organization:salafi

Israel uses online blackmail to recruit collaborators | The Electronic Intifada
▻https://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-uses-online-blackmail-recruit-collaborators/23461

https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2018-02/ash_00_6-2.jpg?itok=6zlhuVU3

It was through social media that Ashraf Abu Leila, possibly the most notorious of recently convicted collaborators, is said to have first been recruited by Israeli intelligence. Accused with two other men of the assassination of Mazen al-Fuqaha, a senior Qassam Brigades leader who was killed in March last year, Abu Leila was executed on 25 May 2017 after being found guilty by a revolutionary court.

Under questioning, Abu Leila is said to have confessed to being recruited through an online messenger app at the beginning of 2004 by a man who claimed to be a member of al-Qaida. And over time, authorities say, Abu Leila proved a deadly assassin.

A member of Hamas since 2001, Abu Leila reportedly early became close to a Qassam commander, who would unwittingly shield him in the future. During the 2007 fighting in Gaza that led to the ouster of Fatah, Hamas authorities now say he was responsible for the murder of several members of the preventive security forces. He was also accused of another murder, but escaped punishment due to his involvement with Hamas’ military wing.

He subsequently worked in different ministries until 2013, when he became increasingly radicalized and reportedly got close to Gaza’s Doghmush clan and its Salafi Army of Islam group. Indeed, the assassination of al-Fuqaha was initially thought to have been carried out by Salafis, with whom Hamas has been engaged in conflict on and off for more than a decade.

Les #réseaux_sociaux comme instrument de recrutement pour des informateurs locaux par les Israéliens. #israël #palestine #tic_arabes

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer: Salafi mission calls into question Saudi concept of moderation and policy in Yemen
▻http://mideastsoccer.blogspot.com/2018/01/salafi-mission-calls-into-question.html

Plans to open a Salafi missionary centre in the Yemeni province of Al Mahrah on the border with Oman and Saudi Arabia raise questions about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salah’s concept of a moderate form of Islam.

The questions are prompted by the fact that Prince Mohammed has so far put little, if any, flesh on his skeletal vow last October to return his ultra-conservative kingdom to “moderate Islam.”

#arabie_saoudite

The Dangerous Myths About Sufi Muslims - The Atlantic
▻https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/11/airbrushing-sufi-muslims-out-of-modern-islam/546794

That’s not to say that all those who self-describe as “Salafi” claim that Sufism ought to be met with violence. But many, if not most, deny its centrality within Sunni Islam. Certainly the vast majority of the Saudi religious establishment espouses that kind of belief, which is a massive challenge that the crown prince will have to tackle if he’s serious about his promise to spread “moderate” Islam.

The birth of the purist Salafi movement (which many pejoratively describe as “Wahhabism”) saw preachers inspired by the message of 18th-century figure Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab attacking Sufism writ large in an unprecedented way. While presenting themselves as the orthodox, these types of purist Salafis were actually engaging in a heterodox approach. Many of these figures had to ignore or rewrite large chunks of Islamic history in order to present Sufism and Sufis as beyond the pale.

Ahmad bin Taymiyya, a commonly quoted authority for Salafis, for example, was reportedly a member of the Sufi order of Abdal Qadir al-Jilani. The Sufi affiliations of many medieval authorities have been airbrushed from history in several modern editions of their texts published by Salafi printing houses. Yet, there were virtually no prominent Muslim figures who cast aside Sufism in Islamic history. When followers of ibn Abdul Wahhab attempted to do so by describing Sufis as outside the faith, they were themselves decried by the overwhelming majority of Sunni Islamic scholarship as indulging in a type of heterodoxy because of their intolerance and revisionism.

While some who portray Sufis as heterodox do so with malicious intent, many fans of Sufism in the West seem to agree that Sufis are heterodox—it’s just a type of heterodoxy that they prefer to the normative mainstream of Islamic thought, which they seem to think is different from Sufism. Ironically, the well-meaning nature of this misinformed perspective echoes the fallacy that extremists promote.

