Egypt

الولايات المتحدة علي حافة الفوضي

الاهرام ٣١ اكتوبر ٢٠٢٠

بقلم عزة رضوان  صدقي

 

بغض النظر عمن سيفوز في الانتخابات الرئاسية الأمريكية سواء كان الرئيس الحالي دونالد ترامب أم مرشح الحزب الديمقراطي جو بايدن، فإن الاضطرابات ستكون حتمية ووخيمة في الولايات المتحدة

منذ وفاة جورج فلويد على يدي ضابط الشرطة في مايو ٢٠٢٠ شهدت الولايات الأمريكية الخمسين مظاهرات عنيفة في وقت أو آخر. منذ ذلك الحين سادت الاضطرابات التي غالبا ما تحولت إلى أعمال شغب في شوارع الولايات المتحدة. من ناحية أخرى قام العنصريون البيض بأعمال عنف انتقامية. كلا الفريقين على أهبة الاستعداد للاشتباك. فبينما تصاعدت العنصرية الممنهجة وأعمال العنف من الجماعات اليمينية المتطرفه ضد السود، تحول العديد من احتجاجات "حياة السود مهمة" إلى أعمال نهب وعنف. إنها صورة قاتمة للوضع الأمني الحالي في الولايات المتحدة

ستعمل الانتخابات الرئاسية على ترسيخ هذه البيئة السلبية وستكون نافذة أخرى لمزيد من العنف والتمرد. وبغض النظر عن نتيجة الانتخابات ستحتج مجموعة أو أخرى عليها. كما تلعب التركيبة السكانية دورا مهما في ميول الناخبين الأمريكيين، وسوف يصوِّت العديد من الناخبين البيض لترامب وسيصوِّت العديد من السود واللاتينيين والآسيويين لبايدن لتقسَّم البلاد بشكل واضح مجموعة ضد الأخرى. بالطبع أن تكون دولة مقسمة عرقيا هو أمر في غاية الخطورة

دعونا نقيِّم السيناريوهات المختلفة التي قد تحدث في نوفمبر، السيناريو الأول: يفوز ترامب في الانتخابات. سيتبع هذا السيناريو مشاهد مشابهة لتلك التي حدثت بعد فوز ترامب في انتخابات ٢٠١٦. فالكارهون لترامب آنذاك مازالوا يكرهونه بشدة اليوم، وبالتالي ستتخذ الاحتجاجات منعطفًا أكثر تنافرًا. ففي عام ٢٠١٦ اندلعت مسيرات مناهضة لترامب وخرج الآلاف إلى الشوارع في عشرات المدن الأمريكية للاحتجاج على فوزه كما تحولت الاحتجاجات إلى أعمال عنف، حيث ألقى المتظاهرون الحجارة والزجاجات على ضباط الشرطة ودمروا سيارات الشرطة، كما اعتُقل المئات. واستمرت المسيرات لعدة أيام في مدن عدة من الولايات المتحدة. رد الفعل سيكون مماثلا في ٢٠٢٠. في الوقت نفسه سيحتفل محبو ترامب باستبدادية وعجرفة والنتيجة بالطبع هو اصطدام المجموعتين.

السيناريو الثاني هو فوز جو بايدن، وهو سيناريو أسوأ وعواقبه وخيمة على الشارع الأمريكي. فالمتطرفون البيض سيعتبرون خسارة ترامب بمثابة خسارة كبيرة لهم، فالغضب وعواقبه مؤكدة في هذا السيناريو أيضا

والرئيس ترامب لم يخفِّف من وطأة كل هذا، فبعد عدة حوادث اصطدام رفض ترامب إدانة البيض الذين انتهكوا القانون. فعندما أطلق كايل ريتنهاوس النار على ثلاثة متظاهرين مما أسفر عن مقتل اثنين وإصابة الثالث، خرج ترامب ليقول "كان ريتنهاوس يحاول الابتعاد عنهم وسقط ثم هاجموه بعنف. أعتقد أنه كان في وضع صعب، وربما كان سيقتل"، معللا تصرف القاتل. وفي المناظرة الرئاسية في أوائل أكتوبر سأل المعلق الرئيس ترامب عما إذا كان على استعداد لإدانة الميليشات البيضاء، وراوغ الرئيس بعض الشيء ثم طلب من المجموعات "الوقوف مؤقتا للتدخل لاحقا"، وهذه المقولة ليست بمثابة إدانة بل دعوة للمجموعات للمهاجمة فيما بعد. كما هدد ترامب بعدم التنازل إذا خسر، وقال "سننتظر لنرى ما سيحدث"، وفي أحد التجمعات الانتخابية لترامب قال مازحا إنه إذا فاز بايدن "ربما سأضطر لمغادرة البلاد". لقد كانت مزحة، ولكن كيف يرى أتباعه هذه الملاحظة غير الحكيمة؟

