Scraped from The Patriot Post.
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Thursday, July 2, 2026
Monday, October 6, 2025
Book review: "The Jewish War" + BONUS VIDEO
While we wait for all hell to break loose. let us consider the words of Jewish Roman historian Flavius Josephus ben Matthias, in The Jewish War.
1950 years ago, Josephus wrote his contemporary account of the great Jewish rebellion against Rome. The insurrection began in 66 A.D. and lasted seven years.
The Middle East described by Josephus is perfectly familiar -- a politically fractionalized land populated with a humble of ethnic and religious groups, including Jews, Arabs, Egyptians, Syrians, Greeks, Italians and a tiny community of Christians.
Each detests the others. Extreme political and theological views prevail. Terrorism and assassination are commonplace. Alliances are momentary. Grudges, personal. And neither colonial subjugation nor local autonomy suffices to keep the peace.
The political events are familiar too. Rome first intervened in the region as a peace keeper, brokering a dispute between Seleucid Mesopotamia and Ptolemaic Egypt. Later the Middle East appeared vital to Rome because Roman trade routes passed through the region and because of the Parthian threat to the empire's eastern frontier. The Romans were lured into deeper military and political involvement, and this triggered continual insurrections.
The rebellion of 66 A.D., however, did not begin as a war of national liberation. It began as communal rioting in the seaport town of Caesarea -- Greeks verus Jews over an empty lot next to a synagogue. This inspired sympathetic rioting in Jerusalem, and a ham-handed Roman attempt to quell the disturbances worsened them instead.
The result was one of those great wallows siege, massacre, treachery, persecution, revenge, plunder, and self-destruction to which the Middle East is so often host.
The rising in Jerusalem set off a reaction among the non-Jewish inhabitants of the region, who indulged themselves in wild pogroms, with killings taking place as far away as Damascus and Alexandria. Roman forces were not sufficient to quash the rebellion. Jewish forces were not sufficient to defeat the Romans in open combat. Guerilla warfare ensured, with predictable consequences to the populace.
The Romans were noted for vigorous foreign policy responses. The Emperor Nero sent Vespasian and three legions to pacify Judea. Using a great deal of slaughter and some tactics, Vespasian drove the rebels back to the environs of Jerusalem. He was prevented from ending the war, however, by political confusion at home. Sound familiar? Nero was ousted and three worthless and short-lived emperors followed within the year.
The Jews made use of this breathing space by engaging in urban warfare with themselves and committing all conceivable and some inconceivable atrocities upon their co-religionists. Vespasian himself was finally proclaimed emperor by the Roman army, and the war was resumed under the direction of his son Titus.
After a prolonged and disgusting siege, Jerusalem was taken. And after another prolonged and even more disgusting siege, Masada, the last rebel stronghold fell. The Temple was destroyed, the Jewish upper classes were dispersed, and a Roman army was permanently stationed in Judea. Even then the peace did not hold, and rebellion would break out anew during the reign of Hadrian.
Normally the patterns of history are reassuring. But in The Jewish War, the shock of recognition is just a shock. Here, sixty generations ago, is nearly the same cast of characters engaged in exactly the same obsessive, vicious, and fatal behaviour for the same terrifying reasons on the same cursed, reeking, ugly chunk of land.
Who fails to learn history is doomed to repeat it. But was seemed doomed to repeat this history anyway.
This review is adapted from "The Two-Thousand-Year-Old U.S. Middle East Policy Expert", by the late, great P.J. O'Rourke, in a little-known libertarian magazine called Inquiry, c. 1979. While you're letting that sink it, here's a very à propos musical interlude.
Monday, August 5, 2019
Islamic terrorists strike close to home -- theirs!
While we were waiting to see who was behind this weekends mass murders in El Paso and Dayton -- wondering if it was the work of terrorists (domestic or imported) or maybe just a couple of deranged individuals (as it turned out) -- the real terrorists, the jihadists, were in training in the Middle East. In Cairo, chief shithole of Egypt, to be specific.
Sadly for mearly two dozen Cairenes, their practice run -- moving a car full of explosives to the site of a planned attack -- didn't go off as planned. Or perhaps I should say it went off before it was planned, as the car exploded late Sunday night on the busy Corniche boulevard along the Nile River, setting other cars on fire, killing at least 20 and injuring at least 47, most of them Muslims. No cries of "Allahu akbar!" were heard, just a shout of "Oh shit!"
The massively weaponized vehicle [Hey! You learned a new word! Ed.] exploded near Egypt's main cancer hospital (pictured) shattering parts of the facade and some rooms inside and forcing the evacuation of dozens of patients. The hospital's main gate was damaged, along with several patient rooms and wards, according to a statement from Cairo University, whose medical school uses the institution as an educational facility. Windows and glass doors on the hospital building were shattered.
One patient told the meeja, "Parts of the ceiling of the hospital were collapsing as I got out of my room. People were running everywhere and shouting." The Egyptian Health Ministry did not say whether any patients or hospital staff were among the casualties. Another witness said that several vehicles on the street were damaged, burning those inside.
Inspector Mohammed Mohammed of the Cairo Police initially said the explosion was caused by a multi-vehicle accident. But today the Interior Ministry acknowledged that a car bomb was involved. The authorities accused a militant group known as Hasm, which has links to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, saying it was moving the car, which had been stolen months ago, to carry out an attack, errr, somewhere else.
The attack is the deadliest in Cairo since a bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral killed 30 people during Sunday mass in December 2016. That attack was claimed by Egypt's affiliate of the ISIS group. For years, Egypt has battled Islamic militants, led by an ISIS affiliate, in the Sinai Peninsula. That insurgency has at times spilled over into other parts of the country. Smaller bombings, usually by roadside devices, have taken place more often, targeting security forces and in two cases tourists near the Pyramids. Car bombs, however, have been far rarer in the capital.
Sadly for mearly two dozen Cairenes, their practice run -- moving a car full of explosives to the site of a planned attack -- didn't go off as planned. Or perhaps I should say it went off before it was planned, as the car exploded late Sunday night on the busy Corniche boulevard along the Nile River, setting other cars on fire, killing at least 20 and injuring at least 47, most of them Muslims. No cries of "Allahu akbar!" were heard, just a shout of "Oh shit!"
The massively weaponized vehicle [Hey! You learned a new word! Ed.] exploded near Egypt's main cancer hospital (pictured) shattering parts of the facade and some rooms inside and forcing the evacuation of dozens of patients. The hospital's main gate was damaged, along with several patient rooms and wards, according to a statement from Cairo University, whose medical school uses the institution as an educational facility. Windows and glass doors on the hospital building were shattered.
One patient told the meeja, "Parts of the ceiling of the hospital were collapsing as I got out of my room. People were running everywhere and shouting." The Egyptian Health Ministry did not say whether any patients or hospital staff were among the casualties. Another witness said that several vehicles on the street were damaged, burning those inside.
Inspector Mohammed Mohammed of the Cairo Police initially said the explosion was caused by a multi-vehicle accident. But today the Interior Ministry acknowledged that a car bomb was involved. The authorities accused a militant group known as Hasm, which has links to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, saying it was moving the car, which had been stolen months ago, to carry out an attack, errr, somewhere else.
The attack is the deadliest in Cairo since a bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral killed 30 people during Sunday mass in December 2016. That attack was claimed by Egypt's affiliate of the ISIS group. For years, Egypt has battled Islamic militants, led by an ISIS affiliate, in the Sinai Peninsula. That insurgency has at times spilled over into other parts of the country. Smaller bombings, usually by roadside devices, have taken place more often, targeting security forces and in two cases tourists near the Pyramids. Car bombs, however, have been far rarer in the capital.
Friday, December 28, 2018
Egyptian woman jailed for sexual harassment... of monkey!
Walt is a clean-living guy and doesn't pay a lot of attention to stories about sexual perversions, unless of course it's the ones recommended in the new sex-ed curriculum introduced by Ontario's former Liberal government and now "being reviewed" by the Conservative Ford government. But every now and then I see a story about bestiality -- humans having sex with animals -- which is sick but (IMHO) funny.
Earlier this month we had a story from Zimbabwe involving a man and a goat. Other countries mentioned in the past included the USA (Alabama), Germany and Canada. Since, as we all know, Islam forbids such things, I didn't think I would ever see such a story emanating from a Muslim country. I was wrong!
Yesterday the Arabic website Albawaba reported a case in the Mansoura (Egypt) Misdemeanor Court in which a housewife was sentenced to three years in prison for sexually harassing a monkey in a pet shop in Mansoura city by touching its genitals. The actual charges were: inciting sedition, "provoking emotions" [Emotions are illegal in Egypt? Ed.] and committing lewd acts in public.
Unfortunately, Ed. has been unable to find the video of the incident which Albawaba says went viral on social media in October. Apparently it showed the defendant touching the genitals of a monkey in a public store "with the intention of arousing the animal's sexual instincts and inciting the public to commit adultery." Don't people often get such feelings when watching the monkeys at the zoo?
The police identified the suspect, a woman named Nesma, 25, who resides in a village in Dakahlia government. Inspector Mohammed testified that Nesma had previously been charged in a prostitution case and was trying to promote herself by using this video. She confessed that, with the help of a friend who was recording the video, she tried to arouse the monkey sexually by fondling its genitals. Albawaba does not specify whether the monkey was male or female but perhaps that's best left to readers' imagination.
I'm reminded of an old joke about two British army officers who were stationed in Egypt during the British occupation in World War I. As they chatted in the mess, one said to the other, "Did you hear about Smedley? Got drummed out of the corps for having sex with a camel!"
Asked the other, "Male or female camel?"
"Female, of course," the first replied. "Nothing wrong with old Smedley!"
Meanwhile, in the Muslim-majority nation of Indonesia, a zoo keeper at the Surabaya zoo has been arrested and charged with sexual assault on a number of animals, including impregnating a female orangutan.
Worldnewsdailyreport.com reposts an item in the Kalimantan Press which says the 38-year-old man was caught red-handed (so to speak) by hidden cameras put in place by the zoo's security officials after the man's "devious actions" towards the zoo animals aroused suspicion.
A longtime zoo employee, obviously troubled by the news, told the meeja, "Some animals seemed sexually aroused when it was time to feed them. But what made us most suspicious was when we discovered Marylin, our oldest orangutan, was pregnant. She has never been in contact with any other orangutans because of her aggressive nature, so it didn't make any sense."
