By Ted Belman
A friend of mine, Michael Totten, has knowN an Egyptian blogger, Sandmonkey, for many years. Solomon’s House just posted Sandmonkey’s Feb 3/11 post. I believe it is an accurate account of events. I goes against the idea that the Muslim Brotherhood is behind events or even controlling events. It gives some hope that the MB won’t take over and in the end destroy any semblance of democracy.
By Sandmonkey’s own admission
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“Be forewarned: The writer of this blog is an extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian, disgruntled. sandmonkey.”
Sandmonkey: Egypt, right now!
I don’t know how to start writing this. I have been battling fatigue for not sleeping properly for the past 10 days, moving from one’s friend house to another friend’s house, almost never spending a night in my home, facing a very well funded and well organized ruthless regime that views me as nothing but an annoying bug that its time to squash will come. The situation here is bleak to say the least.
It didn’t start out that way. On Tuesday Jan 25 it all started peacefully, and against all odds, we succeeded to gather hundreds of thousands and get them into Tahrir Square, despite being attacked by Anti-Riot Police who are using sticks, tear gas and rubber bullets against us. We managed to break all of their barricades and situated ourselves in Tahrir. The government responded by shutting down all cell communication in Tahrir square, a move which purpose was understood later when after midnight they went in with all of their might and attacked the protesters and evacuated the Square. The next day we were back at it again, and the day after. Then came Friday and we braved their communication blackout, their thugs, their tear gas and their bullets and we retook the square. We have been fighting to keep it ever since.
That night the government announced a military curfew, which kept getting shorter by the day, until it became from 8 am to 3 pm. People couldn’t go to work, gas was running out quickly and so were essential goods and money, since the banks were not allowed to operate and people were not able to collect their salary. The internet continued to be blocked, which affected all businesses in Egypt and will cause an economic meltdown the moment they allow the banks to operate again. We were being collectively punished for daring to say that we deserve democracy and rights, and to keep it up, they withdrew the police, and then sent them out dressed as civilians to terrorize our neighborhoods. I was shot at twice that day, one of which with a semi-automatic by a dude in a car that we the people took joy in pummeling. The government announced that all prisons were breached, and that the prisoners somehow managed to get weapons and do nothing but randomly attack people. One day we had organized thugs in uniforms firing at us and the next day they disappeared and were replaced by organized thugs without uniforms firing at us. Somehow the people never made the connection.
Despite it all, we braved it. We believed we are doing what’s right and were encouraged by all those around us who couldn’t believe what was happening to their country. What he did galvanized the people, and on Tuesday, despite shutting down all major roads leading into Cairo, we managed to get over 2 million protesters in Cairo alone and 3 million all over Egypt to come out and demand Mubarak’s departure. Those are people who stood up to the regime’s ruthlessness and anger and declared that they were free, and were refusing to live in the Mubarak dictatorship for one more day. That night, he showed up on TV, and gave a very emotional speech about how he intends to step down at the end of his term and how he wants to die in Egypt, the country he loved and served. To me, and to everyone else at the protests this wasn’t nearly enough, for we wanted him gone now. Others started asking that we give him a chance, and that change takes time and other such poppycock. Hell, some people and family members cried when they saw his speech. People felt sorry for him for failing to be our dictator for the rest of his life and inheriting us to his Son. It was an amalgam of Stockholm syndrome coupled with slave mentality in a malevolent combination that we never saw before. And the Regime capitalized on it today.
Today, they brought back the internet, and started having people calling on TV and writing on facebook on how they support Mubarak and his call for stability and peacefull change in 8 months. They hung on to the words of the newly appointed government would never harm the protesters, whom they believe to be good patriotic youth who have a few bad apples amongst them. We started getting calls asking people to stop protesting because “we got what we wanted” and “we need the country to start working again”. People were complaining that they miss their lives. That they miss going out at night, and ordering Home Delivery. That they need us to stop so they can resume whatever existence they had before all of this. All was forgiven, the past week never happened and it’s time for Unity under Mubarak’s rule right now.
To all of those people I say: NEVER! I am sorry that your lives and businesses are disrupted, but this wasn’t caused by the Protesters. The Protesters aren’t the ones who shut down the internet that has paralyzed your businesses and banks: The government did. The Protesters weren’t the ones who initiated the military curfew that limited your movement and allowed goods to disappear off market shelves and gas to disappear: The government did. The Protesters weren’t the ones who ordered the police to withdraw and claimed the prisons were breached and unleashed thugs that terrorized your neighborhoods: The government did. The same government that you wish to give a second chance to, as if 30 years of dictatorship and utter failure in every sector of government wasn’t enough for you. The Slaves were ready to forgive their master, and blame his cruelty on those who dared to defy him in order to ensure a better Egypt for all of its citizens and their children. After all, he gave us his word, and it’s not like he ever broke his promises for reform before or anything.
Then Mubarak made his move and showed them what useful idiots they all were.
You watched on TV as “Pro-Mubarak Protesters” – thugs who were paid money by NDP members by admission of High NDP officials- started attacking the peaceful unarmed protesters in Tahrir square. They attacked them with sticks, threw stones at them, brought in men riding horses and camels- in what must be the most surreal scene ever shown on TV- and carrying whips to beat up the protesters. And then the Bullets started getting fired and Molotov cocktails started getting thrown at the Anti-Mubarak Protesters as the Army standing idly by, allowing it all to happen and not doing anything about it. Dozens were killed, hundreds injured, and there was no help sent by ambulances. The Police never showed up to stop those attacking because the ones who were captured by the Anti-mubarak people had police ID’s on them. They were the police and they were there to shoot and kill people and even tried to set the Egyptian Museum on Fire. The Aim was clear: Use the clashes as pretext to ban such demonstrations under pretexts of concern for public safety and order, and to prevent disunity amongst the people of Egypt. But their plans ultimately failed, by those resilient brave souls who wouldn’t give up the ground they freed of Egypt, no matter how many live bullets or firebombs were hurled at them. They know, like we all do, that this regime no longer cares to put on a moderate mask. That they have shown their true nature. That Mubarak will never step down, and that he would rather burn Egypt to the ground than even contemplate that possibility.
In the meantime, State-owned and affiliated TV channels were showing coverage of Peaceful Mubarak Protests all over Egypt and showing recorded footage of Tahrir Square protest from the night before and claiming it’s the situation there at the moment. Hundreds of calls by public figures and actors started calling the channels saying that they are with Mubarak, and that he is our Father and we should support him on the road to democracy. A veiled girl with a blurred face went on Mehwer TV claiming to have received funding by Americans to go to the US and took courses on how to bring down the Egyptian government through protests which were taught by Jews. She claimed that AlJazeera is lying, and that the only people in Tahrir square now were Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. State TV started issuing statements on how the people arrested Israelis all over Cairo engaged in creating mayhem and causing chaos. For those of you who are counting this is an American-Israeli-Qatari-Muslim Brotherhood-Iranian-Hamas conspiracy. Imagine that. And MANY PEOPLE BOUGHT IT. I recall telling a friend of mine that the only good thing about what happened today was that it made clear to us who were the idiots amongst our friends. Now we know.
Now, just in case this isn’t clear: This protest is not one made or sustained by the Muslim Brotherhood, it’s one that had people from all social classes and religious background in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood only showed up on Tuesday, and even then they were not the majority of people there by a long shot. We tolerated them there since we won’t say no to fellow Egyptians who wanted to stand with us, but neither the Muslims Brotherhood not any of the Opposition leaders have the ability to turn out one tenth of the numbers of Protesters that were in Tahrir on Tuesday. This is a revolution without leaders. Three Million individuals choosing hope instead of fear and braving death on hourly basis to keep their dream of freedom alive. Imagine that.
The End is near. I have no illusions about this regime or its leader, and how he will pluck us and hunt us down one by one till we are over and done with and 8 months from now will pay people to stage fake protests urging him not to leave power, and he will stay “because he has to acquiesce to the voice of the people”.
This is a losing battle and they have all the weapons, but we will continue fighting until we can’t. I am heading to Tahrir right now with supplies for the hundreds injured, knowing that today the attacks will intensify, because they can’t allow us to stay there come Friday, which is supposed to be the game changer. We are bringing everybody out, and we will refuse to be anything else than peaceful. If you are in Egypt, I am calling on all of you to head down to Tahrir today and Friday. It is imperative to show them that the battle for the soul of Egypt isn’t over and done with. I am calling you to bring your friends, to bring medical supplies, to go and see what Mubarak’s gurantees look like in real life. Egypt needs you. Be Heroes.
Update, 11:30am
And, as Roger Simon knows, Sandmonkey is out of jail – after being beaten, robbed, and his car wrecked:
Roger Simon writes “The man who wrote those words — the witty and courageous Egyptian blogger “Sandmonkey” — is currently in hiding in his native city of Cairo, moving from one friend’s apartment to another, as supporters of Hosni Mubarak pursue him and other democracy demonstrators.”
I expect it to get worse in the next few years.
loss of hope just the other side of the same coin, it is the consequence of the first. The internet will unite the youth of the world as we are seeing in North Africa and Egypt, Jordan and many countries in Europe.
We are past where any leadership can solve the problems because the cure if there is one will be rejected violently by the masses. The only segment of the worlds population not affected are the uber rich, they will get richer. Most Americans are a pay check away from being destitute.
The Wealth Distribution
In the United States, wealth is highly concentrated in a relatively few hands. As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 50.5%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 85%, leaving only 15% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers). In terms of financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one’s home), the top 1% of households had an even greater share: 42.7%. Table 1 and Figure 1 present further details drawn from the careful work of economist Edward N. Wolff at New York University (2010).
Personalize? Should I or need I quote all the nice things you called me over the years? Dislike or hate all you like but let’s not be hypocritical.
🙂
Not to worry Felix your world revolution will come sooner than you think but not over this crisis but over unemployed and out of food masses in every country in the world including America. The out of work youth will lead the way to revolution not the workers. Spain may be one of the first to go. What is the unemployment rate in Spain for under 25 yr. old’s?
Mubarak should no longer be a concern for us but only preparing for what will come after him. We owe him F..K-all!!
I think it is 42 per cent Yamit!
It is a very deep crisis inside many countries in the world.
You are mistaken though. Unemployment etc does not lead to revolution, it can also lead to destitution and loss of hope
The issue of leadership is the vital issue in all questions concerning all politics and in Spain as in all countries in the world there is only parties on the left of extreme opportunism, all of whom are also antisemitic
I do dislike you Yamit, enormously so, although I hasten to point out that this is not personal, since I do not know you in the slightest, but I do hate your slimy political perspective and method, especially the way you personalise political issues around me “You will have your revolution Felix” etc
F..k you Yamit 82!
Maybe so, but seriously you deserve it and the item is dead serious(excuse the pun).
Since you are against fascism of any stripe, I can think of not many more leaders who are more fascist than Mubarak. True Islam is also a sort of fascism and they are a world movement so I suppose one would have to consider Islam more threatening than one old sick dictator of a third rate country and a 5th rate people.
Actually all Mubarak has to do is nothing. The protesters have no where to go unless they turn violent and that’s what Mubarak is waiting for so he can unleash the military with justification. Most of the Egyptian People are not part of the opposition and are either neutral or support the State if not Mubarak. The demonstrators will lose because they have no mass backing of the people and lack the power of a police state. A dictator in a Arab state for thirty years has learned a thing or two along the way. He may have his internal enemies but he has the loyalty of the police apparatus and the top of the military and in all probability the great masses who are dependent on the state. (the majority)
I still say Mubarak is finished whether he leaves now or later this year . He is at best a Lame Duck and under any scenario I can see for Egypt sooner rather than later the MB will gain power, even if the military takes over in the interim. Even if Mubarak stays on a bit till the next election cycle I expect his attitude towards Israel to revert to what it was before the Camp David Agreements even if he makes no public declarations to that effect. His State TV and Radio apparatus has resurrected Nasserite anti Israel invective daily all through this crisis. So much for friends and allies.
Even Obama has backtracked from his earlier positions so if your position is to be on any side America is not it seems your information is a bit outdated.
Not to worry Felix your world revolution will come sooner than you think but not over this crisis but over unemployed and out of food masses in every country in the world including America. The out of work youth will lead the way to revolution not the workers. Spain may be one of the first to go. What is the unemployment rate in Spain for under 25 yr. old’s?
Mubarak should no longer be a concern for us but only preparing for what will come after him. We owe him F..K-all!!
Yamit…You are acting here in a childish manner and as a provocateur
Linda I agree with you re Glick but please address this issue also. In her article Glick does a reat job in exposing the deep antisemitism inside all branches of Arab society, but she leads into betrayal of the Jews when she draws an equivalence between Mubarak and the Soros promoted “protest” movement. Ted belman is also unclear on this issue. The vital and correct position to take is UNCONDITIONAL defence of Mubarak against the US Government, against these so called “protesters” and against the Obama Government and large parts also of the Republicans. This is the central issue Linda. And nothing should make us be diverted from it. If Obama wins, and it looks as if he will win, then a situation worse than the suppression of the Secular Turkish Army by Erdogan will happen. On the defeat of Obama and the victory of Mubarak on this issue depends EVERYTHING
The way that Mubarak may win and Obama be defeated rests inside the masses of the American people whose do sense what is happening as they sensed what was happening with the building of the Islamofascist raufian Mosque on Ground Zero. This is why the initiative of Robert Spencer in his advising of Mr beck of Fox news is so important
Linda the reason that i introduce Leon Trotsky is that there is an historical episode that has already taken place, that is the insistence of Trotsky that selassie in Abyssinia be defended against Mussolini
Felix this is for You! :
Russia Considers Burying Lenin . . . After 87 Years
More opinion polls in recent years have also found that a majority of Russians favor removing the remains of the man who, after his death on Jan. 21, 1924, was virtually deified by his heirs in a Communist Party that suppressed religion.
