Islamic Seasons

Secular minded people who were naïve enough to have believed in the "Arab Spring" should now buy some thick overcoats and get prepared for "Salafist Winter"...

The works on the new Egyptian constitution clearly show the way: Christians are on the way to second class citizenship and women won't even qualify as that.

Cartoon by Doaa El Adl - "A constitution for all Egyptians" - Christians and Women will miss the top place in the podium...

Egypt's new despot, US educated "brother" Mohamed Morsi is issuing decrees like a pharaoh in a way that is bound to lead to further violence and economic collapse. The prospect of a civil war looms on the horizon. The Muslim Brotherhood cannot even build an Islamic Democracy as the Persian Mullahs managed.

In Libya and Tunisia the Muslim Brotherhood is also consolidating power, and "God Allowing" they expect to take Syria too. If eventually Bashar falls, a second civil war is bound to ensue, as Salafists fight the secular. Bashar should cut his losses: create a strong Alawite state in the West and  let the Sunnis fight it out in the rest of Syria.

Ironically the West keeps supporting these new theocratic regimes. Hamas people must be feeling very frustrated: they were the first branch of the Muslim Brotherhood to reach power and yet they are (rightfully) considered as terrorists, and yet they see their brothers elsewhere regarded as 'democrats'. The Brotherhood's true colours have been lost in Western daltonism.

Muslim brotherhood and Barack Hussein Obama - sheep and wolf - cartoon by A.F. Branco

Outlawing SLRs - the good use of freedom in Kuwait

Photographing in the Muslim world has always been a royal pain in the neck, but new extremes are coming: Kuwait has banned the use of DSLRs cameras in public, according to local media.

The English-language Kuwait Times says the country’s Ministry of Information, Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Finance have ruled photography with digital reflex cameras should be done only by accredited journalists. There is currently no official confirmation of the decision, why it has been introduced or detail about how precise a definition of the term 'DSLR' will be applied.

History has proved that Iraq would be better under Saddam Hussein, maybe Saddam would also be better for Kuwait?

map of Iraq including Kuwait as a province

Gaza's borders

Map of Gaza, a territory wich borders both Egypt and Israel

All this emphasis on the Gaza blockade sounds rather silly when you look at the map.

Gaza has a border with Egypt, the Arab and Muslim "friends" of Palestine.

Gaza is not an enclave in Israel!

Yet, the Egyptians choose to have the Rafah border closed or on reduced flow most of the time. This applies both to people and goods. Even if the Egyptians consider most Gazans to be to unsavory to cross the border, they could choose to allow imports and exports.

So, no fleet of trucks to be sent across the Sinai desert?

All the Arab rhetoric sounds very cynical when Egypt chooses to keep its own border everything but close.

May we guess that Egypt is not terribly in love with Hamas?

... on the other hand it is scary to think that Turkey is! The AK party shows its true colours.

Rafah crossing - links Egypt to Gaza

Palestinians already have state

Cannot resist getting the bulk of a 2002 opinion piece by Noach Milgram published by University of California's "Daily Bruin":

"...
First, Palestinians are supported by over 150 million Arabs who care nothing for them personally but wish to eliminate the Jewish state and have said so all along.

Secondly, the Palestinian Authority has stated in every religious sermon and in every school textbook that Israel has no right to exist as a sovereign Jewish state. When I say they reject Israel in every statement, I mean just what I say, but of course these statements are in Arabic.

Thirdly, Palestinians already have a state, it is called Jordan and it occupies over 70 percent of the original Palestine land freed from Turkish control after World War I. Why should there be two Palestinian states side by side? Keep in mind over 75 percent of Jordanian citizens are Palestinians. If Mexicans crossed the border into Texas to kill Texans because they wished to establish a Mexican State, you would not suggest they first be allowed to establish a state and then boycott both states equally, the United States and the new Mexican state? You would say a Mexican state already exists and Texas belongs to the United States
Lastly, we Jews live in the Middle East, where militant Islam is driving Christian Arabs out of Lebanon and the Copts (six million in number, the oldest Christian sects in the world) out of Egypt. Arafat, when he is not busy inciting his people to kill Israelis, is driving the Christian residents out of Bethlehem. More than half have already left Bethlehem since he came into power. If he isn’t stopped, you will find only a few token Christians there the next time you come to celebrate Christmas or Easter in the Holy Land
...."

Land for Peace may not have been such a good idea - Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah