Egypt

Egypt can get electricity from Ethiopia with dam completion: Ethiopian minister

Ahram Online

The Renaissance Dam has been a source of concern for the Egyptian government since images of the project's construction stirred public anxiety about its possible effects on Egypt's share of Nile water

A machine digs a ditch at the Grand Renaissance dam in Guba Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz region March 16, 2014 (Photo: Reuters)

The Ethiopian foreign minister, speaking Tuesday at a forum addressing his country's Nile water rights, asserted that the benefits of the Renaissance Dam will extend to Egypt's ability to obtain electricity from Ethiopia, state news agency MENA reported.

Egypt has been suffering from electricity shortages which have resulted in increasingly recurrent power cuts nationwide, even in winter months. 

In a two-day forum held at Bahir Dar University and attended by intellectuals and politicians, Ethiopian State Minister for Foreign Affairs Berhane Gebre-Christos asserted that the dam is not being constructed for irrigation or farming, but for generating electricity. 

"The water will pass through turbines to conduct electricity, and then continue its flow," the minister said, adding that Egypt will not be harmed by the dam, "on the contrary, [Egyptians] can get electricity from Ethiopia after the dam's construction is complete." 

The Egyptian government had announced early April it planned to boost the country's supply of electricity by importing natural gas and diesel in the short term and begin construction on three new power plants. 

The Renaissance Dam has been a source of concern for the Egyptian government since May last year, when images of its advancing construction stirred public anxiety about the project's consequences on Egypt's share of Nile water.

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan had formed a tripartite technical committee in 2011 to study the possible effects of the dam and attempt to reach consensus on the project. It proceeded to solicit the opinion of international experts on the effects of the dam on Egypt's and Sudan's water supply.

The tripartite committee's efforts were thwarted in December 2013, when Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir announced his support of the Renaissance Dam during a meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

President Al-Bashir is among the attendees of the two-day forum currently being held. 

No immediate information was available on whether the event included any Egyptian attendees.

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via english.ahram.org.eg

What Do Ultra-Orthodox Jews and Salafists Have in Common?

Islamist Gate, by Azza Radwan Sedky

Jewish bride Rivka Hannah (Hofman) sits next to her groom Aharon Krois during the Mitzvah Tans dance ritual following their wedding in Jerusalem. (Credit: Getty Images)

So I did the unforgivable—I turned the TV on at 3 p.m., something I never do. Wanting to know how the weather was going to fare for the weekend, I landed on Ricki Lane’s talk show. I would have flipped channels, but the topic she was discussing caught my attention—unconventional marriages.

The couple she was interviewing was an ultraconservative Jew—a strict observer of Judaism.  They were on the show to exhibit how different their relationship and wedlock is in comparison to the norm in the West. The couple had never touched, not even a handshake, before the male put the wedding ring on the female's forefinger.

He had a thick, burly beard, and she had red, curly hair, which later proved to be a wig. As the show progressed, the resemblance between how the couple led their lives and how their Muslim counterparts led theirs became evident. The thick beard and the covered hair were the first signs.

They showed footage of their wedding. The rituals were unique. She covered her face with a white obscuring veil. She literally could not see where she was going, which was why she was being led to where her husband-to-be was standing. What came to mind immediately was Nader Bakkar, the prominent Egyptian Salafist , and his bride’s photograph.  His bride had her face completely covered—a common practice amongst ultraconservative Muslims.

The Jewish groom then put the ring on his bride’s forefinger. This was the first time he literally laid a finger on her. No, he hadn’t touched her hand before. No display of empathy or comfort, no manifestation of trust or affection had existed between them. It goes without saying that they hadn’t touched any one from the opposite sex either. And both had been celibate all their lives.

Back to the wedding—the second after the ring 'ritual' was to send them off to a private room, not for any hanky-panky business mind you; “It was all PG,” according to the wife, but having them secluded in this fashion meant that they had become one. At the same time, and before the couple joined the party outside, they ate. They had been fasting all day. Jews fast regularly. Some of their fasts go for 25 hours, and others from sunrise till sunset.

The couple goes on in a description of how they met. When he saw her, he wanted to get to know her better. In a conservative Jewish society, the aim for dating is to find out if the man and woman fit, so he asked his sisters if they could introduce him to her. He couldn’t possibly go and ask her out on a date. It would have bluntly meant: “I’m considering marrying you; let’s head out on a date.” The sisters made this transition easier. Again, in traditional and conservative Muslim societies, a respectable man would go to his family to seek such a bond very similar to the approach the Jews take.  

