Friday, November 2, 2012

Egypt censors belly-dancing scene in movie

Remember the belly dancer in Egypt who was criticized by Islamists for dancing to a song that mentioned Shia religious figures?

Looks like the Islamists won:
The Culture Ministry confirmed Thursday that it has censored a song in the popular new film 'Abdu Mouta' after Islamist groups filed lawsuits against its producer, claiming the song insulted Islam.

Censorship Director Abdel Sattar Fathy will watch the film to make sure the offending part of the song is cut out artistically, and write a report of it, said the ministry.
Saeed Tawfiq, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Culture, said film producer Ahmed al-Sobky had requested the censorship.

'Abdu Mouta,' which is playing in theaters nationwide, recorded the highest one-day revenue in the history of Egyptian cinema, making LE2.5 million on the first day of Eid al-Adha last Friday.

However, the film has sparked an uproar among the Sufi and Shia communities, as it contains a scene in which a belly dancer dances to a song mentioning the names of Prophet Mohamed's daughter, Fatima, and his grandsons, Hassan and Hussein. All three figures are revered in the Sufi and Shia sects of Islam.

Bahaa Anwar Mohamed, a leader in the Ghad al-Thawra Party and a prominent Shia, said he would file a lawsuit demanding the movie be removed from cinemas completely.
It wasn't the song that was offensive - it was the dancing. But if the song is censored, so is the dancing.


Thursday, November 1, 2012

Egyptian Salafi "vice" squad attempts to cut off man's tongue

We've discussed Saudi Arabia's official religious police before, but in Egypt the unofficial "vice squad" is already out of control. From Al Arabiya:
The 'Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Authority' group , in Egypt's eastern city of Suez has attacked a man for not allowing them to use his private toilet and ordered to cut his brother's tongue for 'cursing' Islam.

Ahmed Gharib, this week told the online newspaper, al-Mowjaz, that the problem started as he was in his shop, in the El-Arbeen area in Suez, when a 'bearded man' rushed inside to use the bathroom.

'I told him that he needs to ask for permission to use the toilet,' said Gharib, 'but he just responded with 'we do not ask for permission,'' he added.

A few minutes later, a group of 30 'bearded' men reportedly came to Gharib's shop and said they wanted to 'discipline him for insulting a religious figure,' reported the newspaper.

'They tied me down and assaulted me,' said Gharib. 'They tried to cut off my hand for reaching for one of them,' he added.

They were unable to cut off his hand, however, as passersby intervened to stop the fight. But Gharib sustained deep cuts.

Gharib's brother, who had reached the shop later, angered with what had happened to his brother insulted the men so the 'Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice' group ordered the cutting of the young man's tongue as they claimed that he cursed Islam.

'They tried to catch him to carry out the order but he managed to escape with the help of neighbors,' said Gharib.

The father of the two men had to report the incident to police after the group refused to leave and remained waiting for the brother outside his home's doorstep.

A political activist, Fawazi Abdul al-Fatah, also confirmed the incident and said that the group remained in search of the young man and members of the neighborhood had to guard the man's house.

The incident is the latest in a series of events where extremist groups, mainly Salafis, have carried out attacks against Egyptian citizens to prevent them from carrying out what they say is the 'vice,' prompting fears among human right activists and liberalists of the deteriorating status of personal freedoms.

In July this year the same group stabbed to death university student Ahmed Hussein Eid for walking alone with his fiancée.

'We see groups of them [Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice commission] roaming the streets of Suez but authorities insist on denying their existence,' said Fatah.


Administrivia/Thursday links

Things remain the same at the Elder compound. No way for me to get to work physically so working from home with the same painfully slow Internet connection on my phone.

While I have seen the AT&T commercials touting how their iPhones allow one to surf and talk at the same time, I really never listened to them. I found it hard to believe that anyone would not be able to do that on a smartphone nowadays. But Verizon's iPhone (provided by my job) indeed cannot do both at once, so when I need to speak on the phone, I lose the Internet, even when using it for W-Fi tethering.

And my T-Mobile Google Nexus Galaxy phone, which I love, is having serious Internet issues so that is not an option for Wi-Fi tethering, at least not now.

