Corrupt Egyptian system feeds the IDF, starves Gazans, oppresses journalists

[ensho]

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4328.shtml


Once upon an alleged democracy, the Egyptian government decided a couple of days ago to try the journalist Majdi Hussein, the secretary-general of the Egyptian Labour party in a military court -- even though he is a civilian -- because he broke the law when he tried to “illegally enter the Gaza Strip.”

One wonders what is legal and what is not when it comes to Gaza. It seems the law in Egypt is extremely elastic and can accommodate all manipulations and tailoring of the law to fit different sizes of growing plots. The good old Egyptian system is abiding by the law to the letter, and that’s why it wants to try a journalist in a military court for entering Gaza ‘illegally’ while the good old authority was providing the Israeli military ‘legally’ with tons of foods through the Gaza crossings while blocking any food sent to the starved to death children of Gaza who were burned to the bone by white phosphorus by that same Israeli army Egypt was feeding.

Last month the opposition Egyptian newspaper, Alosbooa (‘The Week’), revealed in one of its reports a controversial story that was not refuted by the authorities, about the Egyptian company ‘International Union of Food Industries’ which was providing the Israeli army with large quantities of homegrown Egyptian vegetables during the aggression on Gaza, since the very first day of the aggression.

The report revealed that the Egyptian trucks were loaded with tons of frozen local grown vegetables from the company stores in the city of Sadat to the Israeli company “Food Channel,” through Al Awja crossing between Egypt and Israel. One of the drivers said that he has made these deliveries many times to Israel but he was hiding this fact from his relatives and neighbours in Albadry neighbourhood at Assalam city, and that he used to tell them that he was delivering goods to other Arab countries, or the delivery is heading towards far ports like Savaja because he was embarrassed to tell them the truth. Other drivers said they no more feel embarrassed or ashamed of doing so because their government itself has normalized relations with Israel years ago. The workers in the company said that the food was repackaged with Hebrew writing, showing the expiry date and the contents, and that the food has been prepared according to Jewish religious rules. Thus indicating that it complied with the traditional religious Jewish parameters, and that’s why the company imposed a cordon around the place, keeping stored bags, boxes, posters and empty cartons away from the sight of intruders, not allowing any of the workers or the staff to approach the packaging area, and searching every worker at the end of his shift before leaving.

-snip-

Hence, according to the law-abiding Egyptian authorities, it is illegal to open the crossing to allow food and aid to the starved Gaza children, but it is legal to feed the Zionist army who were barbecuing Gaza children. It is legal to allow foreign journalists to cross to the Gaza haven, but it is against the law to allow Arab journalists to cross the borders to investigate or offer emotional support. It seems it is legal to stand on the borders and watch a full nation being killed and not only to stand idly doing nothing, but also to punish those who intend to help.
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the Egyptian people better start speaking up, loud.

[BunkerHill24]

1. "the Egyptian people better start speaking up, loud."

Husni Mubarak and his hangmen don't take criticism lightly. In Egypt, you could easily spend rest of your life in jail just by asking the reasons behind the rise in the price of bread. Husni's prison cells are filled with torture victims, his hangmen are on duty 24/7 and his secret police maintain raping rooms below their offices. With terrible record of humanitarian atrocities, no one dares to speak out.

[Idealism]

2. Mubarak is famous for many things

Being a brutal dictator, torturing his own citizens, sodomizing foreigners who speak out too loud against the government before renditioning them elsewhere...

He is easily worse than any other "leader" in the Middle-East.

[pelsar]

3. did you actually forget about..

saudi arabia and iran and syria?..... hanging homosexuals, destroying and gassing your own city...etc....Mubarak may be dictator but hes not even in the same league as his neighbors.

(or is that double standard again popping up....countries that are US allies have a different dictionary used because they are US allies)

[Idealism]

4. These all deserve condemnation, unequivocally

Not to excuse Sharia law, but that is a religious belief of a people. It doesn't make it less disgusting, but last time I checked, people are entitled to their religion failing all else. Mubarak is not entitled to torturing his own people for sadistic pleasure, renditioning foreigners that take "free speech" literally, and murdering innocent civilians for living in the same neighborhood as al-Gama Islamia militants, however. Nor does he have a right to continue doing so on the U.S. taxpayer dime.