Though this couple came across as not your norm, the talk show host, the audience, and the marriage counselor brought in to shed more light on the uniqueness of this marriage all respected the couple accepting their unconventionality. The discussion portrayed no criticism or judgement.

Here I stopped. How is this couple any different from any ultraconservative Muslim couple? The broader lines of this couple’s life are closely akin to how ultraconservative Muslims lead theirs. If this is the case, why is the Jewish way acceptable around the world, as seen in this show, and the conservative Muslim’s isn’t?

First, a distinction needs to be made between devout Muslims and militant Islamists. Conservative, pious Muslims lead lives similar to the one Jews ordain; Islamists lead a different one altogether. Unable to tell a Muslim apart from an extremist is the first mistake an outsider makes.

Having made this distinction, the main difference lies in how much a Jew or a Muslim tries to enforce his ways on society in general if not the world. The Jewish couple lives a certain way but doesn’t consider changing others to live similarly. Islamists, on the other hand, believe their way is the only way. You are either an adhering Muslim or you are an infidel, a disbeliever, or an enemy.

As Islamists resort to violence to implement their beliefs, they scar the image of all Muslims, terrorizing other Muslims and non-Muslims alike.  And this is why others fear them and look upon them with disdain.

It is the prerogative of fundamentalists to live the way they so desire, but they shouldn’t expect others to follow suit—to everyone his own.

Respect, tolerance, and appreciation of others are the key to a peaceful world.

via www.islamistgate.com

Reply to Egypt's detractors

Thank you, Mahmoud Badr, for this. 

Ahram Online, by Mahmoud Badr

For some, Egypt’s efforts to transition to representative, pluralistic democracy will always fall short, because they don't want it to succeed. This won't stop Egyptians moving forward

 

Next month, we Egyptians will have a critical and significant opportunity to help make our aspirations for political and economic stability a reality. On 26 and 27 May, millions of us from all over the country and abroad will cast votes to choose Egypt’s next president. As we vote — just as we did when we voted overwhelmingly in January to approve the most progressive and inclusive constitution in our history — we will be fulfilling a hopeful promise. That pledge, made to Egyptians and to the world, was for an accountable, effective and balanced government, one that expands rights, puts Egypt on a path toward economic prosperity, and truly answers to all the people of Egypt.

While neither this milestone on Egypt’s transition to democracy nor others come without challenges, it is a sad reality that one constant in this process has been the existence of stubborn detractors. These critics who seem most interested in cheering for Egypt’s failure close their eyes to evidence of progress and open them only to problems — many of them exaggerated, taken out of context or just outright misrepresented. In this, The Washington Post continues to lead the pack. Egyptians have grown accustomed to seeing gross factual inaccuracies and biased editorialising littered throughout both the news and opinion pages of the Post. We see the standing of the once-heralded newspaper sadly shredded by this disappointing, persistent stance. But now The Washington Post’s editorial board has irresponsibly sunk to a new low, with a 30 March Op-ed entitled, “The White House’s empty words on supporting Egyptian democracy.”

The editorial states that, “the planned presidential election, expected in less than two months, will not be fair.” It is nothing short of reckless to make such a judgement well ahead of actual events and without any evidence, never mind that any such statement would need a very high standard of evidence to be considered appropriate. The piece goes on to ask, “How could it be [fair] when the winner of the last five elections, the Muslim Brotherhood, is being violently repressed?” This is, of course, factually inaccurate, since the Muslim Brotherhood won three elections, not five. Such sloppy reporting is inexcusable, calls into question other conclusions in their writing and further undermines the Post’s credibility within Egypt. It is hard to understand the motivation for such a sweeping, unsupported pre-judgement.

Egypt’s political achievements are not the only areas in which the Post chooses fiction over fact and judgement over thoughtful contribution. Our gains on the economic and security fronts, too, have been deliberately ignored. For example, the latest editorial goes on to say that “the Egyptian stock market dropped in response to [El-Sisi’s] candidacy” and concludes that “prospects for an economic recovery under his rule are bleak.” Here the Post’s last shred of credibility is obliterated by unsupported judgements. In fact, when now-retired Field Marshal El-Sisi announced his candidacy for president, Egypt’s stock market surged to a five-year high. And the fact that the market has seen historic gains — totaling more than 55 percent growth since last summer — is among many bright spots that demonstrate that the Egyptian economy is regaining strength. Another is the appeal of the Egyptian market to international companies, all of which remain committed to Egypt and many of which are making big, new investments in Egypt’s future. Coca-Cola, for example, plans to invest $500 million in Egypt over the next three years, while AIG recently announced it is planning a major expansion in Egypt.

