HOW MUCH SHOULD A WOMAN BE COVERED PER ISLAMIC SOCIETY? 9JAN13

INTERESTING poll from the Pew Research Center on public opinion of how women should dress in the Islamic world. I am sure there will be a lot of racist, Islamaphobic reactions to this report. Just keep in mind the restrictions some Christian sects, some Jewish sects and some mormon sects place on how women must dress in public. 

Survey Says: Muslim Women, Cover Your Hair, Not Your Faces

• BY Catherine A. Traywick
• JANUARY 9, 2014 - 10:31 AM

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• Religion
• Culture
• Women
• Middle East

A new report by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research has shed some light on how Muslim women should cover up. Looking at surveys from seven predominately Muslim countries the researchers found that most respondents thought women should bare their faces, but cover their hair -- completely.
The study centered on Tunisia, but included survey results from Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, and Egypt. While researchers investigated public perception of several hot-button issues including gender relations, politics, and religious tolerance, one of their more interesting findings had to do with veiling.
Participants were presented with six images of variously veiled women (pictured above) and asked "Which one of these women is dressed most appropriately for public places?"
Most respondents picked woman #4, whose conservative hijab covers her hair and ears but not her face. Saudis were the primary outlier, preferring option #2, a niqab that covers all but a woman's eyes. But some of the results are counterintuitive to common veiling practices. For instance, while option #3 -- a scarf that covers all but the face -- is heavily promoted by religious authorities and conservatives in Lebanon, the majority of Lebanese respondents favored no head covering at all (option #6).
The researchers also found that Tunisians were the most supportive of women dressing as they wish, compared to 52 percent of Turks, 49 percent of Lebanese, 47 percent of Saudis, 24 percent of Iraqis, 22 percent of Pakistanis, and 14 percent of Egyptians.
The study's authors argue that these findings reflect "a country's orientations toward liberal values as well as the level of freedom people enjoy. In Lebanon, Tunisia, and Turkey, where people tend to be less conservative than the other four countries, the preferable style for women also tend to be much less conservative than the other four countries."

Pew Research Center

- See more at: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/01/08/survey_says_muslim_women_should_cover_their_hair_but_not_their_faces?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Flashpoints&utm_campaign=Flashpoints%2001-09-14%20-%20to%20Flashpoints%20list#sthash.raM2dKcn.dpuf

Survey Says: Muslim Women, Cover Your Hair, Not Your Faces

• BY Catherine A. Traywick
• JANUARY 9, 2014 - 10:31 AM

Share +

10.3k Shares

• Religion
• Culture
• Women
• Middle East

A new report by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research has shed some light on how Muslim women should cover up. Looking at surveys from seven predominately Muslim countries the researchers found that most respondents thought women should bare their faces, but cover their hair -- completely.
The study centered on Tunisia, but included survey results from Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, and Egypt. While researchers investigated public perception of several hot-button issues including gender relations, politics, and religious tolerance, one of their more interesting findings had to do with veiling.
Participants were presented with six images of variously veiled women (pictured above) and asked "Which one of these women is dressed most appropriately for public places?"
Most respondents picked woman #4, whose conservative hijab covers her hair and ears but not her face. Saudis were the primary outlier, preferring option #2, a niqab that covers all but a woman's eyes. But some of the results are counterintuitive to common veiling practices. For instance, while option #3 -- a scarf that covers all but the face -- is heavily promoted by religious authorities and conservatives in Lebanon, the majority of Lebanese respondents favored no head covering at all (option #6).
The researchers also found that Tunisians were the most supportive of women dressing as they wish, compared to 52 percent of Turks, 49 percent of Lebanese, 47 percent of Saudis, 24 percent of Iraqis, 22 percent of Pakistanis, and 14 percent of Egyptians.
The study's authors argue that these findings reflect "a country's orientations toward liberal values as well as the level of freedom people enjoy. In Lebanon, Tunisia, and Turkey, where people tend to be less conservative than the other four countries, the preferable style for women also tend to be much less conservative than the other four countries."

Pew Research Center

- See more at: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/01/08/survey_says_muslim_women_should_cover_their_hair_but_not_their_faces?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Flashpoints&utm_campaign=Flashpoints%2001-09-14%20-%20to%20Flashpoints%20list#sthash.raM2dKcn.dpuf

A new report by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research has shed some light on how Muslim women should cover up. Looking at surveys from seven predominately Muslim countries the researchers found that most respondents thought women should bare their faces, but cover their hair -- completely.
The study centered on Tunisia, but included survey results from Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, and Egypt. While researchers investigated public perception of several hot-button issues including gender relations, politics, and religious tolerance, one of their more interesting findings had to do with veiling.
Participants were presented with six images of variously veiled women (pictured above) and asked "Which one of these women is dressed most appropriately for public places?"
Most respondents picked woman #4, whose conservative hijab covers her hair and ears but not her face. Saudis were the primary outlier, preferring option #2, a niqab that covers all but a woman's eyes. But some of the results are counterintuitive to common veiling practices. For instance, while option #3 -- a scarf that covers all but the face -- is heavily promoted by religious authorities and conservatives in Lebanon, the majority of Lebanese respondents favored no head covering at all (option #6).
The researchers also found that Tunisians were the most supportive of women dressing as they wish, compared to 52 percent of Turks, 49 percent of Lebanese, 47 percent of Saudis, 24 percent of Iraqis, 22 percent of Pakistanis, and 14 percent of Egyptians.
The study's authors argue that these findings reflect "a country's orientations toward liberal values as well as the level of freedom people enjoy. In Lebanon, Tunisia, and Turkey, where people tend to be less conservative than the other four countries, the preferable style for women also tend to be much less conservative than the other four countries."

Pew Research Center

- See more at: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/01/08/survey_says_muslim_women_should_cover_their_hair_but_not_their_faces#sthash.MZrbPwAP.dpuf

A new report by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research has shed some light on how Muslim women should cover up. Looking at surveys from seven predominately Muslim countries the researchers found that most respondents thought women should bare their faces, but cover their hair -- completely.
The study centered on Tunisia, but included survey results from Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, and Egypt. While researchers investigated public perception of several hot-button issues including gender relations, politics, and religious tolerance, one of their more interesting findings had to do with veiling.
Participants were presented with six images of variously veiled women (pictured above) and asked "Which one of these women is dressed most appropriately for public places?"
Most respondents picked woman #4, whose conservative hijab covers her hair and ears but not her face. Saudis were the primary outlier, preferring option #2, a niqab that covers all but a woman's eyes. But some of the results are counterintuitive to common veiling practices. For instance, while option #3 -- a scarf that covers all but the face -- is heavily promoted by religious authorities and conservatives in Lebanon, the majority of Lebanese respondents favored no head covering at all (option #6).
The researchers also found that Tunisians were the most supportive of women dressing as they wish, compared to 52 percent of Turks, 49 percent of Lebanese, 47 percent of Saudis, 24 percent of Iraqis, 22 percent of Pakistanis, and 14 percent of Egyptians.
The study's authors argue that these findings reflect "a country's orientations toward liberal values as well as the level of freedom people enjoy. In Lebanon, Tunisia, and Turkey, where people tend to be less conservative than the other four countries, the preferable style for women also tend to be much less conservative than the other four countries."

Pew Research Center

- See more at: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/01/08/survey_says_muslim_women_should_cover_their_hair_but_not_their_faces#sthash.MZrbPwAP.dpuf

A new report by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research has shed some light on how Muslim women should cover up. Looking at surveys from seven predominately Muslim countries the researchers found that most respondents thought women should bare their faces, but cover their hair -- completely.
The study centered on Tunisia, but included survey results from Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, and Egypt. While researchers investigated public perception of several hot-button issues including gender relations, politics, and religious tolerance, one of their more interesting findings had to do with veiling.
Participants were presented with six images of variously veiled women (pictured above) and asked "Which one of these women is dressed most appropriately for public places?"
Most respondents picked woman #4, whose conservative hijab covers her hair and ears but not her face. Saudis were the primary outlier, preferring option #2, a niqab that covers all but a woman's eyes. But some of the results are counterintuitive to common veiling practices. For instance, while option #3 -- a scarf that covers all but the face -- is heavily promoted by religious authorities and conservatives in Lebanon, the majority of Lebanese respondents favored no head covering at all (option #6).
The researchers also found that Tunisians were the most supportive of women dressing as they wish, compared to 52 percent of Turks, 49 percent of Lebanese, 47 percent of Saudis, 24 percent of Iraqis, 22 percent of Pakistanis, and 14 percent of Egyptians.
The study's authors argue that these findings reflect "a country's orientations toward liberal values as well as the level of freedom people enjoy. In Lebanon, Tunisia, and Turkey, where people tend to be less conservative than the other four countries, the preferable style for women also tend to be much less conservative than the other four countries."