And yes, Egypt falls under the umbrella of "different dictionary." When was the last time you heard about the Western media complain about Mubarak's term limits? I hear them bitching about Chavez holding a referendum about term limits, but when Hosni implemented "Emergency Rule" after the US-backed military coup installed him there, and it remains in effect 25 years later to this day, it raises the question as to why the MSM media doesn't hardly mention a word about the realities of Egypt. Similarly, Saudi Arabia isn't negatively mentioned all that often either, although they deserve condemnation as well.

All we hear about is Iran and Venezuela and xenophobic warnings of nuclear fantasies, when comparatively, those countries are no worse than Egypt or Saudi Arabia.

The government's abuse of Emergency Law powers increased dramatically in 1992 in response to a violent campaign launched by Islamic militants. Yet despite reductions in extremist violence, the Egyptian government has continued its crackdown, including what the U.S. State Department terms “numerous serious human rights abuses” committed by state security forces. These abuses include torture, arbitrary arrest, prolonged pretrial detention, extrajudicial executions, and "disappearances," and are often committed with impunity. Years of abuse by national anti-terrorist groups appear to have filtered down to afflict common citizens; according to http://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k/Mena-03.htm">Human Rights Watch's 2000 Report, in 1999 “evidence continued to mount that local police forces were employing similar torture techniques against ordinary citizens that elite security forces had used systematically against suspected armed militants, their families, and supporters.” In June 2000, the Emergency Law was extended for another three years. The http://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k1/mideast/egypt.html">Human Rights Watch's 2001 Report details more recent infringements of human rights committed by Mubarak's government in the run up to elections held in the autumn of 2000. Human Rights Watch reported that, "State security forces continued to commit grave human rights violations with impunity, including the detention without charge or trial of political detainees and torture, and political opponents continued to be sentenced after unfair trials."

http://www.fas.org/asmp/profiles/egypt.htm

[pelsar]

5. i just prefer one dictionary...

and use the same definitions for all....i call it consistency and of course having a single definition always helps in understanding....

it doesnt make a difference if the actions are in the front page or not, the definitions remain. Egypt is simply not in the same league as its neighbors (when was the last time egypt bombed and gassed it own city of 40,000 (syria)? or publicly hung homosexuals or "loud mouth teenagers (iran)

i doubt you can even make a list......yet you call egypt the worse...

________

but this..this takes the cake:
Not to excuse Sharia law, but that is a religious belief of a people. It doesn't make it less disgusting, but last time I checked, people are entitled to their religion failing all else

as i understand it, your actually defending the implementation of shari law because "the people want it?"....you have got to be kidding....all of the people in saudi arabia and iran "want" shari law?.......please tell me when those referendums/voting were.....and is it an annual event so it can be confirmed?

i take it civil rights isnt high on your list?....it goes after preserving fascist theocratic govts in the name of "multiculturalism".....I'm sure the non educated women under the taliban, stoned adulters in iran, etc all appreciate the civil rights encoded in shari law that you somehow believe is actually acceptable....ugh!

[Idealism]

6. So I take it we should "liberate" these people, eh Bush?

If they didn't accept it, they wouldn't be there. Truth is, some forms of Islam is just plain crazy. Same with Fundamentalism, same with Scientology. I don't begrudge anyone their own views; it isn't in my rights to tell someone else how to live their life and what god to pray to or what to believe. The fact that you don't see things that way speaks volumes. I strongly disagree with Sharia law in regards to treatment of women, GLBT rights, etc, but who am I to tell these people how to live? That is the same backwards ass thinking that the Neo-Cons used to justify Iraq. "Spread democracy! These people will love us for it!"

Funny you should say that about civil rights...

Did you even read the Human Rights Watch reports from Egypt? They torture thousands of their own civilians, they slaughtered entire neighborhoods in the past to prevent a coup. Hosni turned an entire city into a "free fire zone" after an assassination attempt on his life. They still do some of these things to this day. When did Syria gas 40,000 of its own civilians? Got a source?

[pelsar]

7. i plead ignorant on how exactly to liberate them..but by no means do I accept

a govt that enshrines in law the subjugation of people...and please spare the "equal" bit...today in the beginning of the 21first century, islam, the strains that governs saudi arabia, irans, parts of Afghanistan, lebanon, gaza, etc are the exact opposite of any civil rights oriented govt..and no scientology, Judaism, christianity govt comes even close, their own extremists probably would compete with those islamic govts if they get the chance, but they dont, so the scorn and unacceptability goes to those islam govt's today.

You dont have to begrudge people their own views, thats the core of a democracy, people get to live their own lives and if and when they change their mind and decide to be religious or decide to join a cult etc, no one is threatening to kill them.

