Egypt group condemns constituent assembly, MB candidate

Bikya Masr

"CAIRO: Egypt’s Constitution for all Egyptians Front, which includes more than 30 political parties and revolutionary coalitions, said in a statement issued on Monday that the most serious risks and challenges facing the revolution are the religious forces, “Islamist parties and the dominance of the Muslim Brotherhood over Parliament’s chambers and the Constituent Assembly entrusted with the development of the country’s new constitution.”

It continued that the Brotherhood’s insistence on maintaining their hegemony over the constitution, “which prompted all the forces and the national parties and gatherings of youth and cultural artistic organizations and women’s and professional trade unions, labor, peasant and religious figures to form the Constitution for all Egyptians Front in order to halt the founding committee, formed by Parliament and reach consensus on the objective criteria for the drafting of the constitution to achieve the basic demands of the revolution in freedom and social justice and human dignity.”....."

مرشح الاخوان لرئاسة مصر: تطبيق الشريعة هدفي الأول والأخير

مرشح الاخوان لرئاسة مصر: تطبيق الشريعة هدفي الأول والأخير
How About Beheading? Is it One of Your Primary Goals Too??

"القاهرة- (رويترز): أعلن خيرت الشاطر مرشح جماعة الاخوان المسلمين لرئاسة مصر أن تطبيق الشريعة الإسلامية هدفه "الأول والأخير" إذا فاز بالانتخابات التي تجرى في مايو ايار ويونيو حزيران.
وفي أول تصريحات معلنة له منذ القرار المفاجئ لجماعة الإخوان المسلمين بترشيحها إياه لخوض سباق انتخابات الرئاسة وعد الشاطر أيضا بإصلاح وزارة الداخلية التي لعبت لفترة طويلة دورا رئيسيا في قمع المعارضة.

ومع ذلك نفى الشاطر أنه ابرم أي صفقة مع الجيش بشأن ترشيحه الذي أعلن يوم السبت الماضي رغم أن هذا الترشح قد يساعد مرشحين مقربين من النظام السابق للرئيس المخلوع حسني مبارك عن طريق تفتيت اصوات الإسلاميين.

وقال الشاطر في اجتماع للهيئة الشرعية للحقوق والإصلاح- وهو عضو فيها- مع شخصيات تنتمي إلى المدرسة السلفية "الشريعة كانت وستظل مشروعي وهدفي الأول والأخير".

وفي تصريحات نشرت في بيان صدر عن الهيئة قال الشاطر في الاجتماع الذي عقد مساء الثلاثاء انه سيؤسس كيانا خاصا لمساعدة البرلمان في تحقيق هذا الهدف.

وقال الشاطر "سأعمل على تكوين مجموعة من أهل الحل والعقد لمعاونة البرلمان في تحقيق هذا الهدف
.....
"

Günter Grass launches poetry attack on Israel

German Nobel literature laureate Günter Grass says Israel is a threat to world peace in his poem What Must Be Said

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 April 2012

"German Nobel literature laureate Günter Grass labelled Israel a threat to "already fragile world peace" in a poem published on Wednesday that drew sharp rebukes at home and from Israel.

In the poem, titled What Must be Said, published in German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Italy's La Repubblica among others, Grass criticises what he describes as western hypocrisy over Israel's own suspected nuclear programme amid speculation it might engage in military action against Iran to stop it building an atomic bomb.

The 84-year-old Grass said he had been prompted to put pen to paper by Berlin's recent decision to sell Israel a submarine able to "send all-destroying warheads where the existence of a single nuclear bomb is unproven".

"The nuclear power Israel is endangering the already fragile world peace," he wrote. His poem specifically criticises Israel's "claim to the right of a first strike" against Iran.

Grass also called for "unhindered and permanent control of Israel's nuclear capability and Iran's atomic facilities through an international body"......"

Muslim Brotherhood officials aim to promote moderate image in Washington visit

The Washington Post

"Members of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood began a week-long charm offensive in Washington on Tuesday, meeting with White House officials, policy experts and others to counter persistent fears about the group’s emergence as the country’s most powerful political force.

The revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak has rapidly transformed the Brotherhood from an opposition group that had been formally banned into a political juggernaut controlling nearly half the seats in Egypt’s newly elected parliament.

With its rise, however, have come concerns from Egypt’s secularists as well as U.S. officials that the Islamist group could remake the country, threatening the rights of women and religious minorities. Such fears were only exacerbated by the Brotherhood’s recent decision to field a candidate in upcoming presidential elections, despite previous pledges that it would not do so.....

Members of the Brotherhood delegation, who met with White House officials Tuesday, are scheduled to meet with more U.S. officials in coming days and attend several events at think tanks.

At those events, they are likely to be scrutinized as representatives of Egypt’s ruling party....."

ICC decision not to pursue justice for victims of Israel war crimes "dangerous" and "political" says Amnesty

By Ali Abunimah

"Amnesty International today condemned a declaration by the office of International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor that it cannot pursue allegations of war crimes related to Israel’s December 2008 - January 2009 “Operation Cast Lead” attack on Gaza which claimed over 1400 Palestinian lives.

The ICC prosecutor’s decision, Amnesty said in a statement, “means Palestinian and Israeli victims seem likely to be denied justice.”

Amnesty’s criticism stemmed from the fact that the prosecutor’s office claimed that “it cannot consider allegations of crimes committed during the conflict unless the relevant UN bodies or ICC states parties determine that the Palestinian Authority is a state.”

However, Amnesty said, this determination is one that belongs in the hands of judges, not the prosecutor....."

Egypt Constitution Faces Islamic Colouring

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani

"CAIRO, Apr 4, 2012 (IPS) - The large proportion of Islamist-leaning members in Egypt’s Constituent Assembly elected last month has led to accusations that Islamist parties - especially the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) - are effectively monopolising the constitution-drafting process.

"If the Islamists carry through with plans to draw up a new constitution under the current Islamist- dominated Constituent Assembly, they may end up facing a new revolution," Magdi Sherif, head of the centrist Guardians of the Revolution Party, tells IPS....

