Tag Archives: Country: Egypt

Eric Trager at Wall Street Journal (via Google): Mohammed Morsi has given himself complete legislative and executive power, plus the right to select writers of a new constitution.

Reuters: They blend a toxic mix of smuggling, gun-running and human trafficking with the “takfiri” ideology of al Qaeda – which declares all Muslims who do not follow their purist, Salafist interpretation of Islam as “kafirs” – infidels. Crime and religion are soldered by ferocious opposition to Israel.

IsraelNationalNews: Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi has sacked the entire leadership of the country’s defense establishment.

AP: Egypt’s military has shown no sign of opposing the president’s surprise decision to retire the defense minister and chief of staff and seize back the powers the military grabbed from his office.

Religion Clause Blog: RNS reports on a letter released Tuesday from Muslim and Coptic Christian leaders in the United States calling on Egypt’s new government that is drafting a constitution for the country to “recognize the equality of all Egyptians and to reject any language that would discriminate against any citizen of Egypt on the basis of that citizen’s religion or gender.”

TriValleyCentral: When the angry mob was rampaging through town, storming her home and those of other Christians, the 70-year-old woman hid in her cow pen, pushing a rock against the door. There she cowered for hours, at one point passing out from tear gas being fired by police that seeped in.

Christian Today: Muslims have attacked a church and Christian homes in a village close to the Egyptian capital of Cairo. The BBC reports that at least 16 people were wounded . . .

Telegraph: Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, has been forced to accept a cabinet dominated by army backed figures in a sign that the military’s political clout remains largely unbridled.

Persecution.org: International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that hundreds of Christians will protest outside Egypt’s constitutional court today, demanding the dissolution of an Islamist-dominated assembly tasked with writing the country’s new constitution. The assembly, appointed by a parliament that was dissolved by the military on June 14, has proposed a constitution that will adhere to the “principles of Islamic Sharia [as] the main source for legislation

Christian Science Monitor: The past 18 months have been particularly trying for Egypt’s Christians, who have clashed with Muslims and lost a religious leader. Now they wonder what life will be like under an Islamist president.

RT.com: Egyptian authorities have arrested a minority Coptic Christian teacher for allegedly posting cartoons on Facebook that insulted Islam – charges that are becoming a common theme in a country ruled by an Islamic majority.

AP: An Egyptian security official says a 25 year-old Muslim man wounded in sectarian clashes with Christian villagers has died.

Reuters: Gaza Islamist leader Ismail Haniyeh met Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday in an official visit that signaled a big shift in Cairo’s stance toward the Hamas movement after the election of a Muslim Brotherhood head of state in Egypt.

Raymond Ibrahim: Dr. Yassir al-Burhami, a prominent figure in Egypt’s Salafi movement and vice president of the Salafi Call—the same sheikh who seeks topunish Muslim apostates, condemns Mother’s Day, and advocatesdeceiving Israel—has just issued a fatwa, published in the “Voice of the Righteous Salaf,” forbidding Muslim taxi-drivers and bus-drivers from transporting Coptic Christian priests to their churches, which he depicted as “more forbidden than taking someone to a liquor bar.”

Christian Today: The Constituent Assembly committee tasked with drafting Egypt’s new constitution has revealed articles of the document, which declares that “Islam is the religion of the state” informed by Islamic Sharia principles. However, those statements seem to contradict an included provision for Christians and Jews to be governed by their own religion, according to observers.

Religion Clause Blog: Ahram and Digital Journal both report that in Egypt, representatives of the Coptic Orthodox Church as well as representatives of Egypt’s Evangelical Church refused an invitation to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday. A number of Christian politicians also declined to meet with her.

Reuters: Brawls broke out in an Egyptian courtroom as judges tried to debate rulings on Tuesday that could either bolster the country’s new Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, or undermine him in his power struggle with the military.

Religion Clause Blog: “Islam is the religion of the state, and Arabic is its official language, and the principles of Islamic Sharia are the main source for legislation. Christians and Jews shall resort to legislation derived from their own religions.”

AP: Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament opened a new front in the country’s leadership showdowns Tuesday by meeting in defiance of orders that disbanded the chamber and brought President Mohammed Morsi in conflict with both the powerful military and the highest court.