#soufis #mythes

Salafists and Sectarianism: Twitter and Communal Conflict in the Middle East | Geneive Abdo
▻http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2015/03/salafism-sectarianism-social-media

Although actors on both sides are driving this conflict, it is today’s Salafists who are proving to be the dominant standard-bearers of anti-Shi‘a discourse—not taking into account the violent jihadists, whose popular appeal and staying power have yet to be demonstrated despite some spectacular and headline-grabbing territorial gains and terrorist acts. The Salafist movement has shown itself adroit at exploiting opportunities to advance its rhetorical and theological positions amid the religious re-examination and outright contestation among religious subgroups sparked by the recent Arab uprisings and their successful challenge to existing institutions of power in the region.

[…]

In her new paper “Salafists and Sectarianism: Twitter and Communal Conflict in the Middle East,” Geneive Abdo shows that chief among the central threads of Salafist discourse in Arabic is an abiding belief that the Shi‘a are not real Muslims, and are out to extinguish Sunni believers who, in the Salafist view, are the only true Muslims. This paper will also suggest ways in which events on the ground, whether major battles in the Syrian war or the mere arrest of a Sunni leader, provide fodder for religious intolerance in the Twitter sphere, which then can exacerbate religious strife on the ground. Any doubts about the power of social media, including Twitter and YouTube, to engage and mobilize forces for religious struggle should have been dispelled by the recent recruitment and propaganda successes of the militant Sunnis of the Islamic State.

Le document PDF:
▻http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Papers/2015/03/26-sectarianism-salafism-social-media-abdo/Abdo-Paper_Final_Web.pdf?la=en

Hezbollah and Salafists: A Return to Dialogue | Al Akhbar English
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/hezbollah-and-salafists-return-dialogue

Chahal says that two parties objected to the previous MoU: the Future Movement and his relative Sheikh Dai al-Islam Chahal, the founder of the Salafi movement in Lebanon, who currently lives outside Lebanon. He noted that “the first party is today sitting on the same table with Hezbollah and negotiating with it, and the second wishes to hold dialogue with the party.”
He said that the Salafis, specifically the families of the Islamist prisoners held in Roumieh prison, acknowledge “the need for us to hold talks with [Hezbollah], in order to resolve the prisoners issue and end the Sunni-Shiite conflict, which has become a threat to the country.”

Army arrests son of Salafist leader in north Lebanon
▻http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Dec-12/280805-shahal-says-army-arrested-his-son-in-tripoli.ashx

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/dailystar/Pictures/2014/12/12/63880_img650x420_img650x420_crop.jpg

The Lebanese Army arrested the son of prominent sheikh Dai al-Islam al-Shahal, the founder of the Salafist Movement in north Lebanon, a security source said Friday.

The source told The Daily Star that an Army Intelligence patrol arrested Jaafar Shahal around midnight in the neighborhood of Zahrieh in the northern port city of Tripoli.

The Tripoli-based Dai al-Shahal, himself wanted by authorities for weapons possession, has acknowledged the arrest.

Shahal said in remarks published last month that the arrest warrant against him belittled the entire Sunni community and would have consequences.

State might collapse if El-Sisi doesn’t become president : Nour Party head - Ahram Online

▻http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/101831.aspx

State might collapse if El-Sisi doesn’t become president: Nour Party head
Ahram Online speaks with the head of the Salafist Nour Party, the only Islamist party to support Egyptian former army chief’s presidential bid

Fears as Islamist fighters flock to Lebanon | News , Lebanon News | THE DAILY STAR
►http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Mar-22/251028-fears-as-islamist-fighters-flock-to-lebanon.ashx#axzz2wiVCkdoS

According to information from Salafist activist sources in north Lebanon, a large number of Lebanese fighters from #Jund_al-Sham and their families – believed to number around 1,000 – survived a secondary Syrian army ambush near the border area of Bqaiaa.

Locals fear that the presence of Syrian fighters along with defeated Lebanese militants could stoke sectarian tensions at a time when the country’s northern capital, #Tripoli, is already the stage for heavy clashes between supporters and opponents of Syria’s President Bashar Assad.

