Egypt is collapsing!

[American Patriot]

You know..... they probably DID get a memo from him if you think about it.

[American Patriot]

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood accused of paying gangs to rape women

Published December 05, 2012

FoxNews.com

125_egypt.jpg

Dec. 4, 2012: Egyptian protesters chant anti Muslim Brotherhood slogans during a demonstration in front of the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt. (AP)

Egypt’s embattled Muslim Brotherhood regime is paying gangs of thugs to rape women and beat men who gather in Tahrir Square to protest the power grab of President Mohamed Morsi, say activists.

In a bitter replay of the Arab Spring protests that brought down President Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago, protesters have flooded the Cairo square to denounce Morsi, who has stripped the judiciary of power and is rushing through an Islamist constitution. And while Mubarak is now in prison for using violence to quell protests targeting him, Morsi’s regime is now accused of doing the same.

“This is still happening now,” Magda Adly, director of the Nadeem Center for Human Rights, told The Times of London. “I believe thugs are being paid money to do this ... the Muslim Brotherhood have the same political approaches as Mubarak.”

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have gathered in the square to protest the new constitution and to call for Morsi’s ouster. Morsi briefly fled the Itihadiya presidential palace in Cairo Wednesday, after the complex was surrounded by tens of thousands of protesters chanting slogans reminiscent of those used during the revolution that ousted Mubarak. The protesters scrawled anti-Morsi graffiti and waved giant banners carrying images of revolutionaries killed in earlier protests.

A protester the newspaper identified as Yasmine said she was attacked while videotaping demonstrations. She said about 50 men surrounded her and began tearing off her clothes, grabbing her breasts and sexually assaulting her. She said she suffered internal injuries and was unable to walk for a week.

The Daily Mail reported that most attacks take place at night when men form a human chain around women, then move in for the assault. Two men told the paper they were paid to attack women.

“We're told to go out and sexually harass girls so they leave the demonstration," one said.

The current crisis pits his Muslim Brotherhood and their ultraconservative Islamist allies against a coalition of youth groups, liberal parties and large sectors of the public. It began on Nov. 22, when Morsi decreed himself and his party above the judiciary and escalated after the Muslim Brotherhood pushed through a draft constitution without the participation of liberals and Christians.

The constitution faces a Dec. 15 referendum, but opponents and the nation’s judges have signaled they won’t take part in what they consider a sham process.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12...#ixzz2EBcea4or

[Malsua]

What a job. Get paid to harass women. Aren't feminists outraged?

[American Patriot]

I heard hannity asking a similar question yesterday, "Where's the outrage over the 'war on women' in Egypt from the left?" and several other comments.

[American Patriot]

Egypt Descends Into Political Turmoil


(ABCNEWS.com)


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By Associated Press
CAIRO December 5, 2012 (AP)




Supporters and opponents of Egyptian leader Mohammed Morsi fought with rocks, firebombs and sticks outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Wednesday in large-scale clashes that marked the worst violence of a deepening crisis over the disputed constitution.
Egypt's Health Ministry said 126 people were wounded in the clashes that were still raging hours after nightfall.
Three of Morsi's aides resigned in protest of his handling of the crisis. With two aides who had quit earlier, now five of his panel of 17 advisers have left their jobs since the problems began.
Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opposition advocate of reform and democracy, said Morsi's rule was "no different" from that of former President Hosni Mubarak, whose authoritarian regime was toppled in an uprising nearly two years ago.
"In fact, it is perhaps even worse," the Nobel Peace Laureate told a news conference after he accused the president's supporters of a "vicious and deliberate" attack on peaceful demonstrators.
The opposition is demanding Morsi rescind decrees giving him nearly unrestricted powers and shelve a disputed draft constitution that the president's Islamist allies passed hurriedly last week.
The dueling demonstrations and violence are part of a political crisis that has left the country divided into two camps: Islamists versus an opposition made up of youth groups, liberal parties and large sectors of the public. Both sides have dug in their heels, signaling a protracted standoff.
The latest clashes began when thousands of Islamist supporters of Morsi descended on the area around the palace where some 300 of his opponents were staging a sit-in. The Islamists, members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group, chased the protesters away from their base outside the palace's main gate and tore down their tents.
The protesters scattered in side streets where they chanted anti-Morsi slogans. After a lull in fighting, hundreds of young Morsi opponents arrived at the scene and immediately began throwing firebombs at the president's backers, who responded with rocks.
"I voted for Morsi to get rid of Hosni Mubarak. I now regret it," Nadia el-Shafie yelled at the Brotherhood supporters from a side street. "God is greater than you. Don't think this power or authority will add anything to you. God made this revolution, not you," said the tearful el-Shafie as she was led away from the crowd of Islamists.
By nightfall, there were about 10,000 Islamists outside the palace. They set up metal barricades to keep traffic off a stretch of road that runs parallel to the palace in Cairo's upscale Heliopolis district. Some of them appeared to plan staging their own sit-in.
"May God protect Egypt and its president," read a banner hoisted on a truck that came with the Islamists. Atop, a man using a loudspeaker recited verses from the Quran.
"We came to support the president. We feel there is a legitimacy that someone is trying to rob," said engineer Rabi Mohammed, a Brotherhood supporter. "People are rejecting democratic principles using thuggery."
At least 100,000 opposition supporters rallied outside the palace on Tuesday and smaller protests were staged by the opposition elsewhere in Cairo and across much of Egypt. It was the latest of a series of mass protests against the president

[American Patriot]

Brotherhood office torched in Egypt's Ismailia

ISMAILIA, Egypt | Wed Dec 5, 2012 2:57pm EST


(Reuters) - Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi set fire to the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party in the city of Ismailia on Wednesday, a witness said.
It was not immediately clear if anyone had been injured in the attack on the Freedom and Justice Party office in the Ismailia, east of Cairo.