Pew Research Center

- See more at: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/01/08/survey_says_muslim_women_should_cover_their_hair_but_not_their_faces#sthash.MZrbPwAP.dpuf

The Situation of Christians in the Middle East -- A Declaration of Concern 9SEP13

THE violence against Christians and other religious minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia is increasing. There is legislation in the US House, HR 301, and a petition at http://wh.gov/lDtCG that will require Pres Obama to appoint a State Department Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia. This from HuffPost, and there is much more on this in my previous post Anti-Christian terror is everyone’s concern & PETITION TO APPOINT A STATE DEPT SPECIAL ENVOY TO PROMOTE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN THE NEAR EAST & SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA24OKT13 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/anti-christian-terror-is-everyones.html

The Metropolitans of Aleppo in Syria, Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos (Paul) Yazigi were abducted April 22nd, 2013 by 'unknown persons' and their fate is still in question.
This repulsive event is just one of many serious examples of the increasing persecution that Christians are now experiencing in the Middle East.
Over the past year I have been working with Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, Archbishop of Vienna, and "Pro Oriente" in Vienna, Austria. Today Cardinal Christoph Schonborn in his capacity as chairman of the "Pro Oriente" Foundation's board of trustees together with the Patriarchs Youhanna X (Antiochan Orthodox), Ignatius Zakka I Iwas (Syriac Orthodox), Gregorios III Laham (Melkite greek Catholic), Louis Raphael I Sako (Chaldean Catholic), Mar Dinkha IV (Assyrian), Nerses Bedros XIX (Armenian Catholic) published a joint declaration on the situation of Christians in the Middle East.
The unprecedented nature of this collective statement of Patriarchs and Cardinal is testimony to the extreme situations in which Christians in the Middle East now find themselves.
The precise wording of the declaration is as follows:

In deep concern regarding the situation of the Christians - and of all the people in the Middle Eastern countries where Christianity originated - we turn to the governments of those countries, to the leaders of religious communities, to international and regional organisations, and to representatives of civil society, that they may undertake everything in their power :

~ to obtain the immediate release of the kidnapped Metropolitans of Aleppo - and beyond this of all those who have been kidnapped in Syria,

~ to refuse the logic of violence and adopt the logic of dialogue,

~ to respect the sovereignty and unity of the States and to reject any illegal external military intervention,

~ to make it possible to return for all those who have been driven out of their homes or have had to flee,

~ to bring the suffering of the peoples and the conflict in Syria - which is also endangering the security and stability of the neighboring countries - to an end as quickly as possible through negotiations between all those involved,

~ to establish a political order in the Middle East which guarantees full respect of all human rights and thereby also religious liberty and freedom of conscience, but also full civil rights and equality for all the inhabitants of these countries.

The Christians in the Middle East are an essential and indispensable element of society. We are certain that in the future, too, they will contribute to building up a society characterised by peace, mutual respect and respect of human rights together with their fellow citizens who belong to other religious communities or have different political alignments.

With this in mind, we are united in prayer and in our efforts for a humane and dignified future with all Christians and people of good will.

I hope you will help me share this message with your friends and colleagues around the world.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wolfgang-danspeckgruber/christian-persecution-middle-east_b_3895980.html

Anti-Christian terror is everyone’s concern & PETITION TO APPOINT A STATE DEPT SPECIAL ENVOY TO PROMOTE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN THE NEAR EAST & SOUTH CENTRAL ASIA24OKT13

THIS is something our government, including the Obama administration, has been tolerant of for decades. The answer is not intolerance of other religions, or no religion, here in the U.S. Our Constitution guarantees each person the freedom of religion in the 1st Amendment. That was included because of the persecution of various religions of the emigres to the colonies and the religious violence among various Christian sects that was occurring in America while our Founding Fathers struggled with independence and nation building ( see my page on this blog The Great Debate of Our Season & ORIGINAL INTENT, GOD AND COUNTRY from MOTHER JONES DEZ2005 updated 21APR12 http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/p/original-intent-god-and-country-from.html  ). IT is time for the American government to stop ignoring the persecution, the terrorizing of Christians in countries around the world. This is a religious rights issue as well as a violation of the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and any foreign government's sanctioned and / or tolerated discrimination against, persecution of, terrorizing of that nation's Christian community must be publicly challenged by the our government. Please sign the petition at http://wh.gov/lDtCG for a State Dept envoy to be appointed and then take the time to contact your Representative at http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and your Senators at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and Pres Obama at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact and tell them to pass HR 301 in the House and Senate, and baring passage of the bill tell Pres Obama to appoint a State Department Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia. From the Washington Post.....