When contacted by The Daily Star, several residents said that they were very afraid of the possible consequences but were too scared to elaborate further.

North Lebanon residents fear that fighters returning from Syria will have been imbued with radical, fundamentalist beliefs, gained extensive fighting experience in the field and will possess a readiness to both kill and die for their cause. Jund al-Sham is close to the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) and the Nusra Front and looks down upon sheikhs who call for moderation.

#Liban #al_qaida

AP Interview: Jihadi head says Gaza groups growing - Yahoo News
▻http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-jihadi-head-says-gaza-groups-growing-182557905.html

We are six groups and we have thousands of fighters, maybe 4,000," he said.

A Hamas official said he believes there are at most dozens of Salafi fighters, while an Israeli expert on al-Qaida, Aviv Oreg, estimated there were up to 1,000.

Under the local truce agreement, the Salafis have halted attacks on shops, hair salons and coffee shops after Hamas provided assurances there would be no drinking of alcohol, racy movies or mixing of the sexes in these places.
[...]
He also claimed that 100 Gazans have gone to Syria to battle the regime of President Bashar Assad, and 10 have been killed so far.

Egyptians under pressure to vote ’yes’ in referendum on constitution | The Guardian

▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/12/egyptians-pressure-vote-yes-referendum-constitution?CMP=twt_gu

The yes campaign is backed by an unlikely coalition of secular parties, pro-army businessmen – and ultra-conservative Islamists from the Salafist al-Nour party, former allies of Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. Supporters hope a yes vote will pave the way for presidential and parliamentary elections – the first step in a plan that they say will re-establish economic and political stability.

Sur Orient XXI
►http://orientxxi.info/magazine/la-constitution-egyptienne-est,0444
►http://orientxxi.info/magazine/batailles-autour-de-la,0423

#Egypte #Constitution

Le parti salafiste Al Nour s’oppose à un article sur l’égalité entre hommes et femmes dans la Constitution égyptienne - Ahram Online

▻http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/85660.aspx

The Salafist Nour Party objects to an article in the draft constitution which defines equality between men and women. (...)
However, Abdel-Maaboud said his party objected to the phrasing as it would open the door for a women’s quota in parliament, which it is against.
“We cannot have a quota for every marginalised group,” he remarked.
The party also believes women’s rights defined in the article should be restricted by Sharia law. Although Article Two of the constitution names the principles of Sharia as the main source of legislation, he said, Nour demands it is also added to Article 11 defining women’s rights so these rights are in accordance with Sharia law.

#salafistes #AlNour

Protest law violates rights, freedoms - Egypt’s Al-Nur party leader
Text of report by Egyptian state-run news agency MENA

Cairo, 14 October: Member of the Salafi Al-Nur Party Dr. Tal’at Marzuq described the protest law, which was agreed upon by Interim President Adli Mansur, as “anti-protest law”, saying it violates the international conventions on human rights and freedoms.

In press statements on Sunday evening [13 October], Marzuq said this law should not be issued by an interim or any other government, asking why the law was not put up for societal dialogue?

He further underlined that Article 7 of the law - that allowed the interior minister to notify parties concerned of the protesters’ demands with the view of interacting with them to solve their problems - should not involve the postponement of the protest.

He also criticized Article 14 that stipulated that protests in front of public facilities should be from 50 to 100 meters away from them, saying this area is very large.

He concluded by expressing his rejection of the law on demos.

Source: MENA news agency, Cairo, in English 0630gmt 14 Oct 13

© Copyright British Broadcasting Corporation 2013

Egypt’s Main Salafist Party May Now Regret Supporting the Military
▻http://world.time.com/2013/08/20/after-crackdown-on-islamists-egypts-salafists-may-now-regret-support-for

A month ago, the Nour Party, the largest political group to emerge from the ultraconservative Salafist movement, was seen as Egypt’s kingmaker when it dramatically joined the military-led ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. They then proceeded to shape the interim government, vetoing a nominee for Prime Minister in the first week after Morsi was removed from power. Now, though, the party’s fortunes have reversed. With the body count hovering over 1,000 following the military-backed regime’s assault on Islamist protests last week, the Nour Party is fast losing its political relevance and could even end up a victim of the military coup it initially supported.