Note from Ed.: Limitation of space preclude any more stories about bestiality. We also wish to make clear that the monkey pictured is not the alleged victim of the Egyptian woman. [It's a chimpanzee, not a monkey! Walt]
Earlier this month we had a story from Zimbabwe involving a man and a goat. Other countries mentioned in the past included the USA (Alabama), Germany and Canada. Since, as we all know, Islam forbids such things, I didn't think I would ever see such a story emanating from a Muslim country. I was wrong!
Yesterday the Arabic website Albawaba reported a case in the Mansoura (Egypt) Misdemeanor Court in which a housewife was sentenced to three years in prison for sexually harassing a monkey in a pet shop in Mansoura city by touching its genitals. The actual charges were: inciting sedition, "provoking emotions" [Emotions are illegal in Egypt? Ed.] and committing lewd acts in public.Unfortunately, Ed. has been unable to find the video of the incident which Albawaba says went viral on social media in October. Apparently it showed the defendant touching the genitals of a monkey in a public store "with the intention of arousing the animal's sexual instincts and inciting the public to commit adultery." Don't people often get such feelings when watching the monkeys at the zoo?
The police identified the suspect, a woman named Nesma, 25, who resides in a village in Dakahlia government. Inspector Mohammed testified that Nesma had previously been charged in a prostitution case and was trying to promote herself by using this video. She confessed that, with the help of a friend who was recording the video, she tried to arouse the monkey sexually by fondling its genitals. Albawaba does not specify whether the monkey was male or female but perhaps that's best left to readers' imagination.
I'm reminded of an old joke about two British army officers who were stationed in Egypt during the British occupation in World War I. As they chatted in the mess, one said to the other, "Did you hear about Smedley? Got drummed out of the corps for having sex with a camel!"
Asked the other, "Male or female camel?"
"Female, of course," the first replied. "Nothing wrong with old Smedley!"
Meanwhile, in the Muslim-majority nation of Indonesia, a zoo keeper at the Surabaya zoo has been arrested and charged with sexual assault on a number of animals, including impregnating a female orangutan.
Worldnewsdailyreport.com reposts an item in the Kalimantan Press which says the 38-year-old man was caught red-handed (so to speak) by hidden cameras put in place by the zoo's security officials after the man's "devious actions" towards the zoo animals aroused suspicion.
A longtime zoo employee, obviously troubled by the news, told the meeja, "Some animals seemed sexually aroused when it was time to feed them. But what made us most suspicious was when we discovered Marylin, our oldest orangutan, was pregnant. She has never been in contact with any other orangutans because of her aggressive nature, so it didn't make any sense."
Note from Ed.: Limitation of space preclude any more stories about bestiality. We also wish to make clear that the monkey pictured is not the alleged victim of the Egyptian woman. [It's a chimpanzee, not a monkey! Walt]
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Egyptian singer arrested for this obscene (?) VIDEO
Leila Amer is a popular Egyptian singer. Now she faces punishment under Egypt's Islamic laws after this video was posted online.
"Boss Oumek", which I guess is included somewhere in the Arabic text above, has been condemned by critics as "an attack on society". Egyptian prosecutors arrested Ms Amer and detained her for four days for "incitement to debauchery". According to the Times of London, the lawyer who filed a complaint against her told a local newspape the video was a "moral disaster" and a "great risk" to Egypt. "These works represent an attack on society and the destruction of the state," he said, "[Egypt] being an Islamic country."
Walt confesses to having watched "Boss Oumek" (= "Look at Your Mother") several times. [How many? Ed. How long since your last confession?] For the life of me, all I can see is a man watching a belly dancer and then (apparently) fantasizing about having her whipping up something in the kitchen, with another woman who may be her mother... or his mother... who knows....
Egyptian prosecutors say Ms Amer is making obscene gestures with her hands. Maybe you have to be able to read Arabic sign language. As for me, I don't get it.
Note from Ed.: I am really going to have to speak to Walt about avoiding occasions of sin, and posting videos which might lead some of our readers astray. This is not the first time he's ordered me to put up a video of a sexy Arab girl. See (and I do mean SEE) "كليب سيب ايدى المثير كامل سلمى الفولى بدون قطع ! SCANDALOUS VIDEO", WWW 29/6/15.
بص امك ليلى عامر قنبلة الموسم جديد
"Boss Oumek", which I guess is included somewhere in the Arabic text above, has been condemned by critics as "an attack on society". Egyptian prosecutors arrested Ms Amer and detained her for four days for "incitement to debauchery". According to the Times of London, the lawyer who filed a complaint against her told a local newspape the video was a "moral disaster" and a "great risk" to Egypt. "These works represent an attack on society and the destruction of the state," he said, "[Egypt] being an Islamic country."
Walt confesses to having watched "Boss Oumek" (= "Look at Your Mother") several times. [How many? Ed. How long since your last confession?] For the life of me, all I can see is a man watching a belly dancer and then (apparently) fantasizing about having her whipping up something in the kitchen, with another woman who may be her mother... or his mother... who knows....
Egyptian prosecutors say Ms Amer is making obscene gestures with her hands. Maybe you have to be able to read Arabic sign language. As for me, I don't get it.
Note from Ed.: I am really going to have to speak to Walt about avoiding occasions of sin, and posting videos which might lead some of our readers astray. This is not the first time he's ordered me to put up a video of a sexy Arab girl. See (and I do mean SEE) "كليب سيب ايدى المثير كامل سلمى الفولى بدون قطع ! SCANDALOUS VIDEO", WWW 29/6/15.
Saturday, November 25, 2017
"Religion of Peace": in Egypt, Muslims kill 100s of other Muslims
Islam, the self-styled "Religion of Peace", is not monolithic, any more than Christianity or the Catholic Church itself is monolithic. The two main branches or divisions of Islam are Sunni Islam and Shia Islam. The Shi'ites [Ed., please check spelling.] are the ones who dominate in Iran and Iraq, although you could get an argument about Iraq. [No kidding. Ed.] It is believed that the mad mullahs of Iran want to establish a "Shia crescent" all the way from their country through Syria and Lebanon to the Mediterranean.
The Sunnis are the other ones, a persecuted minority (?) in Iraq, but the dominant group in most of the Gulf States and, most dangerously, Saudi Arabia. Extremist Sunnis are the core of ISIS. As Junior Trudeau, who loves all Muslims, says, "Sunni ways, my friends. Sunni ways."
There are others, like Sufists or Sufi Muslims. Non-Muslims often mistake Sufism as a sect of Islam. Sufism is more accurately described as an aspect or dimension of Islam. Sufi orders (Tariqas) can be found in Sunni, Shia and other Islamic groups. Sufism is often defined as "Islamic mysticism", "the inward dimension of Islam", or "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam", not unlike the "charismatics" of both Protestant and Catholic Christianity. Although the overwhelming majority of Sufis are adherents of Sunni Islam, there strands of Sufi practice can also be found within Shia Muslim communities.
There are fewer Sufis today than there were yesterday, in Egypt, where officials are investigating the massacre of 305 (and counting) worshippers at a Sufi mosque in the town of Bir al-Abed, in the Sinai. Witnesses say the attackers were carrying the flag of the Islamic State (ISIS) and (of course) yelling "Allahu akbar!"
They bombed the Al-Rawda mosque, driving survivors outside where dozens of gunmen opened fire on those trying to escape. The assailants reportedly set parked vehicles parked in the vicinity on fire to block off access to the building, and fired on ambulances trying to help victims. Thirty children are among the dead and more than 100 people were wounded.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has vowed to respond with "the utmost force", and the Egyptian military says it has already conducted air strikes on terrorist targets. Egyptian security forces have for years been fighting an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai peninsula, and militants affiliated with ISIS have been behind scores of deadly attacks in the desert region. "What is happening is an attempt to stop us from our efforts in the fight against terrorism," Mr Sisi said in a televised address. "The armed forces and the police will avenge our martyrs and restore security and stability with the utmost force."
And so the Islamic civil war continues. Walt wonders why we are investing financial and human resources in trying to bring peace (???) to that perpetually troubled part of the world, especially when we can no longer be sure which side is the right side to be backing. (See, for example, "Why the Canadian Army is 'suspending' ops in Iraq", WWW 28/10/17.) Why not just get our troops and matériel out of the sandpit, and let the Islamists duke it out? Answers on the back of a postage stamp, please, to the usual address.
The Sunnis are the other ones, a persecuted minority (?) in Iraq, but the dominant group in most of the Gulf States and, most dangerously, Saudi Arabia. Extremist Sunnis are the core of ISIS. As Junior Trudeau, who loves all Muslims, says, "Sunni ways, my friends. Sunni ways."
There are others, like Sufists or Sufi Muslims. Non-Muslims often mistake Sufism as a sect of Islam. Sufism is more accurately described as an aspect or dimension of Islam. Sufi orders (Tariqas) can be found in Sunni, Shia and other Islamic groups. Sufism is often defined as "Islamic mysticism", "the inward dimension of Islam", or "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam", not unlike the "charismatics" of both Protestant and Catholic Christianity. Although the overwhelming majority of Sufis are adherents of Sunni Islam, there strands of Sufi practice can also be found within Shia Muslim communities.
They bombed the Al-Rawda mosque, driving survivors outside where dozens of gunmen opened fire on those trying to escape. The assailants reportedly set parked vehicles parked in the vicinity on fire to block off access to the building, and fired on ambulances trying to help victims. Thirty children are among the dead and more than 100 people were wounded.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has vowed to respond with "the utmost force", and the Egyptian military says it has already conducted air strikes on terrorist targets. Egyptian security forces have for years been fighting an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai peninsula, and militants affiliated with ISIS have been behind scores of deadly attacks in the desert region. "What is happening is an attempt to stop us from our efforts in the fight against terrorism," Mr Sisi said in a televised address. "The armed forces and the police will avenge our martyrs and restore security and stability with the utmost force."
And so the Islamic civil war continues. Walt wonders why we are investing financial and human resources in trying to bring peace (???) to that perpetually troubled part of the world, especially when we can no longer be sure which side is the right side to be backing. (See, for example, "Why the Canadian Army is 'suspending' ops in Iraq", WWW 28/10/17.) Why not just get our troops and matériel out of the sandpit, and let the Islamists duke it out? Answers on the back of a postage stamp, please, to the usual address.
Friday, May 26, 2017
Egyptian President shows up Western pussies, calls air strike on ISIS
Were you surprised when the "soldier of ISIS" who blew himself up along with 22 innocent people in Manchester turned out to be Libyan? See "Manchester bomber: 'lone wolf' or 'known wolf'?" for a pic and more about Salman Abedi. He was born and raised in the United Kingdom, but ethnically Arab. His parents and at least one brother, since arrested, live in Libya.
Walt admits to being surprised. In my mind I connect the phrase "Islamic terrorists" with Muslim fanatics from places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan -- some of the millions now living in western Europe thanks to the insane immigration policies of the likes of Angela Merkel, all the while plotting the extermination of their nominally Christian hosts.
It's easy to forget that those millions comprise Arabs from the Maghreb -- the countries shown in black on the map at left -- who are no less anti-Christian than their cousins from further east, perhaps more so because they have a huge anti-colonial chip on their shoulders, particularly those from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, which were French colonies, and Libya, which was ruled occasionally (and badly) by the Italians.
Libya was in the latest terrorism news this week not just because of the late Mr Abedi, but because on Wednesday Islamic militants attacked a bus carrying worshippers in central Egypt, killing at least 28 people and wounding 25 others. This didn't get a lot of play in the Western lamestream media because the worshippers weren't white Europeans. They were Coptic Christians, members of a fast-dwindling minority in the predominantly Muslim land of the pharaohs.
Full credit, then, to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi -- himself a Muslim -- for calling in an air strike on terrorist camps in Libya! State television reported that Egypt carried out six air strikes in Derna in eastern Libya, which is where the militants who carried out the deadly attack on the Coptic Christians were trained.
For those who don't speak Arabic, the voiceover in the army video said the Egyptian air force carried out strikes on targets in Libya "after confirming their involvement in planning and committing the terrorist attack in Minya governorate on Friday." In a televised speech late today, President Sisi said he would "not hesitate to strike terrorist camps anywhere", and promised to "protect our people from the evil."
Countries supporting terrorism should be punished, said the President, as he appealed to President Donald Trump for help. Contrast that with the wimpishness of the G7 leaders (other than Mr Trump) who spent all day today condemning the Manchester massacre (without once uttering the word "Islamic") and yakking about security without, errr, actually doing anything.
Where, Walt asks, is Santiago Matamoros (Saint James the Moorslayer) now that we really need him? Can it really be that we must look to a Muslim -- President Sisi -- to show us the way?
FURTHER VIEWING: Gavin McInnes explains how the British class system informs reactions to the Manchester massacre. The upper class and the lower class have remarkably different ideas about what should be done with the Muslims who want to kill us. Ties in nicely with Mr McInnes's video on modern education and Marxist teachers, which I'm reposting here today. Warning: contains the C-word.
Walt admits to being surprised. In my mind I connect the phrase "Islamic terrorists" with Muslim fanatics from places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan -- some of the millions now living in western Europe thanks to the insane immigration policies of the likes of Angela Merkel, all the while plotting the extermination of their nominally Christian hosts.It's easy to forget that those millions comprise Arabs from the Maghreb -- the countries shown in black on the map at left -- who are no less anti-Christian than their cousins from further east, perhaps more so because they have a huge anti-colonial chip on their shoulders, particularly those from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, which were French colonies, and Libya, which was ruled occasionally (and badly) by the Italians.
Libya was in the latest terrorism news this week not just because of the late Mr Abedi, but because on Wednesday Islamic militants attacked a bus carrying worshippers in central Egypt, killing at least 28 people and wounding 25 others. This didn't get a lot of play in the Western lamestream media because the worshippers weren't white Europeans. They were Coptic Christians, members of a fast-dwindling minority in the predominantly Muslim land of the pharaohs.
Full credit, then, to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi -- himself a Muslim -- for calling in an air strike on terrorist camps in Libya! State television reported that Egypt carried out six air strikes in Derna in eastern Libya, which is where the militants who carried out the deadly attack on the Coptic Christians were trained.
For those who don't speak Arabic, the voiceover in the army video said the Egyptian air force carried out strikes on targets in Libya "after confirming their involvement in planning and committing the terrorist attack in Minya governorate on Friday." In a televised speech late today, President Sisi said he would "not hesitate to strike terrorist camps anywhere", and promised to "protect our people from the evil."
Countries supporting terrorism should be punished, said the President, as he appealed to President Donald Trump for help. Contrast that with the wimpishness of the G7 leaders (other than Mr Trump) who spent all day today condemning the Manchester massacre (without once uttering the word "Islamic") and yakking about security without, errr, actually doing anything.
Where, Walt asks, is Santiago Matamoros (Saint James the Moorslayer) now that we really need him? Can it really be that we must look to a Muslim -- President Sisi -- to show us the way?
FURTHER VIEWING: Gavin McInnes explains how the British class system informs reactions to the Manchester massacre. The upper class and the lower class have remarkably different ideas about what should be done with the Muslims who want to kill us. Ties in nicely with Mr McInnes's video on modern education and Marxist teachers, which I'm reposting here today. Warning: contains the C-word.
Friday, February 17, 2017
UPDATED: Pope Francis sez "no religion" is terrorist. LMAO!
Here, without edits or comments (other than my emphasis), are two posts from today's Catholic World News.
Pope lashes out at ‘corrupt’ global system, intolerance of foreigners
Pope Francis said that “no people is criminal and no religion is terrorist,” in a message to a California conference of popular movements.
“Christian terrorism does not exist, Jewish terrorism does not exist, and Muslim terrorism does not exist,” the Pope said. He explained his point: “There are fundamentalist and violent individuals in all peoples and religions—and with intolerant generalizations they become stronger because they feed on hate and xenophobia.”
In his address the Pope strongly endorsed the efforts by grassroots organizations to bring fundamental change to the world’s political and economic systems. He said that the global system today is “brutal” in its single-minded question for financial gain, and leaves many people by the wayside. The injustices of this system cannot continue, he said; “the system’s gangrene cannot be whitewashed forever because sooner or later the stench becomes too strong.”
The Pontiff charged that powerful interests preserve their status by encouraging fear of foreigners. Commenting on the parable of the Good Samaritan, he suggested that entrenched powers today are anxious to classify people as “neighbor” and “non-neighbor,” absolving themselves of their moral obligations toward those who are in need. He also said that corruption is widespread, and “the gutting of democracies is real.”
Pope Francis made these comments to a conference organizes by the Vatican’s dicastery for Integral Human Development and by the US bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development, in association with an activist group, the National Network of People Improving Communities through Organizing (PICO).
Egyptian Copt gunned down; Islamic militants suspected
A Coptic schoolteacher was shot and killed in Egypt’s Sinai region on February 16, and officials indicated that a local affiliate of the Islamic State was suspected of orchestrating the murder. See update below.
Gamal Tawfiq was shot by two men who had followed him on a motorcycle as he walked home after classes in a school in the coastal town of el Arish. It was the second murder of a Coptic Christian this week, in a region where Christians have been under attack.
The men behind Catholic World News and CatholicCulture.org, Dr. Jeff Mirus and Phil Lawler, are big fans of the Holy Father. Apparently they misunderstand the doctrine of papal infallibility, for they seem to think Francis can do no wrong or teach no wrong, no matter how much his increasingly loony pronouncements (see first story) contradict reality (see second story). May God save His Holy Church!
UPDATE ADDED 24/2/14: Another Coptic Christian has been killed by Islamic militants in Egypt's Sinai peninsula. That's the 3rd such killing in two days and the sixth in a month. See "Sinai, Coptic Christian killed with a bullet to the neck, third victim in two days", AsiaNews 24/2/17.
Pope lashes out at ‘corrupt’ global system, intolerance of foreigners
Pope Francis said that “no people is criminal and no religion is terrorist,” in a message to a California conference of popular movements.
“Christian terrorism does not exist, Jewish terrorism does not exist, and Muslim terrorism does not exist,” the Pope said. He explained his point: “There are fundamentalist and violent individuals in all peoples and religions—and with intolerant generalizations they become stronger because they feed on hate and xenophobia.”
In his address the Pope strongly endorsed the efforts by grassroots organizations to bring fundamental change to the world’s political and economic systems. He said that the global system today is “brutal” in its single-minded question for financial gain, and leaves many people by the wayside. The injustices of this system cannot continue, he said; “the system’s gangrene cannot be whitewashed forever because sooner or later the stench becomes too strong.”
The Pontiff charged that powerful interests preserve their status by encouraging fear of foreigners. Commenting on the parable of the Good Samaritan, he suggested that entrenched powers today are anxious to classify people as “neighbor” and “non-neighbor,” absolving themselves of their moral obligations toward those who are in need. He also said that corruption is widespread, and “the gutting of democracies is real.”
Pope Francis made these comments to a conference organizes by the Vatican’s dicastery for Integral Human Development and by the US bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development, in association with an activist group, the National Network of People Improving Communities through Organizing (PICO).
Egyptian Copt gunned down; Islamic militants suspected
A Coptic schoolteacher was shot and killed in Egypt’s Sinai region on February 16, and officials indicated that a local affiliate of the Islamic State was suspected of orchestrating the murder. See update below.
Gamal Tawfiq was shot by two men who had followed him on a motorcycle as he walked home after classes in a school in the coastal town of el Arish. It was the second murder of a Coptic Christian this week, in a region where Christians have been under attack.
The men behind Catholic World News and CatholicCulture.org, Dr. Jeff Mirus and Phil Lawler, are big fans of the Holy Father. Apparently they misunderstand the doctrine of papal infallibility, for they seem to think Francis can do no wrong or teach no wrong, no matter how much his increasingly loony pronouncements (see first story) contradict reality (see second story). May God save His Holy Church!
UPDATE ADDED 24/2/14: Another Coptic Christian has been killed by Islamic militants in Egypt's Sinai peninsula. That's the 3rd such killing in two days and the sixth in a month. See "Sinai, Coptic Christian killed with a bullet to the neck, third victim in two days", AsiaNews 24/2/17.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
UPDATED: Trump keeps his promises; panic ensues
Things have moved so fast in the first full week of Donald Trump's presidency that it's been hard for me to keep up. [Nothing to do with the Chinese New Year celebrations, then? Ed.] Across the Excited States of America and around the world, supporters and haters of The Donald [Ed., can we still call him that?] are expressing surprise (the supporters) and horror (the haters) that President Trump has moved immediately to keep the promises he made during the late election campaign. A politician who does what he said he'd do? AMAZING!
Agent 3 tells me that President Trump has done more in one week that Canada's new(ish) prime minister did in his first year. That would be because Mr Trump thinks there has been enough talk, and now it's time for action, whereas M Trudeau believes in more "conversations" -- including a "face the music tour" last week -- and no action apart from giving taxpayers' money to "disadvantaged minorities" and foreigners.
