VIDEO: A step-by-step guide to television news reporting

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EGYPT: Terror myth clouds reality of Egypt revolution

What a terrible waste. One of the few moderate Arab nations has been rocked by a revolution. Beady-eyed hairy-faced Islamo-fascists poised to take over, determined to drive Israel seaward and smother what remains of the Middle East under one giant burqa.

This is the Egyptian scenario painted by influential and allegedly conservative pundits. They insist Hosni Mubarak was a moderate, and that the millions gathered at Tahrir Square and elsewhere across Egypt were agents of, or being manipulated by, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB).

Yes, Mubarak preserved Egypt's peace with Israel and toed the American line in his foreign policy. But there is nothing moderate about a leader amassing a multibillion-dollar personal fortune while half his country lives on US$2 ($2.60) a day or less.

Millions of Egyptians live in overcrowded hovels and hundreds of neighbourhoods characterise hopelessness, unemployment and disease. One quarter of Egyptian adults of working age are out of a job. Egypt has no middle class worth noticing.

The United States provides US$1.3 billion in military aid and about US$800 million annually in economic assistance since 1979. Economist and Egypt's former minister for development and planning, Ismail Sabry Abdallah, negotiated the first package with USAid in 1974.

In 2004 he told the Christian Science Monitor that the aid was

... distributed by the Egyptian government in an anarchic way, through personal contacts and political influence.

There is also nothing moderate about a government instituting a system of torture against political dissidents. Former Egyptian Vice-President Omar Suleiman, who announced Mubarak's resignation on Egyptian state television, was also Egypt's feared security chief.

Suleiman managed the regime's role in its joint extraordinary rendition programme with the US, in which terror suspects were kidnapped and brought to Egypt. Among them was Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib, who spent six months in Suleiman's torture chambers.

Habib alleges Suleiman himself managed Habib's torture, which included being subjected to electric shocks, beaten and drugged. Habib was then transported to Guantanamo Bay where he was held until 2005 before being released without charge.

Mubarak maintained his grip on power for three decades with the full support of the allegedly civilised and democratic world.

His mantra was that without him Egypt would be overrun by al-Qaeda's allies in the form of the MB. Mubarak used post-9/11 paranoia about Islamist terror to manufacture a mythology about the MB in order to maintain his corrupt regime.

Yet the relationship between the Muslim Brotherhood on the one hand, and Mubarak's regime and its Western sponsors on the other is quite complex. The MB has been a fixture in Egyptian politics and society since it was founded by school teacher Hasan al-Banna in 1928.

Conservative commentators never tire of claiming that Islamist groups such as the MB are allied with Western leftists. Ironically in Egypt, the political wing of the MB is considered socially conservative and laissez faire capitalist. Historically, the MB has always been anti-communist and anti-socialist.

In his 2004 biography, Nasser: The Last Arab, Palestinian journalist Said Aburish writes about Egyptian strongman Gamal Abdel Nasser's problems with the MB during his rule from 1956 until his death in 1970.

Despite being a devout Muslim, Nasser believed in the strict separation of religion from politics. His crypto-socialist economic and land-reform policies were rejected by the MB, one of whose number tried to assassinate him. Nasser then mercilessly repressed the MB, whose leaders and cadres were detained and tortured in what Aburish describes as concentration camps. Britain and the US, which were largely opposed to Nasser, supported the MB.

The MB is not a monolithic organisation. Dr Israel Elad Altman, a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre in Herzliya, Israel, is no friend of political Islam. In a 2006 paper entitled Democracy, Elections and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, delivered at the neo-conservative Hudson Institute, Altman notes:

For almost two decades, two distinctive age groups within the MB have been waging an internal ideological struggle. The first group - the 'old guard' - was formed during the harsh experience of the MB's repression under the former Egyptian ruler Gamal 'Abd al-Nasser ... By contrast, the second or middle generation is made up largely of the student leaders of the 1970s, when Anwar al-Sadat allowed the MB to take over the university campuses ... [showing] interest in building alliances with other political organisations.

