From Will at The Other News:
CAIRO - Egypt has walled off Israel's embassy in Cairo after tensions between the two countries sparked a series of angry protests that reached a climax last month when a demonstrator scaled the building and removed the Israeli flag.As work began on the wall a few days ago, many Egyptians gathered nearby to show their displeasure. Some sprayed "The people want the fall of the wall" onto its smooth concrete.September 5th 2011 ..first Jewish Ghetto build in Egypt?
Egyptian officials said the mainly concrete barrier, roughly 2 1/2 metres (8 feet) high, was to protect other residents of the high-rise embassy building, not the Israeli mission."The goal ... is to protect the lower floors of the building and prevent tensions between protesters and residents," daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm quoted local governor Ali Abdel-Rahman as saying.Egypt's relations with Israel have cooled since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, a staunch US ally, in a popular uprising in February.A diplomatic row broke out last month when five Egyptian security personnel were shot dead on the border as IDF troops repelled terrorists who killed eight Israelis.Egypt threatened briefly to withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv, said the deaths of the Egyptians breached its 1979 peace treaty with the Jewish state and demanded a joint inquiry.
That was not enough for some Egyptians.
Thousands protested angrily for days outside the embassy to demand a sterner response from their government, in scenes that would never have been allowed during the Mubarak era when political demonstrations were usually crushed by riot police.
The protester who clambered up the high-rise embassy building was rewarded by an Egyptian provincial governor with a job, a new home and a commemorative shield, newspapers reported.
The governor for Giza, where the embassy sits close to the banks of the Nile, denied the wall was designed to protect the embassy, a claim met with disbelief by some observers.
"It is obvious that the reason behind building the wall is to prevent protesters in the future from reaching the embassy and to protect it," said political analyst Mustapha al-Sayyid."Why would we protect a state that is killing our people? This is wrong, unfair and irritating," one man told Egyptian radio during a night live program on Sunday evening.
Read the full story here.
6 comments:
Pastorius,
I'm surprised they didn't just tear it down. Do they even officially recognize Israel now, after the "Arab Spring"
Yes, they do. The government hasn't really changed that much. They haven't even had an election yet.
Pastorius,
I was under the impression that some radical and disturbing changes had been made.
Is that because of our propaganda here at IBA?
Pastorius,
Well, much of it, is because of what I've read at the IBA, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure if my perception was correct.
Of course, I don't put every post up, but here is what I recall posting;
since Mubarak was ousted, the Muslim Brotherhood has been demonstrating in Tahrir Square, and Qaradawi (the spiritual Father of the MB) returned to Egypt for the first time in something like 25-30 years. He spoke to great fanfare in Tahrir Square. Additionally, multiple churches have been burned, and Christians have been arrested and harrassed. The Christian population of Egypt seems to be afraid, from what I have read, that a radical Islamist government will emerge after the elections, which I believe are set for something like 4-8 months from now (I'm going by memory here).
The Muslim Brotherhood has stated that they would sever ties with Israel, if they were elected, as have other Islamists.
Another thing we posted on was that there is a youth wing of the Muslim Brotherhood which is more "Liberal" than the older members, but I haven not been able to get any clear information on what "more Liberal" means.
I don't think we have posted anything more than what I wrote above.
Though I could be wrong.
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