activities since the removal of Morsi. Another decision was to review all those who were naturalized and were given the Egyptian nationality especially to Palestinians who were planned to settle in Sinai and own land there. This was part of the Brotherhood’s larger plan for Sinai. According to some of the leaked documents pertaining to one of the court cases against Morsi he was planning to repatriate the Gaza residents into Sinai as per an agreement with the US whereby it paid 8 billion dollars for North Sinai for this purpose. The naturalization was systematic so that these people would come and settle naturally into North Sinai and would then eventually be given title deeds to the land.
Another directive was to permit the police to go into university campuses without awaiting orders from a judge, and this in cases where teaching is deliberately disrupted by disgruntled students, or if vandalism is taking place. This was a sensitive issue for some time, but now, no nonsense is tolerated and like in any normal country the police goes in when needed.
Yet another decision taken was the setting aside of special fast circuits for the legal cases trying terrorist cases. This means that terrorist cases will not have to go into the highly overloaded roster of the Egyptian courts and which then might take years to be reviewed. When being assigned to special fast circuits, this means that they will still be tried according to normal rules, but that the cases would be tried faster.
Then we had the President sign the law regulating demonstrations. This has shaken up all strata of society. But at least it started waking people up.
Another decision was taken by the Elections Committee. This decision was in stopping the 6th April organization from monitoring the referendum on the Constitution. Other NGO’s have also been banned, mainly those that were set up by the Brotherhood to influence voting for Parliament and the Presidency. This is an excellent step in the right direction, an attempt at controlling fraud that was prevalent in the previous elections.
Finally there was the decision to reduce political representation with Turkey once it was proven that Turkey had sent some agents to assist the Brotherhood in terrorist acts of bombing within Egypt.
At the first attempt to test the new law regulating demonstrations, it was feared that the government would crumble, but they gave us a pleasant surprise and came out with a firm statement that the law is the law and will be applied. There were requests for the amendment of this law, but in a brief statement by the President, this was categorically denied. The law stays as is, and will be applied.
Last but not least, a statement by the Prime Minister addressing the American President, that if his ambassador does not toe the diplomatic line he will be the one to follow the Turkish Ambassador.
Long live Egypt!
Finally, we are back to being a sovereign country that deals with the World from a position of strength, that does not brook interference by others in our internal affairs, and that is independent enough to draw its policy to its own benefit. This is especially welcome in light of all the International Muslim Brotherhood Organization’s plans to set up a parallel government in exile in Paris. Also their attempts to take Egypt to the International court and try it in the persons of the interim President Judge Adly Mansour, Prime Minister Dr. Hazem Al Biblawy and Minister of Defense General Abdel Fattah Al Sisy. I am hoping that we continue in our trend of getting back our country by being proactive instead of reactive and we take the fight into their yard. We have already started a page on FB where we want to compile all atrocities and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt at the instigation and through the monetary and technical support of the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood. Once this is done we want the government to take this evidence to the International Court and declare this organization a terrorist organization.
The first rays of real hope are breaking through the very thick black clouds that have been enveloping Egypt for the past three years. Hope is lifting its head and a vey cautious breath is being drawn for a better future and a slight improvement of the present. It will not be a continuous course, it will suffer setbacks, but once we have a confident, firm government at the helm, problems can be tackled head on and we can hope for a better future. Soon.
God bless my beloved Egypt.

A Controversial Law – Demonstrations

Tags

application, checks and balances, controversial, demonstrations, Egypt, Government, MB, Oppression, police force, Rule of law

It looks like we are now in a state where we are just looking for something to split us up and over which we can fight. Has Morsi and his terrorist organization succeeded so well? Are we now so enamored of the idea of taking to the street, shouting slogans and even fighting and dying for something we have not thought through? To my way of thinking that is exactly what is happening with this newly ratified law regulating demonstrations
This ill-fated law came into being as an embryonic idea by the MB during Morsi’s rule. The idea was to curb demonstrations and lessen the effect of the opposition. It was mainly a tool of oppression in the hands of a terrorist organization that had a dedicated curbing machine in the police force.
This problem is so compounded, it is mind boggling. So many factors go into it, it will take a lot of effort, thought and education, ON ALL SIDES, to unravel this knot. Or it should be cut by one clean sharp blade. Let me explain.
The elements of the problem are legion. First is the perception of this law as being one initiated by the MB for oppression purposes. This has already settled into the subconscious of the people. Eradicating it needs education and proper, widespread education of the meaning of the law, its philosophy and it also needs CHCKS AND BALANCES in the application.
The wording of the law must be very accurate, it should specify that demonstrations are to take place through advising the authorities, and not through asking permission by the authorities. The irony is that the new Constitution specifies the former, whereas the interpretation of the police authority tends towards the latter meaning. All activists rose in protest at what they perceived as a curbing of their hard earned right to protest, and the behavior of the police in dispersing last night’s demonstrators, compounded the problem.
More seriously is now the splitting of the people in two camps. Those who have reached their boiling point against the hooliganism of a large part of the demonstrators and would like to see all demonstrations dealt with very harshly, ACCORDING TO THE LAW; and those who see this as an attempt to legalize oppression through a new/old regime, with the same tool of the old police force with its oppressive, violent mentality.
There are elements of truth in every point of view, and to bring these closer to a unified view is going to take some very clever mental footwork. Unfortunately the government and its leader do not seem to have this ability. They are in a position where they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. They want to apply the law, but they saw what a disaster the first attempt at this application was. They want to mitigate the effects of this disaster, but in doing so are accused of not applying the law. On one side they have the demonstrators accusing them of turning into another Mubarak oppressive regime, on another side the majority of the people sick of all the chaos and insecurity of the past three years want all demonstraters to be dealt with very strictly by the law, and finally those who look to the principles of things, divorced from application on the ground, protest the law in principle.
Which faction of those three will prevail, is a toss-up. I don’t think any one faction will. They are all losing, and so is Egypt. By being split over this one law, by being unable to discuss, explain and even tailor the application to every given situation, we are all tearing our beloved Egypt apart. If the government was stronger, more assertive, it could have come out and clearly stated that the law is the law and will be applied. That some mistakes were made in its application by a police force that has not yet been re-trained. That said mistakes will be taken into consideration when applying the letter of the law to those already arrested. This way they show that they uphold the law, but are aware of the shortcomings in its application, and are dealing fairly with those arrested, without breaking the law.
Although this is exactly what happened, it is unfortunate that it was not clearly explained to the people in general. So the demonstraters now see that they were right as they are being released one by one. They do not understand that they broke the law, but are being released because the police applied the law incorrectly. The people in general are very loud in their condemnation of the government in breaking its own laws, not seeing that a really higher form of justice is being served when a law is wrongly applied then it is justice not to apply it. Finally the few members of the Committee of fifty have frozen their participation in protest of this application, which has brought the wrath of the people on their heads because most do not see that a law, misapplied is even more unjust than actually breaking said law.
To unravel all that needs a great deal of firmness, clarity, and education. The Minister of Interior must publicly acknowledge the mishandling of the police, the PM must give a firm and assertive statement about the rule of law, and why in this case it was tempered by justice, and the media should ensure that these two statements are interpreted correctly. If this did not happen, the the only thing that would save the situation from spiraling into complete chaos is a sharp, clean cut, which would be totally dictatorial and might really return us to a dictatorial oppressive state.
There are no easy answers, but if people are sincere in their love for Egypt, then it is about time we started using our brains more than our feelings. We should break the habit of taking to the streets at the drop of a pin, we should use words and not fists in getting our point of view across.
God save my beloved Egypt.