Recent days have seen several demonstrations in Cairo organised by non-Islamist parties and movements - including one outside Egypt's parliament building - to protest the assembly's large proportion of Islamist members. Some activists are now calling for a million-man demonstration in Cairo's Tahrir Square next week to demand the assembly's reformulation....."

Spying on the Spies

Outsourcing intelligence-gathering to the Israelis imperils national security

by Justin Raimondo, April 04, 2012

"Stewart Nozette, a brilliant scientist whose work was instrumental in advancing the US space program, was convicted last year of attempting to spy on behalf of Israel, and this month was sentenced to 13 years in prison and a substantial fine. Under investigation for over-charging the government for various services performed by his nonprofit, Nozette was found to be in possession of classified documents – and, in the course of their inquiry, FBI agents discovered an email written by him threatening to turn over classified information to the Israelis if the government pursued its fraud case......

If the Israelis have access to this comprehensive monitoring system, via an electronic “back door,” this means personal information could be readily passed around and used to discredit Israel’s perceived enemies in the US. Can fear be a big part of the explanation for the free pass given to Israel’s covert activities – fear of blackmail?

Oh, so you’re a vocal opponent of Israel’s policies in Palestine? Listen buddy, do we have a thick dossier on you! You’d better shut up – or else. What will your wife say when she sees that email – complete with lurid attachment – you sent the other night?

It’s the alleged function of government to protect us from foreign invaders, bad guys from overseas who would do us harm. In this instance, however, they haven’t just failed – they’ve shirked their sworn duty. This may be one of the biggest stories since September 11, 2001 – which is why you won’t hear a word about it from the legacy media and their online imitators. Kudos to Wired for breaking this latest aspect of an ongoing story. How long, I wonder, before they’re darkly accused of spreading pernicious “conspiracy theories”?....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Bahrain economy battered from inside and out

"Prices in the capital city of Manama have risen sharply, partly due to the state of the world economy, but also as a result of the current political instability in Bahrain....."

Securing the Gulag: Assad accused of brutal border crackdown

New mines and increased border security can make refugees' journey to Lebanon a deadly one

The Independent
Tripoli, Lebanon
Wednesday 04 April 2012

"The already perilous journey for refugees fleeing the violence in Syria has become increasingly deadly in recent weeks as President Bashar al-Assad attempts to tighten control of the conflict-ravaged country's borders with fresh landmines, say aid workers and fleeing refugees.

As spring arrives, the Syrian army is said to be laying new mines along the 330km long border with Lebanon to replace those washed away during winter flooding and removed by activists.

It comes amid wider attempts by the Syrian regime to disrupt networks smuggling people, weapons and aid through the once notoriously porous borders, and reports of recent incursions into Lebanon to rout out rebels.....

One refugee who fled to Lebanon's second city of Tripoli two weeks ago told The Independent that she scoured the ground for any sign of hidden mines as she crossed with her seven-year-old son, and that the border hills are littered with the gory remains of those who had failed to spot them.

"I saw the human flesh and body parts on the ground where people had trodden on them," said Afida, 41, from the devastated city of Homs. At one point where the valley she crossed was still flooded, she had to guide her son across the swollen waters on a makeshift bridge made from planks of wood with a rope strung overhead......"

George Galloway and Jean-Luc Mélenchon expose a huge political gap

The rise of France's 'third man' and Bradford's by-election both show a left populism can win mass support in this crisis

Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 3 April 2012

"....It's true that Galloway's record on western-backed wars and occupations in the Muslim world, and his uncompromising defence of the most demonised community in the country, gave him a particular credibility in a constituency with a 37% Muslim population. And the call for withdrawal from Afghanistan is certainly popular with Muslims – though it's also supported by 70% of the entire country.

But the central thrust of Galloway's pitch in Bradford was in fact about cuts, tuition fees, unemployment, poverty and the decline of a city neglected and mismanaged by all the main parties. Respect campaigned as "real Labour" against New Labour, while Galloway declared he wanted to "drag Labour in a progressive direction". And far from dividing communities on ethnic or religious lines, he won majorities in every part of the constituency, including the mainly white areas.

Bradford was a vote against austerity and war, but also against a reviled me-too political establishment, local and national. That alienation has been growing for years, but as cuts are forced through and living standards squeezed further, expect more one-offs whenever the opportunity arises.

Such alienation is common across de-industrialised, deregulated Europe and can also be exploited by the right....."

Jordan: Demonstrators Beaten in Custody

Thirteen Charged With Speech Crimes After Violent Police Breakup

Human Rights Watch
April 3, 2012

"(Beirut) – Police beat close to 30 demonstrators at a police station this week, two of whom fainted from the ill-treatment, Human Rights Watch said today after interviewing six witnesses to the March 31, 2012 arrests, including two detainees who were later freed. Military prosecutors charged 13 of them with crimes related to their exercise of freedom of speech to criticize the authorities, but no inquiry into ill-treatment has been announced, Human Rights Watch said.

“Jordan’s response to demonstrations looks more and more repressive,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Its security forces violently break up peaceful protests and then continue to beat and insult detainees in custody.”...."

Palestinian Authority/Israel: Escalating Assault on Free Expression

Palestinian Authority Arrests Journalist, Facebook Users; Israel Raids University Media Center

Human Rights Watch
April 3, 2012

"(Jerusalem) - The Palestinian Authority (PA) should not criminally prosecute Yusuf al-Shayeb, a journalist detained without charge on March 26, 2012, and released on April 2, Human Rights Watch said today. He is being investigated for libeling PA officials whom he accused of spying and corruption. The PA should also release Palestinians detained without charge for criticizing the PA on their Facebook pages.

Israeli authorities should not prosecute Adel Rweished, an administrator at Al Quds University whom Israeli police detained on April 2, 2012 during a raid on the university’s media center in Jerusalem’s old city. Police broke up an event marking the launch of a new website, and also arrested a security guard. They released both men but summoned them for further questioning. The arrests were based on an Israeli order stating that the Palestinian Authority had organized the event, but Israeli officials provided no evidence to support that claim, which university officials denied. Israel does not allow the Palestinian Authority to operate politically in Jerusalem. It was the second Israeli raid on media programs at Al Quds University since February 29.