Ramond Ibrahim at the Middle East Forum: Prior to Egypt’s presidential elections, Islamists made clear that the electoral process was an obligatory form of “holy war.” Then, any number of Islamic clerics, including influential ones, declared that it was mandatory for Muslims to cheat during elections—if so doing would help Islamist candidates win; that the elections were a form of jihad, and those who die are “martyrs” who will attain the highest levels of paradise.

The Hill: The cautious approach by the administration reflects the unease that some lawmakers have about the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been linked to violence in the past. A handful of GOP lawmakers immediately called for ending America’s $1.3 billion annual military assistance to Egypt after Morsi won the presidency in June.

Religion Clause Blog: In Egypt, the country’s new constitution is being drafted by a 100-person Constituent Assembly representing an array of interests.

Christian Today: The concerns have prompted an estimated 100,000 Christians to leave Egypt since the uprising.

Guardian: Mohamed Morsi’s first appointments as president-elect of Egypt will be a woman and a Coptic Christian, his spokesman has told the Guardian, as he moves to allay fears of the Muslim Brotherhood.

AP: An Egyptian court suspended on Tuesday a government decision allowing military police and intelligence to arrest civilians, a setback for the country’s military rulers after the decree drew an outcry from opponents who accused them of trying to impose martial law.

AP: Ahmed Shafiq, Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister and loser of the presidential runoff, left Egypt Tuesday with most of his family for the United Arab Emirates hours after the prosecutor general opened an investigation into allegations he wasted public funds during his 8-year term as a civil aviation minister in the ousted regime.

WorldNetDaily: Saleha Mahmood Abedin, the mother of Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff, reportedly served in the women’s division of the Muslim Brotherhood alongside the wife of Egypt’s new president, the Brotherhood’s Mohammed Mursi.

Daily Mail: Although optimists hope that Egypt will evolve along the lines of Turkey, which has a moderate Islamic government, the reality is that it is likely to see protracted strife between a still-powerful military – which has until now held all the power – and a strong Islamist movement that will make it more like strife-torn Pakistan.

Christianity Today: Meanwhile, at a Christian retreat center outside of Cairo, a number of Coptic women shed tears of despair over their community’s future, as they huddled around a television and watched Morsy be proclaimed the winner.

The Hill: “The United States congratulates Dr. Mohamed Morsi on his victory in Egypt’s Presidential election, and we congratulate the Egyptian people for this milestone in their transition to democracy,” said White House press secretary Jay Carney in a statement.

Washington Times: Egyptian secular and liberal parties sounded dissatisfaction over the reported support of the US for Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate, Mohamed Mursi, but affirmed they would accept the results of the elections due to be announced Sunday.

Al Jazeera (includes video): The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi has officially won Egypt’s presidential election and will be the country’s next president, the electoral commission has announced. Morsi picked up 13.2 million votes out of just over 26 million, giving him about 51 per cent of the vote. His competitor, Ahmed Shafik, the final prime minister under Hosni Mubarak, received 12.3 million. More than 800,000 ballots were invalidated.

AP: Morsi, from the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood group, is the first Islamist president of Egypt. He defeated Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, in a tight race that deeply polarized the nation.

AP: Egypt’s ruling military council on Friday blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for raising tensions by releasing presidential election results early – and defended decisions granting itself sweeping powers.

Front Page Magazine: Both Alarabiya TV and Egyptian national TV reported that Egyptian immigrants voted 75% in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood candidate in the primary.

CNN: The Palestinian group Hamas says its military wing has agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire with Israel following a sharp increase in violence between the two sides.

Christian Post: A year ago Mohammed Khidir Khalil was glad his family had obtained refugee status in Egypt after fleeing Islamic hostilities in Sudan . . . Today the convert from Islam is back in Sudan fighting to recover his family after his in-laws compelled his wife to claim she was Muslim and divorce him.

Raymond Ibrahim at the Middle East Forum: But what does the Muslim Brotherhood have to benefit by claiming victory now, if official results might prove otherwise on June 21, a mere three days from now? Simple: they will be able to scream foul play—and gain the world’s sympathy. For days the world will have been inundated with news that the Brotherhood won, so that, when and if it hears that Shafiq won, it will naturally conclude electoral fraud—which best serves the Islamists’ interests.

