Anti-Muslim Brotherhood Protests in Egypt: Largest Political Event in World History
The demonstrations that began Sunday in Cairo, Egypt against the Muslim Brotherhood government of President Mohamed Morsi have attracted "millions" of supporters and many counter-demonstrators as well, making the protest the largest political event in the history of the world, according to the BBC.
The protests in Tahrir Square and throughout Egypt exceed those that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 in the key event of the Arab Spring. Two years later, after constitutional reforms and elections that saw Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood move to aggrandize their power, the public backlash is immense.The demonstrations pose a puzzle for President Barack Obama, who was touring South Africa at the other end of the continent when the demonstrations began. In 2011, Obama initially supported Mubarak, then threw his weight behind the protests and reached out to the Muslim Brotherhood on its way to power.
The Obama administration, through Ambassador Anne Patterson, actively discouraged Sunday's protests, as Breitbart News' Kerry Picket reported last week. "Egypt needs stability to get its economic house in order, and more violence on the streets will do little more than add new names to the lists of martyrs," she said.
Delivering an address at the University of Cape Town on Sunday night that was billed as the highlight of his three-nation tour, Obama touted Africa's movement towards democracy but did not mention the Cairo protests, and downplayed the U.S. intervention in Libya and the chaos that followed in its wake.
The Tahrir Square protests in Cairo bear echoes of recent protests in Turkey, as well as the "Cedar Revolution" that took place in Lebanon in 2005, and the "Green Revolution" of Iran in 2009, when citizens took to the streets to protest economic stagnation, religious oppression, and costly foreign entanglements.
Yet if the Cedar Revolution was partly inspired by the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and the Green Revolution was partly inspired both by Iraq and the end of the Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan, the new protests in Cairo and Istanbul seem endogenous, fueled by popular discontent at Islamist rule.
There are counter-demonstrations in Egypt, too, as Muslim Brotherhood activists have been able to mobilize thousands of their own followers in protests of support for Morsi. The Egyptian army, which may hold the balance of power, has yet to intervene--but could do so in an attempt to restore stability.
Catholic Priest Beheaded in Syria by Al-Qaeda-Linked Rebels as Men and Children Take Pictures and Cheer
Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad killed last weekend by jihadi fighters was beheaded, according to a report by Catholic Online which is linking to video purportedly showing the brutal murder.
As TheBlaze reported
last week, Murad, 49, was setting up a monastery in Gassanieh, northern
Syria. Last Sunday, on the Christian leader’s Sabbath, extremist
militants trying to topple President Bashar Assad breached the monastery and grabbed Murad.
While earlier reports suggested Murad
may have been shot to death, Catholic Online reported Saturday: “The
Vatican is confirming the death by beheading of Franciscan Father,
Francois Murad, who was martyred by Syrian jihadists on June 23.”
Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad (Photo courtesy: Syria Report)
The Catholic news service quotes local
sources who report that the radical Al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, or
Al-Nusra Front, was behind the savage killing.
In video posted by Live Leak purporting
to show the execution, dozens of men and boys are seen cheering on as
three men are seated on the ground awaiting their grisly fate.
The men are methodically beheaded one
at a time by men holding what appears to be a simple kitchen knife after
which the heads are placed on top of the bodies.
According to Catholic Online, the first victim was Murad.
A frenzy ensues, with dozens drawing
out their smartphones to capture the bloody scene, as a chorus of Allahu
Akbar (“Allah is the greatest”) are sung with jihadi rapture. Several
observers are seen moving within inches of the bodies in an effort to
capture close-up photos.
Men
are poised with cameras waiting to capture photos of beheading scene in
Syria, as frenzied shouts of Allahu Akbar are heard (Screenshot: Live
Leak)
Catholic Online is raising alarm that western nations are providing support to the rebels who have shown a proclivity toward persecuting Christians:
This should make it clear to Christians around the world what jihadists are about. Make no mistake. Catholics and [other] Christians around the globe are under dire threat, particularly from the spread of militant Islam. Until the threat is recognized and taken seriously, martyrdoms like this will continue.
Vatican Radio reports
that Gassanieh, a village with a majority Christian population, had
been under attack by Islamist fighters for the past few weeks, forcing
most residents to flee for safety.
It quotes Custos of the Holy Land,
Franciscan Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa who says, “Unfortunately Syria
has now become a battleground not only between Syrian forces, but also
between Arab countries and the international community. And those paying
the price are the poor, the young and the Christians. That the
international community must put a stop to all this”.
Pizzaballa told the Vatican News Agency, “The world must know that the support of gunmen by the west is helping extremists in killing Syrians.
“With such stances, not a single Christian will remain in the East,” he added.
Vatican Radio writes, “Fr. Mourad was
just one of the many men and women religious putting their faith on the
front line in Syria, refusing to abandon the communities they serve,
Christian and Muslim. They stay because they want to be a sign of hope,
light and comfort to people in the midst of destruction.”
TheBlaze chose not to post the video purporting to show Father Murad’s murder. It can be viewed here, but please be warned it is extremely graphic and disturbing.
Pelosi: 'Crusade' for National Same-Sex Marriage to Conclude Within Five Years
On NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that she hoped gay marriage would be nationalized within five years. “Well, I would certainly hope so,” she stated. “Course I’ve been in this – shall we say – crusade for a long time. And to see the pace with which it has accelerated in the past few years is very encouraging. Let’s hope it’s even sooner than five years.”
Pelosi attempted to assure religious Americans that their religious practices would not be trampled on a by states and federal governments seeking to push gay marriage. “We’re not talking about saying that religions have to perform wedding ceremonies,” she said. “We’re talking about the state – what the state dos and what the state recognizes. People have a right to believe what they believe. But we are a country that professes not to discriminate and this is a discrimination.” Pelosi was not asked whether non-profit status should be retained for organizations that discriminate on the basis of heterosexual marriage.
Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario