From AP, with thanks to Daryl.
CAIRO -- Stunned by terror attacks in a Red Sea resort, Egyptians are in a remarkably frank debate about whether mainstream mosques and schools -- and the government itself -- should be blamed for promoting Islamic extremism.Even some in the pro-government press say authorities have created a climate in which young people are turning into radicals and suicide bombers.
"There is no use denying. ... We incited the crime of Sharm el Sheik," ran a bold red headline of a lead editorial by Al-Musawwar's editor in chief, Abdel-Qader Shohaib.
The bombers "didn't just conjure up in our midst suddenly, they are a product of a society that produces extremist fossilized minds that are easy to be controlled," Mr. Shohaib wrote in Wednesday's editions.In a country more used to hearing general condemnations of terrorism, critics on Wednesday were angry -- and specific -- hammering at instances when they say the government let state press and mosque preachers, including many appointed by the government, promote intolerance...
Ghee, wasn't it the Joooooozz?
That's great, and, given the dense presence of the Muslim Brotherhood and related entities on Egyptian soil, also rather brave. It is also not the first time that courageous elements in the Egyptian press express this point of view. The question however has to be: how far do these articles reach, are they read or even noticed by the Egyptian-in-the-street, or are they the expression of an educated elite that has no hold on the views and emotions of John Q.Public Nilotic?
But will they be willing to look at themselves in the mirror and see that they are responsible not just for "extremism," but also for the squalor, poverty, illiteracy, stagnation, etc. that they find themselves in?
When tourism--the kind where people come to see your pre-islamic past or your beaches--is your biggest revenue source, you have to acknowledge that industry and intellect are not priorities in your world and that extorting foreign aid from non-muslim countries is not much of an economic policy.
Al-Musawwar's editor in chief,Abdel Shohaib,writes, " there is no use denying we incited the crime of Sharm el Sheik."
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Mr.Shohaib, have your wife start the car from now on,ok?
Well I just saw the Egyptian PM on CNN Wolf Blitzer and he was avoiding all the hard questions. The issue is that suicide bombing is supported in Egypt not against Muslims but against the Jews.
Egypt and their security services supply the Palestinians by smuggling arms in Gaza, some are used in suicide bombing against Israelis.
Obviously until such a cognitive dissonance is dealt with as did Tony Blair last week, Egyptians will not have a serious and truthfully soul-searching.
RLH
Well I just saw the Egyptian PM on CNN Wolf Blitzer and he was avoiding all the hard questions. The issue is that suicide bombing is supported in Egypt not against Muslims but against the Jews.
Egypt and their security services supply arms to the Palestinians by smuggling arms in Gaza, some are used in suicide bombing against Israelis.
Obviously until such a cognitive dissonance is dealt with as did Tony Blair last week (we still waiting Mr. Livingtone), Egyptians will not have a serious and truthfully soul-searching.
Don't hold your breath...
RLH
They ask some of the right questions, but what about right answers, and then actually 'doing' something about it...talk is cheap...
Egypt has an Education system where first grade curriculum rails against the infidels and glorifies Jihad. The children grow up hearing Islamic indoctrination in all corners, from the school text, fanatical government teachers, hearing thousands of preaching fanatics from a thousand loud speakers, blazing day and night, from state television, state clerics, and state-owned Newspapers. Is it any wonder why every kid who is not on drugs is a full blown fanatic?
Egypt: A land where the Army bulldozes a home for mentally handicapped children managed by nuns. The Army goes on to more heroics by attacking the oldest monastery in the world, Saint Anthony’s; a government whose generals are more worried about pesky desert hermits living in the middle of nowhere than guarding the borders. A government whose intelligence services devote their efforts to tracking converts and their supporters in Egypt and Coptic human rights groups abroad. Their so called diplomats use their diplomatic status to threaten Coptic leaders in America and detain Coptic Bishops and leaders inside their consulates (Sydney, Australia) after presenting a letter of protest following a massacre where the police played a major part in it and the court acquitted all the participants. A government that aids and abides the kidnapping, rape, torture, and forced conversion of Coptic girls and minors. The police add insult to injury by threatening the victims’ families to never contact their enslaved children. The relative have to stand in the police station to watch their daughter’s rapist setting like an honored guest of the Police, smirking at them. All the while, the dazed victim is surrounded by a crowd of Islamic clerics and thugs, cheering Allahu Akabar and rubbing the girls’ family nose into the painful and humiliating spectacle. The poor Coptic family is then forced to endure watching their little girl being dragged and hear the echo of her screams in the corridors. Egypt, where Muslim killers of Christians face almost no punishment and in many cases the government goes on to fabricate a case for one of their relatives who was not even in the area… The police know who the killers are, but to avoid tarnishing their record for closing cases, why not hit two birds with one stone, a Copt dead and his cousin getting a life sentence, a bargain if you ask anyone.
After decades of a policy of Islamization began under the Nasser regime which was full of members of the Islamic Brotherhood, and later revived with fervor under Sadat, “the believer president”, a former member of the Muslim brotherhood and a Nazi agent, it is amazing that Egypt is not yet a Sudan or an Afghanistan, but things are reaching critical mass. Unfortunately, the Copts are paying dearly and will pay more for the government’s engineered failure. And in this day and age, the fires blazing in Egypt will not have long to reach Western nations.