Furthermore, the MB has deep links with Egyptian society through an impressive network of social service institutions - schools, hospitals and orphanages. They claim to control one-fifth of Egypt's active non-government organisations. One of its organisations, known as Gami'a Shar'ia, manages 4000 mosques and has two million members.

The Mubarak regime, while officially banning the MB, allowed the organisation to manage these services. The MB's social network has been described by some observers as a state within the Egyptian state.

With such a strong grassroots base, it's little wonder that in the 2005 elections MB candidates won more than 60 per cent of the seats they contested. Now they are represented on a 10-man constitutional amendment committee, though their representative, Mohamed Morsi, told al-Masri al-Youm magazine recently that they had no intention of running a presidential candidate.

By now, some readers will be shaking in their shoes at the prospect of an Iran on the Nile. They should calm down.

No protesters were seen at Tahrir Square in Cairo holding posters of Khomeini, let alone bin Laden or Zawahiri.

Irfan Yusuf is a Sydney lawyer and author of Once Were Radicals: My Years As A Teenage Islamo-fascist. This article was first published in the New Zealand Herald on Tuesday 22 February 2010.

COMMENT: The neo-Con fantasy comes unstuck

Here’s an example of the kind of fruitloop reasoning that makes so many American conservatives such a laughing stock:

Are the Arabs capable of democracy? And if so, can Americans be the agents of their transformation? The answer, of course, is that no one knows. The lack of a single democratic Arab government gives grounds for skepticism. The claim that something in Arab culture makes it resistant to democracy cannot be refuted until the first Arab democracy comes into being. (Joshua Muravchik, former resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute)

Here's a simple bullshit-free translation: Sorry, sand-niggers. Your raghead culture is inferior to ours. You can’t have democracy unless we become the agents of your change. Without us, you won’t get anywhere. In the meantime, we'll blame your culture for shoving down your throats dictators that you hate but that guarantee us access to cheap oil.

Ordinary Egyptians took a mere 18 days to show what a load of crap this thinking was. And who opposed their peaceful uprising? Why none other than a large number of the same American conservatives. Funny that.

UPDATE I: Here's a few choice words from an Australian of Egyptian heritage as reported in the Sun-Herald today:

... Nour Eldin Tarraf, a 35-year-old orthodontist who moved to Sydney from Cairo five years ago, said the real threat to Egypt's prosperity was not religion. ''I'm a Muslim who grew up in a building that was half-Muslim, half-Christian - no one cared,'' said Mr Tarraf, of the Sydney Egyptian Revolution Solidarity Committee.



''The real problem is corruption. It infiltrated every rank of Egyptian society, and changing that will not be easy.''

UPDATE II: Even those who sold Mubarak to the nation are suddenly trying to reinvent themselves. The Washington Post recently published a piece about the editor of a pro-Mubarak (as in state-owned) newspaper:

For now, Osama Saraya is still editor in chief of al-Ahram, the state-run Egyptian newspaper that has long been a deferential mouthpiece for the president and his ruling party. 

But his main preoccupation seems to be reinvention. 

Portraits of Hosni Mubarak no longer adorn his office walls (one is stashed under the television, others behind a curtain). Photographs of Saraya with top government officials have been turned upside down. 

It was only last week that Saraya was denouncing the chaos caused by pro-democracy demonstrators. His editorial in al-Ahram on Sunday carried a very different tune. 

"A salutation to the revolution and respect to its youth," Saraya wrote. "The corrupt in Egypt were only a few that led to the destruction of the country, and their era is gone now.''

Words © 2011 Irfan Yusuf


Joe Jackson - Right And Wrong



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VIDEO: 30 years of dictatorship ended in 34 seconds ...