من ناحية أخرى زاد عدد عمليات القتل على أيدي العنصريين البيض والمتطرفين اليمينيين في الولايات المتحدة منذ انتخاب ترامب رئيسا في عام ٢٠١٦. وقد أكدت العديد من الجرائد ومواقع التواصل الاجتماعي ارتفاع مبيعات السلاح خاصة للمشترين الجدد وسط مخاوف من العنف واضطرارهم للدفاع عن أنفسهم. لذا لم يكن مايكل كابوتو المعيّن الصحي من قبل ترامب بعيدا جدا عن الحقيقة عندما قال عندما يرفض ترامب التنحي عن منصب رئيس الدولة بعد حفل تنصيب بايدن سيبدأ إطلاق النار. فإذا كنتم ممن يمتلكون أسلحة فاشتروا الذخيرة من الآن سيداتي وسادتي لأنه سيكون من الصعب الحصول عليها آنذاك

السيناريو الثالث هو فوز بايدن بهامش ضيق أو تكون النتائج قريبة جدا بين المرشحين بما يكفي للطعن فيها. عندها قد ينفذ الرئيس ترامب وعده ويرفض التنازل عن الرئاسة وعندئذ سيصيب الشارع الأمريكي بتوتر شديد وسينفجر العنف

السيناريو الرابع هو إذا حقق بايدن انتصارا كبيرا على ترامب في الانتخابات، في هذه الحالة سيتعين على الرئيس ترامب التنازل وقبول الهزيمة. الاحتمال غير الأكيد أن يتقبل ناصرو ترامب الوضع، إلا أن هذا التنازل غير مضمون والاحتمال أن يظل مؤيدو ترامب على عهدهم ويستمر العنف

لطالما نظر العالم إلى الولايات المتحدة على أنها بلد الحريات وتضامن الأعراق والتعايش في وئام وحيث يهاجر الملايين لتحقيق ما لا يمكن تحقيقه في مكان آخر في العالم والاستمتاع بتحقيق الديمقراطية والمساواة وحقوق الإنسان. هذه الصورة تتآكل وتتبدد سريعا اليوم

يراقب العالم اليوم الوضع في الولايات المتحدة بقلق وعدم ارتياح فما يحدث في الولايات المتحدة كثيرا ما يؤثر على العالم أجمع

 

 

 

Egypt swoops in Saudi markets amid boycott of Turkish products

Al Monitor, by George Mikhail (excerpt:Egypt swoops in Saudi markets amid boycott of Turkish products)

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (R) and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud hold a joint press conference after their meeting in Cairo, Egypt, July 27, 2020. Photo by MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP via Getty Images. 

Egypt is trying to substitute Turkish products with Egyptian products in Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to exploit the popular boycott campaign launched by the Saudis against Turkish products in light of the Turkish-Saudi tensions.

Stores in Saudi Arabia have begun displaying Egyptian products in lieu of Turkish ones, according to a press report published by Agence France-Press Oct. 22. “In one of the stores in Riyadh, employees removed ‘Made in Turkey’ products off several shelves and replaced Turkish cheese with Egyptian cheese,” the report states.

In early October, head of the Council of Saudi Chambers Ajlan al-Ajlan called on the Saudis to boycott Turkish products, in response to the enmity between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. 

Tension between Turkey and Saudi Arabia has been escalating since the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan accused Saudi officials of being involved in the brutal murder at the time.

Meanwhile, Egyptian businessmen have stepped up their actions and calls with Saudi companies. The Chamber of Printing and Packaging Industries at the Egyptian Federation of Egyptian Industries, which includes all Egyptian businessmen in the printing business, announced Oct. 18 making calls with Saudi Arabia to substitute Turkish products with Egyptian products in the Saudi market.

Read more here: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/10/egypt-exploit-saudi-arabia-boycott-turkey-products.html#ixzz6cMjC2iD4

 

The US at the brink of chaos

Ahram Online, by Azza Radwan Sedky

No matter who wins the US presidential election, be it the incumbent, President Trump, or the Democratic Party nominee, Vice President, Joe Biden, unrest will be imminent in the US, so how far will that unrest go?

Azza Radwan Sedky , Thursday 29 Oct 2020

Since George Floyd’s death at the hands, or knee for that matter, of a US law enforcement officer, all 50 US states saw sweeping demonstrations at one point or another. Since then, unrest that often turned to riots prevailed on US streets and in cities, and with every law enforcement aggression, tension ignited further putting the spotlight on law enforcement’s every move and setting the stage for more violence. Many Black Lives Matter protests boiled over into looting and destructive violence. That is at one level.

At another, systemic racism and acts of violence from far right groups escalated as white supremacists backlashed with a vengeance. Under the assumption that they have the right to protect their land from those who want to dismantle the American dream, they were responsible for much of the violence that followed.