Everything President Trump has done, without exception, has aroused the ire of the usual suspects -- snowflakes, SJWs, eco-wienies, lawyers, activists and Democratic politicians. The liberals are revolting, and I mean that sincerely. "Spontaneous protests" have broken out in the streets of America's "sanctuary cities", in airports, and in the wilderness of North Dakota.
The ageing hippies camping out on private property in Dakota are incensed by President Trump's decision to greenlight the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. That decision has been warmly applauded by the folks in the oil patch, especially those north of the world's longest (somewhat) undefended border. Good time to buy Canadian oil stocks... and Transcanada Pipeline. (You're welcome.) Americans should be glad too. Why import oil from the sand niggers and terrorists when you can get it from the friendly frostbacks up north?
The protests raging today in the airports and sanctuary cities have been sparked by President Trump's executive order, announced on Friday, putting a four-month hold on the admission of "refugees" into the United States. The same order temporarily bars travellers from Syria and six other predominantly Muslim countries -- Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Iraq. Those, of course, are the sandpits from which Islamic terrorists come, in the guise of refugees and asylum-seekers, to wreak havoc in Western countries and kill as many "Christians" as they can, by whatever means possible.
The new restrictions on immigrants and refugees also apply to permanent residents who have passports from the seven Muslim countries. Any green card holders who were outside the country when the order took effect will have to be cleared back into the United States on a case-by-case basis. Google ordered its foreign Muslim employees to get back to the USA right sharpish, but several were caught in the air and detained on arrival at JFK and other airports. Chaos at the airport terminals ensured, and immigration lawyers, activists and Democratic politicians immediate organized protests and started knocking on judges' doors to help followers of the Prophet get back into the country.
At the break of dawn today, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying they plan on continuing to "enforce all of the president's executive orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people." The DHS was responding to a temporary order granted Saturday night by a New York judge staying the operation of the White House order, and releasing the dozen or so Muslims who were being held at JFK. "The president's executive orders remain in place," said the DHS statement. "Prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the US government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety."
America's staunch allies, the friendly frostbacks referred to above, immediately announced that refugees and any other travellers barred from entering the USA would be welcome in Canada... provided of course that they aren't Christians or conservatives or racists or oilpersons. Starting tomorrow, all travellers crossing the border or arriving at Canadian airports will be given a "liberal values" test to determine their willingness to embrace diversity... and vote Liberal.
Footnote: The Toronto Sun ran a poll yesterday asking its readers if they approved of President Trump's executive order banning Muslims from entering the USA. The results so far: YES - 55%; NO - 33%; not sure - 12%. You may think that Prime Minister Selfie is tone-deaf to the sentiments of ordinary Canadians. But it's not his fault. He and his liberal cronies don't read the Toronto Sun. They do read comments on the CBC website, but, alas, the CBC isn't allowing comments on any stories about immigration and "refugees". Wonder why...
FOOTNOTE ADDED 30/1/17: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which considers itself the collective voice of the Muslim world, has 57 member states. President Trump's travel ban affects citizens of only seven (7) of them. The governments of Iran and Iraq, to name two, have reacted with predictable fury. But from the leaders of the other 57... crickets! In the heart of the Muslim world -- Cairo (Egypt) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the executive order has met with a conspicuous silence.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia, home of Islam's holiest sites, spoke to President Trump by telephone on Sunday but made no public comment. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, whose capital, Cairo, is a traditional seat of Islamic scholarship, said nothing. What are we to make of this silence? Could it be that these leaders agree that a ban on travellers from terrorism-infected states is a good idea? Or are they merely afraid that their nations may be next?
Further reading: "In Face of Trump's Order, Some Muslim Nations Are Conspicuously Silent", New York Times, 29/1/17.
Agent 3 tells me that President Trump has done more in one week that Canada's new(ish) prime minister did in his first year. That would be because Mr Trump thinks there has been enough talk, and now it's time for action, whereas M Trudeau believes in more "conversations" -- including a "face the music tour" last week -- and no action apart from giving taxpayers' money to "disadvantaged minorities" and foreigners.
Everything President Trump has done, without exception, has aroused the ire of the usual suspects -- snowflakes, SJWs, eco-wienies, lawyers, activists and Democratic politicians. The liberals are revolting, and I mean that sincerely. "Spontaneous protests" have broken out in the streets of America's "sanctuary cities", in airports, and in the wilderness of North Dakota.
The ageing hippies camping out on private property in Dakota are incensed by President Trump's decision to greenlight the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. That decision has been warmly applauded by the folks in the oil patch, especially those north of the world's longest (somewhat) undefended border. Good time to buy Canadian oil stocks... and Transcanada Pipeline. (You're welcome.) Americans should be glad too. Why import oil from the sand niggers and terrorists when you can get it from the friendly frostbacks up north?
The protests raging today in the airports and sanctuary cities have been sparked by President Trump's executive order, announced on Friday, putting a four-month hold on the admission of "refugees" into the United States. The same order temporarily bars travellers from Syria and six other predominantly Muslim countries -- Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Iraq. Those, of course, are the sandpits from which Islamic terrorists come, in the guise of refugees and asylum-seekers, to wreak havoc in Western countries and kill as many "Christians" as they can, by whatever means possible.
The new restrictions on immigrants and refugees also apply to permanent residents who have passports from the seven Muslim countries. Any green card holders who were outside the country when the order took effect will have to be cleared back into the United States on a case-by-case basis. Google ordered its foreign Muslim employees to get back to the USA right sharpish, but several were caught in the air and detained on arrival at JFK and other airports. Chaos at the airport terminals ensured, and immigration lawyers, activists and Democratic politicians immediate organized protests and started knocking on judges' doors to help followers of the Prophet get back into the country.
At the break of dawn today, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying they plan on continuing to "enforce all of the president's executive orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people." The DHS was responding to a temporary order granted Saturday night by a New York judge staying the operation of the White House order, and releasing the dozen or so Muslims who were being held at JFK. "The president's executive orders remain in place," said the DHS statement. "Prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the US government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety."
America's staunch allies, the friendly frostbacks referred to above, immediately announced that refugees and any other travellers barred from entering the USA would be welcome in Canada... provided of course that they aren't Christians or conservatives or racists or oilpersons. Starting tomorrow, all travellers crossing the border or arriving at Canadian airports will be given a "liberal values" test to determine their willingness to embrace diversity... and vote Liberal.
Footnote: The Toronto Sun ran a poll yesterday asking its readers if they approved of President Trump's executive order banning Muslims from entering the USA. The results so far: YES - 55%; NO - 33%; not sure - 12%. You may think that Prime Minister Selfie is tone-deaf to the sentiments of ordinary Canadians. But it's not his fault. He and his liberal cronies don't read the Toronto Sun. They do read comments on the CBC website, but, alas, the CBC isn't allowing comments on any stories about immigration and "refugees". Wonder why...
FOOTNOTE ADDED 30/1/17: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which considers itself the collective voice of the Muslim world, has 57 member states. President Trump's travel ban affects citizens of only seven (7) of them. The governments of Iran and Iraq, to name two, have reacted with predictable fury. But from the leaders of the other 57... crickets! In the heart of the Muslim world -- Cairo (Egypt) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the executive order has met with a conspicuous silence.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia, home of Islam's holiest sites, spoke to President Trump by telephone on Sunday but made no public comment. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, whose capital, Cairo, is a traditional seat of Islamic scholarship, said nothing. What are we to make of this silence? Could it be that these leaders agree that a ban on travellers from terrorism-infected states is a good idea? Or are they merely afraid that their nations may be next?
Further reading: "In Face of Trump's Order, Some Muslim Nations Are Conspicuously Silent", New York Times, 29/1/17.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
UPDATED: MS804, another MH370?
This is developing news, so I'll update this post tonight or tomorrow, but want to put out a first thought.
AP reports that an EgyptAir Airbus 320, operating flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo with 66 pax and crew on board, crashed in the Mediterranean early this morning. French President François Hollande told the mdia, "Unfortunately the information we have...confirms to us that the plane came down and is lost. No hypothesis can be ruled out, nor can any be favoured over another."
Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister, Sherif Fathy, takes a different position. While not yet confirming that the plane crashed, he said that the possibility of a terror attack as the cause of the plane's disappearance from the radar screens is "stronger" than a technical failure.
Here's what we know so far. Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the plane was about 10 to 15 miles inside Egyptian airspaqce when it made two abrupt turns and suddenly lost altitude before disappearing from radar. "It turned 90 degrees left and then a 360-degree turn toward the right, dropping from 38,000 to 15,000 feet and then it was lost at about 10,000 feet."
Haven't we seen this movie before, just over two years ago? Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 was heading northeast towards Beijing when it abruptly made a 90-degree turn to the west-northwest, then (according to the searchers' hypothesis), made a further turn towards the southwest and disappeared into the Indian Ocean somewhere off the west coast of Australia.
Regular readers of WWW will know that Walt does not agree with the theory that MH370, whether controlled or uncontrolled, slowly flew into the sea. But supposing the "experts" are correct, that's what seems to have happened to MS804. The search for wreckage is under way. Stay tuned.
UPDATED at 1225. A couple of lifejackets and some other debris has been found off the coast of the Greek island of Crete. Given that Crete is some distance north of the last known location of MS804, Walt thinks it's more likely this junk came from boats carrying "refugees". More later.
AP reports that an EgyptAir Airbus 320, operating flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo with 66 pax and crew on board, crashed in the Mediterranean early this morning. French President François Hollande told the mdia, "Unfortunately the information we have...confirms to us that the plane came down and is lost. No hypothesis can be ruled out, nor can any be favoured over another."
Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister, Sherif Fathy, takes a different position. While not yet confirming that the plane crashed, he said that the possibility of a terror attack as the cause of the plane's disappearance from the radar screens is "stronger" than a technical failure.
Here's what we know so far. Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the plane was about 10 to 15 miles inside Egyptian airspaqce when it made two abrupt turns and suddenly lost altitude before disappearing from radar. "It turned 90 degrees left and then a 360-degree turn toward the right, dropping from 38,000 to 15,000 feet and then it was lost at about 10,000 feet."
Haven't we seen this movie before, just over two years ago? Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 was heading northeast towards Beijing when it abruptly made a 90-degree turn to the west-northwest, then (according to the searchers' hypothesis), made a further turn towards the southwest and disappeared into the Indian Ocean somewhere off the west coast of Australia.
Regular readers of WWW will know that Walt does not agree with the theory that MH370, whether controlled or uncontrolled, slowly flew into the sea. But supposing the "experts" are correct, that's what seems to have happened to MS804. The search for wreckage is under way. Stay tuned.
