Hamas "Negotiates"

Hamas, crippled after Yayeh Sinwar, ( leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip from February 2017, until his death in October 2024, succeeding Ismail Haniyeh in both roles.) tries to negotiate.

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My Friend Ali Salem

i'm proud to say that years ago I met, in Cairo (and later in Israel), with a brave and famous Egyptian writer who had been ostracized and had been expelled from the Egyptian Writers association, because of his support for "normalcy" with Israel. It was during Mubarak's Presidency and rabid antisemitism flourished (with President Mubarak's approval) in Egyptian media. That brave (and talented) writer was Ali Salem. We had long talks and met several times. I consider him a friend but I've lost contact with Ali and have long worried about his safety. Ali is suddenly in the news and I could not resist joyfully reporting on his wise words:

Famous Egyptian writer says Hamas is “the real enemy,” not Israel,

Egyptian writer and playwright Ali Salem, who has a record of peaceful statements regarding Israel, said Israel is Egypt’s “friend” and Hamas is “the real enemy.” It is not in Israel’s interest for Egypt to suffer from a lack of security, Salem said on Al-Arabiya TV in an interview Wednesday, the Egyptian El-Watan website reported.
The intellectual said Hamas and Islamic State present the most serious threat to Egypt.
Salem has visited Israel and called for the normalization of relations, drawing strong reactions from critics.
The real enemy is also poverty, ignorance, and disease, he said, adding, “Egypt will defeat terrorism no matter how long it takes.”
There are currently Israeli factories in Egypt and normalization with Israel is necessary, the playwright said.
In 2001, the Union of Egyptian Writers expelled Salem. He had “visited Israel several times and published a book on those visits, in addition to several articles supporting normalization, which contradicts the general bent of union members and the resolutions of the general assembly in several sessions,” said a union statement reported in an article about the writer in The Middle East Quarterly journal in 2002.
Salem has written 25 plays and 15 books, and some of them Egyptian classics, said the article.
In 1994, after the Oslo agreement, Salem drove to Israel and later published a book about it, “A Drive to Israel.”
“Now I was crossing the border, Egypt was behind me, for a long time I wouldn’t use the Egyptian dialect that I love. I set out on the road to Tel Aviv, in my car with its Cairo license plates: white Arabic numbers on a black background,” wrote Salem according to translated excerpts.
“I admit it: when they left me the Egyptian plates, I felt happy. And I began to exploit the chance to proclaim my nationality … With Egyptian plates and a high-pitched jeep engine I was shouting, without opening my mouth: Hey, folks!… Egypt is your neighbor!… I am an Egyptian coming forth from Egypt.”
In an Egyptian TV interview last year on Al-Kahera Wal-Nas TV, reported by MEMRI, Salem said it disturbs him when people call Israel the enemy.
“The Israelis are not an enemy – at least not of the Egyptians.”
Pressed by the interviewer if Iran or Israel is more of threat to Egypt, Salem responded that Iran was, “absolutely.”
“Because [Iran] has an extremist religious regime."-more

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Europe is Sick

Europe is sick. Again. And it's not Ebola.

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Funding

As I write this, there's a meeting of donors ïn Cairo to fund the "rebuilding of Gaza"

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The Cairo Talks

A LOT is going on in the Cairo talks. We just don't know what it is.
But it is obvious that neither Egypt nor Israel can live with an armed and dangerous Hamas controlling Gaza.

Trouble in Cairo Peace Talks

An Egyptian/Israeli/Palestinian Peace?
There's only one problem.

Not Just Jews

Eight hours before I wrote this column and posted this cartoon:

Egypt:
Gunmen open fire at Coptic Christian wedding in Cairo
Four people, including an eight-year-old girl, killed in suspected sectarian attack on minority which makes up 10% of population
Gunmen shot dead at least four Egyptians outside a Coptic Christian church on the edge of C airo on Sunday evening as worshippers left the building after a wedding, state media reported. Two adults and two girls aged eight and 12 were killed, and at least 12 others injured, after the gunmen sprayed bullets seemingly at random.
The perpetrators, and their motives, are unknown as they left the area quickly on motorcycles, according to witnesses. But there are strong concerns that the shootings mark the latest sectarian attack on Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, which makes up around 10% of Egypt's population of 85 million . . .more

High Hopes for Egypt

A secular democratic Egypt would be a blessing for the region.
Hey, I'm allowed to dream
...aren't I?