“They gambled, and obviously they are losing,” says Khalil al-Anani, an expert on Islamist politics and a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., referring to the Nour Party’s decision to back Morsi’s removal. “The military used them to pass the coup, and they aimed to achieve some political gains, but obviously they are not.” As for those Salafist organizations that sided with Morsi, al-Anani says, “if they not arrested, they will be marginalized and excluded.”

Nour Party meets EU’s Ashton, stresses need for ’political inclusiveness’

▻http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/77803.aspx

Salafist Nour Party met with European Union’s Foreign Policy High Representative Catherine Ashton on Monday to discuss the inclusion of all political groups in Egypt’s transitional period.

#AlNour #salafistes #Ashton

Contextualisation socio-politique des mouvements de révolte à Maan - en écho au post précédent sur ce sujet : ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/144508
Pas d’une clarté extraordinaire mais des éléments intéressants sur l’opposition ville / badia (steppe - les nomades sédentarisés) et l’émergence d’un mouvement local salafiste

Jordan’s South Slips From Government Grip | Al Akhbar English
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/jordan%E2%80%99s-south-slips-government-grip

Civil disobedience has now entered its third day amid bread shortage. Almost a quarter century after the 1989 uprising, it seems that the security-based approach is all that is left of the fledgling Jordanian state. It is all too apparent that social crises stemming from government policies are only endangering the fate of the state. After all, Maan is the poorest governorate in the kingdom, not to mention the site of Salafi jihadi groups and soaring unemployment.

Aside from coming down in full force, the government has done little else to tackle the crisis. In the meantime, a leader of the Salafi jihadi movement in the city known as Abu Sayyaf appealed for efforts to nip sedition in the bud, while asserting that he was not keen on preserving any regime or government.

However, these Salafi groups, once easily swayed by political machinations, may now be outside the control of the government. Socioeconomic changes affecting the composition of Jordanian cities, led by Maan, indicate that the issue is also linked to an entire shadow system outside of state control – whether in relation to its coordination with al-Qaeda’s international organization or its reliance on smuggling weapons and other contraband to raise money.

#Jordanie
#Maan
#révolte
#salafisme

Très intéressant point sur l’implication (ou pas) de la Jordanie dans la guerre en Syrie : Jordan in the Eye of the Syrian Storm.
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/jordan-eye-syrian-storm-0

By the end of 2012, only a few hundred Jordanian Salafis had crossed the border to fight in Syria. The government mostly turned a blind eye, but its policy of cracking down on jihadi Salafi activists remained in place, as evidenced by firefights along the border.

However, by the beginning of 2013, Damascus began to notice a new development, whereby Syrian army defectors and Syrian Muslim Brotherhood members were being trained in Jordanian camps and sent across the border with official consent.

This prompted Damascus to dispatch Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal al-Miqdad to Amman in January. Jordanian officials denied any such operations, insisting that their country’s policy of neutrality still stood.

Then, new waves of fighters crossed the border into Syria in February and March, bringing with them large amounts of medium-sized weapons, such as armor-piercing shoulder-fired rockets, which can also be used against planes.

Noter cette mention de l’« arme économique » pour faire pression sur un pays :

Nevertheless, Jordan must withstand tremendous pressure coming from Washington in order to avoid becoming implicated in Syrian affairs. US officials like Secretary of State John Kerry, for example, do not hesitate in exploiting Jordan’s fragile economic situation to bend it to its will.

Noter enfin la conclusion, au sujet de l’opinion publique locale :

At the end of the day, however, a high-level Jordanian official still believes that it will be difficult for his country to become deeply involved in the Syrian crisis, primarily because the public sentiment opposes such involvement.

David Ignatius: Sorting out the rebel forces in Syria - The Washington Post
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-sorting-out-the-rebel-forces-in-syria/2013/04/02/aaaa0110-9bd3-11e2-9a79-eb5280c81c63_story.html

The Free Syrian Army has developed a rough “order of battle” that describes these rebel groups, their ideology and sources of funding. This report was shared last week with the State Department.