UPDATED at 1225. A couple of lifejackets and some other debris has been found off the coast of the Greek island of Crete. Given that Crete is some distance north of the last known location of MS804, Walt thinks it's more likely this junk came from boats carrying "refugees". More later.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Metrojet crash in Sinai caused by IS militants?
First the facts. On Saturday morning, Metrojet flight 7K9268 crashed into the Sinai Peninsula. The flight’s planned route was from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, Russia. Click here to see the flight path, altitude and speed changes acquired by Flightradar24. All three of their receivers stopped receiving data at exactly the same time, 0413 GMT.
So what happened? The jetliner -- a leased Airbus A-321 operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia -- apparently disintegrated while at cruising altitude. It either exploded or was blown apart or just... broke up. Within hours, a militant group affiliated to Islamic State in Egypt claimed responsibility for bringing down the jet, but Egypt and Russia disputed the claim, suggesting militants in northern Sinai, where Egypt has been fighting an Islamic insurgency, did not have the weaponry to hit a flight at 31,000 feet. Pictures of the debris show no signs of burn or scorch marks.
The airliner's black boxes have been recovered, but have not yet been analyzed. Yesterday, however, an official of Kogalymavia put the disaster down to "external activity". Alexander Smirnov, the deputy director of the airline, ruled out a technical fault and pilot error. "The only [explanation] for the plane to have been destroyed in mid-air can be specific impact, purely mechanical, physical influence on the aircraft," he said. "There is no such combination of failures of systems which could have led to the plane disintegrating in the air."
A regional expert on Sinai security said on Sunday that the militant group’s statement "said they were responsible for downing the plane, not shooting it down." Zack Gold told the Guardian, "A legitimate ISIS-supporting account in Sinai said, 'Why is everyone talking about shooting it down, why is no one talking about a bomb or suicide bomber on board.'"
He explained that if a bomb had been planted on the plane, it would suggest security systems at Sharm el-Sheikh airport had been infiltrated or compromised, which would raise a whole range of other questions. But, he added, there has been nothing to support the claim so far, such as a pre-mission video of a suicide attacker. "The group does not have a history of major fabrications, but at the same time it's curious that they would make this claim without providing any kind of evidence. They have military capabilities, but to carry out this kind of terrorism [on a plane] they would have to display organization they haven’t shown [before]."
If it turns out that the IS affiliate in Egypt is indeed responsible, what does that portend for the American-led "war on terror" in the Middle East? Will the Russians, now bombing the jihadis in Syria, take the fight to the jihadis in Egypt? And which side will the USA take? Stay tuned.
Monday, June 29, 2015
كليب سيب ايدى المثير كامل سلمى الفولى بدون قطع ! SCANDALOUS VIDEO
We haven't had any videos of exotic dancing since we featured the Swazi girls doing the reed dance, almost three years ago. So, as a service to those who surf for titillation -- we know you're out there -- we present "Hands Off", an Egyptian video featuring Reda al-Fouly.
Walt is sorry to report that three people involved in the making of this excellent music video were sentenced yesterday to a year in prison, with labour, for "inciting debauchery".
The dancer, Reda al-Fouly, was arrested last month along with the cameraman after the video went viral on social media. The third person, Wael el-Sekedi, was sentenced in absentia, having fled the country after some social media users called the video scandalous. As of this morning it has been viewed over a million time, receiving >1000 likes and >3200 dislikes. Go figure.
Note from Ed. Some may think that posting videos of this kind is a cheap trick to build readership. Shame to those who think so! We have not "monetized" this blog, and don't receive a red cent in advertising or other revenue. We do, however, accept donations. Mail your cheque to: I.M. Titillated, Chicago 60069.
Walt is sorry to report that three people involved in the making of this excellent music video were sentenced yesterday to a year in prison, with labour, for "inciting debauchery".
The dancer, Reda al-Fouly, was arrested last month along with the cameraman after the video went viral on social media. The third person, Wael el-Sekedi, was sentenced in absentia, having fled the country after some social media users called the video scandalous. As of this morning it has been viewed over a million time, receiving >1000 likes and >3200 dislikes. Go figure.
Note from Ed. Some may think that posting videos of this kind is a cheap trick to build readership. Shame to those who think so! We have not "monetized" this blog, and don't receive a red cent in advertising or other revenue. We do, however, accept donations. Mail your cheque to: I.M. Titillated, Chicago 60069.
Monday, May 18, 2015
The new boat people: how come nobody wants them?
Two related stories in the meeja this weekend are causing a good deal of handwringing and hypocrisy at urgent sessions of the Disunited Nations, the European Quasi-union and other One-World talking shops. The Brotherhood of Man is being challenged by the arrival of boatloads of 1000s of mostly Muslim "refugees" from north Africa, the Middle East and south Asia now washing up on the shores of Europe and southeast Asia. Although no-one likes to admit it, the real reason no-one wants them is to be found in the two words preceding "refugees" in the previous sentence.
First, the bad news from the Mediterranean. In spite of widely reported drownings of hundreds of refugee wannabes, the tidal wave of dark people keeps increasing in size, and now threatens to inundate Italy and slop over into Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Everyone agrees that Something Must Be Done. Surely we're not going to let those "poor" people drown! But what is to be done? And by whom?
To make matters worse [Is that possible? Ed.] an adviser to the Libyan government [They have a government? Ed.] told BBC News this weekend that Islamic State (IS) fighters are being smuggled into Europe in the midst of the "genuine" refugees. Officials in Italy and Egypt have previously warned that IS militants could reach Europe by migrant boat, but say now -- possibly for fear of being labelled as "racists" or "Islamophobes" -- that it is very difficult to verify or assess such claims.
The Libyan official, Abudul Basit Haroun, based his claim on conversations with smugglers in parts of North Africa controlled by the militants. He "alleged" -- the BBC's word -- that IS was allowing the boat owners to continue their operations in exchange for half of their income. Earlier this year, -- the EU’s "alleged" -- Walt's word -- border control agency, Frontex, warned that it was "possible" that foreign fighters were using "irregular migration routes" to get into Europe.
Egypt’s ambassador to the UK has warned of "boats full of terrorists" if the international community does not act, while the Italian government has expressed fears of militants infiltrating the boats, while emphasizing that the boats are... wait for it... a "humanitarian crisis".
So what to do? BBC News reports today that EU foreign and defence ministers are expected to approve a mission to destroy the boats used by people-smugglers operating in war-torn Libya. (Notice how no-one talks any more about who start the war that destabilized Libya. Ye reap what ye sow.)
Speaking on arrival for an urgent meeting with the sprouts in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said "today the main point will be taking the decision to establish the operation, the EU operation at sea to dismantle the criminal networks that are smuggling people in the Mediterranean." She did not say whether the boats would be destroyed before or after they were loaded.
Meanwhile, a parallel "humanitarian crisis" unfolds 1000s of miles away, in the Indian Ocean, where three countires -- Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia -- are being condemned by the do-gooders at the UN for refusing to rescue, let alone accept, 1000s of Muslim migrants adrift in the Andaman Sea.
Last week, at least 700 Bangladeshis and Rohingya from Myanmar were rescued off the Indonesian island of Aceh, bringing the numbers of "refugees" in camps there to at least 1500. The Rohingyas, if you haven't heard of them, are an ethnic group who have lived for yonks in northwest Burma [or Myanmar. Take your pick. Ed.] but are denied citizenship because they are, errr, Muslims, and Burma is a Buddhist country. 1000s of Rohingyas have shipped out, fleeing persecution and poverty in Myanmar. They are stranded at sea along with additional 1000s of Bangladeshis -- also Muslims -- who are just looking for work.
Aid agencies say a "grave humanitarian crisis" is in train as countries in the region refuse to accept the migrants. Visible on the sides of the refugee boats are numerous black marks which appear to have been made by ten-foot poles. Thailand, the closest country to Bangladesh and Burma is, like Burma, a Buddhist country, which doesn't want to be overrun by Muslims. Thailand's reluctance is understandable, given that they already have a problem with Islamic terrorists in their southernmost provinces.
Malaysia and Indonesia are, errr, Muslim countries, but don't seem any more disposed to receive their co-religionists than the Buddhists of Thailand. Indonesian authorities have told fishermen not to help the migrants unless their boats are sinking or they are in the water. Military spokesperson Fuad Basya said fishermen could deliver food, fuel and water to the boats, or help with repairs, but that bringing them to shore would constitute an illegal entry into Indonesia.
The Muslim boat people are believed to be severely malnourished. Survivors who have made it to shore say there have been deadly fights on board over food. UNHCR spokesthingy Vivian Tan called the lack of rescues over the past weekend "a bad sign" and warned that "time is running out" to help the migrants. The BBC quotes her as saying, "We were hoping that more ships would be found, and that more people would be rescued and allowed to come onto shore. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to have happened".
Who will take in the poor Muslim "refugees"? Walt suggests that American and Canadian authorities keep their eyes on their countries' Pacific coast, to see what the tide will bring in. Hey, it's happened before, and of course we "Christians" couldn't refuse entry to these huddled masses, because to do so would be anti-Muslim, racist, etc etc etc.
First, the bad news from the Mediterranean. In spite of widely reported drownings of hundreds of refugee wannabes, the tidal wave of dark people keeps increasing in size, and now threatens to inundate Italy and slop over into Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Everyone agrees that Something Must Be Done. Surely we're not going to let those "poor" people drown! But what is to be done? And by whom?
To make matters worse [Is that possible? Ed.] an adviser to the Libyan government [They have a government? Ed.] told BBC News this weekend that Islamic State (IS) fighters are being smuggled into Europe in the midst of the "genuine" refugees. Officials in Italy and Egypt have previously warned that IS militants could reach Europe by migrant boat, but say now -- possibly for fear of being labelled as "racists" or "Islamophobes" -- that it is very difficult to verify or assess such claims.
The Libyan official, Abudul Basit Haroun, based his claim on conversations with smugglers in parts of North Africa controlled by the militants. He "alleged" -- the BBC's word -- that IS was allowing the boat owners to continue their operations in exchange for half of their income. Earlier this year, -- the EU’s "alleged" -- Walt's word -- border control agency, Frontex, warned that it was "possible" that foreign fighters were using "irregular migration routes" to get into Europe.
Egypt’s ambassador to the UK has warned of "boats full of terrorists" if the international community does not act, while the Italian government has expressed fears of militants infiltrating the boats, while emphasizing that the boats are... wait for it... a "humanitarian crisis".