Medinsky noted that Lenin himself had had no such wish.
In Soviet times, lines snaked around Red Square as the faithful waited to file past the mummified body under the walls of the Kremlin. Few make the effort today. And maintaining the corpse is a constant and growing headache for the embalmers.
If he was finally buried, would Lenin be buried as a Jew in a Jewish cemetery?
If so, who would do it? Who would pay for it? Where would be he buried?
Can a Jew be buried after being embalmed for 87 years?
For what reason would he not be buried as a Jew? Did anyone ever say Kaddish for Lenin? . . .Could they say Kaddish if he was buried? Who would be responsible to do this, considering that so much time has passed?
This would be a huge political and religious controversy, no question. I’m sure there are a lot of issues I am not even considering.
Is it time to bury Communism along with Lenin?
Nice linda: You were always a great researcher.
I don’t agree with Caroline Glick that U.S. leaders are “clueless”. U.S. leaders know exactly what they are doing.
Note the Egyptian people’s ENTHUSIASM for Islamic sharia law:
http://www.jpost.com
Our World: Clueless in Washington
By CAROLINE B. GLICK
02/01/2011
…However, the character of the protesters is not liberal.
Indeed, their character is a bigger problem than the character of the regime they seek to overthrow.
According to a Pew opinion survey of Egyptians from June 2010, 59 percent said they back Islamists. Only 27% said they back modernizers. Half of Egyptians support Hamas. Thirty percent support Hizbullah and 20% support al Qaida. Moreover, 95% of them would welcome Islamic influence over their politics. When this preference is translated into actual government policy, it is clear that the Islam they support is the al Qaida Salafist version.
Eighty two percent of Egyptians support executing adulterers by stoning, 77% support whipping and cutting the hands off thieves. 84% support executing any Muslim who changes his religion.
…What has most confounded Israeli officials and commentators alike has not been the strength of the anti-regime protests, but the American response to them. Outside the far Left, commentators from all major newspapers, radio and television stations have variously characterized the US response to events in Egypt as irrational, irresponsible, catastrophic, stupid, blind, treacherous, and terrifying.
They have pointed out that the Obama administration’s behavior – as well as that of many of its prominent conservative critics – is liable to have disastrous consequences for the US’s other authoritarian Arab allies, for Israel and for the US itself.
The question most Israelis are asking is why are the Americans behaving so destructively?…
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=206121
Of major concern to non-Muslims, is the fact that a huge percent of Muslim immigrants to Western countries declare they want Islamic sharia law implemented in their host countries.
The Telegraph
Egypt protests: America’s secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising
The American government secretly backed leading figures behind the Egyptian uprising who have been planning “regime change” for the past three years, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8289686/Egypt-protests-Americas-secret-backing-for-rebel-leaders-behind-uprising.html
Egyptian protesters promise to destroy Israel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWcKewmyh_o&feature=player_embedded
Muslim Brotherhood Wants War With Israel
Forex Bits | Yohay | January 31, 2011 2:54 pm GMT
Mohamed Ghanem, one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, calls Egypt to stop pumping gas to Israel and prepare the Egyptian army for a war with it’s eastern neighbor.
http://www.forexcrunch.com/muslim-brotherhood-wants-war-with-israel/
I agree with Laura!
Also, democracy, freedom and rights are NOT a part of Islam. If Muslims really wanted those things they would have to leave their religion!
I only see two possibilities
1-Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
2-Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
No red herring Felix he is old and very ill so his days are numbered in any event. Do you dispute these facts? If no why am I being dishonest?
With you Felix,anybody who disagrees with you on Communism and Trotsky is dishonest.
Not to worry, no matter who you back in this contest you are likely to get your devastation.
In response to the attacks on Lenin, trotsky and the glorious Bolshevik Revolution in the above, eg Bland
you are bankrupt and this is seen in that you cannot stand on your feet and take a position of unconditional defence and support for Mubarak AS I HAVE DONE
And I am a trotskyist.