...

... rebel sources say there are several [ islamist ] major factions.

The biggest umbrella group is called the Jabhat al-Tahrir al-Souriya al-Islamiya. It has about 37,000 fighters, drawn from four main subgroups based in different parts of the country. These Saudi-backed groups are not hard-core Islamists but are more militant than the political coalition headed by Sheik Moaz al-Khatib, who last week claimed Syria’s seat in the Arab League.

The second-largest rebel coalition is more extreme and is dominated by hard-core Salafist Muslims. Its official name — Jabhat al-Islamiya al-Tahrir al-Souriya — is almost identical to that of the Saudi-backed group. Rebel sources count 11 different brigades from around the country that have merged to form this second coalition. Financing comes from wealthy Saudi, Kuwaiti and other Gulf Arab individuals. Rebel sources estimate about 13,000 Salafist fighters are gathered under this second umbrella.

A third rebel group, known as Ahfad al-Rasoul, is funded by Qatar. It has perhaps 15,000 fighters.

The most dangerous group in the mix is the Jabhat al-Nusra, which is an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq. By one rebel estimate, it has grown to include perhaps 6,000 fighters. But this group, perhaps fearing that it will be targeted by Western counterterrorism forces, is said to be keeping its head down — and perhaps commingling with the Salafist umbrella group.

Idriss and his Free Syrian Army command about 50,000 more fighters, rebel sources say.

Twelve men to be executed by Libyan militia for allegedly being gay « MasterAdrian’s Weblog
►http://masteradrian.com/2012/11/26/twelve-men-to-be-executed-by-libyan-militia-for-allegedly-being-gay

Twelve men to be executed by Libyan militia for allegedly being gay
An extremist Salafist militia in Libya captured twelve men promising to mutilate and kill them for allegedly being gay
25 November 2012 | By Dan Littauer
A Libyan militia threatens to mutilate and kill 12 allegedly gay men

Twelve men face mutilation and execution for allegedly being gay after being captured by an extremist Libyan Islamist militia.

The twelve men were, apparently, having a private party in Ain Zara, a suburb of Tripoli, the country’s capital, when the militia captured them, late on Thursday night (22 November).

The group boasted by posting the pictures of the men on Facebook, describing them as the ‘third sex’ (a term used in the Arab Gulf area to denote ‘queers’) including one of the men who had a henna ‘tattoo’ on his back.

One of the pictures was accompanied by the Quranic call ‘there is no power but the power of Allah!’

At the time of writing, the picture of the men received 121 likes, 118 shares, and mainly violent comments such as ‘flog them hard!’, ‘let them see bullets!’, ‘free Libya! [I.e. From gays]’, ‘ride them like camels’ and so on.

Human Rights Watch Libya left a comment saying the organization hopes the men will not be treated inhumanely and called upon the militia to hand the men to the civil authorities (the comment received no likes).

The militia Facebook page entitled as the ‘special deterrence unit’ boasted that the men were captured doing the ‘practices of the people of Lot’ (I.e. Gay sex) and that they are to be mutilated and executed.

The militia also claim they have now become a legal part of the Libyan Ministry of Interior.

The group states its mission is to remove ‘corruption’, ‘vice’, alcoholic drinks and now gays from the streets of Libya.

Human Rights Watch Libya identified the group as the Al-Nawasi militia, who are considered to be extreme Salafists.

The militia has been previously been reported as being responsible for attacks against Sufi (moderate form of Islam) shrines and followers.

Gay Star News has, so far, not been able to independently verify the reports.

Speaking with Gay Star News, a Libyan LGBT activist nicknamed Khaleed stated: ‘We never had any gay nightclubs in Libya, so it is not uncommon for Libyans – straight, bisexual and gay men to party in a private space, drink, dance, have fun and sometimes even have sex.

‘That fact that they were captured by this extreme Salafist militia is very worrying.