• By Steven B. Nasatir

• October 24 at 9:15 am

An Egyptian woman mourns during the funeral of several Copt Christians who were killed in Warraq’s Virgin Mary church in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Egypt’s Christians were stunned Monday by a drive-by shooting in which masked gunmen sprayed a wedding party outside a Cairo church with automatic weapons fire, killing several, including two young girls, in an attack that raised fears of a nascent insurgency by extremists after the military’s ouster of the president and a crackdown on Islamists. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

The persecution of any religious minority anywhere by anyone is an evil injustice. It requires all persons of conscience to speak out and, when possible, take action.
The upcoming 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht makes this an auspicious time to raise awareness about the contemporary violence targeting religious minorities and their places of worship. Of particular concern are attacks against Christian minorities that have occurred with alarming frequency from Syria to Egypt, from Iraq to Pakistan, and from Kenya to Sudan.
November 9 marks 75 years since the pogrom against Jews committed by mobs throughout the Nazi Reich. Often called Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” when rioters killed or injured hundreds of Jews; burned over 1,000 synagogues; destroyed 7,000 Jewish-owned shops and businesses; vandalized cemeteries and schools, and; sent 30,000 Jews to German concentration camps. It marked a turning point in the escalating campaign of persecution culminating in the Holocaust.
These events, seared into Jewish collective memory, make us doubly aware—and duty bound—to raise our voices when the deadly brew of religious bigotry and wanton violence are mixed.
Today in Syria, a once thriving Christian population—a community nearly as ancient as that country’s once great Jewish community—has been depopulated by 25 percent, according an estimate the Patriarch Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III Laham shared with the BBC.
In September, The Associated Press reported that Syrian Christians in Maaloula—a community dating to the birth of Christianity and that still speaks Aramaic—were driven out or forcibly converted to Islam by rebels aligned with al-Qaeda.
“It is chaos, it is violence, it is blood, it is death. Life has been paralyzed. We have lost everything,” said Archbishop Theophile Georges Kassab of Homs.
In Egypt, some supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi last summer unleashed their rage against that nation’s Christians, a historic community constituting 20 percent of the country’s population. Mobs burned dozens of Christian schools, convents, monasteries, institutions, and churches of any, and all Christian denominations. And just days ago, gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire outside a Coptic Christian church during a wedding, murdering four, including an 8-year-old girl.
“It never happened before in history that such a big number of churches were attacked on one day,” Bishop Thomas, a Coptic Orthodox bishop in Assiut told Al Jazeera. “We normally used to have attacks once a month or so.”
As Kristallnacht teaches, the burning of houses of worship can be a red alert that worse is yet to come. September saw the horrific Taliban bombing of Anglican worshippers in Pakistan, which took 85 lives, and, according to accounts shared by witnesses, the targeting for murder of Kenyan Christians—deliberately separated from others in a chilling reminder of Nazi “selections”—by al Shabaab terrorists in a Nairobi shopping mall.
Attacks like these have contributed to a decline in the Christian population in the Middle East and North Africa from 9.5 percent to 3.8 percent of the total population from 1910 to 2010, according to a Pew Forum report on Global Christianity.
Tellingly, Israel is the only Middle East country where the Christian population has grown in the last half century, from 34,000 to 158,000, in large measure, according to many observers, because of the religious freedoms enjoyed there.
As a Jew, I’m proud of the status of religious minorities in the Jewish state. As an American, I’m especially proud to live in a society where people of different faiths (and no faith) share the values of tolerance and coexistence. Despite isolated though sometimes deadly instances of religiously-inspired terror during the past few decades, ours is a nation where no Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, or person of any other faith must live in fear because of who they are.
It is time to sound the alarm about the religious persecutions of Christians and others. Let us raise our voices, and call on our elected representatives to take action. People of all faiths should support passage of H.R.301, legislation that would direct our President to appoint a State Department Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia.
The bill will facilitate U.S government responses to human rights violations, combat acts of religious intolerance and incitement targeting religious minorities, and help address the needs of religious minorities.
Further, we must demand that international institutions designed to protect human rights, especially the United Nations, must actually do so without prejudice.
For people of conscience, for people of all faiths, now is not the time to be silent.
Steven B. Nasatir is president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/10/24/anti-christian-terror-is-everyones-concern/?wprss=rss_on-faith&clsrd