Reuters: That drew a sharp rebuke from Washington, long the Egyptian military’s financial sponsor. The Pentagon said it was “deeply concerned” and urged the army to hand over “full power” to civilians – but it made no mention of U.S. action if it did not.

Boston Globe (AP): Militants crossed from Egypt’s turbulent Sinai desert into southern Israel on Monday and opened fire, killing an Israeli worker, defense officials said. Two assailants were shot dead in a gunbattle with Israeli troops responding to the ambush.

AP: Islamist candidate Mohammed Morsi declared victory Monday in Egypt’s first free presidential election since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster 16 months ago.

Voice of America: Tempers flared and protesters took to the streets after Egypt’s constitutional court issued twin rulings that sparked anger and confusion just days ahead of a presidential run-off election.

Washington Post: Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament is likely to be suspended after a high court ruling Thursday that one-third of its lawmakers were elected unconstitutionally, officials said.

AP: In the small southern Egyptian town of Azaziya, where almost all the residents are Christians, few doubt that nearly everyone who can is going to vote for Ahmed Shafiq, ousted leader Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister and his longtime friend . . .

AP: Liberals, leftists, women and minority Christians say the Islamists want to dominate the process of writing a new constitution so that the new document would have an Islamist slant. The move, they claim, is part of a grand design by the Brotherhood and its allies to take over the main state institutions, including the executive and the legislative.

AsiaNews.it: The horrific video was released not by anti-Islamic groups, but by an Egyptian journalist, Tawfik Oshaka, condemning the Salafis and the Muslim Brotherhood. Islamic extremism has a cruel image of Islam. But the seeds of violence are present in the Koran and the life of Muhammad. It is time for Muslims to unequivocally condemn this violence.

Religion Clause Blog: In Egypt, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has invited both chambers of parliament to meet next Tuesday to select the 100 members of the panel that is to draft the country’s new constitution.

Raymond Ibrahim at Middle East Forum: Then Burhami made clear what the issue at hand was: Apostasy—if Muslims have the right to leave Islam and convert to other religions. In the words of Burhami . . .

allAfrica.com: Egypt may be following one set of democratic procedures, but it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a transition to democracy, irrespective of who becomes the next President. Elections are only one element of democracy, and to reduce democratic practice to what happens at the polling station is highly problematic. We need to ask ourselves what the conditions are that have influenced people’s choices?

Gatestone Institute: According to the popular Egyptian website, El Bashayer, Muhammad Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate, just declared that he will “achieve the Islamic conquest (fath) of Egypt for the second time, and make all Christians convert to Islam, or else pay the jizya,” the additional Islamic tax, or financial tribute, required of non-Muslims, or financial tribute.

UPI: A Christian teenager sentenced to three years in jail for defaming Islam has lost his appeal before an Egyptian court, the government said.

Religion Clause Blog: AINA reported yesterday that many Egyptians, deeply dissatisfied with the choice for President they have in the upcoming run-off election, are blaming the Christian Copts.  Islamists are blaming the Copts for the fact that Ahmad Shafik, Hosni Mubarak’s last Prime Minister, came in high enough to be in the run-off with Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsy.

AP: The Islamist candidate Mohammed Morsi made the new campaign promises in a news conference, vowing to ensure the full rights of the Christian minority and women if he is elected.

Religion Clause Blog: On Monday, Egypt’s State Security Court sentenced 12 Christians to life in prison after they were found guilty of sowing public strife, possessing illegal weapons and killing two Muslims in Minya province last April. Eight Muslims were acquitted of possessing illegal weapons and burning down Christian-owned homes and businesses.

Raymond Ibrahim at the Middle East Forum: Despite the fact that some in the West portray Islam and democracy as being perfectly compatible, evidence continues to emerge that, for many countries in the Middle East, democracy and elections are various means to one end: the establishment of a decidedly undemocratic form of law—Islamic, or Sharia Law. Thus, Egyptian cleric Dr. Talat Zahran proclaimed that it is “obligatory to cheat at elections, a beautiful thing,” his logic being that voting is a tool, an instrument, the only value of which is to empower Sharia . . .

CBN: “We are seeing the dream of the Islamic Caliphate coming true at the hands of Mohammed Morsi,” the cleric, Safwat Hegazy, blared from his podium. “The capital of the Caliphate and the United Arab States is Jerusalem, God [Allah] willing,” he added, as thousands cheered and waved the Brotherhood’s green flag, chanting, “The people want to implement God’s law.”

Fox News: “We are seeing the dream of the Islamic Caliphate coming true at the hands of Mohammed Morsi,” the cleric, Safwat Hegazy, blared from his podium. “The capital of the Caliphate and the United Arab States is Jerusalem, God willing,” he added . . .

AP: Militants who have vowed allegiance to al-Qaida attack security forces in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula close to Israel and enjoy unchallenged control of two border towns.

Religion Clause Blog: Aswat Masriya yesterday published a compilation of the positions of each of Egypt’s 12 Presidential candidates  on whether they prefer a religious or civil state . . .

Raymond Ibrahim at Middle East Watch: To appreciate this dichotomy—what Islamists are all about and why secularists want no part in Friday’s march—consider who is among the characters spearheading tomorrow’s mass protests: none other than Muhammad al-Zawahiri, the elder brother of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, and a seasoned terrorist in his own right. According to Youm 7, Zawahiri appeared yesterday “at the head of hundreds of protesters,” including “dozens of jihadis,” demonstrating in front of Egypt’s Military Council near Cairo.

The Times of Israel: Knesset approves IDF request to call up a further 16 battalions if needed

AP: Suspected supporters of Egypt’s military rulers attacked predominantly Islamist anti-government protesters outside the Defense Ministry in Cairo Wednesday, setting off clashes that left 11 dead as political tensions rise three weeks before crucial presidential elections.

Ronnie Kalil at CNN: Adel Imam, one of Egypt’s most beloved comedic actors, was sentenced to jail for insulting Islam. Not for something he said but for roles he played in films. Yes, you read that right. That’s like sentencing Edward Norton to life in prison for his role in “American History X.”
What makes this court ruling even more preposterous is that these films are not recent films. They are pre-revolution films that were approved by the former government.

Al Arabiya: Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW) has appealed to the Islamist-dominated parliament not to approve two controversial laws on the minimum age of marriage and allowing a husband to have sex with his dead wife within six hours of her death according to a report in an Egyptian newspaper.

Religion Clause Blog: The most widely reported and inflammatory of the proposals (see reports in RT, London Mail), building on a fatwa issued last year by Moroccan cleric Zamzami Abdul Bari, would allow husbands to have sex with their deceased wives up to six hours after the wife’s death.

Reuters: Egypt’s Adel Imam, the Arab world’s most famous comic actor, had a conviction and three-month prison sentence for insulting Islam in his films and plays overturned on appeal, a state newspaper reported on Thursday.

Religion Clause Blog: In a front-page story today, the New York Times reports that Egypt’s presidential race is increasingly becoming a contest over the place of Islam in the new Egypt.

Boston Globe: The Carter Center is the most prominent of the eight groups denied permits. Some of the others are linked to U.S.-based churches.

AP: Islamists and liberals turned out together in force for the protest to show the widespread anger . . .

Washington Post: Egypt’s presidential electoral commission permanently disqualified 10 presidential hopefuls, including three front-runners, on Tuesday, upending the election just weeks before next month’s vote.

AP: More than 10,000 Egyptians marched from mosques and protested in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday in a show of strength by Islamists, demanding the country’s ruling generals bar Hosni Mubarak’s former spy chief and other ousted regime officials from running . . .

AP: After the death of their spiritual leader, more than 2,000 Egyptian Copts have poured into the Holy Land for the Easter holidays, defying a ban he imposed on visiting Jerusalem and other Israeli-controlled areas.

Trudy Rubin at the Philadelphia Inquirer: Last week, a Muslim Brotherhood delegation from Egypt came to Washington to convince skeptics that Islam and democracy can coexist.

AP: Hosni Mubarak’s former vice president said he decided to run for president to prevent Islamists from turning Egypt into a “religious state.”

BBC: Several lawsuits had demanded Cairo’s Administrative Court block the decision to form the panel as it did not reflect the diversity of Egyptian society.