‘The situation for LGBT people after the revolution generally improved, people can meet each other more easily than under the Qadaffi [Gadaffi] regime, although, of course we still have to be very discreet and careful.

‘Many of us fear that some of the militias [there are over 250 of them in the country], which are extreme Islamists who are very well armed and financed, will focus on the LGBT community and hunt us down.

‘The police is largely absent or powerless so Libyan civil society has a real problem; the militias often take the law onto their own hands.

‘That the Al Nawasi militia claims they are now part of the Ministry of Interior is very worrying; this move should be unacceptable to the public and to civil society groups.’

Twelve men to be executed by Libyan militia for allegedly being gay
An extremist Salafist militia in Libya captured twelve men promising to mutilate and kill them for allegedly being gay
25 November 2012 | By Dan Littauer
A Libyan militia threatens to mutilate and kill 12 allegedly gay men

Twelve men face mutilation and execution for allegedly being gay after being captured by an extremist Libyan Islamist militia.

The twelve men were, apparently, having a private party in Ain Zara, a suburb of Tripoli, the country’s capital, when the militia captured them, late on Thursday night (22 November).

The group boasted by posting the pictures of the men on Facebook, describing them as the ‘third sex’ (a term used in the Arab Gulf area to denote ‘queers’) including one of the men who had a henna ‘tattoo’ on his back.

One of the pictures was accompanied by the Quranic call ’there is no power but the power of Allah!’

At the time of writing, the picture of the men received 121 likes, 118 shares, and mainly violent comments such as ‘flog them hard!’, ‘let them see bullets!’, ‘free Libya! [I.e. From gays]’, ‘ride them like camels’ and so on.

Human Rights Watch Libya left a comment saying the organization hopes the men will not be treated inhumanely and called upon the militia to hand the men to the civil authorities (the comment received no likes).

The militia Facebook page entitled as the ‘special deterrence unit’ boasted that the men were captured doing the ‘practices of the people of Lot’ (I.e. Gay sex) and that they are to be mutilated and executed.

The militia also claim they have now become a legal part of the Libyan Ministry of Interior.

The group states its mission is to remove ‘corruption’, ‘vice’, alcoholic drinks and now gays from the streets of Libya.

Human Rights Watch Libya identified the group as the Al-Nawasi militia, who are considered to be extreme Salafists.

The militia has been previously been reported as being responsible for attacks against Sufi (moderate form of Islam) shrines and followers.

Gay Star News has, so far, not been able to independently verify the reports.

Speaking with Gay Star News, a Libyan LGBT activist nicknamed Khaleed stated: ‘We never had any gay nightclubs in Libya, so it is not uncommon for Libyans - straight, bisexual and gay men to party in a private space, drink, dance, have fun and sometimes even have sex.

‘That fact that they were captured by this extreme Salafist militia is very worrying.

‘The situation for LGBT people after the revolution generally improved, people can meet each other more easily than under the Qadaffi [Gadaffi] regime, although, of course we still have to be very discreet and careful.

‘Many of us fear that some of the militias [there are over 250 of them in the country], which are extreme Islamists who are very well armed and financed, will focus on the LGBT community and hunt us down.

‘The police is largely absent or powerless so Libyan civil society has a real problem; the militias often take the law onto their own hands.

‘That the Al Nawasi militia claims they are now part of the Ministry of Interior is very worrying; this move should be unacceptable to the public and to civil society groups.’

Could Egypt’s Pyramids Be Destroyed? « MasterAdrian’s Weblog
►http://masteradrian.com/2012/11/24/could-egypts-pyramids-be-destroyed

Could Egypt’s Pyramids Be Destroyed?
November 24, 2012

Could Egypt’s Pyramids Be Destroyed?

by Kristina Chew
November 23, 2012
11:00 am

Destroy the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx? Murgan Salem al-Gohary, a leader of Egypt’s ultra-conservative Salafist party, recently called on Muslims to do just this on Egyptian Dream TV. According to Gohary, Egypt’s iconic cultural treasures must be eliminated as a “religiously mandated act of iconoclasm,” for the same reasons as Mullah Omar and the Afghan Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan in March of 2001.

