Russia will back Egyptian efforts to end Israeli aggression: Putin

PressTV

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country will back Egyptian efforts to put an end to the Israeli aggression in the besieged Gaza Strip.

In a telephone conversation with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Friday, Putin said Russia planned to support Cairo's efforts directed at normalizing the situation in the Palestinian territory, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The remarks come after Egypt’s Prime Minister Hisham Qandil visited the Gaza Strip on Friday, where he urged the world leaders to stop Tel Aviv’s attacks.

Qandil promised to intensify Egypt’s efforts to “stop this aggression and achieve a lasting truce."

On Thursday, President Morsi also condemned the Israeli aggression as "unacceptable" and warned it could lead to instability in the region.

Some 25 people have been killed and more than 250 others injured in the new wave of attacks since November 14.

The Israeli regime frequently carries out airstrikes and other attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying the acts of aggression are being conducted for defensive purposes. However, in violation of international law, disproportionate force is always used and civilians are often killed or injured.

Egyptian police accused of killing protesters get light sentences

PressTV

A Cairo court has given suspended one-year sentences to 11 policemen accused of killing protesters during last year’s uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

The policemen were accused of killing 22 protesters and injuring 44 others outside a police station in Cairo's Hadaeq al-Qobba neighborhood in one of the deadliest days of the protests on January 28, 2011.

The policemen were guilty of using live ammunition in violation of orders, the court ruling said, adding that “the right of self-defense here is legitimate, but the defendants exceeded that right.”

The ruling, carried by the official news agency MENA, said the people outside the police station were genuine protesters, but they were later infiltrated by a “misled minority” that attacked the police.

The sentence means the policemen will not face prison time.

Families of the dead protesters gathered outside the court and chanted "Death to the murderers!"

Since the ouster of Mubarak last February and coming to power of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, dozens more people have been killed.

Protesters have regularly taken to the streets to denounce the ruling military, accusing it of stifling dissent, stalling on reforms and of human rights violations.

Egypt names Americans charged in NGO probe; Sam LaHood among those facing criminal charges

Washington Post
Ernesto Londoño
William Wan

CAIRO — Egyptian authorities have charged the Egypt country directors of the International Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute in an investigation into the financing of pro-democracy organizations, state media reported Monday.

IRI’s Sam LaHood, the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, was the first of 43 names published Monday afternoon on the Arabic-language Web site by state-owned newspaper al-Ahram. Several other American and Egyptian IRI employees are also being charged.

National Democratic Institute Egypt head Julie Hughes is also on the list, along with more than a dozen colleagues of various nationalities. Also charged is Patrick Butler of the International Center for Journalists. 

The list published Monday names 14 of the individuals charged in the probe as “fugitives,” suggesting several managed to leave Egypt before the government imposed a travel ban on those under investigation.

They are charged with spending money from organizations that were operating in Egypt without a license.

Egyptian authorities had announced Sunday that they intended to prosecute 19 Americans as part of their investigation and the development added pressure to an already strained relationship between Egypt’s ruling generals and the Obama administration.

U.S. officials have sternly warned Cairo in recent days that the roughly $1.5 billion in aid earmarked for Egypt this year could be withheld if the politically charged investigation isn’t resolved quickly. But the tone of Sunday’s announcement suggested the Egyptian government is doubling down on what has become a high-stakes diplomatic dispute.

Israeli diplomats fly home after angry mob sacks embassy in Egypt

Egypt is on high alert, after a night of riots in Cairo left at least three people dead, and more than a thousand injured. A demonstration for reform in the country quickly turned violent, as protesters vented their anger against the Israeli embassy. An raging mob stormed the building, with police slow to react. Eventually they did manage to push the rioters back with force.

Gilad Atzmon: Global Intifada

Gilad Atzmon

Haaretz reported today that  “Israel urges the world to curb criticism of Egypt's Mubarak.”

Apparently Jerusalem seeks to convince its allies that it is in the ‘West's interest’ to maintain the stability of the Egyptian regime. In other words, Israel urges the ‘Goyim’ to ‘keep being subservient to Jerusalem’. Jerusalem was  foolish enough to admit that Mubarak was there to serve Israeli and ‘Western’ interests.

Over the weekend Israel called on the United States and a number of European countries to restrain their condemnation of President Hosni Mubarak to “preserve stability in the region.”

Let’s all be clear about it : as far as Israelis are concerned, ‘stability in the region’ means a few million Jews living in ‘safety’ on Palestinian land, at the expense of one billion Muslims. But I guess that this Zionist militant expansionist fantasy is crumbling in front of our eyes now.

Apparently the Israelis detect some confusion within Western capitals : "The Americans and the Europeans are being pulled along by public opinion and aren't considering their genuine interests," one senior Israeli official said. The Israeli official was kind enough to suggest to Europeans and Americans what their ‘genuine interests’ are. Seemingly, the Israeli always know better.

The Israeli official was also clever enough to envisage a tidal wave of mistrust between the West and its Middle Eastern puppet regimes. "Even if they (the Westerners)  are critical of Mubarak, they have to make their friends  (the puppets) feel that they're not alone. Jordan and Saudi Arabia see the reactions in the West, how everyone is abandoning Mubarak, and this will have very serious implications,"

The senior official is obviously correct -- We are indeed, entering a new era : Corrupted regimes in the Middle East are about to crumble, one after the other, as people all across the region rise up. Those in the West who were stupid enough to dismiss the Palestinian Intifada are now waking up to the reality of  a regional Intifada. And the collapse of American puppet regimes in the region could dramatically affect global economies and energy prices,  bringing Europe and America to their knees.

For years I have been arguing that Palestinians are at the forefront of the battle for humanity; alone,  they faced Zionist evil.  However, the time has changed, and  it isn’t just Gaza or the West Bank anymore -- Today it is Cairo and Amman, and tomorrow, as energy prices sore beyond affordability, it could well be any Western capital.

We are all Palestinians, because we share the same enemy.  We are all tired of Zionist driven expansionist wars. We don’t want ‘Israeli officials’ to preach to us about Western interests. We don’t want to see our elected politicians dancing to the Jewish Lobby’s irritating tune. It is time to emancipate humanity from the Zionist grip.