New British report claims Israeli Shin Bet colluded with PFLP behind the Entebbe hijackings so as to prevent rapprochement between PLO and US and to sour PLO’s standing in France.

The world’s most peaceful nation was Norway (can’t argue with that)

China ranked 60th (It could justifiably receive a far worse score)

Egypt ranked 73rd (definitely should be lower, it is internally stable and its people are not very ready to fight wars, as the survey posits)

America ranked 96th

No one can argue with the last three

The world’s least peaceful nations are

119. Israel
120. Sudan
121. Iraq

The Good News:

Angola’s is in its first explosive flush of production, with gdp expected to grow 27% this year.

Bad News:

In April, the $35 million Belas Shopping Center — the country’s first mall — opened in a new suburb called Nova Vida. There, in a store called Tapazio, they can shop for such baubles as silver-plated ashtrays and a $7,000 candelabra. Yet 70% of Angolans still live below the country’s poverty line. Cholera and malaria are rife, and child mortality rates are among the worst in the world. A kilometer away from Nova Vida, in the shanty town of Cambamba, children play in open sewers, and piles of burning garbage shroud shacks in foul-smelling clouds of smoke. As Valdemir puts it: “The rich use mineral water. For us there is no water. No electricity or sanitation either.”

I genuinely hope these African governments stamp out government corruption and try to diversify their economies (so that oil doesn’t drive out other industries, which often happens, creating a dependent economy) and try to distribute income equally (which has not happened in Gabon, where the capital, Libreville, is one of the 10 most expensive cities in the world to live in, while it ranks 124th on the Human Development Index), and encourage native employment (most lucrative jobs go to expats, creating expat oases of security while native unemployment often rises). Likewise, I hope foreign companies try to encourage transparency in their dealings, employ more native workers, and pay fair prices for oil and fair wages to their workers while trying to build up and stimulate the economy. I can hope, can’t I?

The Ridiculous:

Nigeria pumped its first barrel in the 1950s and has since set records for corruption. The government’s own anticorruption watchdog, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, estimates that between independence in 1960 and 1999, the country’s rulers stole $400 billion in oil revenues — equal to all the foreign aid to Africa during the same period.

The horror! The horror!

Aside from the fact that this opinion is just horribly, horribly written–it is as simplistic and articulate as a sixth grader–it’s also plain wrong. Gilad (the son of Ariel Sharon) offers no justification or proof as to how Egypt actively engages in arms smuggling other than the fact that the “explosions reverberate.” Furthermore, he neglects to mention that Egypt has been actively arming FATAH at ISRAEL’S INSISTENCE so as to choke Hamas’ grip on power. Egypt has suffered from Palestinian terror as well–in Taba, Sharm el-Sheikh, and Dahab, but of course Israelis couldn’t care less because they think they are the only people in the world who suffer.

Furthermore, egypt allows Khaled Meshal to enter the territory because IT IS IN THE BEST INEREST OF PEACE. Egypt doesn’t care about Israel or Palestine. It cares about peace, and has been an active proponent of peace from the Treaty of Kadesh to the Camp David Accords. How can you have peace without negotiation and dialogue? How can you have negotiation and dialogue without the elected leader of the Palestinian people? Come on now, even the US gov’t recognizes the need to directly engage Meshal (who would not be arrested in any “responsible” country as Gilad so inaccurately posits).

Now this makes me furious:

It is hard to explain Egypt’s extensive military acquisitions, a country without enemies and with grave domestic problems.

REALLY? EGYPT HAS NO ENEMIES? We share a border with THE FIVE MOST UNSTABLE, RETARDED COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD. Need I go through the list:

To our West is Libya, led by a psychotic, self-delusional tyrant named Muammar Qaddafi with a history of sponsoring terrorism and contempt for Egypt, which went so far as to allow Soviet spies to use Libya as a staging ground for espionage on Egypt until Sadat bombed Libyan bases in the 1970s.

To our South is Sudan. This is a country with deep historical grievances with Egypt. It is run by an Islamofascist government that sponsors genocide against Darfurians and south Sudanese. Furthermore, this government sponsors terrorism. It has given refuge to OBL and has even AIDED TERRORISTS IN ATTEMPTING TO ASSASINATE PRESIDENT MUBARAK in Addis Ababa in 1995. Furthermore, its devastating policies send 2-3 MILLION Sudanese refugees into our country. These refugees are a destablizing force, a burden on resources, and consume more than they contribute. Egypt is a poor country and they do it no service.