These developments and many others have been beacons of light for Egyptians and sources of great pride and optimism. Egyptians have fought so hard to see our aspirations come alive, only to see them questioned from abroad and threatened by extremists at 

at home. These militants seek to derail Egypt’s transition to representative, pluralistic democracy with attacks and other acts of terror. But here, too, the government of Egypt continues to make progress, killing nearly 300 terrorists in confrontations with security forces, arresting more than 1,000 terrorists and seizing countless firearms, rounds of ammunition and explosives since last July in Sinai. This progress fails to find its way into the Post’s coverage.

The Washington Post does not only fail to pass the test of Journalism 101 when it comes to reporting the facts, but — even worse — they fail over and over again to capture the spirit of the Egyptian people: our resilience, our hope and our commitment to a better future. Noticeably absent from The Washington Post’s news and opinion coverage is any thoughtful recognition of the enormity to us of all of these events taking place in our country. Democratic transitions are never easy for any nation, but recent revolutions, the passage of a new constitution and upcoming elections mean we Egyptians are, for the first time in history, fully able to direct our own political fortunes. By approving the constitution, the people laid the foundation for a political structure that shall not waver once it has been built — a foundation that includes checks and balances on power, term limits and an impeachment process. Next month, Egyptians will choose an elected, civilian leader as president. Then we will have the chance to choose additional leaders in parliamentary elections. All those elected officials will then set about passing and revising laws to continue to bring the democratic promise to life. Throughout, the people themselves will judge that leader’s performance on fulfilling their desire for a prosperous, stable and democratic Egypt.

The Egyptian people have irreversibly set all this in motion. We have together locked arms, raised our voices and voted in favour of undertaking the difficult but extraordinary steps to realise our destiny and become a democratic nation. But despite all of this progress and promise, The Washington Post’s snide characterisation is that “Egypt will be neither democratic nor stable.” These indeed are “empty words” that will only serve to stoke the furnace of the fire that burns in the bellies of Egyptians everywhere. As the Post’s credibility wanes with its distorted representation of reality, the resolve of the Egyptian people will only grow as they continue their crusade towards an enduring democracy.

via english.ahram.org.eg

Sisi's first presidential ad

Presidential candidate, Abdel Fattah El Sisi, does not appear in the first ad of his presidential campaign. 

 

Egyptian Body Language II

So observant and so accurate.  

Post by Rose Andrew.

 

In Cairo, one family's story shows rise of radical threat

Read on. The normality in the acceptance of a son's death is what is most bewildering. 

The wife (L) and other family members of Fahmy Abdel Raouf, who was killed with his 13-year-old son in a gun battle with security forces, sit in their flat in the Matariya area of Cairo April 13, 2014. Picture taken April 13. To match Insight EGYPT-MILITANCY/ CREDIT: REUTERS/STRINGER

(Reuters) by Tom Perry - Fahmy Abdel Raouf and his 13-year old son had been missing for months when their family got word they had been killed in a gun battle with security forces and hailed as "martyrs" by the most dangerous militant group in Egypt.

"If his intention was jihad, I hope God accepts his deed," said Abdel Raouf's wife, dressed head-to-toe in black with only her eyes visible behind a conservative Islamic face veil as she spoke at their family home in Cairo.

The story of the father and son from a working class neighbourhood of Cairo offers a glimpse into the militant threat facing Egypt, which has increased dramatically since the army overthrew Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi last year.

The pair were members of the group spearheading Islamist attacks in Egypt, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, according to both the authorities and a statement from the organisation.

Abdel Raouf, 38, had fought alongside Islamists in the Syrian civil war. His son, radicalised by the state's bloody crackdown on Islamists that followed Mursi's overthrow last year, was a much newer convert.

They symbolise the growing complexity of a problem that will face Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who became Egypt's de facto leader when he deposed Mursi. Sisi is expected to win a presidential election in May.

Armed groups are drawing in both established militants, such as Abdel Raouf, and the recently radicalised, such as his son.

Their reach has extended well beyond the Sinai Peninsula - birthplace of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis - to the capital. At least four members of the cell targeted on March 19 came from the same Cairo neighbourhood.

"You are not talking about long-standing or known organisations," said Khalil al-Anani, an expert on Islamist movements at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

"We are talking about the third generation of radical jihadists that emerged from the Arab Spring," he said. "This is a generation that nobody has control over."

FROM HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT TO "MARTYR"

Abdel Raouf and his son died on March 19 when the security forces stormed their bomb-making factory in Qalyoubia province, just north of Cairo, killing a total of six militants. Two army officers also died in the five-hour long operation.