The People of Egypt

From the American Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Egyptian Peace (1974)

Published in 1974

Today's cartoon is from 1974.
Dry Bones was only one year old and Israel had a "Peace Treaty" with Egypt!!

The goal was to have cultural relations, sporting events, trade relations, and more. Sure the public was still infected with a degree of anti-Israeli hatred ...but we'd show understanding, and with the help of the Egyptian government, in time, the Arabs of Egypt would come to appreciate their cousins next door; the Israelites of the land of Israel.

So we waited patiently, and with understanding, for thirtyseven years while the Egyptian government blocked normalization. Egyptian tourists were barred from visiting us, antisemitism was allowed to flourish, cultural exchanges never happened and the Egyptian government rode the tiger of a population that they could control but would not educate.

And now their "Israel-loving" President, his sons, and other senior regime figures are on trial for their lives and the population seethes with Islamist-sponsored hatred and cheers, once again, the burning of Israel's flag in Cairo.

Arab Spring?

The latest, from YNet:

Egyptians plan million-man rally against Israel

"Facebook groups call for mass protest outside Israeli embassy in Cairo, as protesters demand ambassador be expelled, embassy be closed

Egyptian daily al-Youm al-Saba'a reported Wednesday that Egyptian citizens have created groups on Facebook and other social networks calling for "a million-man protest" outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo on Friday.

The protesters say the focus of the demonstration will be the demand to have the Israeli ambassador expelled from Egypt and Israel's embassy in the capital closed." -more

And this from the National Review:

Annals of the Arab Spring: Al-Qaeda Launches from Egypt to Attack Israel

"In Egypt, where the public has always been predominantly ant-Israeli — in contrast to the Mubarak regime, which was pro-American and maintained the peace with Israel — demonstrations against Israel have broken out. Crowds are burning the Egyptian flag and one demonstrator scaled the 15-story wall of the Israeli embassy, tore down the Israeli flag, and replaced it with an Egyptian flag. "-more

Land for Words

According to the Christian Science Monitor:

"Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to the 1967 borders as a baseline for peace talks in exchange for Palestinians recognizing Israel as a Jewish state."- more

Apparently our Prime Minister would surrender land in exchange for a statement? Not even a promise? Just a statement? "Land for Words"?

When we surrendered Sinai we weren't that naive. We insisted on signed agreements! Of course the signer of those agreements is now on a stretcher in a court in Cairo, facing a possible death sentence, and the signed agreements have gone up in smoke, like the gas pipelines in Sinai.

Egyptian Elections

Current developments in Egypt are obviously a turning point in history. Its full importance will be really understood only by those who will look back at this time and the drama being played out on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities.

As for us, we wait for the next step
...and the future that it will bring us.

Election Trap

Here in Israel, we are seeing idealistic and optimistic Egyptians being interviewed by Israeli reporters at demonstrations in Cairo. I couldn't understand why those inspiring and pro-democracy interviews seemed both familiar and sad.

And then it hit me. 1984. The barrier between Israel and Lebanon had been replaced by a "Good Fence" gate. Lebanese citizens flooded into Israel. We saw idealistic and optimistic Lebanese being interviewed by Israeli reporters. We were all thrilled with the prospects for peace and real change. But I remember one depressing interview. A Lebanese schoolteacher said that he was visiting Israel while it was "still" possible to do so.

The "Good Fence" - 1984
The Good Fence is now a barrier between Israel and the forces of Hezbollah, the Islamist Iranian puppet in Lebanon.

Question

Sadly, for his entire Presidency, Mubarak squelched all sport and cultural exchanges with Israel, and prevented Egyptian tourism to the Jewish state. If he had allowed Egyptians to see and visit the free and democratic state next door, the "pro Democracy" riots would have broken out years ago ...but the Moslem Brotherhood would not have been waiting to pick up the pieces.

* * *

A thought: If the demonstrations sweeping the Middle East are the natural outpouring of a desire for freedom, why is it that they all seem to be targeting pro Western regimes? How come we're not seeing thousands of demonstrators in the streets of the cities of the Iranian-aligned Syrian dictatorship?

* * *

And what do you think?

Armchair Pundit

With all the current news out of Egypt I'll skip the Golden Oldies and give you the benefit of my armchair analysis.

And I'm willing to hear yours.