         

Egyptian Military Engineers Anti-Muslim Brotherhood Media Campaign, Sways Public Favor to Intervene in Sit-ins 16AUG13

THE bloodshed continues in Egypt, hundreds have been killed by the Egyptian military, journalist have been attacked, detained, beaten and killed. The American government must cut all aid to the military junta until democracy is restored. We may not like the government that was elected, Pres Morsi and the muslim brotherhood could not be considered friends of the U.S., but that is the government the Egyptian people chose in democratic elections. Concerns about the Suez Canal, the flow of oil, our "war on terror" and Egyptian relations with Israel should have nothing to do with the decision mandated by our laws concerning American aid to nations suffering a coup. It will be another example of the Obama administration's hypocrisy if they fail to stop all aid to the Egyptian junta, and the American people will pay once the the junta is removed from power if we do nothing to support democracy in Egypt. From RNN....

Lina Attalah: Egyptian Ministry of Interior uses light presence of firearms to justify aggressive military action that killed more than 500 peaceful sit-ins, as Saudi and Qatari power dynamics play out behind the scenes -   August 16, 13

Full Episode Egypt Egyptian Military Engineers Anti-Muslim Brotherhood Media Campaign, Sways Public Favor to Intervene in Sit-ins Egyptian Military Creating Conditions for Dictatorship More than 70 Morsi Supporters Killed As Military Clampdown Tightens Semantics of Coup Splits Egyptians & World Leaders Violent clashes rage in Cairo as Brotherhood demands Morsi's reinstatement New Egypt PM & Army Set To Keep Egypt on Neo-Liberal Track Egyptian Military Moves Against Al Jazeera as Journalists Resign Alleging Qatari Influence Over 50 Killed in Egypt As Country Braces for More Violence Violent Clashes Shake Post-Morsi Egypt Egyptian Army Coup Topples President Morsi Egyptian Army Ousts Pres. Morsi From Power In Face Of Popular Protests US & Qatar Play Hidden, Key Role in Possible Morsi Coup Egyptian Army Threatens Coup Against President Morsi Massive Protests Across Egypt Demand President Morsi's Resignation Sexual Harassment of Women is State Sponsored Say Egyptian Women Two Years On, Egyptian Revolution Caught in Violent Past Egypt and the Revolt Against Morsi Arab Spring in 2013 Ola Shahba Testimony Fighting in the streets part 2

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Bio

Lina Attalah is the founder of Mada Masr. She is the former Managing Editor at Egypt Independent (formerly Al-Masry Al-Youm English Edition). Lina studied journalism at the American University in Cairo. Before joining Egypt Independent, she wrote for Reuters, Cairo Times, the Daily Star, and the Christian Science Monitor, among others. In 2005, she worked as radio producer and campaign coordinator with the BBC World Service Trust in Darfur, Sudan. She also worked as project manager for a number of research-based projects with multimedia outputs around the themes of space, mobility, and intellectual history. Lina is particularly drawn to border areas, where human geography issues of conflict and desire are rampant.

Transcript

JESSICA DESVARIEUX, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jessica Desvarieux in Baltimore.

The death toll in Egypt has surpassed 500, and it could rise as violence continues between military forces and supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. Hundreds of protesters have been killed, along with dozens of security forces, after the military used tear gas and live ammunition to clear two protest encampments housing thousands of members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Take a look at some of these pictures of protesters pushing an armed military vehicle off a bridge. There are some really powerful and tragic images coming out of Egypt, and scenes of thousands waiting for medical care as well. And now reports are emerging that medical facilities treating Muslim Brotherhood supporters are being attacked. The international community has condemned the violence, and the U.S. has canceled a planned joint military exercise with the Egyptian military. But they have refused to cut its $1.3 billion in annual aid to the Egyptian military.

Now joining us to discuss all this is Lina Attalah. Lina is the cofounder of Mada Masr, an Arabic and English online news organization. She's also the former managing editor at Egypt Independent. And she joins us now from Cairo.

Thanks for being with us.