The authorities say it was a major blow to Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the group behind some of the biggest attacks of the last nine months, including a failed attempt to kill the interior minister and large bomb attacks on police stations.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, or Supporters of Jerusalem, issued a statement naming the "martyrs" killed that day. They included Abdel Raouf, an oil industry technician, and his son, the similarly named Abdel Raouf Fahmy Abdel Raouf.

The boy had vanished in January after sitting his end-of-term exams.

"I was surprised and shocked," said the wife and mother, a woman in her thirties who declined to give her full name during an interview at the modest family home in the al-Matariya district of northeast Cairo. She heard of their deaths on TV.

via uk.reuters.com

Brotherhood Reportedly Plans to Move HQs to Austria

Islamist Gate, Islamist Gate Staff

The MB's headquarters in London is at this building on Cricklewood high-street. (Daily Mail photo)

 Reports about the Muslim Brotherhood's intension to move its headquarters from London to Austria have been ascribed by some observers to the UK government's recent decision to launch a probe into the group's activities.

Egyptian local newspapers have recently quoted a Daily Mail report saying that the Brotherhood decided to move its headquarters to the Austrian city of Graz "in an attempt to avoid the UK probe into its activities". Newspapers also quoted an Austrian paper as criticizing the group's plans to move its premises to Austria.

The official news agency MENA reported that the Egyptian community in Austria had condemned the Brotherhood's plans. It quoted founder of the Egyptian association in Graz Ashraf Ibrahim as saying that Graz has been an active place for Muslim Brotherhood senior leaders. He urged the Austrian government to exert more efforts in cooperation with the international community to combat "extremist groups".

For his part, security expert Khalid Ukashah said the Brotherhood was planning seriously to leave Britain to another place “after they [the Brotherhood] felt that their presence in the UK is undesirable” following the UK government’s probe decision.

“The British public now reject the Muslim Brotherhood’s existence on their territories,” Ukashah said. “Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood’s presence in London will embarrass the British government before the world and before the British people,” he added.

Meanwhile, there were comments on Egyptian social media hinting at "coincidence" that former vice-president Muhammad El-Baradei was also based in Austria.

Some online activists argued that the Muslim Brotherhood might have chosen Austria in order to work out a compromise with El-Baradei.

User (@ahmedadel755) tweeted in Arabic: "The Muslim Brotherhood moves from London to Austria where Dr. Mohammad El-Baradei is living; prepare your glasses of whiskey [for celebration]."

Other activists, meanwhile, opposed the idea that the Brotherhood moves its headquarters to Austria or anywhere else.

Twitter user (@IRannia) said in Arabic: "We do not want the Brotherhood to move to Austria... and if so, we should sever our diplomatic ties with Austria."

User (@nogoinegypt) wrote in Arabic: "The Muslim Brotherhood will move their headquarters to Austria. I swear to God that they will not be able to escape even if they go to Alaska."

But secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood's international organization Ibrahim Munir has denied any plans to move the Brotherhood's headquarters to Austria.

"I do not know the base of this news. I can not imagine and I will not agree that I leave Britain to any other country," Ibrahim said. He denied that the Brotherhood's administration is based in London. "The organizational decisions are not made from London, but rather our office here [in London] is just designed for meetings where [Brotherhood] members meet to set strategies for the group to remain relatively safe," he said.

"We enjoy free movement and work in Britain and we have nothing to be afraid of whether before or after the launch of the probe [into the MB's activities]," Munir said. "There is no need to move from Britain," he added.

Privately-owned Al-Shuruq daily, meanwhile, reported that Qatar had reached an understanding with MB members in Doha that they can remain in Qatar on condition that they should not criticize Gulf countries.

Munir said none of the Qatar-based Muslim Brotherhood members had applied for asylum in the United Kingdom, adding that British laws make it necessary for asylum-seekers to apply after arrival in London. He added that none of the group's leaders had arrived in London.

Egyptian media reported recently that 15 Muslim Brotherhood leaders had plans to leave Qatar and settle in Britain.

Egyptian authorities have mounted a harsh crackdown on the Brotherhood since the army's ouster of Islamist president Mohammad Morsi in July, killing hundreds of its members and jailing thousands.

