Egyptians Sick Of Own Government, Media Over Gaza Claims

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Egyptians say they are sick of the "official line" fed them by their national media and government officials on the three-week Israeli war on Gaza, which ended early Sunday morning when Israel unilaterally ceased military operations.

Throughout the attacks, which left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead and another 5,000 wounded, Egyptians had to filter the officials' comments and government media reports about the diplomatic efforts the Hosni Mubarak administration was making to end the war.

National news media continued to pump out government statements onto the airwaves since the Israeli attacks began on Dec 27.

Although the Egyptian president and his officials voiced their criticisms of Israel, they maintained that Hamas was responsible for the carnage taking place in Gaza.

"Biased, biased, biased. They are very supportive of Mubarak and his policies. That is why they attacked Nasrallah and Iran or whoever considers questioning his 'wisdom,'" independent Al-Dustour newspaper journalist Mohamed Abdel Salam told the Middle East Times.

He argued that the national media were taken aback by the quick public outpouring of anger and frustration against Cairo that they responded defensively.

"The Egyptian media have the right to defend their country against what they think are attacks from Syria, Lebanon and Qatar against the Egyptian position" concerning Rafah and the ongoing diplomatic efforts in Cairo," he continued.

The question is whether the national news is giving Egyptians the opportunity to formulate their own opinions over the "facts" on the ground.

One of the most contentious issues has been the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in Sinai. The Egyptian government argues that it was unable to open the border due to international agreements previously agreed to with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the European Union.

This had largely been the excuse handed down to Egyptian viewers, despite the growing consternation among opposition forces within Egypt and across the Arab world. Here in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood demanded that the government open the borders in order to allow Palestinians to escape the Israeli bombardment.

"We demanded over and over again, in our statements and in our demonstrations, for the border to remain open and accessible to Palestinians. It is our duty as Arabs," Brotherhood spokesman Mohammed Badr said."

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[oberliner]

1. If they had completely free and open elections in Egypt

Would Muslim Brotherhood win the most seats?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Hard to tell

The secular part of Egypt is large and few would want to go under the heel of fanatic islam