So, Lina, here at The Real News, you know, we try to go beyond the headlines and take a look at what might be happening behind the scenes. There are some saying that this is exactly what the Egyptian military wants, in the sense that they allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to take power after being democratically elected, and they essentially gave them enough rope to hang themselves. They gave them control, allowing them to mismanage the economy, things of that nature. Do you see this as being strategic? Do you see the military actually getting exactly what they want in this situation?

LINA ATTALAH, COFOUNDER, MADA MASR: So, basically I think it's hard to imagine that there was so much orchestration throughout the last couple of years or, you know, year and a half from the side of the military. And this kind of narrative completely removes any incrimination from the Muslim Brotherhood as, you know, the temporary ruling elites or the, you know, short-living ruling elites of Egypt. We have to recognize the fact that there have been a lot of failures from the Brotherhood when they took over. And this is conducive to what we're going through right now. I do believe that there was a point in time when the generals thought that they can basically have some sort of an arrangement with the Brotherhood. I'm sure that there was a point in time when the generals were in agreement with the Brotherhood and there was thinking that this could be a working relationship. And I'm pretty sure that the two sides became at odds when the Brotherhood started to try and control state institutions a lot more on one hand, and on the other, when the military revealed its real interest in being the ultimate institution in control of the state in Egypt. So when those two real ambitions sort of emerged from these two elite institutions, this is when we started having a problem. But thinking from the beginning that this was all orchestrated by the military I think is a little bit far-fetched. We do have to account for the fact that the Brotherhood came to power and had basically no national projects in the shelves to, you know, try to work with it. They were mostly concerned with a power grab. And, you know, this put them at odds with the other institution that is also looking for remaining the most powerful body in the state. So this is what you're looking at, really, a power struggle, a traditional, typical power struggle between two strong parties in the country.

DESVARIEUX: So let's talk about another power struggle that's not really being seen is between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. How is the Qatari-Saudi rivalry being played out in Egypt?

ATTALAH: I mean, it's of course being played out on several levels. There is the funding level. So, for example, the Qataris were much more enthusiastic to support Egypt during the, you know, short-lived rule of Mohamed Morsi, of President Mohamed Morsi, while right now the Saudis have pledged tons of money in the form of loans and grants to the Egyptian government the moment Morsi was ousted. And you could tell that this is the chance for Saudi Arabia to basically, you know, get over what it was--what it was completely concerned about, which is a growing strength of the Muslim Brotherhood around the region. This is a disconcerting phenomenon for the Saudis in the Arab world, and the support that this emerging power getting from Qatar, an ambitious player in the the Gulf area, was also extremely disconcerting for the Saudis. So the Saudis are just feeling that they are perhaps having this moment when they can basically end this Brotherhood phenomenon in the Arab world, which is eventually endangering to its very, you know, status quo. So definitely there is another power struggle on the Gulf level between Qatar and Saudi Arabia that is playing out in the crisis in Egypt right now.

DESVARIEUX: And let's talk about the United States and where they fit into all this, because, like we mentioned, funding, for example, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, they are having a growing amount of influence and are funding the Egyptian military heavily. And there are reports coming out that it has already surpassed the United States in terms of the amount of aid that is provided to Egypt through Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and those Gulf countries and other Gulf countries. Can you talk a little bit about that? How is this going to affect the power dynamic between the United States, Egypt, and those Gulf nations?

ATTALAH: I think the United States right now is still in an in-between position of having had--just settled its relationship with the Brotherhood as the new ruling elite in Egypt, the kind of elite that basically was proving to be a good replacement to the Mubarak rule, which was also a traditional ally for the Americans for decades. And now this quick turning of the events and end--quick turn of the Brotherhood rule is of course causing confusion to the American administration, which is now at odds with the fact that they have to handle another leadership altogether, particularly a military leadership that they have for long been interested in seeing at the margins of politics, as opposed to being on the forefront of politics. So this is really the essence of the relationship between Egypt and America since the David Accords of 1979, namely that the military institutions should just be on the fringes of politics. Its main function should be to just preserve regional security in Egypt and the region. And the fact that this seems to be changing in a radical way is of course causing troubles for the American administration. So right now I think everyone is grappling with what should the final position be, because we're talking not just here about the relationship between Egypt and the United States, but we're also essentially talking about a long-term relationship between the Americans and the Saudis, which is also geared towards preserving regional security in the Middle East, which is basically the ultimate concern for the American administration and for any American administration. So you're yet to see how all these different parties are going to come to terms with each other [incompr.]. Right now, they do not seem to be necessarily allying with the Saudis supporting the post-Morsi regime and the Americans not being quite clear about their final position, but also hinging on rejecting what they have been--increasingly called a military coup against the Morsi regime. But I'm not expecting this position to stay the same for a long time.