When an average web page takes two minutes to load, it means that I simply cannot blog as fast as I normally do. It also means that  I will tend to favor stories that are easy to blog - a minimum of links and photos.

So until my home Internet provider is back online, posting will remain light.

Meanwhile, here are today's links from Ian.

The Islamists' Need to Feel Wronged by Nonie Darwish
"When anyone dares to say jihad means violence, or when violence is committed in the name of Islam, the so-called moderate Muslims are outraged but manage to look the other way. The more some Muslims terrorize, while others stand by in denial, the more they confuse, soften and weaken their victim. While one face of Islam is doing the terror, the other face tells the world, we love peace, so please don't you dare judge us by our terrorists because if you do, we will riot, kill, and burn. Both faces of Islam work together; one cannot survive without the other."

Israel admits to top-secret operation that killed senior Fatah commander in 1988
Special ops mission commander recounts killing terror mastermind Abu Jihad ' with the help of a box of chocolate and a soldier dressed as a woman
"Abu Jihad ('father of the struggle'), whose real name was Khalil al-Wazir, was deemed a security threat. He was the mastermind of the infamous Coastal Road massacre, a 1978 attack on an Israeli bus near Tel Aviv that killed 38 Israelis and wounded another 70. As military commander of Fatah, he unified fragmented factions of the PLO, enabling the movement to better fight Israel in the First Intifada."
"Lev and another soldier who dressed up as a woman pretended they were a vacationing couple. He carried a large box of bonbons, and his other hand was hidden by the box ' except that there weren't any chocolates inside, but rather a gun with a silencer."

Dieudonné's movie 'L'Antisemite' deserves our gratitude
L'Antisemite has torn away the pretextual camouflage. Now it is finally clear: cocktail chitchat against Israel leads directly to cocktail Molotovs against neighborhood synagogues and, most recently, a Jewish school massacre.

Netanyahu, Hollande to visit Toulouse killing site
Leaders to tour school where terrorist shot dead rabbi and three children; victims' relative says he prefers debate over vengeance

Protest planned for Israel Philharmonic concert at Disney Hall

Ireland: It seems we are very selective about what makes us angry in this country
"WELL, that was a very revealing week. Had I called Uganda a "cancer" after the revelations about missing Irish Aid money there, by now, I'd be hanging from my thumbs, while the various press-quangoes consulted Torquemada on how to deal with heretics, and numerous columnists would be sharpening their blades on my ribcage.
Instead, Vincent Browne called Israel a cancer, refused to apologise, and the affair -- such as it was -- was over by the weekend. As far as I can see, neither 'The Irish Times', 'The Sunday Times' nor the 'Sunday Independent' even mentioned the story."

The Alan Dershowitz Syndrome
Prominent Jews like the Harvard lawyer have spent years criticizing Obama. So, why are they endorsing him?

Former Democrats Abroad Israel Chair: Obama Soured U.S.-Israel Relations

MEMRI: Grand Mufti of Lebanon: The Jews Orchestrated 9/11 and Were Behind Anti-Islam Film
Lebanese Priest: "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" Called to Destroy Christianity

BBC Watch: BBC's Jon Donnison continues to airbrush Hamas terrorist activity

CIF Watch: Rachel Shabi has 'fresh hope' that the Jewish state may cease to exist

Morsi removed affirmation of Arab peace plan from U.N. speech
'Morsi's remarks, as prepared for delivery and distributed by the Egyptian mission to the United Nations on Sept. 26, included an endorsement of the Saudi-initiated Arab plan, which would exchange pan-Arab recognition of Israel for Israel's return to the 1967 lines and a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue.
It also included a recommitment to Egypt's prior international agreements, which include the 1979 peace accords with Israel.
Morsi removed these two elements in his spoken remarks, instead endorsing Palestinian statehood without noting whether his vision would accommodate Israel.'

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood says new constitution must be based on Islamic Shariah law

Egyptian night owls decry government efforts to impose curfew
State faces backlash from nocturnal Cairo residents after making move to conserve electricity

Tunisia, a Sad Year Later
A year later, we have no democracy, no trust in elected officials, no improved constitution. Human rights and women's rights are threatened. The economy is tanking.
"Tourism is dwindling. Who wants to vacation among bands of bearded savages raiding embassies, staking their black pirate flag over universities or burning trucks carrying beer? Meanwhile, our government and puppet president watch, without arresting these Salafist extremists."

Norwegian Islamist held for offering to 'protect' Jews with AK-47
Security stepped up at main Oslo Synagogue after comment posted to Facebook

European Jewish Association calls for protection of Ukrainian Jews
Move follows unprecedented electoral gains of anti-Semitic, ultranationalist Svoboda party

Italy, Land of Islam
Education minister Profumo proposed that Islam be taught in public schools alongside Catholicism. Nazification of Israel ruled free speech.
"Meanwhile, the Italian judges are apologetic about hatred. Ucoii, the largest Islamic organization in Italy, published an ad in many mainstream newspapers entitled 'Nazi Bloodshed Yesterday, Israeli Bloodshed Today". An Italian court ruled that the Nazification of Israel came under 'freedom of expression' and was not a case of incitement to hatred."

Thousands of Texas Christians Rally for Israel
Thousands of Christian Zionists came together at a Texas megachurch on Sunday night to rally in support for Israel, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

Victim of Burgas Attack Celebrates 25th Birthday, Looks to Future
The Algemeiner spoke with Daniel on his 25th birthday, an event hosted by the One Heart One Hope Foundation. An especially sweet occasion considering that only a few months earlier he was nearly killed by a terrorist attack on his tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria that killed seven others.

IDF Blog: Infographic: Last week, 32,800 Tons of Goods Entered Gaza

Jewish groups begin Sandy relief efforts
Union of Reform Judaism, Jewish Federations of North America establish aid funds


Anti-Israel "peace" group loves Haaretz, goes beyond "apartheid" slander

Much has already been written about how Gideon Levy's Ha'aretz piece quoting a problematic survey to prove that Israelis support "apartheid."

And much has already been written on how Ha'aretz' belated corrections to its mistakes will never be propagated to the many media outlets that uncritically parroted the original, biased article.

But it is not only the media that embraced this canard. Anti-Israel groups masquerading as "peace" groups have also run with Levy's flawed assumptions, and are even adding to them.

"Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East" is one such group. While they cannot seem to find a way to condemn Hamas rocket fire, incitement against Jews on official PA media or Abbas' refusal to negotiate with Israel, they revel in anything that can make Israel look bad. So this bogus survey is right up their alley.

In their gleeful press release announcing Levy's article, their president says 'The Israeli government, and its supporters in Canada, rile at the term 'Israeli apartheid,' and have even tried to prohibit its public use here in Canada, yet, as this survey reveals, it is unfortunately all too apt.'

CJPME doesn't only parrot Ha'aretz' discredited claims - they exaggerate them. One egregious example:

Forty-seven percent favour the expulsion of Israel's 'Arab' citizens, with only 40 percent opposed.
Really? 47% of Israelis want to expel all Israeli Arabs?

The actual question was:
?''' ''' '''' '' ''''' ''''''', ''''' '''''' ''' '''''' ''''' ''''' '''''''''
"Do you support or oppose transfer, i.e., to move some Israeli Arabs to the Palestinian Authority?"

This is a very poorly worded question, as were many of the survey questions. But it is clear that most Israelis would interpret this in the context of a land swap, where heavily Arab areas bear the Green Line would be swapped with settlement blocs in a peace agreement, obviating the need to physically move people to new homes on either side. (This is especially obvious because the previous question was about Israel keeping the settlement blocs.) The word "transfer" is loaded and had a completely different meaning in the days of the Kach party, but the survey question seems to have purposefully kept it in just so people like Levy could interpret it in the worst way.

But CJPME doesn't care about the subtlety. even though the question explicitly says "some Israel Arabs" they make it sound like a plurality of Israelis want to physically expel all Israeli Arabs.

Because CJPME doesn't care about peace or coexistence. Its website makes it clear that it believes that Israel is uniquely evil and the Arabs are wonderful (their upcoming fundraiser is entitled "Experiencing Arabia" - can you imagine one called "Experiencing Judea"?) This flawed survey and bogus interpretation is right up their alley.

So thanks to Haaretz and Gideon Levy, Israel-haters pretending to be "peace activists" have ammunition that will keep them going for years, the truth be damned.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)