So what to do? BBC News reports today that EU foreign and defence ministers are expected to approve a mission to destroy the boats used by people-smugglers operating in war-torn Libya. (Notice how no-one talks any more about who start the war that destabilized Libya. Ye reap what ye sow.)
Speaking on arrival for an urgent meeting with the sprouts in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said "today the main point will be taking the decision to establish the operation, the EU operation at sea to dismantle the criminal networks that are smuggling people in the Mediterranean." She did not say whether the boats would be destroyed before or after they were loaded.
Meanwhile, a parallel "humanitarian crisis" unfolds 1000s of miles away, in the Indian Ocean, where three countires -- Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia -- are being condemned by the do-gooders at the UN for refusing to rescue, let alone accept, 1000s of Muslim migrants adrift in the Andaman Sea.
Last week, at least 700 Bangladeshis and Rohingya from Myanmar were rescued off the Indonesian island of Aceh, bringing the numbers of "refugees" in camps there to at least 1500. The Rohingyas, if you haven't heard of them, are an ethnic group who have lived for yonks in northwest Burma [or Myanmar. Take your pick. Ed.] but are denied citizenship because they are, errr, Muslims, and Burma is a Buddhist country. 1000s of Rohingyas have shipped out, fleeing persecution and poverty in Myanmar. They are stranded at sea along with additional 1000s of Bangladeshis -- also Muslims -- who are just looking for work.
Aid agencies say a "grave humanitarian crisis" is in train as countries in the region refuse to accept the migrants. Visible on the sides of the refugee boats are numerous black marks which appear to have been made by ten-foot poles. Thailand, the closest country to Bangladesh and Burma is, like Burma, a Buddhist country, which doesn't want to be overrun by Muslims. Thailand's reluctance is understandable, given that they already have a problem with Islamic terrorists in their southernmost provinces.
Malaysia and Indonesia are, errr, Muslim countries, but don't seem any more disposed to receive their co-religionists than the Buddhists of Thailand. Indonesian authorities have told fishermen not to help the migrants unless their boats are sinking or they are in the water. Military spokesperson Fuad Basya said fishermen could deliver food, fuel and water to the boats, or help with repairs, but that bringing them to shore would constitute an illegal entry into Indonesia.
The Muslim boat people are believed to be severely malnourished. Survivors who have made it to shore say there have been deadly fights on board over food. UNHCR spokesthingy Vivian Tan called the lack of rescues over the past weekend "a bad sign" and warned that "time is running out" to help the migrants. The BBC quotes her as saying, "We were hoping that more ships would be found, and that more people would be rescued and allowed to come onto shore. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to have happened".
Who will take in the poor Muslim "refugees"? Walt suggests that American and Canadian authorities keep their eyes on their countries' Pacific coast, to see what the tide will bring in. Hey, it's happened before, and of course we "Christians" couldn't refuse entry to these huddled masses, because to do so would be anti-Muslim, racist, etc etc etc.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Pope calls Islamic extremism "product of the West"
No. Not that Pope. The reference is to Pope Tawadros II, Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Egypt's largest Christian group. The Fides news agency reports that Pope Tawadros denounced Western policies which have fostered Islamic extremism in the Middle East.
The Patriarch (pictured here with leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church and members of the diplomatic corps) made his comments in a television interview broadcast last Tuesday by the Al Hayat network, at the conclusion of the prelate's visit to Russia.
Responding to the interviewer's questions, Pope Tawadros made explicit reference to Western complicity towards extremist fanatical groups, aiming at reshaping the balance of power in the entire region. Their goals, he explained, include the total evacuation of the indigenous Christian communities in that area of the world.
He also called the confidence of those who expect aid from the West to the Christian communities of the Middle East misguided. "Some thought that America could protect us" when extremists burned dozens of Egyptian churches in 2013, he said, "no-one did anything."
The Fides report does not say if Pope Tawadros expressed any surprise at the lack of Western interest in or action on behalf of Christians in his country. Walt doubts it. Of course, Barack Hussein Obama is not a Muslim [Right! Ed.] but that doesn't stop him making nice with folks like Iran's Ayatollah Khameini, not known for being exactly pro-Christian.
The Patriarch (pictured here with leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church and members of the diplomatic corps) made his comments in a television interview broadcast last Tuesday by the Al Hayat network, at the conclusion of the prelate's visit to Russia.
Responding to the interviewer's questions, Pope Tawadros made explicit reference to Western complicity towards extremist fanatical groups, aiming at reshaping the balance of power in the entire region. Their goals, he explained, include the total evacuation of the indigenous Christian communities in that area of the world.
He also called the confidence of those who expect aid from the West to the Christian communities of the Middle East misguided. "Some thought that America could protect us" when extremists burned dozens of Egyptian churches in 2013, he said, "no-one did anything."
The Fides report does not say if Pope Tawadros expressed any surprise at the lack of Western interest in or action on behalf of Christians in his country. Walt doubts it. Of course, Barack Hussein Obama is not a Muslim [Right! Ed.] but that doesn't stop him making nice with folks like Iran's Ayatollah Khameini, not known for being exactly pro-Christian.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
3 portents of the coming Armageddon
Walt has written several times about Armageddon -- not the movie but the place in present-day Israel which the Bible tells us will be the site of the final battle between good and evil, between God and Satan. See the 16th chapter of the Apocalypse (or Revelation). See "The coffin of civilization", posted here almost two years ago.
Yes, there is such a place -- Tel Megiddo. Since it's more of a plain than a mountain, the prophetic vision of Apoc. 16:16 should not be taken too literally. The traditional view is that "Armageddon" symbolizes the progression of the world toward the "great day of God, the Almighty" in which the great looming mountain of God's just and holy wrath is poured out against unrepentant sinners, led by Satan, in a final confrontation which results in the literal end of the world.
Yet it seems not unlikely (to Walt, at least) that the Armageddon could take place at Megiddo. Look at the map. Even if you believe, as many do, that the actual battle will be at Jerusalem, Apoc. 16:16 tells us the armies will gather at Armageddon... not so far away.
When is this going to happen? Walt suggests that you not make any plans for Thanksgiving! Well, OK, maybe that's a bit extreme, but when you look at current events you have to wonder just how much longer God is going to hold His hand. Here are three items from this week's news which, individually, don't look like much, but added together make me think we're now playing in "extra time".
Item 1: USAF U-2 spy planes and drones have been flying over eastern Syria, most of which is held by the ISIS jihadists. It is thought the Prez may call in an air strike or two, to go with the attacks on ISIS in Iraq. This will be more than a bit embarrassing for Mr. Obama, as he will be obliged to ask permission from Basher Assad, whose regime he (Obama) was talking about overthrowing less than a year ago. Making common cause with the Syrian government will put an exclamation point on the failure of US foreign policy in the Middle East.
Item 2: Last week "unknown" military aircraft made a strike [or a spare, at least. Ed.] against Islamic extremists who were attacking the Tripoli (Libya) airport. The terrorists took the airport anyway, but the news here is that the air strike came as a complete surprise to to the USA and other western nations who, it seems, were not consulted or even notified in advance. Whodunnit? Today we learn it was jets of the United Arab Emirates, operating out of a base in Egypt. The threat here is that if these fractious Middle Eastern states start attacking each other without the involvement of the West, war could spread across the entire region like wildfire.
Item 3: Some would say that war has already started, referring to the fighting between Israel and Hamas. It seems only a matter of time before some other power jumps in -- overtly or covertly -- on the side of the Palestinians. Like who? Like Iran, that's who. Just yesterday the Iranian National Guard announced that it had shot down an Israeli drone which was intercepted flying over an Iranian nuclear facility. The other shoe could drop anytime... with a bomb attached.
The Church tells us to "despise not prophecy". Time to start "cramming for the finals"! If you haven't got time for the entire Bible, just read the Gospel of St. John, to which you may profitably add Crucial Truths to Save Your Soul, reviewed here earlier this month. The time is coming!
Yes, there is such a place -- Tel Megiddo. Since it's more of a plain than a mountain, the prophetic vision of Apoc. 16:16 should not be taken too literally. The traditional view is that "Armageddon" symbolizes the progression of the world toward the "great day of God, the Almighty" in which the great looming mountain of God's just and holy wrath is poured out against unrepentant sinners, led by Satan, in a final confrontation which results in the literal end of the world.
Yet it seems not unlikely (to Walt, at least) that the Armageddon could take place at Megiddo. Look at the map. Even if you believe, as many do, that the actual battle will be at Jerusalem, Apoc. 16:16 tells us the armies will gather at Armageddon... not so far away.When is this going to happen? Walt suggests that you not make any plans for Thanksgiving! Well, OK, maybe that's a bit extreme, but when you look at current events you have to wonder just how much longer God is going to hold His hand. Here are three items from this week's news which, individually, don't look like much, but added together make me think we're now playing in "extra time".
Item 1: USAF U-2 spy planes and drones have been flying over eastern Syria, most of which is held by the ISIS jihadists. It is thought the Prez may call in an air strike or two, to go with the attacks on ISIS in Iraq. This will be more than a bit embarrassing for Mr. Obama, as he will be obliged to ask permission from Basher Assad, whose regime he (Obama) was talking about overthrowing less than a year ago. Making common cause with the Syrian government will put an exclamation point on the failure of US foreign policy in the Middle East.
Item 2: Last week "unknown" military aircraft made a strike [or a spare, at least. Ed.] against Islamic extremists who were attacking the Tripoli (Libya) airport. The terrorists took the airport anyway, but the news here is that the air strike came as a complete surprise to to the USA and other western nations who, it seems, were not consulted or even notified in advance. Whodunnit? Today we learn it was jets of the United Arab Emirates, operating out of a base in Egypt. The threat here is that if these fractious Middle Eastern states start attacking each other without the involvement of the West, war could spread across the entire region like wildfire.
Item 3: Some would say that war has already started, referring to the fighting between Israel and Hamas. It seems only a matter of time before some other power jumps in -- overtly or covertly -- on the side of the Palestinians. Like who? Like Iran, that's who. Just yesterday the Iranian National Guard announced that it had shot down an Israeli drone which was intercepted flying over an Iranian nuclear facility. The other shoe could drop anytime... with a bomb attached.
The Church tells us to "despise not prophecy". Time to start "cramming for the finals"! If you haven't got time for the entire Bible, just read the Gospel of St. John, to which you may profitably add Crucial Truths to Save Your Soul, reviewed here earlier this month. The time is coming!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Medical tests to be used to keep gays out of Arabian Gulf states
Seems like the Russians aren't the only ones who don't welcome homosexuals into their countries. Sodomy and other homosexual acts [Please don't go on! Ed.] are unlawful in the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -– and their nationals presumably know better than to get caught packing fudge or whatever.
