Islamic fanatics are always predicting global domination for the faith. Here’s the latest such bold forecast, from Egyptian cleric Abu Islam, who says the Flag of Islam will soon fly over the White House. He also outlines a tidy scheme to share power in Egypt, a plan that carves out different niches and turfs for the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafists and other Islamic groups, while excluding everyone else from power. Natch!
Armed civilians have laid siege to the seat of the Coptic church in Cairo, killing one person and injuring at least 21, as a funeral for four Christians killed in sectarian clashes on Saturday descended into chaos. Thousands of mourners were attacked as they tried to leave Egypt’s largest cathedral, forcing them back inside the cathedral precinct and sparking a siege that lasted all afternoon and stretched into the night. Police fired teargas over the cathedral walls and stood by as unknown men armed with birdshot, knives and petrol bombs scaled nearby buildings to attack those inside the church grounds.
Jon Stewart’s support of Bassem Youssef after the Egyptian comedian got locked up for making fun of the president of Egypt was passionate and expected. What was unexpected, however, was a Twitter fallout between the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and Egyptian officials. The U.S. Embassy made the mistake of tweeting a link to The Daily Show‘s video, which angered Egyptian officials and Islamists. The embassy tried to correct the mistake by taking down its entire Twitter page. Tsk, tsk.
A new swarm of locusts has invaded southern Israel from the Sinai Peninsula. One of the ten Biblical plagues, the locusts have arrived just before the start of the Passover holiday.
Egyptian Islamist politician Hussam Abu Al-Bukhari drops a bombshell, declaring that the American Pilgrims practiced cannibalism, killing hundreds of millions of Native Americans and eating their flesh. And you thought the Pilgrims were eating turkey and cranberries for those first Thanksgiving dinners. How quaint and naive.
Egyptian poet Abd Al-Rahmin Al-Abnoudi expresses horror that both Egypt and Tunisia are becoming like Afghanistan, falling under the grip of fanatics who rule through suppression and the not-so-veiled threat of assassinations. It’s now official: The Arab Spring didn’t produce a wave of freedom. It just toppled a few long-standing despots, allowing a new set of thugs to seize power.
Unhappy over YouTube’s refusal to take down the controversial film The Innocence of Muslims, the Egyptian government has banned the site and other social media outlets for one month. What’s next? Will Switzerland block the Internet for five weeks because there are holes in Swiss cheese? And maybe the French should call for a moratium because YouTube shows skimpier Brazilian bikinis than their French counterparts? Now, this could get interesting.
A wave of sexual assaults in Cairo has led critics of the Morsi regime to charge that Egyptian Islamists are using rape as a tool to silence political dissent. Many of the victims of the attacks have been women protesting for equal rights. Criticism of the regime has intensified since reports emerged of 25 rapes taking place in Tahrir Square.
Meanwhile, Russia Today captured some disturbing video footage of Cairo police stripping a protester and dragging him through the streets to an awaiting van. Two weeks in, the protests do not appear to be abating but growing more frequent and violent.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi seems hellbent to prove he’s a bigger anti-Semite than Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. After previously calling Jews the descendants of “apes and pigs,” Morsi now has told a delegation of visiting US senators that he’d enjoy a better rep in America if it wasn’t for the “controlled” media that’s biased against him.
Wrong, Lipschitz. No one has to misinterpret your words to make you look bad. Every time you open your mouth, you demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that every bone in your body is bigoted and bent. Spare us a few billion shekels, Obama, and cast this clown adrift. If he counts as an American ally, who needs enemies?