The 85-year-old Islamist movement, which propelled Morsi to power in the 2012 presidential polls, has been labelled as a "terrorist group" by both Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

via www.islamistgate.com

Egypt's leader urges America to reinstate military aid for fight against terror

Read on. Fox News, by Judith Miller

Egypt’s de facto ruler urged President Obama to restore the military aid suspended last year after Egypt’s armed forces ousted the country’s president and warned that America’s unwillingness to combat Islamic extremists in strife–ridden Arab states was endangering the U.S. and its European and Arab allies.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the military commander behind the ouster of ex-President Mohamed Morsi, and who holds the title of field marshal, is widely expected to win the country’s presidential elections scheduled for late May. He said that U.S. military aid was badly needed to help Egypt combat Islamist terrorism in the Sinai peninsula and jihadi training camps in Libya near Egypt’s border. America’s unwillingness to help Egypt battle what some have called the largest militant Islamist insurgency in Egypt’s history and to help contain ongoing civil strife in Iraq, Libya and Syria, he said, had created “fertile ground for religious extremism” that would be “disastrous” for both the U.S. and the Arabs.

via www.foxnews.com

Coup no more? US clears Egypt to receive Apache helicopters

Read on. RT—USA

An Apache helicopter flies over Tahrir Square during a protest to support the army, in Cairo (Reuters / Amr Dalsh)

The United States pledged 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt on Tuesday, easing back for the first time on sanctions placed against the country last year following the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi.

Delivery of the choppers is intended to aid in counterterrorism operations, the Pentagon said in a statement Wednesday, but comes only months after the US first suspended military aid to Egypt after the country’s interim government began harshly cracking down on dissidents and protesters.

"We believe these new helicopters will help the Egyptian government counter extremists who threaten US, Egyptian and Israeli security," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said.

According to the statement released by the US military on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told his Egyptian counterpart, Col. Den. Sedki Soby, that US President Barack Obama has authorized the decision to deliver the helicopters.

Next, the Pentagon said, US Secretary of State John Kerry “soon will certify to Congress that Egypt is sustaining the strategic relationship with the United States and is meeting its obligations under the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty.” That deal between America’s top Middle East ally on Egypt has for decades allowed Cairo to stand as one of the largest recipients of US military and economic aid.

Nevertheless, the Pentagon said that American officials have yet to be assured that Egypt is on a US-favored path so soon after last year’s uprising.

“Secretary Hagel told General Sobhy that we are not yet able to certify that Egypt is taking steps to support a democratic transition,” Kirby added, “and he urged the Egyptian government to demonstrate progress on a more inclusive transition that respects the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Egyptians.”

Military aid to Egypt was suspended by the US last year after Pres. Morsi was ousted during a coup d'état led by Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, setting in motion the second government overthrow there in a span of just two years. Adly Mansour was installed as Egypt’s interim president last July after the removal of Morsi, and Al-Sisi is expected to win presidential elections scheduled there next month.

In a phone call this week with his Cairo-based counterpart, Sec. Kerry “urged Egypt to follow through on its commitment to transition to democracy - including by conducting free, fair and transparent elections,” State Dept. spokesperson Jen Psaki said.

The Guardian newspaper reported earlier this month that, according to government statistics, 16,000 dissidents have been arrested in Egypt since last July. Alleged terrorist operations have stayed rampant as well, however, and on Wednesday this week a senior Egyptian security official was killed by a car bomb placed by militants, according to local media reports cited by the Los Angeles Times.

US Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), the chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing foreign aid, said in a statement of her own published on Tuesday that she favored the Obama administration’s decision to deliver the Apaches to Egypt.

"As Egypt continues its transition toward a new democratic government, the United States must work with the government of Egypt and support the Egyptian people," Granger said.

But the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), has previously insisted that the US should suspend all aid once a military coup occurs. 

Late last month, the Human Rights Watch humanitarian group wrote in a letter to Sec. Kerry that Egypt has failed to progress whatsoever with regards to improving democracy in the wake of the last two uprisings. 

“The question is no longer whether Egypt is on the road to democratic transition, but how much of its brute repression the US will paper over,” Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “An accurate appraisal of Egypt’s record since the military-backed overthrow of President Morsi would conclude that, far from developing basic freedoms, the Egyptian authorities are doing the opposite.”

via rt.com

Britain: Blair Speaks Out on Islamic Extremism

A very needed acclamation. NY Times, by STEVEN ERLANGER

Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, said Wednesday that the spread of Islamic extremism “represents the biggest threat to global security of the 21st century.” Mr. Blair, who is Middle East envoy for the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, spoke of “a titanic struggle” going on “between those who want the region to embrace the modern world” and “those who instead want to create a politics of religious difference and exclusivity.” Mr. Blair also embraced the military government in Egypt that overthrew the elected president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, calling it “the absolutely necessary rescue of a nation” despite the repression that has followed.

via www.nytimes.com