Saturday, February 12, 2011 - motzei Shabbat

1. Mubarak Is Gone - A day after saying he would remain in office until scheduled election in September, Hosni Mubarak has stepped down and transferred power to the Egyptian military.


For what it is worth, the military stated Saturday that it is committed to civilian rule, democracy and treaties - Egypt's army commits to civilian rule and treaties.


But then what comes next? Who really knows?


Professor Barry Rubin makes a number of excellent points in this article - Egypt: The Mubarak Resignation--He Did It His Way--And Its Consequences. Here are some comments from a variety of sources - some written before today's dramatic events, and some after:
One thing is for sure - it won't be dull or boring. And in my humble opinion, when it coms to international relations in the Middle East, particularly as it relates to Israel, dull and boring is good. That is not to say that I supported Mubarak or his corrupt and repressive regime, especially when he was constantly warned by President Bush (not President Obama) and the Israelis to make changes - it is that I am very concerned that for all the jubilant talk about establishing a democracy and so on, there is no precedent of Egyptian, or really, Arab democracy on which to build a "new" Egypt - and as stated in the "Terra Incognita" article above:
"Democracy isn’t about burning down the headquarters of the other party. It isn’t about paralyzing the state so that no business can be conducted and nothing can happen. Oddly, democracy isn’t about mass protests and riots. Democracy is primarily about voting and peaceful transitions of power. The other freedoms that follow from that, like the press, assembly, religion, equality and free speech, are products, hopefully, of democracy."

And anyone who thinks that the forces of evil - the radical Islamists, spurred on by Iran - are not looking to take advantage of this situation to pursue their dark agenda - is either naive, stupid, or reside in some entirely other dimension (Leftist Dupes: From the Communist Brotherhood to the Muslim Brotherhood | FrontPage Magazine). Also see: Jewel of the Nile - by Lee Smith > Tablet Magazine




3. Oh, Just Shut Up - like he's one to talk about the will of the people and so on - Ahmadinejad: "We will soon see a new Middle East materializing without America and the Zionist regime" - Jihad Watch - and the sad thing is that many people, including many of the ivory tower geniuses in the West, give credence to this waste of DNA.


4. Telling It Like It Is #1- one may not like her blunt nature or what she has to say, but I think that she is basically correct:






7. Maybe Things Under Islamic Rule Aren't So Bad After All.... - oops, forgot that Gaza is the world's largest concentration camp, or whatever......also see - Anti-Semitism and Israel Bashing? Must Be a European Parliament Paper



9. Falling Off The Bandwagon - First Germany, then Britain, now France - Multiculturalism 'clearly' a failure: Sarkozy

10. Shocker - Commentary » Blog Archive » UN Group Distances Itself from Female Terrorist Ad Campaign - even the dimwits at the UNPF could not get themselves out of this one.


11. I Don't Know.... - The silver lining





14. A Liberal Palestinian? - Cost Analysis - by Adam Kirsch > Tablet Magazine - meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has suddenly announced it will hold elections in September - big whoop - Palestinians to hold elections by September - Forbes.com.

As stated above, holding elections, even if they are as pure as the driven snow, in and of itself will not suddenly make the PA a democracy - and as to whether it will pacify the legitimate dissenters who object to the corruption (‘Corruption will let Hamas take W. Bank') and hypocrisy of the PA (see next item), well that's another story again. Why don't you start by returning the billions of aid to the Palestinians that has found its way into the accounts of senior PA officials and using it for the good of the average Palestinian?

15. How Do You Spell Hypocrisy? Or, do as I say, not as I do - which applies pretty much to whatever the PA does or endorses - Abbas, Dahlan take out Jordanian citizenship
"According to the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, a significant number of PA leaders are registered as full Jordanian citizens.

The paper pointed out that the leaders applied for Jordanian citizenship at a time when they were urging the Jordanian authorities to stop giving Palestinians Jordanian citizenship, in order to “consolidate their Palestinian identity.” The Jordanian government had justified its decision to strip Palestinians of their citizenship by using the same argument." (my emphasis)

16. I'm Clueless - and embarrassed, I had never heard of Simms Taback - Illustrious - by Marjorie Ingall > Tablet Magazine - but I wish him a refuah shleimah - a speedy return to good health.

17. Miscellaneous - just some random links on less serious topics:






which is a parody of:





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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2011 at 3:23 PM

    Really enjoyed this edition, thanks for the nice balance. In Ishmael's House may reflect what had happened in the past between Muslim's and Jews but since there is no word for compromise in Arabic, Gilberts view is likely wishful thinking. The Stratfor report on Egypt essentially dispels the myth that this so called revolition is a step towards democracy. Mubarek like all former presidents of Egypt was a member of the military who stepped into this position under their charge. When Mubarek proposed that his son Gamal follow his lead, the military reacted badly. They stepped in to assert authority, so this became a struggle of one old man against a group of old men. Apparently Gammal was not a military man and looked towards reform. Comments by political analysts are purely speculative and build on the hype projected by the media but in actual fact the people didn't speak because there were relatively very few people who marched to Tahir Square to participate in the so called revolution. What we witnessed globally was a staged photo op. There is big difference between the jubilation the media projected and what has actually taken place. This move seems to be the farthest thing from a step towards democracy. Mubarek was a convenient target.

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