[American Patriot]

Clashes turn deadly outside Egyptian palace

By Michael Pearson and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN
updated 2:42 PM EST, Wed December 5, 2012


Cairo (CNN) -- Tensions spiked Wednesday in deadly clashes between steadfast supporters and livid opponents of Egypt's president, a signal that more troubles could be on the way.

Three advisers to President Mohammed Morsy resigned, objecting to his recent edict granting himself more powers.
"We have failed to convince President Morsy to reverse his decree," Ayman al-Sayad, Seif Abdel Fattah, and Mohammed Esmat said in a statement. "He has rejected all our suggestions and initiatives that may have avoided the cycle of violence we are witnessing today."
State-run Nile TV reported that masked men set fire to the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in the town of Zaqzig in eastern Egypt. Morsy was a leader of the brotherhood before he officially resigned from the party after winning the presidential election.
The unrest comes as Egypt -- a crucial player in its unstable region -- lurches anxiously toward a December 15 referendum on a new constitution.
Days of Tahrir Square protests, which have been largely peaceful, gave way to an intense standoff outside the presidential palace, bringing anger over President Mohamed Morsy's leadership into sharp and sometimes violent focus.
In what was clearly the ugliest night since protests resumed weeks ago, pro- and anti-Morsy demonstrators tossed rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails after Morsy supporters chased angry protesters from the grounds.
Two people died and at least four people were injured, the Ministry of Health said.
Protesters are angry with Morsy for his recent edict granting himself presidential powers, and over the proposed constitution -- drafted by an Islamist-dominated council -- that they fear will only give the president even more powers.
What Morsy "is doing is completely unfair," one protester told CNN's Reza Sayah. "This is not what we asked for. It's a complete dictatorship."
Other protesters vowed to remain until Morsy is forced to leave office. "He's not our president anymore," another protester said.
But the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, which helped propel Morsy to power and backs him, called the protesters "thugs" who were trying to bring down the nation's first democratically elected president.
"By the grace of God, the Egyptian people will be able to protect this legitimacy, its constitution and its institutions," the group said on its Facebook page.
Opposition leaders are prepared to start talking with Morsy if he withdraws his edict and delays the referendum, said Mohamed ElBaradei, leader of the liberal Constitution Party.
But Vice President Mahmoud Mekki said the referendum will be held as planned.
"Saying the referendum will be held on time is not being stubborn," he said. "The president has backtracked from decisions before; he's not a stubborn character."
Morsy's decree placed his decisions out of the reach of courts until a new constitution is approved. He said the move was designed to protect the spirit of the popular 2011 uprising that drove former strongman Hosni Mubarak from power.
Critics call it an unprecedented power grab.
In addition to liberal political groups, Egyptian judges and media outlets have also protested Morsy's decree and the proposed constitution, saying it goes against the goals of the revolution that toppled Mubarak.
How the political power struggle plays out will have repercussions across the Middle East and North Africa, regions already wracked with trouble. In nearby Gaza and Israel, tensions remain high after last month's fighting. In Syria, a civil war still rages.
The protests have become increasingly tense despite calls from the presidential office urging calm.
Wednesday's fatal standoff followed clashes Tuesday outside the palace, where the focus of protests seems to have shifted as anger among Egypt's liberal opposition coalesces around Morsy's reign.
On Tuesday night, police fired tear gas after anti-Morsy protesters broke through barbed wire around the palace building and hurled chairs and rocks at retreating officers. After the initial clashes, police withdrew behind fences and the large demonstration was peaceful for several hours.
Thirty-one protesters were injured overnight, said Health Ministry spokesman Khaled al-Khataib. At least 40 police officers were injured in clashes outside the palace, Interior Ministry spokesman Alaa Mahmoud said.
Yassir Ali, a spokesman for the presidential office and the vice president, told reporters Wednesday that the presidential office had ordered the security forces at the palace "to protect the protesters and keep them safe."
"The orders to the security forces were not to confront (them), (but) to preserve the lives of the protesters and to prevent any clashes between the security forces and the protesters," Ali said.

[vector7]

Obama backed the 1.5 Billion in foreign aid to Egypt….and we apologized?

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA: 'I will stand with the Muslims. . .

Will injustices in America ever go away completely?

by: j. grant swank, jr | published: 07 01, 2008

Note what B. Hussein Obama says in his own words. They are from his books entitled “Dreams of My Father” and “Audacity of Hope.

In “Audacity of Hope” he writes: “I will stand with the Muslims (Brotherhood) should the political winds shift in an ugly direction” The quote comes from page 261 of the paperback edition of “The Audacity of Hope.

Egyptians Hit by Dawning Realization that
Obama's on the DICTATOR's Side-
Not Theirs/Democracy



Muslim Brotherhood totalitarianism NOT welcome

photo: Doug Ross

100,000+ protesters -furious at President Morsi's brazen attempt to place himself above the nation's law/courts- forced Obama's Muslim Brotherhood ally to flee the presidential palace yesterday...

The freedom-seeking Cairo demonstrators broke-down the barricades surrounding the presidential compound and
marched right to the wall- no attempt was made to breach the building's outer perimeter.

Although you'd never know it by listening to the Obammunist hacks that make-up the American MSM, grassroots opposition protests against the anti-democratic Islamist that Obama basically installed in Egypt (by betraying a staunch, 30-year US ally) are now entering their third week. And not
just in Cairo, demonstrations against the Brotherhood's radical draft constitution have popped-up in most all of the country's
27 provinces.

Morsi's excuse for the ill-conceived overreach that sparked all this -including a walkout by the Egyptian Supreme Court- was 'God's will and the election made me captain of the ship!', but obviously nobody's buying that but the most fervent of Islamist zealots. Indeed, two Morsi advisors have already resigned:
one of them -a Christian- held the position of
'assistant for democratic transformation'.