“Both the Palestinian Authority and Israel should stop harassing and arresting journalists,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “These attacks send a chilling message about exercising the right to free expression.”

The arrests violate international free speech standards, Human Rights Watch said. Hamas authorities in Gaza have also carried out arrests of journalists in recent weeks in violation of international free speech standards, including allegedly torturing the editor of a news website and arresting other journalists for their presence in an unmarked “security zone.”......."

Syria: Repression continues despite Annan plan hopes

3 April 2012

"Arrests have been continuing in Syria only days after the Syrian government agreed to implement parts of Kofi Annan’s six-point plan, Amnesty International said today.

Thirteen school pupils, all male and aged between 17 and 19, were reportedly arrested on 1 April by men in plain clothes at a secondary school specialising in business in the town of Daraya.

Family members told Amnesty International that according to eyewitness, the students were searched, beaten and verbally abused in front of other pupils before being taken away. The families have no information as to their whereabouts or safety.

The families of the 13 students told Amnesty International that they believe that the men who arrested their relatives belonged to Air Force Intelligence, a security body which has been responsible for many, if not most, of the arrests in Daraya since March 2011.

The Daraya region has throughout the year-long uprising seen widespread protests, in many cases led by young activists.

“There are thousands of people still in detention across Syria, many held incommunicado, in danger of being tortured, and without access to lawyers,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.

“Continuing to hold people in such conditions, and making new arrests like this, raises serious questions about how serious the government is about respecting its commitments under the Annan plan."....

"But the burden is on the Security Council now to prove it has not merely given the Syrian government more time and cover to continue its ruthless repression"....."

Jordan: Pro-reformists detained for “insulting” the King must be released

Amnesty International
3 April 2012

"A law which allows the Jordanian authorities to detain activists on the basis of “insulting the king” must be repealed, Amnesty International said after 30 to 40 apparently peaceful protesters were detained in Amman.

At least 13 people remain in custody in the wake of the weekend protests against the detention of half a dozen pro-reform activists.

Four activists have been held for nearly a month and are now facing charges of ‘insulting’ the king amid a growing crackdown on freedom of expression.

The protestors are understood to have been arrested when they called for the downfall of the government. Some 40 to 50 officers of the Gendarmerie allegedly beat and kicked them before loading them into a police van.

According to a lawyer who visited them, they were also beaten after arrest, as a result of which, one suffered a broken arm. The lawyer’s request to the State Security Prosecutor that they be referred to a hospital for examination was apparently refused.

"Jordan continues to use a draconian law which effectively criminalizes political dissent as a way to silence political opponents and government critics,” said Ann Harrison, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

The detainees apparently face additional charges relating to threatening the stability of the government, illegal assembly, inciting unrest. They face trial before the State Security Court (SSC), a special court which fails to meet international fair trial standards.

"So far as we know, these individuals have not advocated violence or gone beyond the legitimate exercise of their right to freedom of expression and therefore the authorities are effectively violating rights which they have an obligation to protect under international law standards."....."

The Rise and Fall of Hezbollah

Once considered to be one of the strongest non-state military factions in the entire Middle East, we are now witnessing the decline of Hezbollah. Though it may seem to be at the peak of its career of might, in reality the popularity of Hezbollah - the bedrock of its legitimacy - is at an all-time low.

I remember during 1980s when Hezbollah's men were stereotyped at the time as bearded Iranian militia with black ribbons on their foreheads, who claimed to be representatives of God on earth. They wanted to establish the Islamic State of Lebanon as part of The Ummah (The Islamic Nation). But this image started to change a decade later when they won eight out of 128 seats in the 1992 Lebanese parliamentary elections, thus gaining legitimate representation and indicating their acceptance to the Lebanese confessional system.

This signaled a new phase of engagement with the wider Lebanese community and a greater understanding of the local sectarian balance of powers, which led Hezbollah to stop publicly calling for an Islamic state. It started using national symbols like Lebanese flags and other local signs, and less Iranian ones. It replaced the reference to the 'Islamic Revolution' on their flag with the 'Islamic Resistance.' The popularity of Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's Secretary General, reached its peak when his son Hadi was martyred in 1997 while fighting on the front line with Israel

In 2000, things started to change. Israel withdrew from the Lebanese-occupied territories leaving presence in the disputed 25 km2 Shebbaa farms. The cost-to-benefit ratio debate about armed struggle was raised, after it was once a taboo. On 14th February 2005, the former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated causing an unprecedented earthquake in Lebanese politics. The Syrian army was driven out of Lebanon as a result of the mass demonstration on March 14, 2005 and the UN Security Council 1559 resolution which required all foreign troops to leave Lebanon. Hezbollah became more aggressive-- taking on a management role in Lebanon's internal political game - basically replacing Rustom Ghazzaleh, the former head of Syrian intelligence apparatus in Lebanon.

Although Hezbollah managed to score major tactical gains, but it betrayed the principles it always fought for, or said it fought for.

These principles were shattered by the strategic mistakes which would ultimately contribute to the erosion of its popular support. To start with, its fight with Israel; Hezbollah never confirmed its 'scope of works'. It never clarified too the goal it set to accomplish and at what cost to the Lebanese people. And it never allowed itself to be accountable to questioning like any other state institution, and never explained its chain of command which extends beyond the Lebanese borders. Or indeed it never felt apologetic to the fact that Lebanon is being dragged (in a "positive ambiguous way") into issues, which had nothing to do with it, such as the Iranian nuclear issue.

Nasrallah contradicted himself even more because he had previously hailed the Egyptian revolution against Hosni Mubarak, and offered 'everything he can' to its success in one of his speeches. He didn't object arming the Libyan the revolution which was supported by NATO. Despite of Emir of Qatar known Israeli connections at the time, Hezbollah warmly welcomed Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani in southern Lebanon, thanking him for his support in reconstruction after the July 2006 war. Now, it has turned him into a traitor, leading the 'conspiracy' against them via the Syrian crisis. Now in their media, the so-called Arab Spring is tainted with conspiracy theories, despite being initially called an 'Islamic uprising' by the Iranian leader Ali Khamenei.

Analysis: A revolution is taking place in Syria's Palestinian camps

As the regime of Bashar al-Assad begins to lose its grip in Damascus, an important minority is being overlooked that might yet play a significant political role.