... and after 18 days of protests across the country in which hundreds were murdered using US-supplied bullets by thugs under the employ of the dictator's regime.



UPDATE I: Here's a tweet from Wael Ghonim (@Ghonim):

Dear Western Governments, You've been silent for 30 years supporting the regime that was oppressing us. Please don't get involved now

Fair call.

UPDATE II: Egyptian protesters all seem to be singing with the same voice. Either that, or they mime much better than Bollywood stars.



Below is what I presume is a translation of this song sourced from the Afro-Europe International Blog:

"I went down and I said I am not coming back, and I wrote on every street wall that I am not coming back. 

"All barriers have been broken down, our weapon was our dream, and the future is crystal clear to us, we have been waiting for a long time, we are still searching for our place, we keep searching for a place we belong too, in every corner in our country. 

"The sound of freedom is calling, in every street corner in our country, the sound of freedom is calling.. 

"We will re-write history, if you are one of us, join us and don't stop us from fulfilling our dream.

UPDATE III: Interim military rulers declare peace treaty with Israel will stay in place. Makes sense.

UPDATE IV: Even members of the animal kingdom are celebrating the resignation of Mubarak. Check out this cool cat.



UPDATE V: Palestinian journalist Said K Aburish's 2004 biography Nasser The Last Arab talks about a dictator as being someone with two characteristics::

... a brooding secretive psychopath, or one who thrive[s] on conflict.

Mubarak had shades of both. He used conflict against his opponents even to the last days of his regime when he unleashed his secret police on protesters His use of torture made him a complete psychopath..


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VIDEO: How Omar Suleiman made a mickey of the United States

The Americans and Israelis are very close to Egypt's long serving intelligence chief and recently appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman. And what has Suleiman offered in return? Watch this video from CNN's Parker Spitzer show to find out.



UPDATE I: Suleiman has also been personally linked to the torture of an Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib. I wrote something about this in Crikey back in 2008. Natalie O'Brien writes more about this for the Sun Herald here.

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VIDEO: Fox News reports a terrorist attack in America

Russian cable news network RT asks some pertinent questions.



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VIDEO: Anti-Semitism Texas style

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Jewish Speaker of Texas State House
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook

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HUMOUR: Burka woman

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VIDEO: "Inside Story" on Coptic clashes in Egypt

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POLITICS: Murderous blasphemy or blasphemous murder?

The governor of Pakistan's wealthiest province was gunned down. Salmaan Taseer was killed by his bodyguard at close range. The guard claims he shot his boss due to the latter's opposition to blasphemy laws.

UPDATE I: Here is a response from Huma Imtiaz. I have no idea who she is but I endorse every word of her response.

UPDATE II: The allegedly more "moderate" Barelwi school of thought has been even more virulent in its support for the murderer of Taseer. Apparently describing oppressive laws as "black" is a crime deserving extra-judicial killing in their eyes.

UPDATE III: Here are some more supportive responses.

UPDATE IV: Taseer was a severe critic of drone attacks on Pakistan. Then again, who wouldn't be. Imagine if the US started sending drone planes to attack civilians of its other allies? It doesn't help when 98% of those killed aren't exactly terrorists.

UPDATE V: Here is a video of a press conference which Taseer had with Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman who was charged under Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Apologies to those who cannot understand Urdu. I'll try to translate when I get a chance.


UPDATE VI: I'm not all that good at Urdu. With a small bit of help from my mother, who has a Masters in Urdu from Punjab University, here is what I could make of the first half or so of the video.

[Addressing Aasia Bibi:]
Here you have appealed to the President.

[Aasia Bibi places a thumb print on the appeal papers. Break, then Salmaan Taseer addresses the audience with Aasia Bibi seated to his right.]
I wish to begin with mentioning the name of God who is gracious and merciful beyond limits. I have come here to meet with Aasia Bibi. She has been imprisoned for some 18 months and she has been sentenced in a manner which I regard as extreme (saqat) and oppressive (zalim). She has appealed to the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari that she be pardoned. God-willing, the President will for the sake of humanity ... pardon this woman.