The presidential election will solidify that frame of mind and will be yet another window for more of the same, ushering a daunting degree of rebellion. After November 3rd, whichever way the election goes, one group or the other will protest, discrediting the results of the elections and manifesting outrage in upheavals of immense magnitude.

Besides, it is very dangerous when ethnicity divides the playing field. Demographics play a crucial role in US voter inclinations, and many White voters will vote Trump while many Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians will vote Biden dividing the country further, one race against the other.

Let’s consider the various scenarios that may take place on November 3rd. First scenario: President Trump wins the election. That scenario will be followed by scenes similar to those that transpired after Trump’s winning the election in 2016. After all, those who disliked Donald Trump in 2016, dislike him with a vengeance in 2020. Hence, the protests will take a more jarring turn.

In 2016, anti-Trump rallies in dozens of American cities ensued; thousands took to the streets protesting Trump’s victory, chanting, “Not my president,” or “New York hates Trump”; others carried smearing signs such as “Dump Trump” and "Donald Trump is a racist" right in front of the White House.

The protests turned violent as protestors threw rocks and bottles at police officers and vandalized police cars; hundreds were arrested. Marches continued for several days in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Dallas, Oakland, and many other US cities.

This is how Joe Biden’s followers will react in 2020. Simultaneously, Trump enthusiasts will celebrate with a despotic sense of pride, emboldened into more irrational actions. Unfortunately, the two groups will ultimately clash. How far these clashes will be remains to be seen.

The second scenario has Joe Biden winning, which is an even worse scenario as far as the consequences on the streets go. To lose President Trump’s leadership will entail a loss to White supremacists and militia groups like no other. Enraged at the results, they will take up arms; clashes are imminent in this scenario, too.

Furthermore, since Trump was elected president in 2016, the number of killings by white supremacists and far-right extremists in the United States has increased. Bear in mind that white supremacists promote the Second Amendment (the right of the people to keep and bear Arms), hail radical anarchists’ visions, and parade weapons they are willing to use.

And President Trump is not making it any better. In several incidents President Trump declined to condemn the lawbreakers. Rather than scorn vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse’s action when he shot three protestors, killing two and injuring the third, Trump said that Rittenhouse “was trying to get away from them, and he fell, and then, they violently attacked him. I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably would have been killed. It’s under investigation.”

And, in the presidential debate, the commentator asked President Trump if he was willing to condemn the white supremacist militia groups. Trump responded, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” which was by no means a condemnation but rather an invitation to militia groups to “stand by” for later intervention.

Trump also threatened not to concede if he loses, “We will wait and see what happens.” In one of Trump’s recent rallies, he, jokingly, said, that if Biden wins, “Maybe I’ll have to leave the country.” It was a joke after all, but how will his followers perceive such an ominous remark?

Many publications have confirmed a surge in gun sales, especially to first-time buyers, amid fears of violence, so Michael Caputo, Trump’s health appointee, did not beat about the bush when he called it for what it is. “When Donald Trump refuses to stand down at the inauguration, the shooting will begin. If you carry guns, buy ammunition, ladies and gentlemen, because it’s going to be hard to get,” he said.

The third scenario is where Biden wins by a narrow margin or where the results are close enough to be contested. Then President Trump may act upon his promise and refuse to concede. All hell will break loose then, too.

Fourth scenario is if Biden wins big, and in that case, President Trump will have to concede. If the results are accepted, some if not all of the confrontations may be evaded, though nothing is guaranteed.

The world always looked upon the US as the melting pot where races blend and live harmoniously. It is where millions immigrate to achieve the unachievable elsewhere to realize the American ideals of democracy, equality, and human rights. This portrait is quickly eroding.

Today the world watches in anticipation and uneasiness.

Egypt has struck the right balance on Covid-19

Gulf News, by Lind S. Heard (excerpt, read on Egypt has struck the right balance on Covid-19)

Egyptian government deserves praise for delivering stability and growth over the years

There is hardly a nation on earth that hasn’t been negatively impacted by the lethal, highly-contagious virus that has swept over our planet killing the most vulnerable, stealing jobs and hurling families into poverty. Egypt hasn’t escaped the pandemic’s tentacles but so far it has weathered the storm with remarkable success when compared to developed nations such as the UK, France, Belgium, Spain and the United States of America that alone accounts for almost a quarter of global cases.

There is hardly a nation on earth that hasn’t been negatively impacted by the lethal, highly-contagious virus that has swept over our planet killing the most vulnerable, stealing jobs and hurling families into poverty. Egypt hasn’t escaped the pandemic’s tentacles but so far it has weathered the storm with remarkable success when compared to developed nations such as the UK, France, Belgium, Spain and the United States of America that alone accounts for almost a quarter of global cases.