By Nagham Issa

(Nagham Issa is an NGO worker who recently returned from Syria and who spent extensive time in Mukhyam Yarmouk, the main Palestinian camp in Damascus.)

There are no estimates as to how many Palestinians have been killed since the unrest in Syria began, but the growing call for the fall of the Syrian regime has not passed Syria's estimated 500,000 Palestinian community by. Increased tensions with the Syrian authorities could yet mark a change in direction for the revolution, particularly in the capital, home to Syria's largest Palestinian camp, Mukhyam Yarmouk.

Since the revolution began the Palestinian political elite in Syria have doggedly stuck by the regime's side. At the forefront have been Al Saiqa (the Palestinian Ba'athists) and the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP GC) that have actively taken roles in the intimidation and arrest of suspected pro democracy protestors. Led by men such as Ahmad Jabril and Maher al Taher, they have continually pushed the regime line that Assad is the protector of Palestine and that the Syrian regime is fighting an armed insurgence sponsored by Islamic Jihadists and Israeli-backed Western powers.

There have been some attempts by the camp to challenge their hold – most notably during last year's anniversary of the expulsion of the Palestinians from their homeland (the Naqba) - but the continued support of the regime by these Palestinian groups has only seen their patronage increase. The silence of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and opposition factions has also given little encouragement for other voices in the camps to speak out.

Yet against this political context, the community's living conditions have only worsened in recent months. As sanctions have played their role in crippling the Syrian economy, the price of daily food stores have risen sharply: the price of twelve eggs increased from 125 to 320 lira in the last month alone. Access to gas, electricity and mazoot (oil used for heating) have become extremely limited and even the state subsidised bread have been rationed to only two packs per day per customer.

Furthermore, the violence affecting the rest of the country has not left Palestinian communities unscathed. Last summer's naval attack on the coastal area in Lattakia saw Al Rammal camp devastated by the regime for harbouring "armed gangs". The camps in Deraa and Homs have come under routine under attack since the crisis began in March last year.

However, as Syria's population continues to fight against the oppressive tactics of Assad's despotic regime, it could be that Syrian Palestinians will not remain quiescent. As the revolution gains momentum in the camps, it might not be long before we see another Damascene suburb fall and all Syrians one step further towards bringing about the end to the Assad regime.

"نهاية الأسطورة".. الجزيرة وأنصار بشار

"نهاية الأسطورة"، كان هذا هو "المانشيت" الرئيس لصحيفة الأخبار اللبنانية (الأربعاء 28/3)، وكان عنوانا لملف يتحدث عن محطة الجزيرة الفضائية في سياق من تحطيم "الأسطورة"، الأمر الذي دأبت عليه الصحيفة التابعة لحزب الله منذ شهور، وذلك ضمن تغطيات وتسريبات ومقالات عديدة تنشر بين حين وآخر لا همَّ لها سوى الحط من قدر المحطة القطرية.

والحال أن استهداف الجزيرة لا يبدو حكرا على "الأخبار" اللبنانية، بل يشمل عموم إعلام حزب الله (دعك من إعلام بشار الأسد)، ومن يوالون النظام السوري تحت عناوين شتى (طائفية ومذهبية وحزبية وأيديولوجية)، وهؤلاء لهم حضورهم في شرايين الإعلام العربي، لاسيما أن قطاعا منهم ينتمي إلى اللون اليساري والقومي، وإن أخفى قطاع منهم تحت ذات العناوين أبعادا طائفية ومذهبية تبدو الأكثر حضورا في بعض الأحيان، ولا تخفيها الشعارات السياسية عن الصراع مع الإمبريالية الأميركية والحرص على القضية الفلسطينية (كراهية الإسلاميين الذين يتصدرون المشهد خلال الثورات وبعدها تحضر على نحو لافت عند بعضهم).

وإذا ذهبت تنقب في التاريخ القريب، فستفاجأ بأن كثيرا من هؤلاء الذين يمعنون اليوم هجاءً في الجزيرة كانوا من ضيوفها المكرمين الدائمين، وأقله من مادحيها التقليديين يوم كانت تلتقي معهم في المسار السياسي، بل إن بعضهم قد تحولوا بفضل الجزيرة إلى نجوم ومشاهير، أما اليوم فقد تغيرت المواقف.
....
بأي معيار يقيس هؤلاء الأمور؟! سيقولون إن في التغطية تجاوزا على المهنية (يحشدون في هذا السياق آراءً لمراسلين وعاملين في المحطة يوالون النظام لأسباب طائفية ومذهبية ولم تفصلهم المحطة رغم هجائهم لها في الرسائل والتسريبات)، وقد يكون بعض ذلك صحيحا، لكن الجزيرة تغطي الثورة بوسائل غير مألوفة تبعا لمنعها من التغطية الطبيعية. إنها تغطي ثورة ضد نظام ذي بنية أمنية وطائفية وقادر على التلاعب بالأحداث، ومن الطبيعي أن يورطها في بعض الأخبار غير الصحيحة، ولكن هل إن قتل الناس في الشوارع وثورتهم عليه كذب أيضا؟! ثم ألا يظهر أتباع النظام يوميا على الجزيرة لكي يبرروا ويفندوا ما يجري؟!

إنهم يريدون الجزيرة بوقا لأهوائهم لكي تحظى بالرضا، ولو فعلت لخسرت شعبيتها أمام الشعوب الذين لا ينحازون لشيء هذه الأيام قدر انحيازهم للثورة السورية.
الجزيرة لم تخسر جمهورها، وإن خسرت أنصار الأسد الذين تحولوا لفضائية الدنيا "المهنية جدا جدا"، ومعها الفضائية السورية والإخبارية السورية، وهؤلاء لا يشكلون سوى نسبة لا تُذكر من الجمهور، ولا حاجة لها بهم تبعا لذلك، وليستمتعوا بمشاهدة فضائية رامي مخلوف العظيمة.
"

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - The Brotherhood's quest for the presidency

Real News Video : Will Pumping More American Oil Lower Gas Price?