Let me also say that the Pakistan founded by Qaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah never had such a law and never could have been passed. Our religion also protects people’s conscience (aqaliyyat). The founder of Pakistan had a white ribbon placed on the Pakistani flag so that people’s differences of beliefs could be recognised and protected.

For this reason, the punishment to which she has been sentenced is, I believe, inhumane (insaniyat ke khilaf) ... She has approached me in my capacity as Governor of Punjab and has asked me to deliver her appeal to the President so that God-willing she will be pardoned.

In a country where 97% of the population are Muslim, it is impossible that any insult can be made to the purified name of the Messenger of God. Here we are all Muslims. I am convinced after studying her case that there was no such incident. She is a poverty-stricken woman who had no legal assistance or representation or the means to afford such representation. By placing such poor minorities through such legal proceedings, we are making a mockery of the foundational ideas of Pakistan and its founder.

UPDATE VII: Every time you think things can't possibly get worse in Sudanand Dhume's writing, along comes a piece to prove you wrong. Where do I start with this shocker?

Taseer's killer, a 26-year-old named Mumtaz Qadri, symbolizes Maududi's vision. In photographs, he's bearded and moustache-less, in the manner prescribed by fundamentalist Islam.

Actually, it is prescribed by certain elements in Sunni Islam. It is not prescribed in the Barelwi school of South Asian Sunnism, and it is Pakistan's Barelwi scholars who have been at the forefront of opposing Taseer. It is also not prescribed by Shia scholars. Muqtada as-Sadr has a healthy moustache. I guess that makes him a moderate in Dhume's eyes.

That Mr. Qadri could defy South Asia's usually rigid codes of hierarchy by murdering someone far above his station jibes with the contempt radical Islamists often feel for traditional elites.

What the ...? Is Dhume saying that people in Punjab never murder those richer and more powerful than them? Is he living in the world of the Ramayana?

The murder highlights anew the way in which Pakistan's English-speaking classes resemble a small island of urbanity surrounded by a rising tide of fundamentalist zeal.

So speaking English is a sure sign that one doesn't have fundamentalist zeal. Dhume dude, half my family are in the Jamaat-i-Islami. They speak fluent English and almost all have green cards. They belong to the same English-speaking class. I'm too scared to ask them what they thought of Taseer's death.

Mr. Dhume is a columnist for WSJ.com and a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC.

The AEI? I guess that says it all.

UPDATE VIII: Moronic religious parties joined by equally moronic lawyers.

UPDATE IX: Here's an interesting column from Jawed Naqvi writing from Delhi in Dawn. Particularly perceptive is the comparison between the role of religious extremism in India and Pakistan.

... Rahul Gandhi in the neighbourhood. India`s Congress party scion had made a valid point about the threat to his country from Hindu extremists — just as Pakistan is being wrecked by Muslim bigots — but instead of telling his countrymen about it, he whispered his worry into the ears of the American ambassador in Delhi. Nothing could be as self-defeating as not trusting your very own in the battle to defend your core ideals.

In a curious way, the fact that the young Gandhi mentioned the Hindutva threat to US ambassador Tim Roemer, in fact, added to his credibility. A public statement would in most likelihood be pounced upon by his detractors as a populist and a potentially communal ploy to curry favour with Muslims and so forth. That particular worry should, of course, be no reason to keep the nation oblivious of an ominous possibility.

Right-wing Hindus expectedly pooh-poohed Gandhi`s remarks to Roemer, which would probably never have surfaced but for the WikiLeaks` revelations. He contended that the Hindutva upsurge posed a greater threat to India than did Muslim extremism. The view appeared to be based on a simple and compelling logic. Muslim extremists threaten Pakistan because they are or were part of the state structures thanks to Gen Zia`s policies. Likewise, Hindutva and not so much Muslim bigots challenge Indian secularism.