At the time of writing Egypt’s active case tally stands at less than 10,000 while sad to say since the pandemic struck 6,187 have lost their lives. That said given a population of well over 100 million plus Egyptians’ natural propensity for socialising with family and friends as well as crowded living in certain areas, this record could have been a lot worse.

Early on when the numbers looked like spiking the government responded with a lengthy curfew plus the shutdown of cafés, restaurants, shops (other than food stores and pharmacies), hotels, beaches, parks and places of worship while mandating masks in public buildings, malls, shops and inside vehicles. Restaurants, cafés and approved hotels have since been allowed to reopen with reduced capacity. Buffets and shisha remain banned.

Fallout of the virus

Moreover travel around the country was heavily restricted. Visitors from abroad were and still are required to produce a negative PCR test result with the exception of foreigners flying directly or transiting briefly to various Red Sea resorts.

Naturally tourism is way down as it is everywhere but flights to Hurghada, Marsa Alam and Sharm El Sheikh from Europe have resumed and just a week ago Sharm greeted its first tourist groups from the UK arriving on Easy Jet. As of last month no tourists had contracted the virus.

In the meantime, planning for a future tourist influx is well underway. Some days ago a restaurant lounge was inaugurated on the pyramids plateau in Giza for the first time ever and boasts splendid views of all three pyramids. A fleet of electric buses will be available to visitors keen to get around in comfort. Next year the world’s largest museum, the Grand Egyptian Museum, will at last be unveiled.

It goes without saying that Egypt has suffered a hit to its economy but again fairly minor in comparison to others. The country has evaded a recession and, indeed, the IMF has raised its growth estimate to 3.5 per cent and predicts GDP will rise slightly to 0.8 per cent by this fiscal year’s end.

Stable economic environment

The World Bank’s Economic Update puts Egypt’s escape down to a stable economic environment, relatively high growth rates and a comfortable cushion of foreign reserves. Ahmed Shehab, the head of Deutsche Bank’s office in Cairo, asserts that foreign asset managers would do well to invest in Egypt to gain higher returns.

The Oxford Business Group confirms that before the pandemic Egypt’s economy was among the best performing in the Middle East and North Africa, adding that the trend looks to continue. Last year, Egypt received $8.5 billion in Foreign Direct Investment, more than any other nation on the African continent.

Read on here. 

 

Donald Trump urges Sudan to help solve ‘very dangerous’ Nile dam situation

And finally the world will turn around and listen; high time.

The National

On a Friday call, the US president highlighted the need to resolve the 'very dangerous situation' between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan

US President Donald Trump has urged his Sudanese counterpart to help secure a deal between Ethiopia and Egypt on water sharing over Addis Ababa’s major dam project on the Blue Nile river in order to avert a military escalation.

All sides have repeatedly stated that they are committed to a peaceful and mediated resolution on how to share water resources from the vital river – that supplies around 90 per cent of Egypt’s freshwater – once Addis Ababa completes and fills the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

It's a very dangerous situation because Egypt is not going to be able to live that way

and they'll end up blowing up the dam.

But Cairo says it will not take any option off the table to protect its vital water supplies, calling it a threat to national security, and there have been threats of violence from both sides even as talks – that include Sudan -- continue to take place.

“It’s a very dangerous situation because Egypt is not going to be able to live that way and they’ll end up blowing up the dam and I saw it loud and clear they’ll blow up that dam and they have to do something, so anything that you can do to get Ethiopia to do that,” Mr Trump told Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in a call on Friday. Also on the call was Sudan's Transitional Council head, Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

Mr Trump said it was “terrible” and Ethiopia "should not have done that" when they walked away from a deal hashed out under US mediation. He pointed out how Washington cut off up to $100 million in aid for Addis Ababa when they began the first filling of the dam in September without an agreement with Khartoum or Cairo.

“They will never see that money unless they adhere to that agreement,” he said.

Ethiopia pushed back at Mr Trump's remarks on Saturday, saying its talks with Egypt and Sudan had shown significant progress since the African Union stepped in to oversee them.

“Occasional statements of belligerent threats to have Ethiopia succumb to unfair terms still abound,” a statement from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office said. “These threats and affronts to Ethiopian sovereignty are misguided, unproductive, and clear violations of international law.”

Ethiopia says that the $4bn hydroelectric dam is vital to not just its own economic development but that of much of east Africa. But downstream nations worry – firstly – that the filling will lead to water shortages downstream and that – secondly – what mechanism will there be for arbitration over water disputes, especially in the event of a drought.

Egyptian President Adel Fattah El Sisi has not directly threatened a conflict over the dam but he has on two occasions said his country’s share of the Nile water amounted to an existential issue and that he would never accept an imposed status.

More recently, Mr El Sisi publicly ordered the large and well-armed military to be prepared for combat operations abroad. The two statements are seen by observers as Cairo insisting all options remain on the table.