Robert Pollin: Speculation and manipulation key factors in price spike

The Palestinians Are Not Closer to Having a State

By Hasan Afif El-Hasan

Palestine Chronicle

"Nineteen years after the signing of Oslo agreements that laid the ground for the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and for negotiations to resolve the conflict, the time has come to sum up what has been accomplished based on the facts as they are on the ground rather than they ought to be......

The path the PA chose since Oslo has not led to Palestinian independence and it has weakened the Palestinian national movement. The PA does not govern its own territory, and became for all intents and purposes the administrator of an Israeli protectorate while Israel carries on with ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, colonizing the West Bank and enforcing the criminal blockade on Gaza....

The Jewish-ethno-security regime today rules all historical Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean as a single state. Its security is based on the military superiority that controls the Palestinian majority and maintains its Jewish identity. Such a rule cannot and must not last even if the donor countries keep financing it; and if the two-state model is already dead, then the Palestinians must demand the only option left, a single democratic state where Jews and Palestinians can live as citizens with equal rights and obligations."

Egypt's Looming Economic Shock Doctrine

by Sharif Abdel Kouddous

The Nation

"Egypt is teetering on the edge of an economic crisis. Cast adrift in a deepening political quagmire over the past fourteen months, the economy has now reached a critical juncture, as the country faces the pressing challenge of financing a large budget deficit as rapidly dwindling foreign currency reserves threaten to crack apart an already fragile situation.

Yet, more than a year after the launch of a revolution driven in large part by economic grievances, the budgetary and fiscal proposals being considered to secure external financial assistance are geared more towards furthering Mubarak-era policies than to promoting social justice.....

In January, the military-appointed interim government formally requested a $3.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The government says it needs $11 billion to avoid a balance of payments crisis and signing a deal with the IMF is expected to open the door to aid packages from the United States, the European Union and the Gulf. The IMF requested the Egyptian government draw up an economic reform plan supported by political consensus in order to secure the loan.....

The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of International Cooperation and the Central Bank drafted a reform program to present to the IMF, the details of which were not released publicly—although a copy was leaked to the media. While the plan’s proposed policies are extremely vague—with few specifics and little in the way of proposed timetables—the document includes the classic phrase associated with IMF loans across the developing world: "structural adjustment," and with it, a slew of controversial economic amendments.

Aimed at slashing the budget deficit, the document proposes tax reforms to increase government revenues. While lacking any concrete details, it mentions amending income taxes by broadening the pool of tax paying citizens—echoing the polices of Mubarak's finance minister, Youssef Boutros-Ghali—with no proposals for a move towards progressive taxation.

Reforms to sales tax laws and the possibly of instituting a Value Added Tax are also mentioned. Sales taxes, while easier to implement from an administrative standpoint, are indirect and regressive by nature, targeting different sectors of society with the same taxes when they purchase goods, regardless of income level. In Egypt, where half the population lives below the poverty line and spends the biggest proportion of their income on basic goods, sales taxes place a higher burden on the poor majority......

"In a word, the government reform plan is lousy," says Samer Atallah, assistant professor of economics at the American University in Cairo. "It's basically neoliberal economic policy that doesn't seem to get the new reality of Egypt."......

By most accounts, the Egyptian economy will need of some kind of financial aid within the next few months to avoid a severe downturn. It remains unclear when or if an IMF loan will be signed or what economic reforms will be agreed upon by the Muslim Brotherhood. What is becoming clear is that signs point to a continuation and deepening of many of the same policies that stirred up last year's revolt."

Jordanians Face Military Tribunal, 10 Years in Prison for Speech

The tyranny in Jordan harshly suppresses democracy with US help

" Twelve pro-democracy activists are facing trial in a military tribunal for their participation in peaceful protests over the weekend that included chants for “regime change.”

The protesters may be sentenced to 10-years in prison if convicted. The slogans they chanted in a Saturday demonstration were deemed an insult to and public criticism of King Abdullah II – a serious violation of the law.[How dare they insult the Clown King??] The charges also include threatening the stability of the regime, slandering the monarch and inciting unrest.

The activists, who have no chance for a civilian trial, were part of a larger group of 40 protesters detained on Saturday. Twenty-eight of them were released and claimed that Jordanian security forces beat them severely and subjected them to torture while in custody.

“Some of us were stripped naked and beaten in front of other detainees,” said one activist, who declined to use his real name due to security concerns.

The dictatorship ruling Jordan is a strong ally of the United States. Since Obama took office, Jordan has received over $2.4 billion in U.S. economic and security aid and is set to receive another $675 million in 2012."

The Rise of the Islamists in Egypt, by Emad Hajjaj

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Al-Jazeera Video: Egypt's military may scrap constitutional council

"Egypt's ruling military council might be poised to step in and dissolve Egypt's constitutional council as tensions come to a head between the Islamist majority and those who feel it has too much power.

This would leave the future of Egypt's new democracy - and who will draft its new constitution - in an uncertain state.

Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna reports from Cairo."

Real News Video : Iranian Diplomat Says IAEA Undermined Recent Talks to Satisfy Israel and West

Gareth Porter: IAEA demanded to see Parchin on recent visit ahead of schedule to make Iran look uncooperative

Israeli experts back Bibi's bluff

By Gareth Porter
Asia Times

"TEL AVIV - A striking feature of the Israeli political landscape in recent months has been the absence of a serious debate on the issue of the threat of war with Iran led by national security figures.
It is well known that many prominent former military and intelligence officials believe an attack on Iran would be disastrous for Israel. After an initial blast at the idea of striking Iran by two former high-ranking officials last year, however, very little has been heard from such national security figures.

The reason for this silence on the part of the national security sector, just as the Israeli threat of war was escalating sharply, appears to be a widespread view among Israeli national security analysts that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's threat to attack is a highly successful bluff.....

The widespread impression among the Israeli national security elite and press corps that Netanyahu's threat of war against Iran is a bluff does not guarantee that Netanyahu will not attack Iran. But it does help explain why there has not been a much bigger outcry against a war option that is widely regarded as irrational for Israel."