Homosexual acts can draw a long stretch in prison in states like Kuwait (10 years), or the death sentence in Yemen or Saudi Arabia. Walt is not sure if the sentence is carried out by beheading, but wouldn't be surprised. Serves the buggers right!
A problem arises, though, when gay foreigners enter the highly moral Arab countries, bringing with them their decadent Western ways and diseases. So, on the theory that it's better to deny them entry than have to behead them (with the attendant Western liberal pissing and moaning), the GCC are busily devising new means to detect members of the LGBT gang and keep them out of their countries.
Even as we speak, the Kuwaitis are developing a new medical test to separate the sheep from the goats. [There's something queer about that metaphor. Ed.] Yousouf Mindkar, the Director of Public Health at the Kuwaiti health ministry told the Kuwait newspaper Al Rai: "Health centres conduct the routine medical check to assess the health of the expatriates when they come into the GCC countries. However, we will take stricter measures that will help us detect gays who will be then barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states."
Mr. Mindkar did not give details of the "stricter measures". One shudders to think.
Lest you think that it's only the backward Muslims and homophobic Russkis who are resisting the Great Englightenment ("It's OK to be gay!"), Walt can confirm that it’s illegal to be gay in 78 countries. Lesbianism is banned in 49. Those figures are from the Daily Mail article which is the source of this story. I find them a bit confusing because I thought you had to be gay to be a lesbian, and vice versa, but I'm not up on the latest permutations and combinations.
In a totally unrelated story, of possible interest (only) to Walt's Canadian readers, John Greyson and Tarek Loubani are still detained in Egypt, which is one of the 78 countries mentioned above.
Homosexual acts can draw a long stretch in prison in states like Kuwait (10 years), or the death sentence in Yemen or Saudi Arabia. Walt is not sure if the sentence is carried out by beheading, but wouldn't be surprised. Serves the buggers right!
A problem arises, though, when gay foreigners enter the highly moral Arab countries, bringing with them their decadent Western ways and diseases. So, on the theory that it's better to deny them entry than have to behead them (with the attendant Western liberal pissing and moaning), the GCC are busily devising new means to detect members of the LGBT gang and keep them out of their countries.
Even as we speak, the Kuwaitis are developing a new medical test to separate the sheep from the goats. [There's something queer about that metaphor. Ed.] Yousouf Mindkar, the Director of Public Health at the Kuwaiti health ministry told the Kuwait newspaper Al Rai: "Health centres conduct the routine medical check to assess the health of the expatriates when they come into the GCC countries. However, we will take stricter measures that will help us detect gays who will be then barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states."
Mr. Mindkar did not give details of the "stricter measures". One shudders to think.
Lest you think that it's only the backward Muslims and homophobic Russkis who are resisting the Great Englightenment ("It's OK to be gay!"), Walt can confirm that it’s illegal to be gay in 78 countries. Lesbianism is banned in 49. Those figures are from the Daily Mail article which is the source of this story. I find them a bit confusing because I thought you had to be gay to be a lesbian, and vice versa, but I'm not up on the latest permutations and combinations.
In a totally unrelated story, of possible interest (only) to Walt's Canadian readers, John Greyson and Tarek Loubani are still detained in Egypt, which is one of the 78 countries mentioned above.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Christians attacked every day in Mid-East, Africa and Asia
2 Christians shot in Libya after refusing to convert to IslamTwo Coptic Christians were shot in northeastern Libya after they refused to convert to Islam, according to Morning Star News, a news service that reports on the persecution of Christians. . . .
Attack on Catholic mission outpost in Central African RepublicSudanese members of the Séléka rebel coalition, which assumed power in the Central African Republic in March, have ransacked the Catholic mission in Bouar, a city of 40,000 in the western portion of the nation, according to the Fides news agency. . . .
Tombstones smashed in Christian cemetery in JerusalemFour young men whom the Jerusalem Post described as “Jewish nationalists” smashed tombstones and broke off crosses in a Christian cemetery in Jerusalem, according to a story that appeared on the newspaper’s website. . . .
Assassination attempt against Coptic bishop in EgyptA Coptic Orthodox bishop survived an assassination attempt as he was traveling to console the family of a murder victim, according to multiple media reports. . . .
This kind of thing is reported every bloody day! (I chose that adjective deliberately.) And yet the Church and Francis the Party Pope keep telling us that we must love the heathens and the heretics, keep reaching out to them, invite them into our places of worship, not to mention out countries. DAFT, isn't it?
Confession from Ed.: I borrowed the graphic from the cover of this week's Economist because I thought it was about right for this story. Look for the mag at your newsstand. Oh... no more newsstands in your neck of the woods? Walt will keep you posted!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Why be president when you can be pharaoh?
A regular reader asks why Walt hasn't said anything about the unrest in Egypt. "It looks as if the Egyptians are still revolting," is the way he put it. Dear reader, does this come as a surprise to you? Did you think the "Arab Spring" would bring democracy, peace and stability to Egypt? [Or Libya, Tunisia or Yemen? Ed.] Don't let's be silly!
And please pay attention to Walt's predictions! On December 1st -- of 2011, that is -- Walt predicted Islamist parties would win big in Egypt's first-ever "free and fair" elections, which were about to be held. And so they did. (Lifetime pct .981.)
The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won the largest number of seats. The hardline Salafist Nour party came second. Liberal parties including New Wafd and the secular Egyptian Bloc coalition weren't even close. So Egypt was left with a democractically elected hardline Islamist president. And that should satisfy the Egyptian people and be good for relations between Egypt and the West. Right?
At least, that was the thinking of the US State Department. As Walt explained in "'Be my guest', says Obama to Egyptian Islamist leader" Barack Hussein Obama hastened to invite the new president, Mohammed Morsi, to visit the United States in September. Why then? It seemed a bit strange, considering that the folks at Foggy Bottom had until then been wary of Islamists. And of course the USA was a strong supporter of former dictator ["president", surely! Ed.] Hosni Mubarak.
But in September 2012 the Prez would be campaigning hard for re-election, and of course he had this grand plan to improve relations with the terrorists ["Islamists", surely! Ed.], who would thus become America's new friends.
Ah yes, the fruits of democracy would be tasted by all the liberal and progressive Egyptian people, and all would be well in that corner of the world. Bears would stop shitting in the woods and probably the Pope would convert to Islam as well.
A concise [not really. Ed.] history of Egypt
What Obama forgot or misunderstood or ignored -- like the nature of the September 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi -- was that democracy does not come naturally to the Arabs, particularly the militant Islamists. Egyptians were ruled by the pharaohs for nearly three millenia until the conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BC.
After that came several emperors (Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Turkish), and then the decadent and dissolute native Egyptian dynasty of Muhammad Ali [Seriously. You can look it up. Ed.] propped up by the British, French and Americans in the interests of keeping open the Suez Canal.
By 1952, monarchy had become unfashionable, and Egyptians voted -- freely and democratically of course -- to set up a people's democractic republic under Gamal Abdul Nasser. To the surprise of no-one except Western diplomats, Nasser turned out to be a Communist dictator.
After Nasser's death in 1970, Anwar Sadat became president ["dictator", surely! Ed.]. He was welcomed warmly by the Western powers because it seemed as if he could hardly be worse than Nasser. Does any of this sound familiar?
Fast forward through the autocratic regimes of Sadat and Hosni Mubarak to the "Arab Spring" of 2012, which is where we came in.
A slap in the fez for Morsi
Now we are witnessing the entirely predictable spectacle of President Morsi peeling off the thin gauze of democracy with which he clothed himself, to reveal the army-supported strongman underneath. Call it the Dance of the Seven Islamic Veils.
The transition from president to pharaoh began a couple of weeks ago, when Morsi issued presidential decrees giving himself near-absolute power, beyond review or censure even by Egypt's highest court. This is all a "temporary measure" of course, to ensure that the Egyptian people -- or the Muslim Egyptians at least -- could continue to enjoy the benefits of peace and the rule of Sharia law.
And just in case anyone might think Morsi's arrogating all this power unto himself a tad, errr, undemocractic, he rushed through Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament the draft of a new constitution, which, on December 15th, will be put to the people for approval in a referendum -- a fair and democractic referendum, to be sure.
That's what this week's demonstrations in Tahrir Square and other parts of Cairo are about. The Egyptians -- or some of them, at least -- have realized they've been had. (The Coptic Christians knew it all along. That's why they've all come to the USA and Canada to run your local pharmacy.) They are in the streets to demand that Morsi reverse the decrees and cancel the referendum.
Now we are witnessing running street battles between protesters opposing and supporting President Morsi. Yesterday another decree was issued, this one banning protests outside any of the nation's presidential palaces. (Note the plural there. How can the USA get along with only one presidential palace?!)
This morning, the Republican Guard deployed tanks outside the main palace. General Mohammed Zaki said the tanks were deployed to separate warring protesters, and pledged that the military would not be an instrument of oppression against protesters -- at least not the pro-Morsi protesters. A few hundred of them remained outside the palace after the opposition left.
The opposition has said it would organise further marches to the palace as a top presidential aide accused them of co-ordinating with loyalists of deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak. The senior fart-catcher told Agence France Press that Mr. Morsi was expected to make a speech later in the day to "reach out to the opposition". No time was announced for the address, nor was it clear whether whips or chains would be part of the reaching out.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hellery Clinton has called for... wait for it... "an open and democratic dialogue". In a statement echoed by the UK and the EU, she said, "The upheaval we are seeing ... indicates that dialogue is urgently needed. It needs to be two-way." As opposed, Walt imagines, to a "one-way dialogue", more correctly called a "monologue".
Despite the protests, Vice-President Mohammed Mekki said the referendum on the draft constitution "will go ahead on time". The opposition would be allowed to put any objections to articles in the draft constitution in writing, to be discussed by a parliament, once a new one is elected -- fairly and democractically.
Prominent opposition leader Mohammed Al Baradei said President Morsi bore "full responsibility" for the violence. He said the opposition was ready for dialogue but would use "any means necessary" to scupper the charter, stressing, however, that they would be peaceful -- and fair and democractic.
Will there be a dialogue between the new pharaoh and those who oppose him? Will fairness and democracy triumph in Egypt? Stay tuned. Or not...
And please pay attention to Walt's predictions! On December 1st -- of 2011, that is -- Walt predicted Islamist parties would win big in Egypt's first-ever "free and fair" elections, which were about to be held. And so they did. (Lifetime pct .981.)
