Obama acts diplomatically, Conservatives upset

April 11, 2009 by honourablerekhyet

At the recent G20 meeting of heads of state right here in London, not a great deal was achieved beyond a vague consensus that trying to lessen the pain of the Credit Crunch(tm) was “A Good Thing”. This is no surprise, of course. The G20 brings together diverse nations with wildly differing agendas. Indeed, the only unifying factor seemed to be a desire by 19 of the 20 to blame the other one (guess who) for starting the whole thing.

However, despite the importance of having 20 of the worlds great and good together, regardless of how little was achieved, as far as the American conservative media, the whole event was summed up by 13 seconds of  video footage from a Spanish TV network of President Obama bowing before King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

“The president shows fealty to a Muslim King!” shouted the right wing Washington Times (not to be confused with the mainstream Washington Post). From there it was only a matter of time until Fox picked up the story, though with somewhat less negative judgement.

“American protocol favors the extension of warm gracious hospitality and I put what he did in that context” they quote Lloyds Hand, protocol handler for LBJ as saying.

The reality is that Obama looks a little unsure of the best thing to do, and more than slightly rushed, as if he were very self conscious. However since perception is as important as action, it is being seen in this light, and so it’s wise to treat it from this perspective.

As such, I think the “Alleged Bow”  should be seen in the light of Obamas commendable efforts to rebuild goodwill, trust and diplomatic bridges between the US and the Middle East. During the Bush Jnr. years, the hawks in the US government managed to alienate even the strongest diplomatic ties. The House of Saud and the US had some of the strongest personal diplomatic ties in the world, dating back to Ibn Saud and FDR. Although Bush made an attempt to patch over the damage his policies caused, the wilful disregard of the US for Saudi diplomatic advice, and ignoring their concerns, led to a rift that has cost the US dearly in terms of goodwill and diplomatic influence with an ally who is a key voice of moderation and reason in collective Arab foreign policy.

Obamas attempts to engage productively with the Middle East will likely come to little in the long term, but in a region where sincerity and goodwill can go a long way, Obama is doing the right thing in showing common courtesy and respect, even if King Abdullah himself may like things a little more westernised. His gesture will likely go down well with the Arab public, and show to diplomats and citizens alike that Obama wants to soothe over the wounds of the past, and try to build relationships of mutual respect in the region, another “A Good Thing”.

President Obama’s optimism for the region may be a tad unrealistic, but he is on the right track.

The Art of the Possible

April 10, 2009 by honourablerekhyet

I know I have neglected this blog for a while. Now that uni is over for the summer I’m hoping to able to provide some political coverage again… A Eurasian view of the Levant… The one region that’s always in the news, as Al Jazeera once so wonderfully put it.

Obama’s actions not words are what will matter to Egypt

January 22, 2009 by honourablerekhyet

From Daily News Egypt – Original article

By Abdel-Rahman Hussein

First Published: January 21, 2009

CAIRO: The inauguration of Barack Obama as the first black American president was a historic moment for the United States, but disparate political forces in Egypt are more interested in what he will do rather than what he says or symbolizes.

In his inauguration speech the new President did sound words of warning to dictatorships and those who rule their subjects with an iron fist.

He said, “To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society’s ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.”

“To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist,” he added.

And while it appeared that he had left an opening for dictators to renounce their ways, some believe that it is American support for dictatorships that help prop them up.

Gamila Ismail, wife of incarcerated former presidential candidate Ayman Nour, told Daily News Egypt, “I hope these are not just words and are transformed into genuine actions and policies. We don’t ask from American administrations or their representatives anything except to stop supporting dictatorships in the region and to be more interested in their principles rather than their interests.”

“This has to be reflected in their public and private support for them,” she added. “He [Obama] really has to stop backing dictatorships in the region and in Egypt must show he cares more about the people than the rulers.”

An indication of this, continued Ismail, will be whether the annual March visit of President Hosni Mubarak to the US is resumed after a hiatus under the Bush administration.

“That visit will be an indication. Receiving dictators in the White House after years of not receiving them will be interpreted as an indication that all this is just talk,” she said.

