By Ashraf Ramela.. Egypt’s Black Bloc grew out of a struggle for liberation from an authoritarian system, only after non-violent civil efforts had failed. Not to be confused with America’s Black Bloc, which is friend to likes of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s Black Bloc is an enemy to their country’s new Islamist rulers and fights for democracy and legitimate government. (more…)
By Israel Today Staff.. It’s no longer only Israel that is concerned that the Syrian civil war could cross borders. Now UN officials, too, are warning that the bloody conflict might spill into the Jewish state sooner rather than later. ”The members of the [UN] Security Council expressed grave concern at all violations of the Disengagement of Forces Agreement” that created the demilitarized buffer zone between Israel and Syria following the Yom Kippur War in 1973. (more…)
By Mark Durie.. On March 21, Sheikh Dr Mohamed Said Ramadan Al-Bouti of Syria was killed, along with 40 others, by a suicide bomber at the Iman mosque in Damascus.
A 2009 publication edited by John Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin listed the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. Al-Bouti was no. 23. He was Imam of the Ummayyad Mosque and Dean of the Department of Religion at Damascus University, where he had taught Islam for more than half a century. Aged in his eighties, Al-Bouti was regarded as one of the eminent Sunni jurists of the modern era. (more…)
By WJC.. Authorities in Cairo have banned the film ‘The Jews of Egypt’ only hours before is was due to be screened in theaters, according to Haytham el-Khamissy who produced the film. The film looks at the lives of the country’s estimated 65,000 Jews before they were forced to leave the country in the 1950s due to Egypt’s conflict with Israel. (more…)
By Israel Today Staff.. Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood and allied Islamist parties have announced the formation of civilian militias to police the nation in those areas where the actual police have gone on strike over government policies. Spokesmen for the parties told Egyptian media that militia members would be authorized to arrest those they deemed to be law-breakers. (more…)
By WJC.. The US government has strongly rebuked remarks that President Mohammed Morsi of Egypt made about Jews in 2010. The White House and the State Department called on the Egyptian leader to repudiate what they called unacceptable rhetoric. Spokesmen for the Obama administration said on Tuesday that Morsi’s statements were ‘‘deeply offensive’’ and ran counter to the goal of peace in Middle East. The State Department said the remarks complicated American efforts to provide economic and military aid to Egypt. (more…)
By Lonnie C. Mings.. A couple of years ago, Mohamed Morsi, who is now Egypt’s president, referred to the Israelis as “descendants of apes and pigs,” and went on to say that peace talks with Zionists were a waste of time. Morsi’s statements were revealed in a compilation prepared this week by Middle East Media Research (MEMRI) and posted on the institute’s website. (more…)
By Pinhas Inbary.. A growing number of signs point to the fact that rival factions in Syria are ready for an agreement, including the regime of Bashar al-Assad. While it is too early to tell if these efforts will bear fruit, the mere recognition of the need for an agreement has implications on Syria and its neighbors in the Middle East, notably the Palestinians. (more…)
By Mudar Zahran.. Thus far the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has weathered the storm that has swept across the Middle East since the beginning of the year. But the relative calm in Amman is an illusion. The unspoken truth is that the Palestinians, the country’s largest ethnic group, have developed a profound hatred of the regime and view the Hashemites as occupiers of eastern Palestine—intruders rather than legitimate rulers. This, in turn, makes a regime change in Jordan more likely than ever. (more…)
By Zvi Mazel.. With rise of Morsy, a new dictatorship may be replacing the old while the world persists in looking for signs of pragmatism.
While the world persists in looking for signs of pragmatism in the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsy is quietly taking over all the power bases in the country. Having gotten rid of the army old guard, he replaced them with his own men – officers belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood or known sympathizers. (more…)