Video: Flying car unveiled in Holland

Guardian Video: Ian McEwan on attacking Iran: 'It would be disastrous'

Writer Ian McEwan explains why he strongly opposes a western attack on Iran, which he says would have unintended consequences, including uniting Iranians behind the ruling theocracy. This is an excerpt from Ian Katz's interview with McEwan at the Guardian's Open Weekend festival on 24 March 2012

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 3 April 2012

Egypt's Spring Break

Muslim Brotherhood's decision to run a candidate for president, despite earlier pledges not to, worries Egyptians.

By Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera

"The Muslim Brotherhood's nomination of Khairat al-Shater for President of Egypt has raised many eyebrows and confused an already muddled political scene in the Arab world's most populous country.

Shocking, but hardly surprising, the decision comes after the group’s repeated promises not to run its own candidate for president.

Indeed, al-Shater told Al Jazeera Arabic only a few weeks ago that the Brotherhood wouldn't nominate a candidate and if he himself stood for elections, the group wouldn’t lend him its support.....

Vying for power

Islamists already control the majority of seats in the parliament and Constitutional Assembly. The FJP’s Saad El-Katatni, speaker of the parliament, heads the two bodies that will write laws and the country's new constitution.

Over the last few weeks, the FJP has been calling for the fall of the government in order for it to form a new one under its direct control.

If they eventually win the presidency, the Brotherhood would be in charge of all four pillars of Egypt’s polity....

Discord within the Brotherhood

Disagreement about Ashater’s nomination for president doesn’t only come from the Brotherhood’s rivals; it also comes from within its own ranks.

The Shura council of the Brotherhood voted in favour of al-Shater by a very slim margin with 56 voting in favour and 52 against his nomination.

That’s a huge split by any standard in an organisation that prides itself with consensual Islamic politics....."

Al-Jazeera Video: حرق ممنهج لمنازل الناشطين السوريين

"أفاد ناشطون أن قوات الأمن النظامية بدأت وبشكل ممنهج في حرق منازل الناشطين ومحالهم التجارية. وقال الناشطون إن عمليات الحرق تأتي بالتزامن مع اقتحام المدن والقرى وذلك لمنع خروج المظاهرات ومعاقبة المؤيدين للثورة
"

Bahraini Hunger Striker’s Life in Peril as U.S.-Backed Forces Continue Anti-Democracy Crackdown

Democracy Now!


"The U.S.-backed monarchy in Bahrain continues the crackdown on protesters, with reports of many injuries and at least one death over the weekend. We speak to Zainab Alkhawaja, the daughter of jailed human rights leader Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, who is now on the 54th day of his hunger strike. Doctors say her father could go into a coma at any point, and she has called on President Obama to pressure the government Bahrain, its strategic ally in the region, to secure his release. “With one word from the American government, my father would be released. I am sure of that,” Alkhawaja says. “But right now, Americans — the American administration, not Americans — is more concerned with their interests than they are with human rights and the lives of Bahrainis and democracy in Bahrain.” Zainab herself is an activist and has been detained in the past for protesting, most recently in February on the anniversary of the country’s pro-democracy movement. She reads a poem she wrote about her father while she was in jail called, “The Sultan Digs my Fathers Grave.” We’re also joined by Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, who was just released from detention. A police statement said Rajab was detained on charges linked to "illegal" demonstrations. His lawyer says he may stand trial in the future....."

Massacre in Syria; Kap, Cagle Cartoons, Spain

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Someone You Love: Coming to a Gulag Near You

By Chris Hedges

"The security and surveillance state does not deal in nuance or ambiguity. Its millions of agents, intelligence gatherers, spies, clandestine operatives, analysts and armed paramilitary units live in a binary world of opposites, of good and evil, black and white, opponent and ally. There is nothing between. You are for us or against us. You are a patriot or an enemy of freedom. You either embrace the crusade to physically eradicate evildoers from the face of the Earth or you are an Islamic terrorist, a collaborator or an unwitting tool of terrorists. And now that we have created this monster it will be difficult, perhaps impossible, to free ourselves from it. Our 16 national intelligence agencies and army of private contractors feed on paranoia, rumor, rampant careerism, demonization of critical free speech and often invented narratives. They justify their existence, and their consuming of vast governmental resources, by turning even the banal and the mundane into a potential threat. And by the time they finish, the nation will be a gulag......"

On top of banishment to Gaza, Israel uses Twitter to further violate Hana al-Shalabi’s rights

By Ali Abunimah

"Today, Hana al-Shalabi, who spent 43 days on hunger strike to protest her detention without charge or trial by Israel, was banished to the Gaza Strip for three years, under a highly controversial deal that Addameer and Physicians for Human Rights- Israel have said is illegal under international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.

In the course of this appalling act, Israeli occupation forces used Twitter to commit an additional breach of international law and Hana al-Shalabi’s rights.

Banishment to Gaza is a war crime

In a joint statement, Addameer and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel noted:

Ms. Shalabi’s release is contingent upon her expulsion for a period of three years to the Gaza Strip, which, although part of the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), has been hermetically sealed off from the rest of the oPt by Israel. Therefore, with no guarantees that she or her family will be permitted to travel, her expulsion could essentially become an extension of her previous isolation from her home and family while in prison......"

Al-Jazeera Video: Aid pledged to Syrian opposition groups

"Gulf Arab states have agreed to send billions of dollars to the Syrian opposition, which it says will be used to pay rebels fighting Bashar Al Assad's army.
It is one of the measures announced at the Friends of Syria conference on Sunday."

Real News Video : One Dies, Dozens Injured in Palestinian Day of Protest

"Land Day" demonstrations saw tens of thousands in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the occupied West Bank and Gaza

Real News Video : Egyptians Denounce Fuel Shortage

People express their outrage at a gas station lineup in Cairo

Israel puts Fatah's Marwan Barghouti in solitary confinement

Jailed Palestinian punished over statement calling for 'large-scale popular resistance'

guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 April 2012

"Israel has placed a high-profile Palestinian prisoner in solitary confinement for a week after he called for a new wave of civil resistance, the Prisons Authority said on Monday.

Marwan Barghouti, sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004 after being convicted of multiple lethal attacks against Israelis, is seen by many Palestinians as a possible future leader and was a driving force in the uprising launched in 2000.