DESVARIEUX: Okay. Let's talk a little bit about the Muslim Brotherhood and their call for just peaceful demonstration. Do you think that they'll stick to this strategy?

ATTALAH: I mean, since yesterday, since this the sit-ins' dispersals, it was hard to really see anything peaceful happening anywhere in the country. All marches, all actions, all protests undertaken by the Brotherhood since the dispersals of the sit-ins, since the forcible dispersals of the sit-ins, have ended up in clashes with residents of the neighborhoods in which they've been marching. But they have also been actively burning police stations. They have been not necessarily just Muslim Brotherhood members, but sympathizers, at least, have been burning churches, particularly outside of Cairo. So betting on peaceful action I think is far-fetched at this point. I did hear repeatedly while covering the dispersal yesterday people from the sit-in calling their fellows in different governorates and telling them not to come to a sit-in anymore, since the sit-in is over, and to just focus on burning the closest police station to them. So it's hard, it's really hard to bet on any peaceful action at this point.

DESVARIEUX: Okay. I'm also trying to get a sense of the mood in the country, because I think it does make a difference to know who was the aggressor in this situation. Obviously, the military, they came out with live ammunition and things of that nature, but the Ministry of Interior is reporting that there were armed protesters, or I should say there were armed people in the camps, in some of the encampments. So can you talk a little bit about that? Do you feel like people are buying that line? Or are there more people now sympathizing with the Muslim Brotherhood supporters?

ATTALAH: I mean, in terms of whether some of the encampments were armed or not, we did do some reporting in the past that proved that there is some weaponry inside the camps, inside the sit-ins. And at the same time, the fact that 43 people died from the ranks of the police is a manifestation of the fact that there has been, you know, some firearms from the side of the protesters during the dispersals of [incompr.] sit-ins. However, to exaggerate this narrative of the armament of the encampments is extremely problematic, because it was clear that what happened yesterday was a typical use of excessive force by both the police and the military to disperse the sit-ins and that there's no way that both parties were equally armed, at least judging, obviously, from the level of the casualties from both ends.

But in terms of a general mood, I do not get a sense that people have sympathized with the Brotherhood more just by the sheer fact that they lost over 500 of their supporters in the course of the few hours during which the sit-ins were dispersed yesterday. And that's mainly due to a state-engineered media campaign to demonize the Brothers, to call them terrorists, to call them armed thugs, which has basically left people with this sense of urge for the state to basically intervene and disperse the sit-ins, whatever it takes, because they are basically terrorists. So there was this huge media campaign that was conducive to very little sympathy from the people towards the Brotherhood, despite the fact that there have been atrocious images from the dispersals yesterday.

DESVARIEUX: Okay. Well, we'll certainly be tracking this story. Lina, thank you so much for joining us.

ATTALAH: Thank you, Jessica. Take care.

DESVARIEUX: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10585

Rand Paul: U.S. is funding a ‘war against Christianity’ & Rand Paul: America funding foreign ‘war against Christianity’ 13&14JUN13

THERE is truth to Sen rand paul's R KY statements on the war against Christianity. Christians do suffer restrictions, oppression, discrimination and violence against them in the Middle East (including Israel), on the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Sen Paul's statement that this war on Christians is being funded by the American taxpayer is also correct. As long as we remain a warstate, the military-industrial complex, along with corporate America (somewhat one and the same) will dictate our foreign policy that doesn't take into consideration the human rights of the citizens of our "allies" but is focused on protecting and increasing the profit margins of said conspirators. Americans tolerate this because of self imposed  ignorance and greed, we don't want anything or anyone to threaten our lifestyle, one that depends on access to the natural resources in the very nations that restrict, oppress, discriminate against and commit violence against Christians daily. 
Sen paul's comments concerning the war on Christianity and arming our "allies" are also true to an extent. He is correct is stating we should not be spending American tax dollars providing military aid to these nations while they continue to violate the religious and all human rights of their Christian citizens. Not including Israel in this group of nations, when they should be, shows that his concern about the fate of Christians in other nations is disingenuous, and he is playing the Christian Zionist card, kow-towing to the Israeli lobby in the U.S.,  for his own political gain. 

