The Pharaoh's Lie Machine Goes Into High Gear

"At least 36 Egyptian security personnel have been hospitalized, including some in critical condition, as a result of violent incidents with Palestinians on the Gaza border, the Egyptian foreign minister said Saturday.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters following a meeting with the Egyptian president and several cabinet ministers, that between 10 and 12 riot police and 26 border guards, including two senior officers, were all in the hospital, some in danger of losing their lives, due to "actions by Palestinian elements" over the past two days......"

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These are blatant lies. Thanks to live reporting, the whole world saw the brutality of the Pharaoh's troops. They attacked ordinary, starving Palestinians trying to get some bread, for God's sake! We all saw the troops using tear gas, water cannon, attack police dogs, pushing and shoving, hitting with batons and even throwing rocks at the Palestinians. A news photographer on the Palestinian side was hit by those rocks and he was shown bleeding in one of the videos. All these can be clearly seen in the photos and videos posted here in the past couple of days.

What is at work here is a misinformation propaganda campaign, probably engineered by USrael, to reduce the support for the Palestinians among the Egyptian public. It is divide-and-conquer all over again. Arab regimes have been shaken badly by the siege and starvation in Gaza and the subsequent massive breakout. The only weapons they have are money and lies.

At times like these, critical, live and accurate news coverage and commentaries are crucial. This is an important test for Al-Jazeera which has been doing a very good job. It remains to be seen if Saudi and American pressure will change that. No one listens to the Egyptian government press organs; everyone knows that they lie all the time.

Equally important is for Hamas to keep up and expand its coverage. Up-to-date photos, videos, audios and news should be posted promptly around the clock. Translation services should be expanded, if possible. It is absolutely critical to get the true picture out, in both Arabic and English, as soon as possible. Fresh news is of the essence.