The Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty: To change or not to change

     This is an article from "ahramonline" which was written by Abdel Moneim Said on 10 Oct 2012. It is an analysis of the situation that Egypt finds itself in concerning the peace treaty with The Israeli State. I find it to be both informative and insightful.

     The issue of what Morsi should do concerning the peace treaty is very complicated and has many factors. It involves such factors as: diplomacy, Egyptian security, morality, and the domestic situation (which includes both economic and political factors).  Egypt is still involved in a revolution. Although some of the stages are over, much needs to be done before Egypt and its people can act as a sovereign nation. There are not only economic issues involving: poverty, unemployment and debt. There are also political issues involving: the establishment of a new constitution and the empowerment of an elected legislature.( I, for one, think that the current legislature is valid. But who am I, a Muslim from the U.S., to talk about the validity of an elected legislature that was elected with a great deal of transparency?) There are a number of different political elements within Egypt which need to be acknowledged and dealt with.

      I think Morsi is doing a great job in his attempts to include most of the political elements in Egypt in the decision making process. He has a council of advisers, many of whom are representatives of the major political elements. He has included a Coptic Christian, in this council, who is known to be good at building bridges between Coptic Christians and Muslims.

   There is the issue of Egyptian security. How much security does Egypt have with the peace treaty? How much will it have if the peace treaty is broken?

      Here is the article:
            "Some forces who participated in the revolution object to the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, although many add that their objection does not mean going to war. They of course realise that war, like love, must be between two sides and decisions are not taken unilaterally. Also, that the other party will decide whether it is in their interest to live with a no-war no-peace status once again, or go to war before Egypt regains its strength and the revolution succeeds in its development process, making it the “strong Egypt” Abdel-Moneim Abul-Futouh talked about.

          "That is what happened to Egypt after the Czech arms deals, and Israel participated in the tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1956 to stifle Egypt’s military might before it could progress it.
Some of revolutionaries do not reject the treaty in its entirety but want to amend it so Egypt can regain complete sovereignty over Sinai. This would mean revising the security protocol appendix which divides Sinai into areas of limited arms in zones A, B and C and a corresponding Zone D in Israel. This is closely linked to a comprehensive monitoring system of troop movements by multinational forces present in Sinai.
The aim was to create a security system that prevents both Egypt and Israel from performing a strategic surprise against the other, as Israel had done in 1967 and Egypt against Israel in 1973. The real surprise for both sides came from a third party, the Islamist jihadists, who began during Mubarak’s regime to carry out terrorist attacks in Sinai as well as breaching its border with Gaza through tunnels.
After the Egyptian Revolution, jihadists began attacking military and civilian targets, and then used Sinai to attack Israel.

      " This was not the image in the minds of those who signed the peace treaty and the security protocols, but this is the direct outcome of the military vacuum that was manipulated by other forces to directly threaten the security of both sides on a daily basis. There are ongoing battles with the Egyptian army which took a strategic decision to stamp out terrorist forces and close tunnels and single-handedly control decisions of war and peace with Israel.

      "Meanwhile, the Israeli army also battled the same forces which destabilised Sinai and is unacceptable for Egypt, because a precious part of its territories is under a dual threat. First, the threat of force against Egyptian security troops; second, the possibility of Israel giving chase to jihadists into Egyptian territories which threatens Egypt’s security and puts Egyptian territories at risk of being occupied once again. This would mean that Egypt has no other choice but to go to war with Israel once again.

      "This is not all happening in a vacuum. Some domestic revolutionary forces want to renounce the peace with Israel, and while they do not discuss the future of development under such a scenario the natural conclusion would be that development will be postponed indefinitely. Representing this current in political circles is Mohamed Esmat Seif El-Dawla, who has repeatedly said that revising the peace treaty is only a matter of time.

      "This angered the Israelis, and President Morsi’s spokesman Yasser Ali quickly responded that the president’s advisers are expressing their personal opinions and Egypt’s position of upholding the peace treaty has not changed.

      "These contradictory statements in top political circles are the result of contradictions on the ground in Egypt that need to be addressed with determined seriousness, so we can decide our agenda of discussions about Egypt’s national priorities. Today, we want to develop Sinai from corner to corner and for this reason and others we must secure it from corner to corner, whether from a variety of terrorist groups or an attack by Israel.

      "Achieving these goals is not possible without revising the security protocols of the peace treaty to allow Egyptian troops to enter with necessary forces to end the current threat. The problem here is that Israel, and perhaps even the US, must first agree to these revisions. Thus far, they have done so on a temporary basis because of current conditions.

      "This is perhaps the first serious national security issue that President Morsi has to deal with and should rely on his well-known trait of prudence. This position cannot be subject to revolutionary bartering or party manouevring. Perhaps the president should form a group of national security and foreign policy officials to manage the issue and negotiate with foreign parties responsible for implementing the security protocols.
One other matter remains, which the president himself raised, which is the relationship between the peace treaty and the Palestinian cause which is an integral part of the Camp David agreement that is linked to Egypt’s peace with Israel and guarantees the Palestinian people are given their legitimate rights.

      "This is an even more complex issue because so far there has been no specific Egyptian approach in dealing with the issue, and it is unknown if Cairo is willing to exert a special effort to relaunch the peace process after the US elections. Or whether Egypt’s approach is to leave the matter to the key players, the Palestinians and Israelis, to decide.