To our East is Saudi Arabia. This is a theocratic, kleptocratic monarchy, which has conspired with assasination attempts on Egyptian leaders in the past and is historically jealous of Egypt’s role in the Middle East. It abuses egyptian workers en masse and has funded the Wahhabist mosques and charities that have poisoned the minds of Egyptians with their fundamentalist garble for decades now.

To our Northeast lie Israel and Palestine. The former, Israel, is an aggressive nuclear power, which has pre-emptively invaded Egypt in 1956 and 1967. It is a country that maintains a clear military advantage over Egypt, and has clear and utter contempt for Egypt’s basic existence as shown by Gilad’s article and the rah-rah-ing of commentators on Haaretz’s talkback.
The latter, Palestine, is a pseudo-nation in an almost constant state of civil war. It is led by Islamic fundamentalists. Despite all that Egypt has sacrificed for its cause, it spits in our face and burns our flag in its streets. The Palestinians have launched numerous terror attacks into Egypt, assasinating our President Sadat, and then going so far as to kill dozens of Egyptian civilians in bombings in Taba, Sharm-el Sheikh, and Dahab.

Not to mention, Egypt needs a strong Navy to patrol the Suez Canal, one of the most imporant water causeways for international trade, particularly in vital resources like petroleum, in the world. Egypt needs to maintain a strong military presence to ward off potential Islamic insurrectionists and protect millions of tourists.
Furthermore, Egypt needs to ensure it has the capabilities to protect its more precious resource, the Nile, which has been threatened by the Ethiopian and Ugandan governments on more than one occasion (a measure in Uganda’s parliament a few years ago wanted to tax Egypt $1 billion a year to merely use the Nile).

AND YOU, GILAD SHARON, HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SUGGEST IT HAS NO NEED FOR ITS MILITARY??? Absolutely disgusting and pathetic. Egypt is the only country in the world to have to constantly face so many threats and demands, and when it tries to address them, it is criticized! It is a testament to the fortitude of the Egyptian government, and its affection for peace and stability at all costs, that Egypt has avoided war with its pugnacious neighbors in 30 years.

Furthermore, I’m very interested in France because of the strength of the Franco-Egyptian relationship that has emerged in recent years. Even under Sarkozy, Franco-Egyptian relations will continue to remain incredibly strong.

Chirac and Mubarak had a very close friendship. There was almost a Franco-Egyptian alliance regarding Middle Eastern affairs. Did you know that President Mubarak was the FIRST foreign official to visit Pres. Chirac at his Palais d’Elysee? That speaks volumes about the importance and strength of French-Egyptian relations. Furthermore, Chirac and Mubarak met 3 or 4 times a year AT LEAST and agreed on almost everything. In fact, at the most recent press conference last month, Chirac remarked that there really was no need for him to answer questions on the Middle East since Mubarak and he “agreed on everything.” Egypt is probably the only country in the world France can say that to.

Furthermore, during that most recent visit, Mubarak met with Sarkozy who said he would continue Chirac’s close relationship with Egypt. This can be easily believed, since Sarkozy is part of Chirac’s party and administration and there is no indication of a different approach to Middle East policy. Furthermore, Sarkozy is a smart man who understands the need for a close alliance with moderate Middle Eastern states.

All French-Egyptians my family knows (at least 10) voted for Sarkozy! I’m sure they know what they’re doing.

Sixty-two percent of soldiers and 66 percent of Marines said that they knew someone seriously injured or killed, or that a member of their team had become a casualty.
The 2006 adjusted rate of suicides per 100,000 soldiers was 17.3 soldiers, lower than the 19.9 rate reported in 2005.
Only 47 percent of the soldiers and 38 percent of Marines said noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect.
About a third of troops said they had insulted or cursed at civilians in their presence.
About 10 percent of soldiers and Marines reported mistreating civilians or damaging property when it was not necessary. Mistreatment includes hitting or kicking a civilian.
Forty-four percent of Marines and 41 percent of soldiers said torture should be allowed to save the life of a soldier or Marine.
Thirty-nine percent of Marines and 36 percent of soldiers said torture should be allowed to gather important information from insurgents.

Just repulsive…and you wonder why we are losing Iraq?

MSNBC Reports

Some promising indicators:

Forty percent are troubled by the constitutional amendments approved by parliament

As opposed to the high place of constitutional amendments, only 12 percent answered that the Palestinian problem interests them, only 6 percent are interested in what is happening in Iraq, and a similar percentage said the Iranian threat concerns them. Sixteen percent said they were focused on Egypt’s domestic problems.