“All Egyptian bodies will continue to give the issue the maximum attention it deserves as part of shouldering their national responsibilities to defend with all means available the interests of the Egyptian people, their fate and future,” said a July statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

During a parliament question session last October, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy discussed military responses – but also urged dialogue.

“Some say things about use of force [by Egypt]. It should be underlined that no force could stop Ethiopia from building a dam,” he said. “If there is a need to go to war, we could get millions readied. If some could fire a missile, others could use bombs. But that’s not in the best interest of all of us.”

In May this year, Ethiopia also reportedly deployed additional anti-aircraft batteries to defend the dam and has posted military units to protect the region.

While studies have concluded that if Ethiopia follows its planned multiyear filling plan for the reservoir, there is unlikely to be a significant impact on the water flow to Sudan and Egypt – so long as rainfall and temperatures remain within regional averages.

The main sticking point is that Egypt is insisting on a neutral but legally binding arbitration method for disputes and a detailed plan for water discharges in different scenarios to counter droughts.

Ethiopia, on the other hand, has rejected legally binding methods it says will constrain its rights to economic development and says that any additional reservoir discharges to counter droughts can be agreed on a case by case basis.

Sudan is caught somewhere between. It may well benefit from being able to import cheaply produced green electricity from its neighbour and the dam may help prevent the regular devastating floods. However, it insists discharges of water must be done in close co-operation with all three nations to prevent downstream flooding issues if it is done without warning and Khartoum or Cairo cannot match discharges from their own dams.

Egypt and Sudan also want a comprehensive agreement not just over the GERD project, but all future dam and water management plans that Ethiopia undertakes that will impact them.

Talks have been ongoing for the last decade with no breakthrough.

Link: Donald Trump urges Sudan to help solve 'very dangerous' Nile dam situation. 

ترامب: مصر هددت بتفجير سد النهضة ولا يمكن لومها: فيديو

 

 

What the Clinton e-mails reveal

Al Ahram Weekly and Ahram Online

The e-mails sent by former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton confirm the collusion of the Muslim Brotherhood group with the former Obama administration in the US, writes Azza Radwan Sedky

Azza Radwan Sedky , Tuesday 20 Oct 2020

 

Shortly before she was sworn in as US secretary of state in 2009, Hillary Clinton set up a home e-mail account, [email protected]. She relied on this for all her electronic correspondence during her four-year tenure in office from 2009 to 2013. She did not even activate an email account at the US State Department.

Clinton said her action was “for convenience.” Others say she wanted her correspondence to remain private and confidential, and from this perspective she must be held accountable. Still, the US State Department investigated the email kerfuffle twice, and both times it attested to Clinton’s intention but considered her to have been “careless” in handling classified information.  

Thousands of Clinton’s e-mails were declassified in 2015, but thousands of others were not, and today US President Donald Trump is demanding their disclosure. He has reprimanded Mike Pompeo, the present US secretary of state, for not having released them thus far, prompting Pompeo to announce his intention to do just that. 

In the meantime, many of the emails have been leaked or disclosed. The bulk of the e-mails are of no interest to Egypt, but several are quite incriminating, exposing the degree of collusion between the former Obama administration in the US and the Muslim Brotherhood group. Top secret information was loosely passed on to Clinton as a confidante and a backer though she was also of course a non-Egyptian of obscure intent. 

One e-mail dating from as far back as April 2010 reveals the connections between Clinton and the Aljazeera TV channel. On a one-day trip to Doha where Aljazeera is based, Clinton was first to meet Waddah Khanfar, director-general of the Aljazeera Network, and the general manager of the English-language Aljazeera channel Tony Burman at a dinner in her honour. The e-mail also discussed a visit by the Aljazeera delegation to Washington at a later time.

Another e-mail informed Clinton of a plan to establish a media network in support of the Muslim Brotherhood and to have Khayrat Al-Shater, a senior member of the Brotherhood, at its head. The Qataris would have bankrolled this network with $100 million, corroborating their allegiance to the Muslim Brotherhood. 

Yet another e-mail discusses the launch of an Egyptian-American investment fund. Jim Harmon, an American banker close to former US president Barack Obama, was to head the fund, with Qatar pledging $2 billion in support of it. The e-mail implies that the Qataris were to utilise the fund to intervene in Egyptian affairs with the Muslim Brotherhood’s backing. 

In an e-mail dated 6 December 2011, Clinton was advised of the Muslim Brotherhood’s “plans for Egypt.” The source of the information confirmed that “the new Egypt will be an Islamic state, loosely based on the Turkish model, with the government and military establishing a working relationship under Islamic principles, all of which will promote cooperation with Western firms.” 

In another e-mail, dated 22 February 2012, the subject line read “Muslim Brotherhood strategy post-election.” The e-mail’s source reported back on meetings that the Muslim Brotherhood leaders had held to coordinate their “plans to take full advantage of the electoral success.” The victory that the Brotherhood had won in parliament that year was to “guide Egypt quickly towards becoming an Islamic Republic, albeit one that can work with selected Western governments and firms.” 