Last week, he said in a statement from prison that "the launch of large-scale popular resistance at this stage serves the cause of our people". He also said the prospect of ending Israeli occupation and achieving a state through negotiations was an illusion.

Prisons Authority spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said Barghouti "has been placed in isolation for a week and denied visits and access to the inmates' canteen for a month" as a punishment for issuing the statement.

Barghouti's views continue to resonate with the Palestinian public from prison. The 52-year-old is a leading member of Fatah but enjoys support beyond his movement and across the spectrum of Palestinian factions.

Observers have speculated that Israel might at some point release Barghouti to strengthen the hold of the more secular Fatah movement on the Palestinian political scene and stem the popularity of Islamist Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip."

Damascus on edge as Syria's strife encroaches on capital

Food prices on the rise, gas and electricity run short and latest influx of people fleeing Homs rattles capital

Foreign staff in Damascus
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 1 April 2012

"...But life is getting gradually harder. Depression and insomnia are reportedly growing as the tales of death and torture mix with uncertainty about the future, exacting a heavy mental toll. Sanctions applied by the US, Europe and some Arab countries have pushed up food and heating prices. The Syrian pound has lost half its value over a year, reaching one US cent in February.

Gas is short and electricity too...

Others in the city of seven million now sleep five to a room as relatives pay visits for indefinite periods of time. The UN says there are more than 200,000 internally displaced Syrians, adding to 39,000 refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and others who have paid their own way to move further afield.

The latest influx from Homs, where a month of shelling Baba Amr and other neighbourhoods tore families apart and sent survivors scattering, is rattling Damascus. Residents are conflicted: the bloody tales are harrowing, but there are many in the capital who still have much to lose.

A rich businessman says his friends grow more disgusted with the regime by the day. But Assad's supporters are still passionate, too...."

Muslim Brotherhood fails to change politics as usual in Egypt

Future Egyptian President....
With First, Second, Third and Fourth Ladies of Egypt!
Celebrate the "Gains of the Revolution"....

By Joseph Mayton
Bikya Masr

"It is done. The Muslim Brotherhood have officially reneged on their promise to not field a presidential candidate in the upcoming May election. It is yet another sign that the group has become drunk with power, seeking more in an attempt to solidify their position as complete hegemon over Egypt.

It is one thing to debate their candidate, but we should never be here. They promised. But as in all things political in Egypt – and elsewhere – one’s word is not bond. And in less than three months, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has gone from fighter, to Parliamentary champions, to in a nutshell liars.

It is easy to say that all politicians are liars, but for the most part in Egypt, no party or group had reneged on a promise, or straight up changed their policies on an issue or topic. This time, the Brotherhood has done exactly that.

By reneging on their previous statement, the group is signaling that it is politics as usual in Egypt, where once a group enters into power, they become almost intoxicated by it and want to maintain and grow their will over the country.

This is exactly what the Free Officers did in the early 1950s, which continues to this day in the form of the military junta. The Brotherhood needed to show Egyptians, both liberals and conservatives, that they are going to change the status quo and build a new political structure based on honesty and openness. Deciding to field a candidate all but ends that hope.....

“I think where we are at is to simply worry about the future of Egypt and its democracy,” one liberal MP told me recently. He argued that if the Brotherhood did put forward a candidate, “it could spell the official end to the revolution and what we had fought for.”.....

Understandably though activists, who continue to demand an end to military trials, greater freedoms and a civil state, the candidacy of a Brotherhood member has stoked fears that Egypt is heading down a path toward conservatism never before seen in its modern history.

Many of the activists I have spoken with recently fear that a Brotherhood president and a Brotherhood parliament would be disastrous for the country. One young female university student, Heba, told me that “they would be able to push through anti-Christian and anti-women laws that would not be good.”....."

Al-Jazeera Video: 'Friends of Syria' summit ends with more pledges

Al-Jazeera Video: من واشنطن - الولايات المتحدة والحركات الإسلامية

"تمحورت الحلقة حول موقف الادارة الأمريكية من الحركات الإسلامية الصاعدة في العالم العربي بعد ثورات الربيع العربي
تقديم عبدالرحيم فقراء
تاريخ البث 2012/03/27
الضيوف :
نيثن براون
أسامة أبو رشيد
أسعد أبو خليل
سعد الدين العثماني
"

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

Do you support international military intervention in Syria?

With over 2,000 responding, 72% said yes.

Al-Jazeera Video: Brotherhood to run for Egypt's presidency

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Syria - Is Annan's mission in Syria doomed to fail?

Al-Jazeera Video: Syria opposition: Don't prolong catastrophe

"Burhan Ghalioun, the head of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), said at the opening of the so-called "Friends of Syria" in Istanbul: "We demand serious action. The Syrian regime will inevitably fall. Don't prolong the catastrophe. The opposition is united; now it is time for you to unite and support the Syrian opposition.""

Al-Jazeera Video: Iraqi murdered in California buried in Najaf

"An Iraqi-American woman who was beaten to death in California in an apparent hate crime has been buried in Najaf.

The killer of Shama al-Awadi is reported to have left a note next to her body, calling her a terrorist and telling her to return to her country.

Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf reports from Najaf."

Al-Jazeera Video: في العمق - الثورة والمعارضة في سوريا

"تناقش الحلقة مسار الثورة السورية واشباب الجمود الذي تشهده الثورة منذ عدة أشهر وكيفة عمل المعارضة السورية خصوصا المجلس الوطني
تقديم علي الظفيري
تاريخ البث 2012/03/26
الضيف : برهان غليون
"

Ehud Olmert Disrupted by Protesters During Speech in Chicago

The former Israeli Prime Minister is accused of war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza

Common Dreams

"Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister of Israel during the countries wars on Lebanon and Gaza, was interrupted by protesters in Chicago last night. The former prime minister was invited to speak at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs about peace. As a result, Chicago activists decided to disrupt the talk, which only included pre-approved questions.

Human rights organizations have widely condemened Israel for human rights violations and war crimes in Gaza in 2009 and in Lebanon in 2006. ......"