Obama’s inauguration speech did address the international community, making a specific reference to the Muslim world. In his speech the new President seemed to stress the point that under his tenure things would be done differently from the administration of his predecessor George W. Bush.

“As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake,” he said.

“Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please,” he added.

And while that was repudiation of the Bush doctrine, what it will mean in practical terms is still a matter of conjecture.

“Optimism and pessimism about Obama which we speak of here is controversial,” editor-in-chief of the Coptic Christian Watani newspaper Youssef Sidhom told Daily News Egypt, “because it is wrong to judge his actions in the emotional way we often do here. It is wrong to assume that a president’s personality is the basis for the country’s policy.”

“For those who think that American policy will now change comprehensively, they are wrong, because American interests haven’t changed,” he added. “The research institutions that formulate American policy are still the same.”

Shoura Council member and Secretary of Youth at the ruling National Democratic Party Mohammed Heeba said that American policy would not change and that Arabs should focus on themselves more than waiting for hope from any American administration.

“US policy is based on projections that extend for decades, the people may change but the ideas are constant. Administrations might differ in their methods but the goals are one,” he told Daily News Egypt. “Arab countries should think about uniting in their stands so that it should not matter who is in the American administration.”

“However, if we keep dealing with the US separately then we will remain as we are,” he added.

In his speech Obama said, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.”

He also said, “To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”

Head of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc Hussein Ibrahim told Daily News Egypt, “I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic about him, but I hope he undertakes serious efforts in regards to reaching out to the Muslim world, at least more than the Bush administration did. He did say he wants to reach out to the Muslim world and I hope he is true to his word.”

Sidhom said that just because Obama had Muslim roots, this did not mean a diametric shift in American policy in the region.

“Let us not talk of the naiveté that because he has ‘Hussein’ in his name then he must be a Muslim. If we have a deluded street that measures everything and everyone by how Islamic they are, we in the media should not propagate that,” he said.

“Obama has a lot of goodwill at the moment so maybe he can make use of it. We must not expect miracles but I don’t think there will be talks with Iran or a solution to the Palestinian issue during his reign. And we are not the priority as his statements made clear; he has an economic crisis that will take up most of his time,” Sidhom added.

It’s been two days, and thankfully the “Obamagasm” is already over in the Middle East – North Africa, or at least in Egypt.  Having read and watched what some people had to say, particularly in Palestine (desperation, perhaps?) I was surprised, and disturbed, by the naivete of much of the commentary surrounding him, reflecting in many ways what some of his more worshipful followers in the States had been saying, though usually with some reference to his being Muslim thrown in. I am glad that at least some in Egypt have put this fairytale aside.

As far as the MENA region is concerned, THERE IS NO “CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN” COMING FROM THE UNITED STATES. Obama is not an absolute monarch, his word isn’t law, no matter how nice those words might be.

As Sidhom points out in the article, behind the face of Obama and his appointees are the same institutions and lobby groups upon which any president is almost entirely dependent for his survival. Obama spent over a billion dollars getting into office. That money came mostly from large groups and institutions, most of which also poured money into McCain’s campaign (just to be on the safe side). They want a return on their investment, otherwise, re-election campaign funds may not be so forthcoming.

For Egypt, and the whole region, whoever won it was always going to be “McSame” as far as America was concerned. Egypt is waking up to the new same old reality, which pleases me, for she is less likely to be seduced when sweet talk is seen as just that.

As for Heeba’s comments about Arab unity. It’s a common response to attempt to bring, dare I say it, change (?!) to the region, but it is not something history likes. There are reasons for this. Are Egypt’s interests truly the same as the interests of the UAE, or Kuwait, or Saudi Arabia? Where they are, then yes, there should be maximum unity, but the differences are also clear, and pretending that these other states will always support Egypt and her interests is to fall into the same trap some have with Obama. Ultimately, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh do not border Gaza, Egypt does. Abu Dhabi and Riyadh do not find their economy disrupted by US cotton subsidies and grain prices. Egypt does.

I Aim For The Stars, But Sometimes I Hit London.

November 4, 2008 by honourablerekhyet

press02The caption reads: India sends a rocket ship to space; our missiles take the opposite direction.