Now privately-owned media outlets and college professors are considering joining the judiciary's 'indefinite strike'... there are already calls for 'a second revolution'.

Some observers have recently been observing numerous disturbing parallels between Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood administration and the 1979 revolution in Iran. And so has the average Egyptian, from the look of things...

'To Hillary: Hamas will never rule Egypt!'

Dear Leader getting the shoe treatment

Egyptians against Obama

Good question - bad spelling

Amen

Egyptians against Obama

Cairo, December 2nd 2012

WAR near the US Embassy just last week

Got the look/moves down

Egyptians against Obama

Why can't ungrateful Egyptians show more respect- like Jamie Foxx?

[American Patriot]

Wow. THAT is a ... revealing picture:

[American Patriot]

Egypt Gives Military Arrest Powers to Protect Referendum




Soldiers march while anti-Mursi protesters paint a mural outside the Egyptian presidential palace in Cairo December 9, 2012.





Related Articles

• Egyptian Opposition Rejects Morsi's Planned Referendum
• Egyptian President Annuls Emergency Decree

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VOA News
December 10, 2012

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has given the military authority to arrest civilians as part of a decree to help maintain security for a Saturday constitutional referendum.

The order tasks the military with supporting police to protect "vital institutions."

Egypt's liberal opposition coalition has formally rejected the president's plan to hold the referendum on a new constitution largely shaped by Morsi's Islamist allies.

In a statement late Sunday, a National Salvation Front spokesman said the draft constitution does not properly represent the Egyptian people. He said going ahead with a referendum on the document will lead to more confrontation in the country.

Developments in Egypt

• November 22: Presidential decree gives Mr. Morsi sweeping powers, protests erupt
• November 30: Islamist assembly adopts draft constitution
• December 1: Constitution referendum scheduled for December 15
• December 2: Judges say they will boycott constitution referendum
• December 5: Protesters clash outside presidential palace in Cairo
• December 8: Morsi annuls presidential decree
• December 10: Morsi gives military authority to arrest civilians

​​The coalition has called for mass protests on Tuesday against the referendum. Some observers say the draft constitution has a good chance of being approved because Mr. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement has a superior ability to mobilize supporters to vote.

Many secular Egyptians fear the draft constitution will erode civil liberties because it boosts the role of Islamic law and makes no specific mention of women's rights. A constituent assembly dominated by Islamists approved the document last month after liberal and Christian members walked out, complaining that their voices were being ignored.

​Morsi made a concession to the opposition on Saturday by canceling parts of a November 22 decree that granted himself sweeping powers. Morsi made the announcement after a day of talks with other political figures. Most opposition groups boycotted the dialogue.

He also said that if the draft constitution is rejected in Saturday's referendum, he will call elections for a new constituent assembly to draft another charter that will be put to a popular vote.



​​
The president also removed provisions of the previous decree that shielded all of his decisions from judicial review. Opposition groups had complained that the original measure gave the president dictatorial powers.

But, Morsi's Saturday decree said the courts remain barred from challenging his "constitutional declarations," including that latest one.

Prominent Egyptian opposition figure Mohammed ElBaradei sent out a tweet earlier Sunday, saying the fight against the constitution is about the "essence of the state, universal rights and values, and looking forwards, not backwards."

Egypt's military made its first public comment on the political crisis Saturday, urging both sides to resolve political differences through dialogue. It warned that continued confrontation risks plunging Egypt into a "dark tunnel leading to catastrophe" and vowed "not to allow" such an outcome.

Egyptian troops set up concrete barriers outside the presidential palace Sunday to prevent rival groups of liberals and Islamists from holding further rallies at the site. Street battles between the two sides have killed seven people in the capital in recent days.

[American Patriot]

11 December 2012 Last updated at 09:39 ET

Egypt crisis: Cairo crowds gather for rallies

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Anti-government protesters try to smash down a barricade protecting the presidential palace

Continue reading the main story Egypt changing

• No easy way out
• Profile: National Salvation Front
• Old and draft charters compared
• Who holds the power?

Crowds are gathering in the Egyptian capital Cairo for rival rallies sparked by a referendum on a new constitution ordered by President Mohammed Morsi.
The demonstrations have been called by largely secular opposition groups and Islamists backing Mr Morsi.
At least nine people were hurt early on Tuesday when shots were fired at opposition protesters in central Cairo.
President Morsi has called in the army to maintain security and protect state institutions ahead of Saturday's vote.
The opposition protest marches are due to converge on the presidential palace, which has been walled off with concrete blocks and ringed with tanks.
Crowds are gathering in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace, where hundreds of soldiers are guarding the perimeter.
Public anger The opposition wants the referendum scrapped, arguing that the constitution was drafted by an Islamist-dominated assembly, weakens human rights and fails to guarantee women's rights.
The president has tried to calm public anger by annulling a 22 November decree boosting his powers, but has given the army powers to arrest civilians over the next few days.
Continue reading the main story Arab Uprisings week on the BBC

• Two years since a young Tunisian street trader's death began a wave of rebellion across the Arab world
• A special week of coverage across BBC TV, Radio and Online
• Correspondents reporting from key locations

• Jeremy Bowen's 10 key moments
• Defiance and resolve in Damascus
• Postcards from the Arab Uprising
• Arab Uprisings: Special report

However, some rulings of his controversial decree - which stripped the judiciary of any right to challenge his decisions - will stand.
The general prosecutor, who was dismissed, will not be reinstated, and the retrial of former regime officials will go ahead.
Petrol bombs were thrown and shots fired at opposition demonstrators camping in Tahrir Square in the early hours of Tuesday.
Nine people received limb injuries from the unidentified attackers, while another protester suffered a head injury, Al-Misri al-Yawm newspaper reported.
After the attack, police cars were deployed around the square for the first time this month.
Pro-Morsi demonstrators from an umbrella group calling itself the Alliance of Islamist Forces - made of Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist groups - were also said to be gathering at two mosques in Nasser City, a suburb of Cairo.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

Unlike last year, Egypt is not united against the president”

Jon Leyne BBC News, Cairo

• No easy way out of Egypt crisis

The Muslim Brotherhood was reportedly hoping for two "million-man" marches to converge in support of the referendum and the president, under the slogan: "Yes to legitimacy."
Although their route was unclear, spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan told state-owned al-Ahram newspaper that there was no plan to head for the presidential palace.
Hundreds of Islamist demonstrators were also staging a sit-in outside a Cairo media complex that hosts the studios of several private TV channels, which pro-Morsi protesters accuse of bias.
Seven people died and hundreds more were wounded in clashes between rival protesters outside the palace last Wednesday night.
There are fears there could be more violence if rival groups of protesters come face to face, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo reports.
Because several anti-Morsi marches have been organised across Cairo, they could potentially cross paths with the main pro-Morsi demonstrations.
Protests have also been planned in the cities of Alexandria and Assiut.
Anti-Morsi protesters tried to remove barriers outside the presidential palace
Weakened force The army presence on the capital's streets has also raised fears Egypt is moving back towards military rule, our correspondent says.
President Morsi granted the army powers of arrest on Sunday until the results of Saturday's referendum were announced, calling on the military to co-ordinate with the police in maintaining security.
Continue reading the main story Egypt's crisis

• 22 Nov: Presidential decree gives Mr Morsi sweeping new powers
• 30 Nov: Islamist-dominated constituent assembly adopts draft constitution
• 1 Dec: Mr Morsi sets 15 December as date for constitutional referendum
• 2 Dec: Judges go on strike
• 5 Dec: Clashes outside presidential palace
• 7 Dec: Protesters breach palace cordon
• 8 Dec: Mr Morsi rescinds his presidential decree but remains firm on referendum

• Who holds the power?
• Q&A: Constitution stand-off
• Demonstrators polarised
• Profile: National Salvation Front

Crowds gather for Cairo rallies
The police, seen as a weakened force since the fall of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, failed to intervene when anti-Muslim Brotherhood protesters ransacked the Islamist movement's Cairo headquarters last week.
By pressing ahead with a referendum on the constitution, the president says he is trying to safeguard the revolution that overthrew the former president last year, but critics calling for large turnouts at Tuesday's protest accuse him of acting like a dictator.
The opposition National Salvation Front has said it will not recognise the draft constitution, as it was drafted by an assembly dominated by Mr Morsi's Islamist allies.
NSF chief co-ordinator Mohammed ElBaradei said the "sham" draft constitution defied Egyptians' "basic rights of freedom".
"It doesn't establish proper democratic systems, so at this stage at least we have decided that we are going to continue to fight tooth and nail against the referendum," the Nobel prize winner told the BBC.
Mr ElBaradei would not go so far as to call for a boycott of Saturday's vote, but said he hoped the turnout at Tuesday's protests would persuade Mr Morsi to postpone the referendum until consensus was reached through dialogue on a "proper, democratic" constitution.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Soudan, foreign relations secretary of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said Mr Morsi was constitutionally bound to go ahead with Saturday's vote because the date had been announced by the constituent assembly.

Are you in Egypt? Will you be taking part in any demonstrations? You can contact us using the form below.

[American Patriot]

Gunmen Fire at Protesters in Cairo Ahead of Rallies

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Protesters block the gate of a government building near Tahrir Square in Cairo, December 11, 2012.

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Related Articles

• Concern Mounts Over Egypt's Proposed Constitution
• Egyptian Opposition to Continue Protests Against Referendum

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VOA News
December 11, 2012

Masked gunmen have fired at protesters camping in the Egyptian capital, wounding nine people as supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi prepare for rival mass rallies.

Officials and witnesses say the unknown gunmen shot the protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square early Tuesday. By midday the square was calm, with tents remaining in the center and the number of people in the area slowly growing.



​​
Opposition leaders are pressuring Morsi to cancel a constitutional referendum scheduled for Saturday. The opposition National Salvation Front, led by liberals including Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa, has called on its supporters to march on the presidential palace in Cairo Tuesday. They say the draft constitution does not properly represent the Egyptian people.

But Morsi has refused to back down. On Monday, he gave the military authority to arrest civilians as part of a decree to help maintain security for the referendum. The order tasks the military with supporting police to protect "vital institutions." There was a heavy military presence in Cairo ahead of the planned rallies.

Egypt's Draft Constitution

-Limits president to two four-year terms
-Provides protections against arbitrary detention and torture
-Islamic law, or Sharia, serves as the basis for legislation
-Religious freedom is limited to Muslims, Christians and Jews
-Citizens are deemed equal before the law and equal in rights

​​Many secular Egyptians fear the draft constitution will erode civil liberties because it boosts the role of Islamic law and makes no specific mention of women's rights. A constituent assembly dominated by Islamists approved the document last month after liberal and Christian members walked out, complaining that their voices were being ignored.

Some observers say the draft constitution has a good chance of being approved because Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement has a superior ability to mobilize supporters to vote.

Developments in Egypt

• November 22: Presidential decree gives Mr. Morsi sweeping powers, protests erupt
• November 30: Islamist assembly adopts draft constitution
• December 1: Constitution referendum scheduled for December 15
• December 2: Judges say they will boycott constitution referendum
• December 5: Protesters clash outside presidential palace in Cairo
• December 8: Morsi annuls presidential decree
• December 10: Morsi gives military authority to arrest civilians

​​Morsi made a concession to the opposition on Saturday by canceling parts of a November 22 decree that granted himself sweeping powers. He made the announcement after a day of talks with other political figures. Most opposition groups boycotted the dialogue.

Morsi also said that if the draft constitution is rejected in Saturday's referendum, he will call elections for a new constituent assembly to draft another charter that will be put to a popular vote.

Egyptian troops set up concrete barriers outside the presidential palace Sunday to prevent rival groups of liberals and Islamists from holding further rallies at the site. Street battles between the two sides have killed seven people in the capital in recent days.

[vector7]

Egyptian court sentences Christian family to 15 years for converting from Islam

By Benjamin Weinthal
Published January 16, 2013
FoxNews.com


Obama calls Morsi’s election a “milestone” in Egypt’s “transformation to Democracy”

The 15-year prison sentence given to a woman and her seven children by an Egyptian court for converting to Christianity is a sign of things to come, according to alarmed human rights advocates who say the nation's Islamist government is bad news for Christians in the North African country.

A criminal court in the central Egyptian city of Beni Suef meted out the shocking sentence last week, according to the Arabic-language Egyptian paper Al-Masry Al-Youm. Nadia Mohamed Ali, who was raised a Christian, converted to Islam when she married Mohamed Abdel-Wahhab Mustafa, a Muslim, 23 years ago. He later died, and his widow planned to convert her family back to Christianity in order to obtain an inheritance from her family. She sought the help of others in the registration office to process new identity cards between 2004 and 2006.

When the conversion came to light under the new regime, Nadia, her children and even the clerks who processed the identity cards were all sentenced to prison.

Samuel Tadros, a research fellow at Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, said conversions like Nadia's have been common in the past, but said Egypt's new Sharia-based constitution "is a real disaster in terms of religion freedom.”

"Now that Sharia law has become an integral part of Egypt's new constitution, Christians in that country are at greater risk than ever."

- Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice

"The cases will increase in the future," Tadros said. "It will be much harder for people to return to Christianity."

President Mohamed Morsi, who was elected last June and succeeded the secular reign of Hosni Mubarak, who is now in prison, pushed the new constitution through last year.

Tadros said the constitution limits the practice of Christianity because “religious freedom has to be understood within the boundaries of Sharia.”

He added that the constitution prescribes that the highest Sunni authority should be referred to as an interpreter of the religion clause contained in the constitution.

Opponents of the constitution, including Coptic Christians and secular and liberal groups, protested at the time against passage of the document because of the mix of Islamic-based Sharia law and politics. Roughly 10 percent of Egyptians are Coptic Christians.

A government spokeswoman told FoxNews.com she would determine “who is responsible for this and covers this issue in Beni Suef,“ a city of 200,000 located about 75 miles south of Cairo. She did not offer further comment.

The case is the latest example of the increasingly dire plight of the nation's roughly 7 million Christians, say human rights advocates.

"Now that Sharia law has become an integral part of Egypt's new constitution, Christians in that country are at greater risk than ever," said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice. "This is another tragic case that underscores the growing problem of religious intolerance in the Muslim world. To impose a prison sentence for a family because of their Christian faith sadly reveals the true agenda of this new government: Egypt has no respect for international law or religious liberty.”

Morsi has been under fire for failing to take action against rising violence inflicted on Egypt’s Christians. In August, the roughly 100-family Christian community in Dahshour was forced to flee after Muslim neighbors launched attacks against the Christians’ homes and property. Morsi said the expulsion and violence was “ blown out of proportion.” Radical Salafi preachers -- who have formed alliances with Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood -- called for Muslims to shun Christians during Christmas.

Sekulow urged U.S. diplomatic intervention in Egypt to promote religious freedom. Morsi is scheduled to meet with President Obama, possibly in March.

”The U.S. State Department must play more of a role in discouraging this kind of persecution," Sekulow said. "The U.S. should not be an idle bystander. The U.S. provides more than $1 billion to Egypt each year. The State Department should speak out forcefully against this kind of religious persecution in Egypt.”

[Ryan Ruck]

Tension Rises Ahead of Egypt Protest

June 29, 2013

Organizers of a mass protest against Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi claimed Saturday that more than 22 million people have signed their petition demanding the Islamist leader step down, asserting that the tally was a reflection of how much the public has turned against his rule.

The announcement adds to a sense of foreboding on the eve of opposition-led mass demonstrations that many fear could turn deadly and quickly spin out of control, dragging the country into a dangerous round of political violence.

The demonstrations planned for Sunday reflect the growing polarization of the nation since Morsi took power, with the president and his Islamist allies in one camp and seculars, liberals, moderate Muslims and Christians on the other.

There is a sense among opponents and supporters of Morsi that Sunday's rally is a make or break day. The opposition feels empowered by the petition, known as Tamarod, or Rebel, but it offered no proof regarding the figures. If verified, it would mean that nearly double the number of people who voted for Morsi a year ago are now calling for him to step down.

"Honestly, if (Sunday) is not a game changer, we might all just pack up our bags and leave," said Mahmoud Salem, a prominent blogger known by his blog's name Sandmonkey and a vocal critic of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails.

While violence is likely in such a tense atmosphere, Salem said it would not play out in favor of Morsi supporters because they will be outnumbered.

"They have alienated everybody," he said. Even if no violence breaks out, Salem said civil disobedience is expected in a movement designed now to "save the country."

Morsi's supporters, on the other hand, question the petitions, saying his opponents are led by members of the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak who are trying to orchestrate a comeback and are instigating violence.

"Today and tomorrow will be the real birth of this nation," said Hani Salaheddin, a presenter on the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated TV station Misr 25, predicting that Sunday will bring an end to the questioning of Morsi's mandate.

"Tomorrow is the end of every corrupt person," he said, as the slogan "legitimacy (of the ballot box) is a red line," appeared on the screen.

Already, clashes across a string of cities north of Cairo over the past week have left eight people dead, including an American and a 14-year old, and hundreds injured. Clashes broke out outside offices of the Muslim Brotherhood and its party in at least five different governorates, and rival protests turned into violent confrontations.

Thousands are still taking part in rival sit-ins, in place since Friday in Tahrir Square for opponents and in an east Cairo suburb, Nasr City, for supporters of Morsi.

An Associated Press reporter saw Morsi supporters at a Cairo sit-in doing military-style fitness drills, with some wearing homemade body armor and construction helmets and carrying sticks. They said they had no intention of attacking opposition protesters, and would only act in self-defense or to protect the nearby presidential palace.

Highlighting the nervousness over Sunday's protests, President Barack Obama said the U.S. is working to ensure its embassy and diplomats in Egypt are safe after the 21-year old American was killed in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city. He urged all parties to refrain from violence and the police and military to show appropriate restraint.

Adding to the tension, eight lawmakers from the country's interim legislature announced their resignation Saturday to protest Morsi's policies. The 270-seat chamber was elected early last year by less than 10 percent of Egypt's eligible voters, and is dominated by Islamists who support Morsi.

A legal adviser to Morsi also announced his resignation late Saturday in protest of what he said was Morsi's insult of judges in his latest speech.

With a sense of doom hanging over the country, Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi last Sunday gave the president and his opponents a week to reach a compromise and warned that the military would intervene to prevent the nation from entering a "dark tunnel."

Morsi had called for national reconciliation talks but offered no specifics. Opposition leaders dismissed the call as cosmetics.

Exchange of accusations was running high Saturday, in a rivalry that has increasingly been portrayed by Morsi supporters as an attack on Islamists in power.

The Tamarod youth movement claimed its petition is evidence of what it says is widespread dissatisfaction with Morsi's administration, and has used the signature drive as the focal point of its call for millions of people to take to the streets to demand the president's ouster.

Mahmoud Badr, a Tamarod leader, told reporters Saturday a total of 22,134,460 Egyptians have signed the petition. He did not say whether there had been an independent audit of the signatures.

Badr blamed Morsi supporters of dragging the peaceful movement toward violence to "terrorize" the public and avert a mass turnout in the streets.

On Tamarod's Twitter account, the movement appealed to supporters to gather in every street in their hometowns instead of converging to the main rallies planned in Tahrir square and outside Morsi's palace.

At a press conference organized by Morsi supporters late Saturday for their members killed in recent violence, organizers showed multiple videos of previous protests where violence raged, showing images of attacks on the Brotherhood offices and blaming "paid thugs" for it.

"Tamarod are thugs," the crowd chanted at the conference held at the pro-Morsi sit-in.

Assem Abdel-Maged, leader of the formerly militant Gamaa Islamiya group, told the crowd that the Tamarod campaign was a "crusader war" against Islamists, led by extremist Christians to liberate Egypt from Islam. He added that his supporters collected 26 million signatures in support of Morsi.

"The issue now is war," he said. "Sunday's march is decisive."

Morsi's supporters have long doubted the validity and authenticity of the collected signatures.

"How do we trust the petitions?" asked Brotherhood member Ahmed Seif Islam Hassan al-Banna. "Who guarantees that those who signed were not paid to sign?"

But opponents of Morsi say the petition has already served its purpose, dealing a symbolic blow to Morsi's mandate and putting in stark terms the popular frustrations with an administration that critics say has failed to effectively deal with the country's pressing problems, including tenuous security, inflation, power cuts and high unemployment.

In a statement ahead of the protests, opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei said massive turnout is expected Sunday, calling for it to be peaceful and civilized. He called on Morsi to listen to the masses, and accept early elections.

"All of Egypt should go down tomorrow to say that we want to go back again to the ballot box," ElBaradei said in his recorded message sent to reporters. "We gave (Morsi) a driving license but he couldn't drive the car."

He added: "We all feel the country is collapsing, not because the president is from the Brotherhood ... But because the ruling system has failed completely."

On Saturday, Morsi met with the defense and interior ministers to review preparations to protect the protesters and vital state facilities during Sunday's demonstrations.

The focus of Sunday's protests is Morsi's Ittihadiya palace in Cairo. As a precaution, the president and his family are reported to have moved into the Cairo headquarters of the Republican Guard, the branch of the army tasked with protecting the president and presidential palaces.

With expectations of violence running high, the military has dispatched troops backed by armored personnel carriers to reinforce military bases on the outskirts of cities expected to be flashpoints.

In Cairo, additional forces were deployed to military facilities in the suburbs and outlying districts. Army troops are also moving to reinforce police guarding the city's prisons to prevent a repeat of the nearly half dozen jail breaks during the chaos of the 2011 uprising.

Many Egyptians fear the new round of unrest could trigger a collapse in law and order similar to the one that occurred during the 2011 revolt. Already, some residents have increased security around their homes, erecting metal fences and installing barbed wire. Residents in some of the residential compounds and neighborhoods to the west of the city are reporting gunmen showing up to demand protection money or risk being robbed.

The police have stepped up patrols on the outskirts of the city, ostensibly to prevent weapons and ammunition from coming into the city to be used in case of an outbreak of violence. The army is advertising hotlines for civilians to call if they run into trouble.

How long until the Islamic revolutionaries tear down the pyramids and burn the museums with the artfacts?