Mubarak Cronies Find Comfort in Exile

Former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif (L), former Interior Minister Habib Al Adli (C) and former Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali (R).
By Cam McGrath

"CAIRO, Apr 1, 2012 (IPS) - Wanted members of the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak remain at large more than a year since he was ousted, and their illicit wealth lies safely beyond the reach of prosecutors.

Under Mubarak, top officials and businessmen with close ties to the regime seized public assets and acquired monopolies in strategic commodities. Prosecutors say the elite group grew rich on the spoils of crony capitalism, including sweetheart privatisation deals, stock market manipulation and preferential treatment in land contracts.

Following the uprising that ended Mubarak’s 30-year rule, Egyptian prosecutors imposed travel bans and froze the assets of regime leaders and business associates. Foreign ministry officials also contacted world governments to request that they identify and freeze assets belonging to individuals suspected of corruption.

Yet hundreds of senior Mubarak regime figures remain at large, many living comfortably in exile on ill- gotten gains, claim activists. Some accused of graft and malfeasance have yet to be charged, while others have international warrants for their arrest.

One former official accused of engineering some of the most chequered privatisations in Egypt’s history holds a top position at a prestigious international financial institution.

"Mubarak’s associates aren’t exactly in hiding," says Amir Marghany, a corporate lawyer and anti- corruption expert. "We know where many of them live, work and spend their time. But it seems nobody is really trying to catch them."

In January, Egyptians were infuriated to learn that Youssef Boutros-Ghali, Mubarak’s former finance minister, had been spotted attending a public forum at the London School of Economics (LSE). The university’s security staff escorted the fugitive official out of the lecture hall after an Egyptian activist in the audience called him out publicly.

Boutros-Ghali, seen by many as the public face of a regime that enriched itself at the expense of the poor, fled to Britain shortly after Mubarak was toppled. A Cairo court sentenced him in absentia to 30 years imprisonment for abuse of power and squandering public funds. His name is on an Interpol watch list....."

CNN Poll: Afghan war support hits new low

CNN

"(CNN) - Support for the war in Afghanistan has fallen to an all-time low with the majority of Americans saying the U.S. should withdraw all of its troops from Afghanistan before the 2014 deadline set by the Obama administration, according to a new poll.

The CNN/ORC International survey released Friday indicated only 25% of Americans favored the war in the Asian country. A majority of Republicans voiced opposition to it, for the first time since the war began in 2001......"

Corruption fills the air as Egypt prepares to vote

World View: Citizens here expect their leaders and officials to want bribes, and they're almost never wrong

By Patrick Cockburn

Sunday 01 April 2012

"....Official corruption played a central role in provoking the uprisings that swept through the Arab world last year. In Egypt, the incompetence and dysfunctional nature of the state seems worse than elsewhere. For instance, one-third of the Egyptian budget is spent on subsidies, but Magda Kandil, the executive director of the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies, says they "are the biggest source of social injustice". Subsidies such as bottled butane gas, a necessity for cooking in districts without main gas, is heavily subsidised but the money disappears into the pockets of middlemen so gas is still expensive. Bread, though cheap, is often inedible because the government doesn't inspect bakeries. Heavily subsidised cheap fuel means streets clogged with vehicles and some of the world's worst traffic jams. And so underpaid are officials that they cannot survive without bribes.

What makes Egyptian corruption so striking is the extent of open and degrading inequality compared with other countries in the region. Some 45 per cent of the 85 million Egyptians scrape by on less than $2 (£1.25) a day, while a small layer at the top live in palaces and work in air-conditioned glass towers. It would be difficult for anywhere to be more corrupt than Iraq, but at least it has $100bn in oil revenues. Iraqi soldiers and primary school teachers take home a reasonable salary, however much their leaders steal.

Corruption in Egypt is spreading fast into new and profitable areas.....

Can this system of special deals, privileges and corruption be dismantled or even reformed? The question goes right to the heart of Egyptian politics. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces which, in so far as anybody is running Egypt, is in charge, wants the military to retain the perks it has accumulated since Nasser seized power in 1952.

Probably the Muslim Brotherhood will let it do so, so long as the army loses its political supremacy. This may well happen. Professor Khalid Fahmy, chairman of the department of history at the American University in Cairo, says that the weakness of the council and the army is that "[they] do not have a political partner like South American military regimes, which are allied to big landowners or big capital. The military needs the brotherhood more than the brotherhood needs them.".......

The struggle between the council and the brotherhood is increasingly intense as the latter tries to get rid of a military-appointed government. The brotherhood, which won a plurality in the parliamentary election, has now decided it will run its own candidate for president in May. A new constitution is being drawn up. The army will fight to retain its authority, but the crucial dates in the political calendar revolve around elections or actions by elected bodies. The good news for the brotherhood is that the militarised police state that has misruled Egypt for 200 years, should not be a hard act to follow.

Whoever rules Egypt in future will have to deal with the legacy of a racketeering state in which education and health are in a state of collapse. Egyptian officialdom is unlikely to become honest, or even competent, overnight. Good times may not be around the corner, but the old police state that treated Egypt as if it were a conquered country has probably gone for ever."

Egypt Muslim Brotherhood field candidate in presidential elections

Bikya Masr

"CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood is now fielding a presidential candidate, Khairat Shater.

This is precisely what the Brotherhood asserted it would not do—namely, run a candidate in the presidential elections.

After the Brotherhood’s massive wins in parliamentary elections, there is fear the group may become too powerful, and that minority interests in Egypt will be marginalized.

The Brotherhood’s political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, won a good 30 percent of the vote, and almost 50 per cent of the seats in the new parliamentary elections.

As deputy leader of the Brotherhood, the 62 year-old Shater spent over a decade in Egypt’s prisons for his association with the organization, and was only released after the fall of Mubarak last year.

Mubarak-era prisons are notorious for having been harsh to the point of inhumane.

Curiously, Shater was able to maintain his multi-billion dollar business and remain influential in the Brotherhood’s machinations while he was incarcerated.

If the Brotherhood’s performance in the parliamentary elections is any sort of litmus test for how they will show in the presidential elections, then the liberal secularists in Egypt are facing a serious blow to representation in the impending Egyptian government.

And too, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, SCAF, who has been Egypt’s custodial government since the fall of Mubarak is also likely to be displeased."