Habib Haddad for Al Hayat (Pan-Arab newspaper)

Egypt Blogs America

October 30, 2008 by honourablerekhyet

An interesting project from the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research and the American University in Cairo, who have collaborated with US-AID to send eight Egyptian on visits to the US during the election campaign to produce a joint blog covering the event.

According to the Egypt Daily News, the eight were chosen for their dedication to professional blogging, interest in covering the US Elections and availability to travel rather their political views of the grand circus, so it makes for an interesting read.

It’s a good project, and a good example of journalisitc co-operationbetween “east” and “west” we don’t often see, so it’s a welcome change.

http://egyptblogsamerica.blogspot.com/

Stand up for your rights, says victorious Noha Roushdy

October 26, 2008 by honourablerekhyet

From Daily News Egypt – FULL ARTICLE

Stand up for your rights, says victorious Noha Roushdy

By Abdel-Rahman Hussein

CAIRO: Winning the first sexual harassment case in the history of Egyptian law can be draining, as Noha Roushdy is finding out.

Ever since the North Cairo Court ruled in her favor last Tuesday, Roushdy has been doing non-stop press interviews, to the extent that she is unable to recall who she was talking to prior to our meeting and needs a few moments to catch her breath.

Yet there is a plus side. Right before we begin the interview, a distinguished looking elderly gentleman came up to her and said, “I’ve been trying to catch up with you from the end of the street, but your youth beat my old age. I just want to shake your hand for what you’ve done and congratulate you on your courage.”

A beaming Roushdy stands up for the man and thanks him profusely. The waiters at the café we are at ask me who she is. “Only the most famous woman in the country at the moment,” I’m tempted to reply.

Sherif Gomaa Gibrial, a driver, was sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined LE 5,001 for harassing Roushdy in broad daylight last June.

Due to the impoverished state of the criminal’s family, Roushdy has waived her right to collect the damages awarded to her. I’m not I would have been so forgiving. Her strength and sheer determination to fight through a system that was initially totally and completely un-cooperative and actively tried to dissuade her from seeking justice are wonderful and beautiful to behold. For once, some good news out of Egypt! I am very happy to write this.

So, as our American friends would say….

Noha Roushdy – FUCK YEAH!

ooops they did it again

October 16, 2008 by honourablerekhyet

Some days I really do wonder where Al Ahram got it’s reputation, because it’s heritage articles sometimes have such a lax approach to their research, you really do begin to wonder if anyone there uses any letters on their keyboards besides Control, C and V.

Sexual Harassment Panda Visits Cairo…

October 16, 2008 by honourablerekhyet

More on Egypt’s “cancer” from Daily News Egypt. Click here for full article

Sexual harassment suspects to be tried next Monday, says prosecutor

By Manar Ammar
First Published: October 7, 2008

CAIRO: Egypt’s Prosecutor-General announced Monday that men arrested for sexual harassment during the recent Eid holiday will be seeing the inside of the North Agouza courtroom next week, where they will be put on trial on Oct. 13.

Coinciding with the second anniversary of Downtown Cairo’s massive sexual harassment attack in 2006, the recent attack hit women on Gameat Al-Dowal Al-Arabiya Street in Mohandiseen last Thursday.

Some 150 young men physically attacked female pedestrians, tearing some of their clothes off, eyewitnesses said.

Large Hadron Collider – “Satan’s Stargate” is online and running well…

September 11, 2008 by honourablerekhyet

It’s a very exciting time to witness, as laymen with a mild interest in physics. The chances we know have to further our understanding of particle physics could potentially offer us key advances in many fields. The findings could open up the “toolkit” to a slew of developments over the coming 50 years or so, and this is only a small part of what it is hoped the LHC will help us understand better. There are other areas too, such as dark matter (of which we currently know very little) and QGP, which it is hoped will be better understood.

The academic doomsayers such as Otto Rössler, I think generally have personal or ideological reasons to oppose the project. Whilst I am not a physicist myself I have read into his arguments, and the rebuttals against them to the limit of my understanding, and I believe the rebuttals by the CERN team and others to be well founded. Certainly, Rössler seems to be following some very outdated scientific arguments, as well as  making some huge assumptions. But then it must be remembered that this character in particular seems to have a “scatter gun” approach to science, turning in papers on everything from a study of Black Holes to psychology. His rabid insistence on the risks posed by the LHC, despite clear and well founded rebuttals and proof to the contrary perhaps stems more from his previous job as a monk, than his current one as a lecturer and researcher.