[American Patriot]

Are you in Egypt? Send us your experiences, but please stay safe.
Cairo (CNN) -- Appearing to throw its enormous weight behind protesters demanding the ouster of President Mohamed Morsy, the Egyptian military told the country's leaders Monday that they have 48 hours to "meet the demands of the people" or it will step in to restore order after days of chaos.
In a statement carried nationwide on radio and television, the military called the ultimatum "a final chance to shoulder the burden of a historic moment in our country."
Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, listening in on radios and cell phones, cheered as the statement was read. The clearly energized crowd, growing larger by the hour, cheered military helicopters passing overhead,some of them trailing Egyptian flags.
The military said it wants no direct role in national politics.
Rather, the military appeared to be pressuring Morsy to restructure his government by reducing the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in his cabinet and to call early presidential and parliamentary elections, a source close to highly placed members of Egypt's leadership told CNN.
Shortly after the announcement, Morsy met with Prime Minister Hisham Qandil and Egypt's minister of defense and head of the country's military, Gen. Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi, according to the President's Facebook page. It was not immediately known what they discussed.
The military's announcement comes the same day the protest movement announced on Facebook that if Morsy doesn't leave office by Tuesday, the Tamarod (the "rebel" campaign") group will begin a civil disobedience movement, call for nationwide protests and march on the presidential palace, where Morsy's administration is running affairs.
Demonstrators say they have collected 17 million signatures -- roughly 4 million more than what won Morsy the presidency -- calling for Morsy to go.
The opposition is made up of various groups and loose coalitions, and not all anti-Morsy protesters agree with the road map the Tamarod campaign is advocating.
Some are loyal to the ousted Mubarak government, while others want the army to intervene.
On Monday, protesters stormed the main headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the party that Morsy led before his election. Armed with Molotov cocktails, the mob set the office on fire, shouting, "The people have toppled the regime."
At least 16 people were killed and more than 780 were wounded Sunday and Monday during the unrest in Egypt, the nation's health minister said, according to the official Egypt News agency.
On Friday, Andrew Pochter, a 21-year-old American in Alexandria to teach children English, was stabbed to death while watching the demonstrations, his family said.
U.S. student killed in Egypt was enthralled with region
Dr. Mohammed Mustafa Hamid told the news agency that eight people alone were killed in clashes at the Muslim Brotherhood's national headquarters in Cairo. All but 182 of the wounded have left the hospital after receiving treatment for their injuries.
State-funded Egyptian daily Al-Ahram also reported 46 sexual assaults during anti-Morsy protests in Egypt since Sunday, citing volunteer group Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment.
Governments issue warnings against travel to Egypt
Military opposes 'wasting more time'
Those calling for Morsy's ouster say he has hijacked the gains made in the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak and has pushed aside moderate voices.
They say Morsy's policies are to blame for a breakdown in law and order, for an economy that's gone south, and for a gas shortage that has Egyptians waiting at the pumps for hours.
Monday's military statement seemed to adopt the protesters perspective, calling the crisis a grave threat to national security while praising demonstrators as determined and admirable.
"Wasting more time will only lead to more division and fighting which we have and continue to warn against," the military said in its statement.
The source who discussed the issue with CNN said the military is asking Morsy's government to reduce the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and focus on a governing style credible to the majority.
The Muslim Brotherhood was shunted aside under the rule of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed in the uprising that eventually resulted in Morsy's election. It is now the most powerful political force in Egypt.
Last week, El-Sisi said the army would, if necessary, "prevent Egypt from slipping into a dark tunnel of civil unrest and killing, sectarianism and the collapse of state institutions."
iReport: Protesters flood Cairo's streets
'Not fair,' Morsy supporter says
Those supporting the president say he is the people's choice and refer to the 13 million votes he earned in elections held exactly a year ago Sunday. They say he inherited a broken system and should be given time to fix it.

[Ryan Ruck]

I knew we had an Egypt specific thread around here somewhere. Moved my post above on over.

[vector7]

Foreign reporter raped in Tahrir Square

Hospital reports Dutch journalist underwent gang rape in Cairo square several days ago. Reporter released from hospital after undergoing surgery

Roi Kais
Published: 07.01.13, 09:41



Egyptian media reported Sunday that a Dutch journalist was raped by several men in Cairo's Tahrir Square a few days ago.

Dina Zakaria, a journalist reporting for the "Egypt 25" news channel affiliated with the January 25 revolution, shared the incident on her Facebook page Sunday: "A Dutch journalist in Tahrir was raped by men who dub themselves revolutionists. Her condition is severe and she is hospitalized."

Meanwhile, a state hospital issued a statement that the journalist was admitted after being raped by five men several days ago. She underwent surgery and has been released. It was also reported that Egypt's Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah ordered his staff to go to the hospital to hear the woman's story and reveal the circumstances behind the violent attack.

Egyptian women face sexual harassment and assaults on a daily basis. During and after the revolution, there have been a number of case of foreign reporters who were sexually assaulted, such as Sonia Dridi and Lara Logan.

Sexual harassment is not new within the conservative Egyptian society, yet the extent of this phenomenon has grown and become more violent and visible. The Egyptian law defines assault as a crime, but not sexual assault.

The United Nations claimed last month that it holds some 25 sexual assault reports that occurred in Tahrir Square, the center of the protest, in one week in the beginning of the year. The organization dedicated to preventing sexual assaults, whose activists patrolled Tahrir Square, reported 19 assaults on January 25 alone – the second anniversary of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak. Among the reports was also a case of a girl who was raped by a sharp instrument.

According to a report by the UN, the Cairo Demographic Center and Egypt's Institute of National Planning, more than 99% of the hundreds of Egyptian women who participated in the study reported some kind of sexual harassment or assault, from verbal abuse to rape. The women came from seven of Egypt's 27 provinces.

Continued:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...399041,00.html

[vector7]

ANOTHER FEMALE JOURNALIST Gang-Raped in Tahrir Square

Posted by Jim Hoft on Monday, July 1, 2013, 8:44 AM

Another female journalist was gang-raped in Cairo’s Tahrir Square this past week.

CBS reporter Lara Logan was in Tahrir Square after Mubarak stepped down in 2011. In the frenzy that followed his resignation Logan was raped and beaten by the peaceful Egyptian protesters.



CBS News says Lara Logan, shown covering the reaction in Cairo’s Tahrir Square the day Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, was attacked Friday and suffered a brutal beating and sexual assault before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. (AOL.com)

This weekend another female reporter was raped in the square.

YNet News reported:

Egyptian media reported Sunday that a Dutch journalist was raped by several men in Cairo’s Tahrir Square a few days ago.