How then that you are so bankrupt, includin yamit82 who brings in a red herring about the age of Mubarak, which is a dishonest and sneaky evasion from somebody who also is bankrupt politically
And to Laura in her post above who denounces this Sand monkey” geek
Bravo Laura!
You are truly loyal to the Jews and your instincts as regards these sanfmonkey types is sure
Duh!! The Guy is almost 83 with cancer. I too wouldn’t say he had a bright future ahead of him.
Laura:
If your own mother stood for change,and disagreed with you, she would be (according to you) a jihadi anti American, antsemitic, leftist. The world is hardly all black or all white.
Shyguy:
I don’t believe anyone can can say with 100 percent certainty where this revolution will go. But you could have said the same for any revolution, including the American revolution. What I am reasonable sure of is that there is no future with Mubarak.That is obvious. anyone with a contrary opinion is either joking or is just plain nuts.
I think this guy is lying through his teeth. These aren’t democracy protesters, they are violent, pro-jihad and pro-sharia rioters.
No you don’t. Not if your “democracy” brings about a greater threat to America and Israel by ushering in the muslim brotherhood.
Peaceful, democracy protesters, my foot. Roger Simon is being hoodwinked.
Yamit,you said,
Along with this, you cited the example that Egyptians get to periodically vote on whether or not to end the emergency rule. That would assume, of course, that those votes represent the will of the majority, which you acknowledge. You don’t define what sort of “supermajority” you’re talking about. For reference, Wikipedia says the following about Egyptian elections:
The latest election results are as follows:
Hosni Mubarak, National Democratic Party (Al-Hizb Al-Watani Al-Dimuqrati) 6,316,714 (88.6%)
Ayman Nour, Tomorrow Party (Hizb al-Ghad) 540,405 (7.3%)
Numan Gomaa, New Wafd Party (Hizb al-Wafd al-Jadid) 201,891 (2.8%)
Total (Turnout 22.9 %) 7,059,010
The most popular opposition groups, primarily the Islamic Brotherhood, are banned; so the lack of turnout could be taken either as a condoning of the present government by default, or as support for the Moslem Brotherhood. Considering the deeply religious nature of the Egyptians, I would assume the latter.
What you wrote on this matter is very unclear. I hope, therefore, that I can write clearly: Democracy IS the issue here: Lack of true democracy (because of the banning of effective opposition) has kept Mubarak in power. If there were truly free (democratic) elections, the Moslem Brotherhood would rise to the top. The Brotherhood, in turn, would destroy democracy more than Mubarak has, because Democracy, as a Western secular idea, is rejected by Islam AND BY THE MAJORITY OF EGYPTIANS, who are religious Moslems. The term “One man, one vote” would then take on its Middle Easter meaning of, “One country, one — and only one, ever — election”.
Ultimately, then, the problem concerns democracy; but only in the fact that the majority of Egyptians, as devout Moslems, do not want democracy. There are doubtless some in the mob, such as “Sandmonkey”, who really do want democracy; but they are a rather small minority. The vast majority, probably represented by the 78% of Egyptians who didn’t vote in the last elections and the over 70% shown by the recent PEW Research poll to favor extremist Islamic government, do not want democracy. The problem concerns democracy, in that a vote FOR Islam is a vote AGAINST democracy.
Egypt allows citizens to vote periodically whether they want presidential elections. As long as there is no super-majority in favor of the change—which would indicate the regime’s oppressiveness—the authoritarian ruler retains his power. It’s not a matter of democracy or it’s lack in Egypt.
The main peddlers of democracy in the Islamic world are Western leftists who cling to the old socialist doctrine of destroying the old world and consciously building a bright future on its ruins. So far they have done well at making ruins. Islamic democracy is the leftists’ best hope. What their darling Stalin didn’t achieve, democratically elected nuclear mullahs and Pakistani sheikhs can do. They can rend the Western world; they cannot annihilate it, but they can inflict tremendous damage and possibly clear the scene for leftists to build a new, rationally designed West. Russian Bolsheviks likewise cooperated with Germany during WWI. Socialists need devastation, and Islamic governments can deliver it.
Egypt allows citizens to vote periodically whether they want presidential elections. As long as there is no super-majority in favor of the change—which would indicate the regime’s oppressiveness—the authoritarian ruler retains his power. Democracy therefore is not the problem or issue. The system in place now is synonymous with stability.
The main peddlers of democracy in the Islamic world are Western leftists who cling to the old socialist doctrine of destroying the old world and consciously building a bright future on its ruins. So far they have done well at making ruins. Islamic democracy is the leftists’ best hope. What their darling Stalin didn’t achieve, democratically elected nuclear mullahs and Pakistani sheikhs can do. They can rend the Western world; they cannot annihilate it, but they can inflict tremendous damage and possibly clear the scene for leftists to build a new, rationally designed West. Russian Bolsheviks likewise cooperated with Germany during WWI. Socialists need devastation, and Islamic governments can deliver it.
The West cannot uphold oppressive regimes in Islamic lands indefinitely. Foreign-sponsored regimes failed in Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan, and plenty of other countries. Common Muslims resent Western support for their oppressors. Nasser and Khomeini took power in two major Islamic states despite Western wishes. Foreigners cannot stem the tide of social changes. Whatever support is offered to Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood will come to power in Egypt. The problem is not democracy or the absence thereof.
I can’t think of one case, where democracy came from a leaderless mob. In the United States, the Revolution resulted in a democracy because the rebellion was by a SELF-GOVERNING people with elected leaders. In the Netherlands, the elected States General rose up against the Spanish Emperor. The Swiss, likewise, formed a democratic government as a federation of self-governing cantons, after defeating their foreign emperor.
On the other hand, the French masses rose up as serfs, with no experience of self-government. They produced the Reign of Terror, followed by a dictatorial Emperor. The Russians did likewise, and some other Communist countries. The uprising of the masses was coopted by the Communists, who were organized; but the masses did not get democracy: They got heavy-handed leadership by a small ruling clique.
India is a good example of a “third world” country that became a reasonably sound and stable democracy. That’s because the British had adopted the practice of ruling through local leaders, and the people had a history of submitting to their leaders, even foreign ones. The leaders of the Indian Revolution were Nehru, a parliamentarian, and Gandhi, a spiritual leader who preached nonviolence. The Japanese became democratic, because the American occupiers forged a workable alliance with an Emperor who was respected by the people; and they proceeded to create democratic institutions with his blessing.
Most of the successful democracies of the world are in Europe, particularly NW Europe. They have been particularly successful in the “constitutional monarchies” such as the UK and Sweden, which grew out of centuries of a partnership between king and parliament. It is no coincidence, that these were also Protestant countries, where the Church had devolved from an ecclesiastical empire to more localized, self-governing units.
The Moslem world has no native democratic history. The only places that have had even a modicum of democracy, such as Malaysia and Turkey, have borrowed the concept from foreign sources — like India and Japan, respectively, but without leaders like MacArthur/Hirohito and Nehru/Gandhi — or, closer to home, Adams/Jefferson. The Moslem Brotherhood is virulently opposed to democracy and all European ideas; and El Baradai is the quintessential unprincipled opportunist.
The people need to be GOVERNED first, by chosen representatives who are looked up to as leaders; and those leaders, in turn, have to desire real justice. The Moslem leaders do not offer justice; they offer slavery. Egypt will either continue under the leadership of Mubarak and his “clique”, or it will become a backward, volatile country (with only a veneer of modernity) like the North Korea, Iran and the USSR.
Always puzzled me that in a country where food is extremely scarce – and now very expensive – the government has not promoted a concept like the one that has been successfully used over the border: the Kibbutz.
Apportioning land to groups of genuinely nationalist people to create Kibbutz-like farms in what is now desert, would fulfill many social and economic functions. And the hard, but rewarding, work would potentially wean them off the “Israel Obsession”. Idle hands and all that…
Just saying…
Ted
You could not be more wrong on all counts
1. That is NOT an accurate account of events
2. It is only an account as this geek “sandmonkey” sees it
These crowds of anti Mubarak shit heads are just that, as he says, without leaders, in other words a mob, who are being moulded by Obama and Human Rights Watch
And the army who allowed the enemy of this mob through their lines in order to attack them with camels, horses, stones and whatever, THEY ARE THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS AGAINST SHARIA IN EGYPT AND ELSEWHERE
How could you possibly get it so wrong Ted
You say that because of what this Sandmonkey geek says there is some hope
You are totally inaccurate. The hope comes from Mubarak, from the fighters who attacked these “protestors” and from the Army who let them throusgh, above all from Mubarak. In this case Mubarak is the real freedom fighter just as was the old dictator Selassie all those years ago in Abyssinia
Julia Coriat, we’re waiting for you to call Egyptian freedom blogger Sand Monkey “delusional”.