“Only 25.47 percent of the respondents noted that they think Israel is Egypt’s number one enemy. If we had asked a similar question 10 years ago, the result would have been a lot higher,”

80 percent of the American University students feel there is nothing wrong with traveling to Israel and everyone has the right to travel where they want. Fifty-five percent feel there will not be another Israeli-Egyptian war because of the peace treaty and also Israel has an interest in keeping the peace and that is also the wise policy of President Mubarak

A few bad signs:

Seventy-five percent admitted they would like to leave their homeland. The breakdown of countries the respondents might emigrate to is no less surprising. Only 8 percent said their dream was to emigrate to the United States.

14 percent of the respondents want to emigrate to an Arab country

Fifteen percent said they do not have a national hero, and 12 percent said the average Egyptian citizen is their true hero. Only 5.7 percent referred to the late Anwar Sadat as a national hero. His predecessor, Gamal Abdel Nasser, is only slightly more popular, with 7 percent.

One-quarter of the respondents reported that they do not read books at all. One-quarter read religious books and one-quarter read books on politics. Ten percent said that Naguib Mahfouz is their favorite writer, and only 2 percent cited the names of classic Egyptian authors such as Yusuf Edris or Ihsan Abd al-Qudus

only 12 percent of the young people surf the Internet or use a computer or other advanced technology.

what do you dream of happening in your country, Egypt, that has yet to be realized?” – 20 percent (ONLY?) answered they dream of democracy, 5 percent said finding a job, and around 9 percent said progress and prosperity.

Can’t decipher/Neutral/Inconsequential

40 percent of the American University students predict there will be another war because Israel is “a country that cannot be satisfied.” In this context, it is interesting to note the response of 70 percent of the female university students, who feel there will not be another war “because Egypt is too smart to sacrifice its sons and its capital in a war.”

About half the university students oppose contacts with Israel or want to maintain the current relationship without expanding the normalization. On the other hand, 70 percent of the American University students are not satisfied with the nature of the existing relationship with Israel, and 70 percent of the female students are satisfied with the relationship because it prevents “bad things” in Egypt.

I’m sad to see him go. We’ve had our disagreements, but I’ve generally agreed with him on his insights and thoughts regarding Egyptian society (though his insights into American society were just intended to please his predominantly conservative audience and lacked any accuracy). He and I both believe in a liberal, free Egypt noted for its secular government, women’s rights, liberal social beliefs, free market, economic prosperity, pro-intellectual philosophy, and religious/political tolerance. In other words, the Egypt pre-1960s.

Despite the fact that many of his commentators were useless, ignorant bigots, Sandmonkey provided a valuable service by offering a different perspective of Egyptians. Many Egyptians are very well-educated and Westernized, and there are a fair share of Egyptians who are supportive of US policy, not to mention a significant number of Egyptians who are in favor of political and religious liberalization. I’m hoping that by portraying Egypt’s diverse and complex social issues, he brought Egypt closer to home for his American readers.

One of the chief reasons is the fact that there has been too much heat around me lately. I no longer believe that my anonymity is kept, especially with State Secuirty agents lurking around my street and asking questions about me since that day. I ignore that, the same way I ignored all the clicking noises that my phones started to exhibit all of a sudden, or the law suit filed by Judge Mourad on my friends, and instead grew bolder and more reckless at a time where everybody else started being more cautious. It took me a while to take note of the fear that has been gripping our little blogsphere and comprehend what it really means. The prospects for improvment, to put it slightly, look pretty grim. I was the model of caution, and believing in my invincipility by managing not to get arrested for the past 2 and a half years, I’ve grown reckless. Stupid Monkey. Stupid!

I really doubt that Egyptian security services are THAT concerned about an Egyptian blogger whose audience is almost entirely composed of Americans and who spends more time talking about the government than actually doing stuff about it. That said, his voice will leave a void in the Middle Eastern blogosphere. I wish you the best of luck SM!

Miss Egypt 2007 was crowned just a few days ago. I thinks he’s definitely beautiful and worthy of the title, and is the prettiest Miss Egypt in years. Her and Yara Nouam were two excellent contestants. One point of contention is that she is only half-Egyptian (not a problem) and can’t even speck Arabic (problem). She made her answer in Egypt, and when asked to name a prominent woman in history who she would like to emulate, she picked Princess Diana. I personally don’t view it as a problem and I think it’s a testament to the diversity and global reach of the Egyptian community.