The source also disclosed confidential information on how Egypt was being run, including the Brotherhood’s plan to select Saad Al-Katatni as speaker of the new house of parliament, former president Mohamed Morsi’s bitter personal differences with Emad Abdel-Ghaffour, the Al-Nour Party leader, and the Al-Nour Party’s agreement to work with the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt’s army leaders might not accept an Islamic state easily, the e-mail said, but “lower-ranking officers would.” 

An e-mail subject-lined “Muslim Brothers at Davos and Beyond” discussed how the “leaders of the Western nations accepted the Muslim Brotherhood as the new, dominant force in Egypt and are adjusting their foreign and economic policies accordingly.” The e-mail also confirmed the role of Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, a former leader of the Brotherhood and a presidential elections candidate in 2012, in improving the reputation of the Brotherhood among Western government and business leaders. 

According to the source, Mohamed Badie, general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, and his closest advisers would have Egypt work to “avoid radical or terrorist groups using the country as a base for operations against the West and western interests in the Middle East,” neglecting to mention the vital goal of protecting Egypt from such groups. 

The minutes from a meeting between ex-president Morsi and secretary of state Hillary Clinton in a nine-page document were also uncovered. Clinton offered congratulation to the new Brotherhood regime in Egypt and gave her full support to the new government. One point in particular stands out in the minutes, substantiating Clinton’s goal to access the Egyptian security apparatus. “Another shared priority to explore is police and civilian security sector reform… If the Egyptian government is interested, a team from across the US government can visit Egypt to discuss a framework for a cooperation at an appropriate time. This could be done quite discreetly,” the minutes said. 

In an e-mail dated 17 July 2012 subject-lined “in Egypt, US government seeks a few good Democrats,” an article in the Washington Post is shared in which the US had announced three months earlier that it was giving $65,000 in grants “to build democracy in Egypt” and that an Egyptian, Marawan Younes, had pursued a grant and had finally succeeded in receiving it. 

That an Egyptian national would be granted LE420,000 by the US under the auspices of “building democracy” in Egypt is peculiar; that the US would grant such a sum in the first place is bizarre. This may be one reason why ex-minister of planning Faiza Abul-Naga investigated the illegal NGOs in Egypt and their roles. 

If nothing else, the Clinton e-mails confirm the collusion and complicity of the Muslim Brotherhood with the Obama administration, which received information from confidants willing to disclose vital details of happenings in Egypt. This firm alliance led Obama, after the 30 June Revolution, to call on the Egyptian military to “move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to the democratically elected civilian government.” It also saw ex-president Morsi assume that the US would back him and not allow his ouster. 

No such luck, ex-president Morsi, no such luck. 

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The writer is the author of Cairo Rewind on the First Two Years of Egypt’s Revolution, 2011-2013.

 

*A version of this article appears in print in the 22 October, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Destination Egypt

Global Finance (Excerpt, read on Destination Egypt)

While the Covid-19 pandemic has postponed a spate of deals, regional institutions want a piece of the Egyptian banking sector.

OCTOBER 20, 2020

Author: CHLOE DOMAT

Boasting growth rates above 5% during the two years before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Egypt—a gateway to Africa with the Arab world’s biggest population—remains one of the Middle East and North Africa region’s most attractive markets. And Arab lenders want a piece of the action.

But entering the Egyptian market isn’t easy. The Central Bank of Egypt isn’t issuing new licenses, which means the only way in is to find an existing lender that wants to find its way out—typically a Western one.

European and US banks started selling off their Egyptian assets after the 2008 financial crisis, typically as part of a readjustment of their overall global strategy, as many international banks felt overstretched and chose to limit their presence in emerging markets. The 2011 revolution in Egypt, followed by years of political instability and the introduction of challenging new banking laws, accelerated the trend.

“At the beginning of the revolution, some banks were convinced that on top of their decision to leave the region, Egypt had entered a dark era and would take a long time to recover,” says Ali Awdeh, a Beirut-based bank expert. “On the contrary, Egypt re-emerged immediately, and the departure of Western banks opened the opportunity for Arab banks to benefit from this void.”

The scramble for Egypt started in 2012 with Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest bank, buying up French BNP Paribas Egypt’s 69 branches for $500 million, or 1.6 times book value. A few months later, Qatar National Bank (QNB) acquired the 160 branches of another French lender, Societe Generale, for $2 billion.

Between 2012 and 2017, Arab lenders—and especially those based in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—bought every Western bank leaving Egypt (see table below). At the time, many close observers saw the deals as risky, given Egypt’s political instability. But Arab buyers took the gamble, knowing that if the situation turned sour in Cairo, they could rely on a pool of clients among the millions of Egyptian expatriates living in the Arabian Peninsula.