By Georgetown/ On Faith, Published: June 14, 2013 at 9:05 pm

Charles Dharapak, Associated Press

QUOTE OF THE DAY |

“It’s clear that American taxpayer dollars are being used in a war against Christianity. [...] These countries [like Egypt and Syria] are not our allies, and no amount of money is going to make them so. It makes no sense. Should we be sending F-16s and tanks to Egypt when (President Mohammed) Morsi says Jews are descendants of apes and pigs? [...] Even if all the atrocities against Christians were not being committed, we wouldn’t have the money to be sending to these countries. We’re borrowing money from China to send it to Pakistan.”

-Rand Paul speaking this week at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to the Majority conference. 

Read more on religion, culture and politics at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/06/14/rand-paul-america-funding-foreign-war-against-christianity/ 

Rand Paul: U.S. is funding a ‘war against Christianity’

By Aaron Blake, Updated: June 13, 2013

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday continued his outreach to Christian conservatives, telling a gathering of them that the United States is effectively funding wars on Christianity by sending money to nations like Egypt and Syria.

“It’s clear that American taxpayer dollars are being used in a war against Christianity,” Paul said at a luncheon hosted by the Faith and Freedom Coalition to kick off the three-day Faith and Freedom Conference.

Paul said the U.S. war in Iraq led Christians to flee a secular country that had otherwise been “a relatively safe place for Christians,” and that Christians are now being hunted in nearby nations.

“These countries are not our allies, and no amount of money is going to make them so,” Paul said. “It makes no sense. Should we be sending F-16s and tanks to Egypt when (President Mohammed) Morsi says Jews are descendants of apes and pigs?”

(Morsi has contended that his 2010 comment suggesting Jews are the sons of apes and pigs was misunderstood.)

Paul then said that, even apart from the war on Christianity, the investments aren’t wise.

“Even if all the atrocities against Christians were not being committed, we wouldn’t have the money to be sending to these countries,” he said. “We’re borrowing money from China to send it to Pakistan.”

© The Washington Post Company

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/06/13/rand-paul-u-s-is-funding-a-war-against-christianity/

WIRE ALERT from AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 4MAR13

WIRE ALERT, the human rights e mail newsletter from Amnesty International......

WIRE alert: human rights news from around the world Activists worldwide are gearing up to make history in March, when the final UN conference on a global Arms Trade Treaty takes place in New York, USA. It’s time to push for a bullet proof treaty to keep arms out of the wrong hands. Join our global week of action from 11-18 March. Also in this issue of WIRE: The human cost of the “Arab Spring” uprisings in Syria has been devastating. WIRE talks to Amnesty Researcher CILINA NASSER and Senior Crisis Advisor DONATELLA ROVERA about the conflict so far. Ahead of a new global campaign to stop discrimination against Romani people across Europe, four Romani activists talk to WIRE about how racism and segregation can ruin people’s lives, and also motivate them to fight for their human rights. ACT NOW Uladzslau Kavalyou was arrested in connection with a bomb attack in Belarus in April 2011. After an unfair trial, he was sentenced to death in November 2011 and executed in 2012. Read our interview with Lubou Kavalyoua, Uladzslau’s mother, and take action. New Amnesty research in Iraq has uncovered powerful stories of widespread human rights abuses, a decade after Saddam Hussein’s brutal rule ended. Read more and take action through our worldwide appeal. Until next time, WIRE Team Above: A man protesting against Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi shows used shotgun cartridges from bullets he said were fired by riot police during clashes along Qasr Al Nil bridge, which leads to Tahrir Square in Cairo, 27 January, 2013. © REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh Amnesty international teams blogging from the ground: Li Yan is alive, but still facing execution Li Yan is on death row in China for murdering her husband after suffering repeated, horrific abuse at his hands. She could be put to death any day now. By Luisa De Campo from Amnesty International Australia Read more and comment ‘I want the world to know about us’ For many people flying to Greece means sunshine and leisure. Indeed the sun is shining today and the sea is blue and tempting. But for others, the same sea is dark and dangerous.   By Giorgos Kosmopoulos, Amnesty International’s EU team campaigner and Carmen Dupont, European campaign coordinator on migration. Read more and comment Join our Online communities on Twitter and Facebook at the Global Activism Center Amnesty International International Secretariat  1 Easton Street London, WC1X 0DW www.amnesty.org Who We Are    How You Can Help    Learn About Human Rights    News    Become a Member

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