Claiming that he had indeed participated in blowing up the Buddhas, Gohary said:

“The idols and statutes that fill Egypt must be destroyed. Muslims are tasked with applying the teachings of Islam and removing these idols, just like we did in Afghanistan when we smashed the Buddha statues.

With the sight of the majestic Buddha statues being blasted with dynamite still fresh, the thought of a similar fate occurring to the pyramids is chilling. In Foreign Policy, Ian Straughn suggests that Gohary’s threat is certainly geared to grab media attention and all the more in today’s post-Arab Spring Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists are in power and while debates about the status of women and of minorities and about Egypt’s relations with the West are ongoing.

The Pyramids Have Faced Threats To Their Existence For Centuries

The pyramids have faced numerous threats since they were erected by the pharaohs. In the ancient world alone, Egypt was under the rule of the Persians and the Romans. In medieval times, the pyramids’ limestone casement was pillaged to build cities (including Cairo).

Starting in the 19th century, amateur archaeologists helped to awaken the world to the artifacts hidden in tombs in Egypt. But they also oversaw the transporting (some would say pillaging) of numerous archaeological finds into foreign museums, many of which are now in awkward disputes with Egypt’s government over repatriating objects. Today, pollution of a sort the ancients could never have fathomed threatens numerous ancient sites.

Many of us in the West were riveted by the image of Egyptians guarding the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square during the protests that would lead to the fall of Hosni Mubarak. Those archaeological treasures, and the Sphinx and the pyramids, are part of the world’s cultural heritage and must be protected not only by Egypt’s Supreme Council for Antiquities but also by international governments. This is common knowledge if not common sense to many of us.

Reconciling the Pyramids and Muslim Beliefs

As Straughn details, since the medieval age, Islamic scholars and others have sought to understand — to reconcile their religious beliefs to — the pyramids and other remains of Egypt’s long past. On seeing the destruction of antiquities, al-Masudi, a 10th century Muslim traveler in Egypt, argued that respecting these is “not incompatible with Islam.” Ancient structures and objects indeed “strengthen the Quranic injunction to search out and contemplate the lessons (‘ibar) which the divine has left for believers in the landscape.”

Today, even while very much aware of “the role that these ruins play in the economy and various state efforts to represent Egypt as a modern-day heir to one of the world’s great civilizations,” Straughn notes that there is “a palpable discomfort with this promotion and glorification of a pre-Islamic past.” It could be said that, as in Italy, there is something of a “love-hate” push-and-pull with the country’s archaeological heritage, which engulfs tremendous amounts of resources “at the expense of the welfare of an Islamic past, present, and future.”

Tourism accounts for more than 11 percent of Egypt’s economy, which has struggled in the post-Mubarak era; the importance of the pyramids and other ancient sites is certainly understood. The pyramids, in Straughn’s estimation, are not likely to suffer the fate of the Buddhas of Bamiyan; Gohary’s call to destroy the pyramids encapsulates “the broader debate within the religion [of Islam] over how to orient itself after the Arab Spring.”

The recent collision of a schoolbus with a train — resulting in at least 50 dead, most young children — suggests that Egypt still falls short in addressing issues like safety on its roadways. The pyramids are likely to remain a point of debate and even contention so long as Egypt remains a place that many associate more with its past than the very real demands of its present.

Read more: ►http://www.care2.com/causes/egypts-pyramids.html#ixzz2D8nCbNSn

Nose Job Scandal Topples Egyptian Salafi MP
►http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/nose-job-scandal-topples-egyptian-salafi-mp

Al-Balkimy fabricated a story about getting attacked by gunmen on the highway to cover up the fact that he had a nose job, something that his party strictly prohibits.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/5cols/leading_images/Salafi_Egypt_Parliament_pic_1.jpg

After two days of mutual accusations between the Salafi al-Nour party and the administration of Salma Hospital, where the MP had his plastic surgery, al-Balkimy settled the whole issue by leaking to the press the text of his resignation from the party and parliament.

@beautefatale, ça devrait te plaire, ça…