Read on here. 

How Egypt is growing forests in middle of the desert

Al Monitor, by Rasha Mahmoud (excerpt How Egypt is growing forests in middle of the desert) 

Amid the success of the Serapium Forest, a massive plantation in Egypt, the country is now looking to plant more desert lands with trees as part of plans to fight climate change.

People stand by a lake in the Egyptian desert oasis of Siwa, some 560 kilometers (348 miles) west of Cairo and 55 kilometers (34 miles) to the Libyan border, Egypt, March 25, 2017. Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images.

Growing a forest in the middle of the desert has become reality with Egypt eyeing more of these projects to support its economy and fight environmental and climate changes. 

Egypt has managed to plant trees in the desert using wastewater, as part of plans to preserve the environment, reduce pollution and optimize the use of natural water resources. The Serapium Forest, which has boomed despite the drought and rainfall deficit, consists of 200 hectares (494 acres) of trees planted in Ismailia city, in northeast Egypt. The forest has been a vital project that set a precedent for other projects to reduce water pollution and unemployment. 

The Central Administration of Reforestation affiliated with Egypt’s Ministry of Agriculture launched work on the Serapium Forest back in 1998. A documentary was released in 2014 showing the results of this project.

In light of the success of the Serapium Forest project, African countries followed suit. In 2019, 21 African countries, including Egypt, embarked on a tree-planting project, dubbed the Great Green Wall. Preparations for the project had started back in 2007. Twelve African countries, including Egypt, launched the project from Nigeria, and soon nine other countries joined the initiative. It starts from Senegal, in the far west of the continent, to Djibouti, in its east.

The project, of which only 15% has been completed, stretches over nearly 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles). It is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2030. The forest will extend over 100 million hectares (247 million acres) at an estimated cost of $8 billion.

Ragaei Saafan, project manager in Serapium, told Al-Monitor that using sewage water to grow a forest in the desert is a golden idea and helps boost the economy. He explained that the treated sewage water will help transform large areas of the Egyptian desert into arable and economically viable areas.

He said that the evergreen forests would purify the air, combat desertification and help reduce the high summer temperature. He added that there is a tree leaf cutter machine in the Serapium Forest, allowing cypress, pine and other deciduous conifers leaves to be used as fertilizers and feed for the livestock. There is also a possibility to raise livestock without any significant cost, except for the potable water, he noted.

Saafan pointed out that in addition to its role in maintaining soil fertility, this forest serves the local economy. He explained that a good management would allow some planted trees, such as the mahogany and camphor, to serve as a permanent source of income in Egypt by exporting the trees or using them in the local wood industry. 

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/10/egypt-africa-desert-forests-plant-trees-wastewater.html#ixzz6bQ0Ni6ye

عالمنا يعد الجائحة

الاهرام ١٧ اكتوبر ٢٠٢٠ بقلم عزة رضوان صدقي

قرابة تسعة أشهر قد مرت منذ أن زلزلت الجائحة عالمنا تاركه وراءها آثارا بالغة الخطورة، وبالتالي التغيُّر الذي تم كان عميقا أكثر مما كنا نتوقع. تعلمنا الكثير عن أنفسنا والمجتمع والحياة وعن قوتنا وضعفنا والمناخ والاقتصاد. مع هذا الكم من الإدراك سيكون القادم أفضل بدون شك، إذن كيف سنستخدم هذه المعرفه فيما بعد؟ 

بعد عزلة الجائحة أنا على يقين أن أسوأ شيء في الحكم بالسجن على مذنب هو العزلة في حد ذاتها. الجائحة علمتنا أننا، نحن البشر، ضعفاء بأنفسنا وأقوياء بكوننا جزءًا من المجتمع. فالبشر حيوانات اجتماعية بطبيعتها تستمتع بالتواصل والتحدث والاستماع لبعضهم البعض والتواجد مع بعضهم البعض.  بعد الجائحة سنكون أكثر تقديرا للصحبة وامتنانا لما نجنيه من رفقة وعشرة الآخرين

 أدركنا أيضا أن العالم أصغر حجما مما كنا نظن. جميع ربوع الكرة الأرضية تتفاعل مع بعضها البعض، فما حدث في مدينة ووهان الصينية ذات الأحد عشر مليون نسمة تردد صداه في جميع بلدان العالم وأثّر على البلايين. لذا سوف ننهج منظومة من الاهتمام والتدقيق فيما يدور حولنا، وسنعمل سويا لحل الكوارث والأوبئة وتغيُّر المناخ. نحن نتشارك في هذا الكوكب شئنا أم لم نشأ سواء غمرناه بالبلاستيك أو أبخرة الفحم أو بانبعاثات عادم السيارات. فعندما تندلع الحرائق في غابات كاليفورنيا والساحل الغربي للولايات المتحدة تعيش مناطق في كندا في دخان دائم، وعندما تُقطع الأشجار التي تمتص الاحتباس الحراري في غابات الأمازون تهلك النباتات والحيوانات حول العالم، وأن الكوارث النووية، مثل انفجار المفاعل في فوكوشيما، تؤثر ليس فقط على اليابان بل الدول المجاورة لها