She is definitely beautiful enough to get into the top ten, and her English should help her make a good answer to any questions. However, I thought the same thing about Heba el-Sisy a few years back and she wasn’t chosen. The people who choose the top 15 do it to get the most audience participation ever so they only pick prominent countries. There are usually two, maximum three, token blacks and two token asians in the top 15. These five are almost never really attractive, and one of them is always Indian. Then there are like four or five Latin Americans. Then we see USA, Australia, Russia, Israel, and one eastern European country EVERY TIME.

They just skip over Miss Egypt because they don’t think a global audience associates Egypt with beautiful women, and because they know there won’t be an outcry of racism if they exclude a light-skinned Middle Easterner.

Last night, I had the privilege of attending one night of a series of speakers about American society/politics at the Gibson Amphitheatre presented by the University of Judaism (Now American Jewish University). Previous guests had been a three-way discussion with Ehud Barak, John Howard, and Jose Maria Aznar, and a discussion between Anderson Cooper and Walter Kronkite. Last night’s guest was supposed to be Rudy Giuliani but he had to cancel, and instead we were left with former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McCauliffe.

It was thoroughly enjoyable. I was surprised by Mehlman’s bipartisan and accepting approach, he put on a conciliatory public face, in stark contrast to McCaulliffe’s sheer energy, confidence, book-peddling, and Hillary-peddling, which was all in all hilarious and made him the star of the night. Mehlman was one of those rare Republican Jews (I’m pretty sure he’s gay too so that would make him even more of an anomaly). Gotta hand it to the Jews- their influence in American politics is overwhelming, and I say that with admiration, not contempt. One-third of political donations made in the US are made by Jews, again to their credit.

Israel came up a few times, and again both sides reiterated their unadulturated support for Israel while saying Israel shouldn’t become a partisan issue. Though the moderator pointed to Jimmy Carter’s recent book as an example of some Democrats-exhibiting anti-Israeli tendencies, McCaulliffe totally distanced himself from Carter and mentioned a few Republican anti-Israelis (Darrell Issa and another guy) as examples of both sides not being uniform. Both McCauliffe and Mehlman tore Arafat apart, with Mehlamn saying his Nobel Prize was a reward for terror and McCaulliffe telling a humorous story about a dinner meeting with ARafar went awry when Arafat opted for a kiss instead of a handshake (and mentioning the dozens of well-armed bodyguards around Arafat). I have no doubt that debate about Israel and Israelis policies is much more honest and diverse in Israel than it is in America, where unfortuantely criticism of Israel is too often condemned and ruled as anti-Semitic. I don’t udnerstand why that is. All the Jews wanted was another country, so let’s treat it as such, and when it makes mistakes let’s point them out. Why is it OK, even encouraged, to criticize France, Russia, Egypt, China, KSA, but not OK to criticize Israel? Makes no sense to me…

Anyway, the discussions on American politics were very interesting. Both talked about how much of a messy campaign this election is going to be and estimated that election costs would reach $1 billion this year. McCauliffe is HIllary’s campaign manager, which is unfortunate, while Mehlman has yet to commit himself to a candidate, though he does have to deal with a very problematic Republican field.

On the subject of Jewish voters, the point was brought up as to why Jewish voters vote Democrat. Apparently its been steadily at 75% Democratic turnout for decades, with that being the proportion of Jews voting for Kerry. McCauliffe announced that in the 2006 midterm elections, the Democrats captured 88% of the Jewish vote. That is incredible. However, Jews are still able to exercise enormous influence over the Republican party. McCauliffe attributed this success to the fact that the vast majority of Jews are cultural liberals, that Israel isn’t an issue since both parties support Israel, and that Jews are more pacifistic than the rest of the AMerican population (which is true, except for those employed by the Bush administration) and are friendly towards immigrants. Jews have one of the highest rates of opposition to the Iraq war, at around 75-80% opposition. Mehlman also brought up the point that the Republican party had shot itself in the foot in the early 20th century by portraying itself as a party for WASPs and negelecting ethnic Americans. I would also like to add that Jews have a culture that favors education and intellectualism, and intellectualism will usually lead to a more liberal outlook, particularly in regards to social issues. Also, it should be noted that Republicans only recently became pro-israel. Most Jews, I’ve heard, regard George HW Bush as the worst American president for Israel (who can forget James Baker’s notorious comment about the Jews).

Israel really wasn’t a major part of the discussion, but it is the section most relevent to this website.
Anyway, it was a very interesting discussion and I just thought I’d share it with everyone.