Dina Zakaria, a journalist reporting for the “Egypt 25″ news channel affiliated with the January 25 revolution, shared the incident on her Facebook page Sunday: “A Dutch journalist in Tahrir was raped by men who dub themselves revolutionists. Her condition is severe and she is hospitalized.”

Meanwhile, a state hospital issued a statement that the journalist was admitted after being raped by five men several days ago. She underwent surgery and has been released. It was also reported that Egypt’s Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah ordered his staff to go to the hospital to hear the woman’s story and reveal the circumstances behind the violent attack.

Egyptian women face sexual harassment and assaults on a daily basis. During and after the revolution, there have been a number of case of foreign reporters who were sexually assaulted, such as Sonia Dridi and Lara Logan.

Sexual harassment is not new within the conservative Egyptian society, yet the extent of this phenomenon has grown and become more violent and visible. The Egyptian law defines assault as a crime, but not sexual assault.

[Ryan Ruck]

Such a colorful and vibrant culture!

[BRVoice]

Army gives Cairo politicians 48 hours to meet “people’s demands” - implying option of military takeover

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report July 1, 2013, 6:12 PM (IDT)

Egypt’s defense minister Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi issued a statement on behalf of the armed forces Monday, July 1, warning the politicians they had 48 hours to “meet the people’s demands” and agree on an inclusive road map for the way ahead. He did not define “the people” either as the millions who voted for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi as president or the masses demanding his resignation. The army chief’s statement acted as a warning to the politicians in both camps that if they failed to agree, the army would step in and assume power once again.
The military statement went on to say that the Egyptian army will not get involved in politics but had decided to act in view of the real danger facing national security.
President Barack Obama also voiced his concern about the situation in Egypt and called on President Morsi to respond to opposition demands and work with the protest leaders.
The morning after millions of Egyptians demonstrated fairly peacefully Sunday night, June 30, for and against President Mohamed Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood rule, a mob Monday stormed and ransacked Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo and set it on fire. The building was empty at the time.
In the early stage of the opposition uprising, the Brotherhood more or less avoided direct street clashes in the 20 or so Egyptian towns where protests were staged, even though they and their premises were often under assault.
There were two reasons for this restraint:
1. The morning after the big event Sunday, which was timed for the first anniversary of Morsi’s presidency, found him shaken but still hanging in there. The first crack came later Monday, July 1, when four members of his cabinet, the ministers of tourism, environment, communication and legal affairs, handed in their resignations.
2. The protest organizers gave Morsi until Tuesday to step down and call an early election, or else face more demonstrations and a long campaign of civil obedience. Against this ultimatum, the Brothers reckoned they could hold out until next week, when the Muslim month of Ramadan begins. During that month, they hoped the millions of protesters would be too busy breaking their daily fast after nightfall to be available for mass rallies against the government.
Muslim Brotherhood tacticians changed their minds after the attack on their Cairo headquarters was found to have been carried out by a “rebel unit.” The MB spokesman then announced that “self-defense units” were being considered to protect the movement. What this means is that Egypt’s ruling Islamists are contemplating activating armed militias, or paramilitary groups, in the face of attacks by “rebel units.” This would take the country another step towards greater violence and a more protracted confrontation. For now, the army is not interfering in the contest.
It is feared in ruling circles in Cairo that the protest movement will resort to violent assaults on their institutions, alongside a campaign of civil obedience, to keep the flames of their campaign to topple the Islamist government burning high.
Se debkafile’s exclusive eport on Sunday.
The protest rallies against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi staged across Egypt Sunday June 30, a year after he took power, offered two surprises. Rather than an outpouring of anti-Islamist rage, the tenor of the banners, placards and chants raised over Cairo’s Tahrir Square echoed the slogans of pan-Arab, nationalism, socialism and xenophobia, with which the charismatic Gemal Abdel Nasser caught the Arab world by storm half a century ago. The Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt, thrown up by the Arab Revolt, may face the challenge of a neo-Arab nationalistic uprising, a throwback to the Nasserist era.
There was also a strong strain of anti-American sentiment.
In Cairo, placards of US Ambassador Anne Patterson, accused of currying favor with the Muslim Brotherhood, were hoisted alongside those of President Morsi – both defaced with large red exes.
The second surprise was the less-than expected turnout – hundreds of thousands - at most one millon - rather than 3-5 million the organizers hoped to rally in Cairo alone and no more than two-to-two and a half million in all the main city centers combined.
According to the Egyptian Interior Ministry, 17 million demonstrators counting supporters and opponents of the president, were in the streets Sunday night. Our sources say this figure is much inflated.
No one is even trying to guess what sort of Egypt will emerge from this new turbulence, or who will rule the country when it subsides. Some facts and figures may offer some clues to where Egypt is heading:
1. The organizers of the “Tamarod” (Rebellion) have laid long-term plans for a civil disobedience campaign to disrupt the government administration until it is forced to quit - although the initial phase was marked with scattered violence: Ten people were killed Sunday night and 700 injured, after seven were left dead in clashes between pro-and anti Morsi supporters in the past week, including an American.
The protest leaders claim to have harnessed various anti-government groups – liberals, pro-democracy factions, academics, members of the free professions, secular politicians, students and ordinary people who elected the Muslim Brother for jobs and a better and safer life and are now jobless and unable to feed their families.
Among the demonstrators in Tahrir Square Sunday night were police officers and judges.
2. The next stage planned is for a shutdown of public transportation, factories, financial companies and the flow of oil and gas in and out of Egypt. Within days, the country will face electricity and water outages and start the grim descent into complete chaos.
3. The uprising has a leader, the Nassersit Hamdeen Sabahi, who came in third place after Morsi in last year’s presidential election. But the trouble for the protest leaders is that he is virtually faceless on the national scene and has never made his mark as a figure able to inspire the masses to rise up against the government. Without a strong figure, the uprising may soon lose traction.