مع عودة الحياة الطبيعية السابقة سيتعيّن تعويض أولئك الذين استمروا في العطاء والذين بدونهم لما نجينا من الجائحة. لابد أن نقدر العاملين في الخطوط الأمامية أمثال الصرّافين وعمال المتاجر والصيانة والتوصيل وسعاة البريد ومساعدي المرضى ومحضِّري الطعام في المستشفيات وسكن كبار السن. أملى أن نركز اهتمامنا الجماعي على مظالم تلك الفئات ونقاط الضعف الموجودة بالفعل في كيفية تعايشنا سويا. وفعلا شكر أهالي مدن كثيرة في كندا هؤلاء الذين استمروا في مزاولة أعمالهم أثناء الجائحة، في حين تعمدنا جميعا البعد الاجتماعي، ففي الساعة 7 مساءً من كل يوم منذ قدوم الجائحة يخرج سكان هذه المدن إلى الأفنية والشرفات والطرقات أمام منازلهم لإحداث الكثير من الضوضاء والصخب لإظهار دعمهم وتعزيز تقديرهم لمن استمروا في العمل. نرجو ألا يزول هذا الامتنان بعد الجائحة

كبار السن كانوا الأكثر عرضة للإصابة بالجائحة، وأظهرت الجائحة الخلل الشديد في إدارة كثير من بيوت كبار السن حول العالم التي أصيبت بأعنف تفشٍ للجائحة ووافت ساكنيها المنية وهم بمفردهم. قال الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة إن معدل وفيات الأشخاص الذين تزيد أعمارهم عن ٨٠ عاما بسبب الجائحة بلغ خمسة أضعاف المتوسط العالمي. سوف يتدارك العالم المشكلات التي تسبّبت في هذا التفشي ولن يعود الوضع إلى ما كان عليه

مع الجائحة تعوّدنا غسل الأيدي والسعال في المرفقين وتعقيم الأشياء حولنا، وكلها أصبحت عادات معتادة، ومن المحتمل أن تستمر هذه العادات بعد الوباء. أصبح غسل الأيدي مرات عديدة في اليوم بعد الوصول إلى المنزل ولمس اللحوم النيئة أو قضاء الحاجة أمرا بديهيا، وأصبح العناق والتقبيل شيئا مرفوضا إلا داخل الفقاعة الافتراضية التي يعيش داخلها الأفراد التي خلقوها لأنفسهم، مسببا نسبة أقل من انتشار العدوى والجراثيم وبالطبع المرض

أدركنا أيضا أن الاقتصاد سيعاود الازدهار بعد الذبذبات التي أصابته. مثلا تراجع مؤشر الداو جونز مع الجائحة إلى أقل نسبه مدونة تاريخيا حتى أنه قيل إنه، مع توقف الأنشطة الاقتصادية في فبراير ومارس من هذا العام، قد انهارت الأسواق الاقتصاديه تماما. ثم بدأ المؤشر في الارتفاع تدريجيا حتى وصل إلى سابق عهده ويستمر في الصعود مع دهشة الجميع. نستفيد من ذلك أن أغلب الخسائر الاقتصادية مؤقتة حتى وإن طالت المدة

قد يحتاج العديد من صاحبي التجارات والمهن تغيير نمط وأسلوب تعاملهم بعد الجائحة، حتى وإن احتاجوا إلى تغيير شامل في النشاط الذي قد تداولوه من قبل. مثلا انتشرت صناعة برامج إجراء مكالمات فيديو الجديدة مثل زوم وعشرات البرامج المماثلة الآن في الأسواق انتشار كبيرا. كما كيّفت كثير من المصانع نفسها لصنع الكمامات والمطهرات، وهؤلاء هم الذين سيستمرون في الازدهار والوقوف أمام جميع الصعاب لاستعدادهم للتكيُّف واستغلال الفرص

لقد أدرك أصحاب الشركات حجم الوباء وتعاملوا معه بأفضل ما لديهم من قدرات.  أدركوا أن تواجد الموظفين في مقر العمل لتنفيذ مهامهم ليس بالضروره القصوى، فقد أصبح التدريس والمناظرات وزيارة الطبيب والتسوُّق عن بعد أو افتراضيا في كثير من الأحوال ممكنا، ومن ثم قد تتقلص أماكن العمل حجما وستصبح ساعات العمل أكثر مرونة، وهذا سيوفر من الساعات الضائعة في التوجُّه إلى العمل، تاركا العالم بهواء أنظف واحتياج أقل للطاقة

نعم لقد تغير العالم