You on the other hand, with your view, basically tell people who were born in the "wrong country'..tough shit, you dont get civil rights because your neighbor prefers to live with shari law..or if someone decides to change religions in iran....they might just remove his head.....and you obviously see that as a small price to pay for respecting fascist theocratic governments.....

like i wrote: civil rights for all is obviously not one of your priorities.

Which brings us to egypt...if your so respectful of saudi arabia and iran, why do you have problem with egypt?...you dont think the people there prefer a secular dictatorship? (i'm starting to smell just a bit of hypocrisy- you seem to respect religious dictatorships and have a problem with secular ones-religious ones btw are even less tolerant than the secular variety....)



and syria?...40,000 dead, 1982
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/syria/hama.htm

do you think those 40,000 dead "liked" their govt...(is syria one of those you include for "respecting")

[Idealism]

8. Do you wish Israel's government to become secular, too?

Or do you not wish to afford other citizens of the world the same type of government as you? I smell some hypocrisy there, Pelsar. Don't pretend that Israel is a secular democracy, either. I am not "respectful" of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, or Egypt in any way. They are all horrible violators of human rights, as I have said more than once. But what do you propose I do about it, seeing as how you have all the answers? The Bush Method isn't going to work, embargoes are a joke when we depend on their oil. "Democracy" didn't spread through the Middle-East just because we "liberated" Iraq. Diplomacy isn't going to change these peoples religious beliefs, either. I would refrain from attacking me over these problems, demanding answers, especially considering you don't have any solutions to bring to the conversation. Sounds like someone wants America to police the world. We have a word for that in the States: Neo-Conservative.

While the situation is grim in these countries, it doesn't mean they won't change. Look at the United States. Up until the late 1960s, we still had a segregated education system. That was not that long ago, yet now we just elected Barack Hussein Obama to lead us. Change is exponential once underway. One of the only good things Saddam Hussein did for Iraq was to rule in a secular fashion and give women as close to equal rights as you will find in that region. Women are afforded rights in Iraq that they wouldn't dream of having in neighboring countries, even after he was brought to justice this idea has remained. Afghanistan is incrementally progressing along in regards to women's rights, too. In some parts of Pakistan,if I am not mistaken, they have began loosening restrictions on what women can do as well.

[pelsar]

9. lets start with israel...

so israel is not a secular democracy?.....i would say its follows the general tendencies of most of the worlds imperfect democracies with freedom of religion for all, freedom of speech and the right to change religions, beliefs as one wants to without any kind of govt "penalty"...good luck with trying to prove me wrong.

yes its "jewish state, with jewish holidays etc...yes just like america is a christian country with christian holidays....all democracies have various degrees of constant change within the realm..including israel and its attitude toward religion...not so with real theocratic govts

as far as spreading democracy goes.....unfortunatly there are no rules that always work: japan and germany being one example of wiping out the country and rebuilding the education system from "scratch"

Iraq btw, whether one likes the method used or not, remains a workinprogress...it may fail completely or it may be come a full fledged democracry.....that has yet to be determined.

Pakistan just lost another province to the taliban.....its not looking good for Pakistan......


I'm not "demanding" solutions from you...i find your belief that people prefer living in fascist theocratic govts rather fascinating....you appear to have more scorn for egypt, a secular dictatorship than iran.
as far as your viewpoint...do you actually believe that iran, saudi arabia, etc and others countries like them are actually "the will of the people"....when was the last time the actually had a vote?...why do you actually believe this?.....

[Idealism]

10. No, Israel is not

When the state engages in segregation, as Israel does in many areas, then I do not consider them a secular nation. When 20% of their population is disenfranchised from their land based on religion, cannot buy or lease new land through much of the country, and have to go to different schools than other Israeli's- no it is not completely secular. When it jails 800 people who were critical of their military actions, I wouldn't consider them a beacon of democracy and free speech. Good that it only happens every so often...But you are right, it is all about degrees of secularism.

I have close to the disdain for Saudi Arabia as I do for Egypt, the only difference is that my tax dollars aren't handed out by the billions to the Saudi's. Egypt is a military oligarchy fueled by US handouts. Just because they supported Desert Storm operations, we have to pay them off. By doing so we condone the things done in that country. I don't give any country a free pass, but pardon me for rating Egypt slightly worse because my country has great influence in Egypt, yet we choose to ignore and look the other way. And my government likes it that way. If we start giving billions to the Saudi's in freebies per year to buy weapons that kill people, then I can put them on equal shitty footing with Egypt. Until then, they are a close second, sorry.

No, obviously there aren't votes taken in a dictatorship. There is such a thing as moving, however. But, you can't move away from religion. These people believe this is the way they were intended to live, that their religious texts tell them it is so. You are not going to change that idea overnight. Like I said, give it some time.

[pelsar]

11. at least get your facts right...which brings us the most interesting question...

if your facts are wrong...will that change your view point?

When 20% of their population is disenfranchised from their land based on religion???????

perhaps explain yourself (i hope your now talking about how arabs israelis cant buy/rent land from the JNF-since the supreme court shot that down....)

and different schools?..are you talking about the school districts based on geographic areas?.....or the israeli arabs that requested (and got) a different curriculum based on religion and culture (which btw i am against)...or are you talking about the incidents with the Ethiopians...all of which were publicized etc as not being acceptable...
_____

i get the impression that you really have no idea what you talking about and no facts to back it up either.....so.....if you facts are wrong.....
_____

and the US buys how much oil from Saudi Arabia?

and about saudi arabia and iran....
There is such a thing as moving,.. really? thats your solution for them, those that dont like it should move?...like where they dont get passports......more about this later...

[Idealism]

12. The Supreme Court rulings have been widely ignored

Similar to other Court rulings that Israel chooses not to follow (Industrial Diesel into Nahal Oz, Journalists into Gaza during Cast Lead).

When you have 1000 Palestinian homes in 2008 being bulldozed in East Jerusalem, what do you call that?
When you have new settlements and an annexation wall being built around land in the West Bank that was someone elses just weeks or months ago, what is the word you use?

Facts? You want to talk about facts? You were trying to tell me that the settlements weren't illegal the other day, yet you want to talk about accuracy?

A politician calling something "unacceptable" hardly means whatever they condemned is dead and gone.

Oil from Saudi Arabia has fuck all to do with USAID. We don't ship billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia in return for absolutely nothing, like we do for Egypt. Its called "trade." I can get you a wikipedia link on it if you wish.

And yes, I know many people who have left Iran and Iraq, personally. They didn't get passports because of course they were denied, but they magically appeared in America. You mean to tell me it is impossible to leave? There is a considerable amount of the population that want to live there, you do realize that right? It is there religion. How do you think it would go if I went to Tel Aviv and told people they need to give up Judaism? Go to Utah and told them that Mormonism was evil and they should repent? Do you want to do away with polygamy, as well?

[pelsar]

13. you sound religious....

since the lgoical line your trying to put forth doesnt exist.....

since you fail to produce any proof or your accusations, i see your now going off on a tangent......not good. I'll explain: (i doubt you want to explain your accusations......or perhaps you do?)

there are no longer laws that prevent israeli arabs from leasing jnf land (as do jews).

i never mentioned whether the settlements are illegal or legal, i think that definition is totally irrelevant to the situation.

any your actually claiming that everyone in iran, saudi arabia, Afghanistan under the taliban prefer to live in a world of religious apartheid under facist theocratic govt...and your actually comparing those govts to israel and the US?

now i really am impressed....perhaps you have some examples of homosexuals being stoned in utah? heads chopped off in Tel Aviv square?....women force to wear potatoe sacks in Salt Lake City?


the key word here is "forced"

______

I dont know how the Palestinians got in to the discussion, they are not citizens of israel and hence do not have the same rights as israelis, plus the different laws/rules for them are based on nationality and not skin color, religion or height and the fact that there is a low level war going on (and if you dug a bit you would find some very strange local laws in jerusalem designed, but not illegal, to limit their housing)

[Scurrilous]

14. Egypt police beat, detain blogger says rights group

<snip>

"Egyptian police have beaten and detained a 22-year-old Egyptian blogger and activist who has expressed support for Gaza, an Egyptian human rights group said on Monday.

A statement from the Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said police officers on Friday beat Diaa Eddin Gad in front of his house in the Nile Delta province of Gharbiya, put him in a police car and drove off.

Police gave no reason for the arrest, and have not yet disclosed where Gad is being held, according to the group.

An interior ministry spokesman did not return calls asking for confirmation of the detention.

Gamal Eid, director of the Network, described Gad as a member of the liberal Wafd party and the Kefaya (Enough) protest movement, and said he had attended protests against the recent 22-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip."

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