The reason is not difficult to comprehend. Although homegrown Muslim fanatics in India, even those having links with Lashkar-i-Taiba from across the border, have a stake in destroying India`s secularism, they remain handicapped in their mission because of their total absence from the levers of state power.

Hindutva forces, on the other hand, like their counterparts in Pakistan, have penetrated nearly all the sectors of state that matter. Parliament is the only place where so far they cannot carry out subversion. Of course, it may not take long before they are emboldened to contemplate doing just that.

UPDATE X: There was a time when assassins were considered the enemy of Muslims, fought by governments and despised by religious scholars. They were forced to live in a tall tower in the middle of nowhere. Today in Pakistan they have become mainstream. Some say it is time to hail and cheer them. OK, he's being tongue-in-cheek.

UPDATE XI: The UK Independent reports that

Twenty thousand supporters of fundamentalist parties have rallied in the streets of Karachi in support of Pakistan's blasphemy laws as they escalated threats against liberal politicians who, like Salmaan Taseer, the slain governor of Punjab, want to see them amended.

Gee, that really is a huge rally. For Wollongong. Or for Canberra. But for Karachi, a city of around 12 million? The Independent describes it as ...

[t]he biggest muscle-flexing display by the religious right for years in Pakistan's largest city ...

And what proportion of Karachi-walas turned up to the second biggest? More than 0.16667%? Yep, these manic maulanas have plenty of support.

MUSIC/VIDEO: Pure class ...

DC Lee, formerly of the Style Council. From the mid-'80's.



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VIDEO: Aamer Rahman urges his audience to throw pooh at John Howard

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MUSIC: Diesel live

VIDEO: Shut the f*ck up and start swearing!

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VIDEO: When is a church not a church?

VIDEO: Bush continues to defend torture ...

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HUMOUR: Indian sexual prowess ...

COMMENT: Switzer isn't into tea ...

Former Opinion Editor of The Australian Tom Switzer makes some interesting observations about the Tea Party.

Some argue that the Tea Party's success in Republican primaries is evidence of a rejuvenated right dedicated to a genuine constitutionalism and commitment to small government. But while the Tea Party is tapping into the economic anxiety and political estrangement that voters feel across the nation, the movement itself has its fair share of problems.

He continues.

It not only sports a few clowns and creeps who make embarrassing pronouncements; it is also leaderless and riven by chronic divisions over social and foreign policy. Moreover, it is not clear whether the Tea Party resonates with the broader electorate.

And what about some of the Tea Party's stars?

... some in the Tea Party scare centrists - think of Delaware candidate Christine O'Donnell, the former anti-masturbation advocate who "dabbled" in witchcraft. She will almost certainly lose a seat the Republicans should have won.

America, Switzer seems to say, is in economic and social free-fall at the moment. The Republicans would have won, with or without the Tea Party. Buut winning with the Tea Party is likely to be a one way ticket to long term political irrelevance.

Words © 2010 Irfan Yusuf

VIDEO/IRAQ: Lengthy report on the Secret Iraq files ...

VIDEO/COMMENT: John Howard's war of liberation ...

According to his recently released memoirs, John Howard says that the Australian Labor Party was absolutely wrong to oppose the invasion and war in Iraq. Why?

John Howard says it was "inconceivable" that Australia would not back the US in Iraq ...

The former Liberal prime minister charges the Labor Party with lacking conviction, hiding behind the UN and outsourcing its foreign policy to the Russians and French on the Security Council.

It's all about alliances. Human beings don't seem to matter. I'm not aware of a single occasion where Howard expressed even a word of sympathy for Iraqi victims. Indeed, any Iraqi victim who managed to escape and make it to our shores was thrown into detention.

As for the ones who couldn't escape ...



Mr Howard should remember some of the families mentioned in this clip next time he goes for a drive with Janette.