- Joined
- Feb 2, 2008
- Messages
- 3,059
This is manufactured outrage- it would be interesting to know who is behind it. While the President of Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood are expressing support for the embassy staff in English- they are saying something different in Arabic:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...65ce7e-fd9b-11e1-a31e-804fccb658f9_story.html
It seems to me that we constantly are rediscovering why the MidEast's history is primarily one of strong man governments rather than democracies. BBC had an interesting little snippet of analysis on that subject
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19584734
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...65ce7e-fd9b-11e1-a31e-804fccb658f9_story.html
In a measure of the tension between American diplomats in Egypt and their host government, a minor tempest broke out Thursday on Twitter between representatives of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood and the official U.S. Embassy feed.
The English-language Muslim Brotherhood Twitter account posted a message of support for the U.S. Embassy staff, saying that the group was “relieved” that no staff members were harmed and that it hoped relations between the countries would be maintained through the “turbulence of Tuesday’s events.”
In response, the U.S. Embassy Twitter feed, which is maintained by several embassy public affairs officials, said, “Thanks. By the way, have you checked out your own Arabic feeds? I hope you know we read those too.” It was an apparent reference to the Muslim Brotherhood calls for further protests.
It seems to me that we constantly are rediscovering why the MidEast's history is primarily one of strong man governments rather than democracies. BBC had an interesting little snippet of analysis on that subject
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19584734
AnalysisThe demonstrations, and violence, which have spread through the Middle East and North Africa are a reminder that, in this part of the world, religion and politics are often the same thing. Religion defines lives and is part of people's identities in a way that secular Europeans forgot long ago.
It is a big part of the political transformation that has been happening since the Arab uprisings started last year. In the old Middle East, there used to be protests against the United States and its Western allies when they were perceived to be attacking Islam - everything from insulting the Prophet Muhammad to invading or bombing.
The authoritarian rulers of police states who depended on western support always kept them in check. But now the old red lines have gone