Showing posts for "Egypt"
A satirist who has made fun of the country’s leader is investigated by prosecutors because he “undermined the leader’s standing.” An independent newspaper is investigated by prosecutors because it published “false news.”
Cuba? Chavez’s Venezuela? Putin’s Russia? No, Mohammed Morsi’s Egypt. Here is the story from Al Jazeera: Read more »
For understandable reasons governments in Europe and the Middle East have been focused on political developments in Egypt this week. For less defensible reasons, many governments have also been focused on Israel’s announcement that it plans to build more housing in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Read more »
Those who wish to remain optimistic about political developments in Egypt must today contend with a most ridiculous yet still serious development.
The new Prosecutor General, Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah, appointed just days ago by President Mohammed Morsi, has referred for investigation the following allegation: that former presidential candidates Amr Moussa and Hamdeen Sabbahi, Constitution Party leader Mohamed ElBaradei, Wafd Party president Al-Sayed al-Badawy and Judges Club head Ahmed al-Zend are all guilty of espionage and sedition. Read more »
The visit of Egypt’s prime minister to Gaza last week, and a return visit promised for Tuesday, raises the question why President Morsi has not himself gone. Why send the little-known PM when a personal visit would presumably gain Morsi much more acclaim back home? Read more »
Saturday November was to see an end to the trial of 43 NGO employees charged with leading unregistered organizations and receiving illegal foreign funding. Closing arguments have now been postponed to December 2, verdicts and sentencing to come a month or two after that. Read more »
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (L) and the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani arrive at a cornerstone laying ceremony for Hamad, a new residential neighborhood in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 23, 2012. (Courtesy REUTERS/Mohammed Salem).
The recent upsurge of mortars and rockets being fired into Israel from Gaza, the strong Israeli military reaction, and the possibility that a stronger reaction may yet come, have raised once again the issue of Israel’s relationship with the small area many Israelis call Hamastan. The visit to Gaza this week of the Emir of Qatar, who was the first foreign head of state to go there since Hamas took over in 2007 and who pledged $400 million in aid to Gaza, has also put the region back on the front pages. Read more »
A combination picture shows protesters shouting slogans before (L) and after pulling down an American flag in front of the U.S. embassy in Cairo September 11, 2012. Egyptian protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo on Tuesday and some pulled down the American flag during a protest over what they said was a film being produced in the United States that was insulting to the Prophet Mohammad, witnesses said. (Courtesy REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh).
Texas Rep. Kay Granger has put a hold on $450 million in aid to Egypt, and this has caused consternation in the Obama administration.
Granger is a member of the Committee on Appropriations and chairs the subcommittee on foreign operations, so she is a powerful figure. Her brief explanation of the hold is this: Read more »
Egyptian soldiers stand guard at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza after Egypt closed the crossing following the deadly attack on its soldiers on Sunday, August 6, 2012. (Courtesy REUTERS/Stringer).
Egypt’s president, Mohammed Morsi, acted with unexpected energy and speed to remove the top ranks of Egypt’s military this weekend. But he has not yet disclosed what his policy will be toward the linked tests of Hamas and Sinai.
After the terrorist attack that killed 16 Egyptian border police, Morsi reacted with strong words and visited northern Sinai with Field Marshal Tantawi–then the head of the Egyptian military, now cashiered by Morsi. Several days of strong military action followed, including the first use of jets and helicopter gunships in Sinai since the 1973 war. Read more »
Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi (R) meets with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal at the presidential palace in Cairo, July 19, 2012. (Courtesy REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
From the moment when Hamas took over Gaza in 2007 while the West Bank remained under the control of the Fatah Party and the Palestinian Authority, the question of Gaza’s relationship to Egypt has been open.
Gaza was under Egyptian control from 1948 to 1967, under Israeli control from 1967 to 2005, and under PA control from 2005 to 2007. After the Hamas coup in June 2007, Egypt under Mubarak largely retained the border controls that Israel had put in place. Mubarak viewed Hamas with suspicion, as a radical group that was part of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Perhaps more surprisingly, Egypt’s new government, itself dominated by the MB, has continued those controls. Read more »
After President Obama’s congratulatory call to Egypt’s president-elect Morsi, it seems the administration seeks further contact in the coming days. On June 25 the Washington Post reported this:
U.S. officials hope to make a strong impression on Morsi, 60, during an upcoming visit by a senior American official to Cairo, said another senior administration official, who was not authorized to speak for the record.
“Senior official” is an elastic term, but let us hope it does not refer to Secretary of State Clinton. Read more »
Pressure Points tracks developments in the Middle East and democratization and human rights issues globally.
As the “Arab Spring” swept the fake republics of North Africa–Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt–Algeria seemed immune. Media reports dwelled on…
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has now declared his candidacy for president of Iran, and many Western media accounts suggest that…
Much has been written about whether the instability in Iraq, the warfare in Syria and the crises this causes for…
It is fashionable to claim that support for democracy in Egypt is a fool’s errand, given the strength of the…
In a blog post here on April 15, I noted that Secretary of State Kerry was doing a great deal…
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