Aljazeera Arabic is reporting on a speech by Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi on Wednesday evening Cairo time, in which the Muslim Brotherhood figure condemned Israeli attacks by fighter jet on the Gaza Strip.
Morsi was careful to say that Revolutionary Egypt continues to respect all its treaties and international obligations, reassuring Washington and Tel Aviv that Egypt will maintain the peace treaty with Israel and has no intention of initiating hostilities.
At the same time, he said that revolutionary Egypt cannot stand idly by, silent, while Palestinians are attacked. He did not say what Egypt might do other than protest publicly.
Morsi’s speech is the first such severe criticism of Israeli Gaza policy in a long time. The Hosni Mubarak regime was more or less complicit in the repression of the Palestinians.
I would like comment on Morsi and the cleric calling for an end to Israelis.
Nathaniel below says the video is a fraud. I asked for some evidence of that.
As far as Morsi’s view on domestic policy, he’s already on record as giving final say on who has the right to be President (whether a Christian or woman could be) to clerics.
You can take the fanatic out of the mosque, but you can not take the fanatacism out of the fanatic. When the US dollar well runs dry, Morsi will reveal his true attitude about the continued existence of a Jewish homeland.
Arab-Israeli Strategic Balance CSIS report 2011 [pdf link]
I now understand why Russian arms deliveries to Syria have been for “outstanding” orders (years of backlog). I do not understand why Israel isn’t more concerned of major US weapons and aircraft deliveries to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Gulf states. Due to absence of a peace deal with the Palestinians, the unrest with neighbours will only increase exponentially with movement of arms into the region. Or will Israel fend off these upcoming military regional powers with their nuclear deterrent? Interesting development in the Sunni-Shia divide and why western powers are eager to support so-called opposition forces to overthrow Assad … any day now since 12 months ago!
For fairness’ sake, it sure would have been nice to hear Morsi also say something about the idiots in Gaza who decided that it was fine & dandy to fire close to 90 projectiles at Israeli civilians between Tuesday and Wednesday.
You expect them to stay quietly and accept every belligerent act of the Israelis? I notice Pres. Peres complained that Qatari money is being used to buy rockets; never a mention of US billions to buy devastating weapons to rain on unarmed people in an overcrowded open air prison.
Morsi’s condemnation of Israeli jet fighter attacks on Gaza would have been far more credible if he had condemned with equal force the more than 60 rockets and mortar shells that were fired into southern Israel from Gaza. An interesting thought experiment and question would be: If Israel had not retaliated at all, would Morsi then have condemned the rocket and mortar barrage? Or would he have remained silent?
Retaliated? You mean the “IDF” never acts first????
No, Rosemerry, I did not mean the IDF never acts first. That’s not what I wrote. We are discussing a particular instance where Israel retaliated against a rocket and mortar barrage initiated by Hamas fighters. Let’s stay on topic.
It is banal to state, but as more of the countries in the Middle East become more democratic this will lead to governments that primarily answer to their domestic populations, not foreign patrons.
Needless to say, the Egyptian population has been overwhelmingly disgusted by Israel’s brutal treatment of Gazans. Thus it can only be expected that Morsi will reflect such disgust.
Turkey likewise demonstrates that when a Middle East country becomes more democratic, it finds it more difficult to cooperate with Israel and the US on policies that dispossess Palestinians or harm Muslims. In fact, “Turkey only began shunning the Jewish state after Israel’s 2009 war in Gaza, and after Israeli troops killed eight Turkish militants who tried to break Israel’s blockage of the strip in 2010.” link to detailedpoliticalquizzes.wordpress.com
After all of the things Israel has done, for Morsi to jump up and make a show of denouncing these air strikes – firing at people in the act of shooting off rockets and mortars into towns – is, in internet terms, trolling.
I can understand the Israelis responding to this – but they have a bad habit of swatting flies with sledgehammers.
What Egypt can do — and so can the USA and every other UN member — is promote a draft UNSC resolution (with the same demand as UNSC 465 (1980) that Israel remove settlers and settlement buildings) BUT backed up by a call for sanctions (perhaps similar to those now in place against IRAN) until Israel comply fully (or publish a schedule for compliance within a short time certain and stick to it).
It is very hard for me to believe that ANY diplomatic act done in the name of HONORING a countries obligations under Fourth Geneva Convention could run counter to another peace treaty.
Timing is important. November 7 sounds like the day to do it.
Wonder whether Morsi’s public relations team worried about the impression he gives when joining in a prayer for the destruction of the Jews. Rev Wright….Where are you when we need you?
link to memri.org
He has never “joined in a prayer for the destruction of the Jews”. As usual, Zionist extremists make stuff up. Your own link discredits you.
There’s some sort of difference between largely impotent home made rocket attacks made against Israel by the people that were intentionally dispossessed by them and persecuted by them; and the guided modern military ordnance being thrown around around by a first world nation against a nation that they’ve been preventing from even reaching even third world status.
Condemning them equally, as if they shared parity in either specifics or context, is as far from fairness or just plain honesty, as you can get before wandering into outright falsehoods.
Morsi can’t do much without upsetting Big Brother and Little Brother. the stupids in Gaza deserve Israeli blowback. Morsi is stuck between defending fellow Arabs against the Apartheid the israelis have created and the establishment in Israel and Egypt’s Military, who live off our American Money that both are dependent upon.
Morsi is stuck between a rock and hard place. Stuck between Palestinian idiots/Hamas who attack their Israeli Masters, who encourage Hamas’ rage and pitiful “military” outbursts, and Morsi is wary of the Owners/ the Military of both Egypt’s and Israel/American Elites. just how long will Morsi be able to stay in power is the real question here.
that fine line, a long walk on a short pier.
Perhaps Morsi is learning that to be a true leader takes leadership. It means shaping a population’s perceptions and direction as well as following them. I wonder if he will be up to the task?
Mr. Cole writes: “The Hosni Mubarak regime was more or less complicit in the repression of the Palestinians.”
That’s an odd statement. Mubarak’s regime was entirely complicit in the repression of the Palestinians. Frankly, it’s the Mursi regime now which is “more or less” complicit.