      "It is a subject that requires a lot of thought and clear direction, because for seven decades this issue has been a priority for Egypt’s national security."
     
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/55214.aspx.

Bibi Calls New Elections: Meet New Boss, Same as Old Boss

    I have decided to have a new kind of post. I have posted articles from other websites as is. Some of them I have left a comment about what I think about the article, or the information that is in the article. I have also posted articles that I have written myself. I was thinking that maybe I should also have posts where I first write my thoughts about the article, and then I would have the article itself with the appropriate information.

   On this post I will talk about an article from a blog that was written by a Zionist. This Zionist writes interesting and informative articles about The Zionist State. On the top of his blog he has the logo: "Promoting Israeli democracy, exposing secrets of the national security state". The name of this Zionist is Richard Silverstein. This particular article was written on October 9, 2012. In it he talks about the mind games that the leaders of The Zionist State are playing.
 
 Here is the article:
 "There’s hardly a better, more cynical analysis of political power relationships than the Who lyric, Won’t Get Fooled Again, which closes with the words: “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” That’s about the size of today’s announcement that Bibi Netanyahu has called new elections for three months from now. Ostensibly, the reason was that none of his coalition partners could agree on how much political patronage money and legal graft they would allot each other (i.e. they couldn’t pass a budget).

 "But Bibi always has his reasons for doing things that aren’t apparent to the naked eye. For certain, there is no real leader of the Opposition, thereby no political threat. That makes this as good a time as any. He may’ve possibly worried that the resolution of Ehud Olmert’s legal woes (by no means a given) would allow him to make a run at the prime ministership under the banner of the Kadima party he once led.

"The biggest gainer from this aside from Netanyahu will be Shelly Yachimovitch’s Labor Party, whose representation should rise dramatically. The only problem is that even an exponential improvement for Labor won’t put a dent in the far right domination of Israeli electoral politics.

" The latest Globes poll says Likud will pick up one seat (to 28), as will Yisrael Beitenu. Kadima will fall from 28 to 4. Its seats will move to Labor, rising from 9 to 18 and TV personality Yair Lapid’s new party, Yesh Atid (“There is a Future”) will garner 11 seats. Ironcially, Lapid’s ostensibly centrist party has no future, as all such celebrity-driven parties have died after one election cycle. Barak’s Independence Party will fall from 5 to 2. It should be said that Israeli election polls are notoriously fickle and changeable. Results on election night could look different. But the overall calculus will not change. A far-right firmly in control of Israel will become even more entrenched.

" As I’ve written here all too often, Israeli party politics are a sham. The Knesset is a showcase for the nitwits and fools of the ultra-nationalist camp. Those in the center or on the left are at most comic jesters who get to comment, as Lear’s Fool, knowingly and ironically on the action. Almost all the business of state is transacted behind closed and not so closed doors, and involve Bibi and a few senior ministers. They make the most critical economic, domestic and foreign policy decisions, which are then dutifully ratified by the Knesset automatons. The über-right has its hands on all the major levers of power. There is no party or person who can gainsay them.

"Unlike in this country, there is no separation of powers, so the Supreme Court cannot apply a meaningful brake to the most outrageous behavior of the other branch (the Knesset and cabinet). If you read the lyrics of that Who song again you’ll see that they apply remarkably well to Israel’s predicament. All of us had such high hopes for a democratic Israel just as the narrator of the song celebrates his “revolution” and “new constitution.” But we’ve all been fooled one too many times. Which leaves anyone who cares about Israel in the direst of straits facing another four years of Bibi at the helm."
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2012/10/09/bibi-calls-new-elections-meet-new-boss-same-as-old-boss/.

Spoils of war: Captured cousin takes FSA closer to Lion's Den

October 7th, 2012 Source: Albawaba Syrian opposition forces have captured Housam al-Assad, the cousin of the embattled President Bashar al-Assad, a senior religious figure has announced. Assad’s cousin was arrest by al-Farouq brigade of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Sheikh Adnan Al Arour, a Sunni Muslim preacher and a major Salafist leader in Syria, announced on his Twitter account Sunday. “Housam al-Assad, the cousin of dog Bashar has been captured by al-Farouq Brigade and brought him in like a pig, so that you know, oh Russia and Iran who the Syrian people are,” Sheikh Arour said. The sheikh has become one of the Syrian uprising’s symbolic figures and a source of motivation for those who aspire for ousting the regime of President Al Assad in Syria. The 73-year-old Aroor fled Syria under the rule of Hafez Al Assad following the 1982 Massacre in his hometown of Hama and settled in Saudi Arabia ever since. Sheikh Aroor is seen by many as a moderate Sunni cleric who supports democratic reforms and who has long stood against the Baathist regime. Meanwhile, on the frontlines Syrian troops shelled areas of Homs city and the Houla region where they clashed with rebels on Saturday, as a monitoring group said rebels seized a village near the Turkish border. Rebels captured Khirbat al-Joz in the northwest province of Idlib near the border after a fierce battle in which 25 troops and three insurgents were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Nearly 80 percent of towns and villages along the Turkish border are outside the control of Damascus, according to the group. AFP correspondent have passed through large swathes of territory in the Idlib and Aleppo provinces of northern Syria that have fallen outside government control, with residents managing their own affairs. Four civilians, including a woman, and six rebels were killed in the Houla region of the central province of Homs in clashes and shelling by regime forces, the Britain-based Observatory said.