A lot of religious people have opposed the LHC, perhaps scared by the talk of hoping to witness the appearance and interactions of the “God Particle”, the Higgs boson, essentially to Unified theory, but as yet undetected. I think this is a backward and defensive view. Why does religion have to fight defensively? Are we afraid of something? How stupid and lacking in confidence! Anything which allows us to advance our knowledge and understanding of the principles and underlying order of the universe is beneficial to religion. Whatever your religion is, if you have a belief that the universe was created by a god or gods, then being able to appreciate just how this created universe functions, and the brilliance of it’s design, is an act of reverence to the divine, not a kick in the teeth. For once, and it’s a rare thing, I’m actually quite proud of humanity at the moment. Modern society can collaborate, co-operate and create something brilliant, when we try.

Ethically, a lot of people have said this project is expensive, and instead of “smashing atoms” we should spend the money on baby milk (or food for Africa, or bombing Iran, or a new hospital, etc. However, the sad fact is that the world’s problems are never all going to be solved. There will always be waiting lists, there will always be starving people. If we took this approach with every project, we would never build a single thing, for you will never solve these things. Yes, we should invest efforts in these too, but not the exclusion of all else. We do not exist only to exist, we exist to seek to better ourselves, to live up to our highest aspirations, not scrabble around in the dust looking for bread.

Do I think it’s safe? I haven’t visited the site, maybe the floor in the toilets are slippery or uneven, and may cause a nasty fall! No doubt the Health and Safety Executive would take a dim view of such a thing! Will it cause a black hole to swallow up the Earth, though?

No, period.

Petrol pump pilgrims keep faith

August 19, 2008 by honourablerekhyet

From BBC – Link to full article

By Greg Wood and Sandra Shmueli
BBC News, New York
Rocky Twyman says God, not market forces, brought prices down
A prayer group in Washington DC is claiming the credit for the recent sharp drop in the US price of petrol.

Rocky Twyman, 59, a veteran community campaigner, started Pray At The Pump meetings at petrol stations in April.

Since then, the average price of what the US calls gasoline has fallen from more than $4 a gallon to $3.80.

“We don’t have anybody else to turn to but God,” Mr Twyman told the BBC. “We have to turn these problems over to God and not to man.”

His first pilgrimage to the pump was prompted by fellow volunteers at the First Seventh Day Adventist Church in Petworth, a working-class neighbourhood of the US capital, who were struggling with higher gasoline prices.

He led them down the block to the local Shell gas station to pray. And over the months since then, he has held similar prayer meetings at pumps all over the US.

Prayer warriors

“We were down in Huntsville, Alabama. We finished praying,” Mr Twyman said. “Immediately the owners came out and changed the gas prices. They brought it down. We had marvellous success down in St Louis, Missouri.”

This week the group returned to the site of their first prayer meeting to celebrate. Singing “We shall overcome,” they changed the words of the well-known hymn to “We’ll have lower gas prices”.

Mr Twyman is sceptical that market forces might be responsible for the lower prices. But he and his prayer warriors have changed their motoring habits.

“We believe not just in prayer – because we believe that faith without works is dead. So we’ve encouraged people to car-pool more and organise their days more, because it’s a combination of faith with these other factors.”

Pray At The Pump plans to build on its success and drive gasoline prices even lower. In the words of Rocky Twyman: “We just thank God for blessing us with small victories and we expect greater things to come.”

Only in America….

This is a worrying indication of both how little control over  their own lives, and their nation, that common people in the US feel they have, as well as how little action or influence the expect their government to exert over domestic issues.

The almost paranoiac fear many Americans feel about allowing their government even the slightest powers to intervene in many domestic issues, from health care and welfare to firearms and any kind of intervention in  the market, has led to a libertarian “small government” approach that leaves the people very vulnerable to market fluctuations (and pure bad luck) to the extent that instead of looking to their rulers for a  practical solution to the price of petrol, they turn to… God…