The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won the largest number of seats. The hardline Salafist Nour party came second. Liberal parties including New Wafd and the secular Egyptian Bloc coalition weren't even close. So Egypt was left with a democractically elected hardline Islamist president. And that should satisfy the Egyptian people and be good for relations between Egypt and the West. Right?
At least, that was the thinking of the US State Department. As Walt explained in "'Be my guest', says Obama to Egyptian Islamist leader" Barack Hussein Obama hastened to invite the new president, Mohammed Morsi, to visit the United States in September. Why then? It seemed a bit strange, considering that the folks at Foggy Bottom had until then been wary of Islamists. And of course the USA was a strong supporter of former dictator ["president", surely! Ed.] Hosni Mubarak.
But in September 2012 the Prez would be campaigning hard for re-election, and of course he had this grand plan to improve relations with the terrorists ["Islamists", surely! Ed.], who would thus become America's new friends.
Ah yes, the fruits of democracy would be tasted by all the liberal and progressive Egyptian people, and all would be well in that corner of the world. Bears would stop shitting in the woods and probably the Pope would convert to Islam as well.
A concise [not really. Ed.] history of Egypt
What Obama forgot or misunderstood or ignored -- like the nature of the September 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi -- was that democracy does not come naturally to the Arabs, particularly the militant Islamists. Egyptians were ruled by the pharaohs for nearly three millenia until the conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BC.
After that came several emperors (Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab and Turkish), and then the decadent and dissolute native Egyptian dynasty of Muhammad Ali [Seriously. You can look it up. Ed.] propped up by the British, French and Americans in the interests of keeping open the Suez Canal.
By 1952, monarchy had become unfashionable, and Egyptians voted -- freely and democratically of course -- to set up a people's democractic republic under Gamal Abdul Nasser. To the surprise of no-one except Western diplomats, Nasser turned out to be a Communist dictator.
After Nasser's death in 1970, Anwar Sadat became president ["dictator", surely! Ed.]. He was welcomed warmly by the Western powers because it seemed as if he could hardly be worse than Nasser. Does any of this sound familiar?
Fast forward through the autocratic regimes of Sadat and Hosni Mubarak to the "Arab Spring" of 2012, which is where we came in.
A slap in the fez for Morsi
Now we are witnessing the entirely predictable spectacle of President Morsi peeling off the thin gauze of democracy with which he clothed himself, to reveal the army-supported strongman underneath. Call it the Dance of the Seven Islamic Veils.
The transition from president to pharaoh began a couple of weeks ago, when Morsi issued presidential decrees giving himself near-absolute power, beyond review or censure even by Egypt's highest court. This is all a "temporary measure" of course, to ensure that the Egyptian people -- or the Muslim Egyptians at least -- could continue to enjoy the benefits of peace and the rule of Sharia law.
And just in case anyone might think Morsi's arrogating all this power unto himself a tad, errr, undemocractic, he rushed through Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament the draft of a new constitution, which, on December 15th, will be put to the people for approval in a referendum -- a fair and democractic referendum, to be sure.
That's what this week's demonstrations in Tahrir Square and other parts of Cairo are about. The Egyptians -- or some of them, at least -- have realized they've been had. (The Coptic Christians knew it all along. That's why they've all come to the USA and Canada to run your local pharmacy.) They are in the streets to demand that Morsi reverse the decrees and cancel the referendum.
Now we are witnessing running street battles between protesters opposing and supporting President Morsi. Yesterday another decree was issued, this one banning protests outside any of the nation's presidential palaces. (Note the plural there. How can the USA get along with only one presidential palace?!)
This morning, the Republican Guard deployed tanks outside the main palace. General Mohammed Zaki said the tanks were deployed to separate warring protesters, and pledged that the military would not be an instrument of oppression against protesters -- at least not the pro-Morsi protesters. A few hundred of them remained outside the palace after the opposition left.
The opposition has said it would organise further marches to the palace as a top presidential aide accused them of co-ordinating with loyalists of deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak. The senior fart-catcher told Agence France Press that Mr. Morsi was expected to make a speech later in the day to "reach out to the opposition". No time was announced for the address, nor was it clear whether whips or chains would be part of the reaching out.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hellery Clinton has called for... wait for it... "an open and democratic dialogue". In a statement echoed by the UK and the EU, she said, "The upheaval we are seeing ... indicates that dialogue is urgently needed. It needs to be two-way." As opposed, Walt imagines, to a "one-way dialogue", more correctly called a "monologue".
Despite the protests, Vice-President Mohammed Mekki said the referendum on the draft constitution "will go ahead on time". The opposition would be allowed to put any objections to articles in the draft constitution in writing, to be discussed by a parliament, once a new one is elected -- fairly and democractically.
Prominent opposition leader Mohammed Al Baradei said President Morsi bore "full responsibility" for the violence. He said the opposition was ready for dialogue but would use "any means necessary" to scupper the charter, stressing, however, that they would be peaceful -- and fair and democractic.
Will there be a dialogue between the new pharaoh and those who oppose him? Will fairness and democracy triumph in Egypt? Stay tuned. Or not...
Friday, August 10, 2012
There goes the neighbourhood
You may have heard that there's been a little unpleasantness in the Sinai peninsula recently. Nominally, it's part of Egypt, but the Egyptians haven't shown a lot of interest in the vast expanse of scrub and desert since their "army" was chased out of it in 1967. Suddenly, though, the Egyptian forces have been asserting themselves, ostensibly to deal with nests of Islamic militants, smugglers, terrorists and other undesirables.
An AP report from Cairo today suggests there's a bit more to the story. Seems the undesirables include 1000s of Africans, and it now appears that what the Egyptians are doing is driving them in a northeasterly direction, into Israel.
You might think that Israel, the homeland of the oppressed and dispossessed, would welcome these newcomers with open arms, much as it "welcomed" the black Jews of Ethiopia back in the 90s. You would be wrong.
Instead of giving refugees houses and cars [as the Canadians would do. Ed.], the Israeli government is sending its own troops into the Sinai to stop the migrants before they reach the ill-defined and ill-defended border. About 60,000 Africans -- most come from Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea -- have already got through, probably at night when, if they don't smile, they can't be seen.
AP says the chosen people are worried that the influx could harm the Jewish character of their state. The Israelis didn't put it quite that way themselves. In a statement released today, the military spokesthingy's office said Israeli forces are working "to prevent the infiltration of both hostile terror elements as well as criminal smuggling."
The statement went on to say that Israeli soldiers have stopped groups several times and held them "until the arrival of Egyptian forces that took the infiltrators." They had no comment on where this took place, but Walt is guessing it wasn't Dade County.
Walt is also guessing that this news from the Sinai will not put even a temporary stop to American Jews' yammering about how African-Americans (and themselves, of course) are the victims of decades of discrimination and racism, and must be compensated. After all, America is not Israel. Why, there's no comparison!
An AP report from Cairo today suggests there's a bit more to the story. Seems the undesirables include 1000s of Africans, and it now appears that what the Egyptians are doing is driving them in a northeasterly direction, into Israel.
You might think that Israel, the homeland of the oppressed and dispossessed, would welcome these newcomers with open arms, much as it "welcomed" the black Jews of Ethiopia back in the 90s. You would be wrong.Instead of giving refugees houses and cars [as the Canadians would do. Ed.], the Israeli government is sending its own troops into the Sinai to stop the migrants before they reach the ill-defined and ill-defended border. About 60,000 Africans -- most come from Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea -- have already got through, probably at night when, if they don't smile, they can't be seen.
AP says the chosen people are worried that the influx could harm the Jewish character of their state. The Israelis didn't put it quite that way themselves. In a statement released today, the military spokesthingy's office said Israeli forces are working "to prevent the infiltration of both hostile terror elements as well as criminal smuggling."
The statement went on to say that Israeli soldiers have stopped groups several times and held them "until the arrival of Egyptian forces that took the infiltrators." They had no comment on where this took place, but Walt is guessing it wasn't Dade County.
Walt is also guessing that this news from the Sinai will not put even a temporary stop to American Jews' yammering about how African-Americans (and themselves, of course) are the victims of decades of discrimination and racism, and must be compensated. After all, America is not Israel. Why, there's no comparison!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
"Be my guest", says Obama to Egyptian Islamist leader
William "Montgomery" Burns, Deputy Secretary of State of the US of A, had a little facetime yesterday with Mohamed Mursi, newly (and democratically) elected president of Egypt. At the news conference which followed, Mr. Burns made the usual motherhood-and-apple-pie statements about improving relations with America's longtime friend, yada yada yada. No news there.
But hold on. Reuters reports that Burns omitted a small detail of his interview with the new leader. We are indebted to one of Mursi's aides, Yasser Ali, for letting us know that during their little talk, Mr. Burns conveyed to Mr. Mursi a personal invitation from none other than Barack Hussein Obama to visit the United States in September.
"Yes sir," said Yasser, "Washington is cultivating stronger ties with the Islamists. Yes sir..." Until recently the folks at Foggy Bottom had been wary of Islamists. And of course the USA was a strong supporter of former president Hosni Mubarak. But with the election of a (purported) American president, who may himself be a Muslim, the wind has shifted, and now the Islamists are America's friends. Right?
None more so than the Muslim Brotherhood, the group behind Mursi's win. Mursi formally resigned from the group when he won the presidency. Whether Obama is still a member is unknown.
So Mursi is coming in September, when he'll be in the neighbourhood to address the General Assembly of the Useless Nations. That an election campaign will be in full swing at that time is just a coincidence. Don't let his visit influence your vote.
But hold on. Reuters reports that Burns omitted a small detail of his interview with the new leader. We are indebted to one of Mursi's aides, Yasser Ali, for letting us know that during their little talk, Mr. Burns conveyed to Mr. Mursi a personal invitation from none other than Barack Hussein Obama to visit the United States in September.
"Yes sir," said Yasser, "Washington is cultivating stronger ties with the Islamists. Yes sir..." Until recently the folks at Foggy Bottom had been wary of Islamists. And of course the USA was a strong supporter of former president Hosni Mubarak. But with the election of a (purported) American president, who may himself be a Muslim, the wind has shifted, and now the Islamists are America's friends. Right?
None more so than the Muslim Brotherhood, the group behind Mursi's win. Mursi formally resigned from the group when he won the presidency. Whether Obama is still a member is unknown.
So Mursi is coming in September, when he'll be in the neighbourhood to address the General Assembly of the Useless Nations. That an election campaign will be in full swing at that time is just a coincidence. Don't let his visit influence your vote.
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