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Egypt's Palestine Policy: Will Mursi Policy Fail Egyptian Aspirations?
-By DR. ABDUL RUFF
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Dr. Abdul Ruff, Specialist on State Terrorism;Chancellor-Founder of Centor for International Affairs(CIA); Independent Analyst;Chronicler of Foreign occupations & Freedom movements(Palestine,Kashmir, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Xinjiang, Chechnya, etc.) Former university Teacher; website: abdulruff.wordpress.com/ abdulruff_jnu@yahoo.com.
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When a leader knows that the people love, trust and support him, and when he is committed to nation by undertaking all possible measures to promote genuine interests of people – the nation wins!
On the other hand, if the leader elected by the people betrays the very people, the nation fails and falls apart. History remains a mute spectator!
The new face of Egypt could be a fen example for that as it now showcases the sincerity of the new Brotherhood leadership. The leader is concerned about people, their welfare in a peaceful atmosphere.
Newly popularly elected president of Egypt, Mohamed Mursi, inspired by Turkish Islamist Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has embarked upon a grand program for the nation and his removal of top army leaders indicates his sincere intent to serve the nation and people.
When Mursi assumed power after popular vote, many foreign observers believed that he would have to follow the dictates of the strong military establishment and its supreme council but the reshuffle in the army indicates that the President has full faith that the Egyptian people were fully behind him and any attempt by the army to counter his actions would be defeated with masses backing like the al-Tahrir square protests that forced Mubarak to resign.
During his short tenure, Mursi has already met a number of world leaders and dealt ticklish issues pragmatically. Mursi is trying strike an aid deal from IMF to revive a strained economy. The steps so far taken by President Mursi indicate that a democratic revolution is unfolding in Egypt.
International observers feel that military domination has ended in Egypt for good and political leadership has gained a useful upper hand.
They now would be keenly watching the evolving situation for the next few months.
President Mohamed Mursi hopes to pursue a “balanced” foreign policy, stating that “International relations between all states are open and the basis for all relations is balance. We are not against anyone but we are for achieving our interests.
In an extensive interview with Reuters, Egypt’s President explained how he sees Egypt’s place in the changing Middle East. “Egypt is now a civilian state…a national, democratic, constitutional, modern state….Egypt is practicing its very normal role on its soil and does not threaten anyone and there should not be any kind of international or regional concerns at all from the presence of Egyptian security forces.”
Though opposed to Zionist occupation and crimes in Palestine, Mursi even stated that Egypt will honor its peace treaty with Israel - an assurance Israel badly needs in light of the build up of Egyptian military in the Sinai following a Hamas attack on Egyptian soldiers. He said that the campaign is operating with “full respect to international treaties.” Part of the 1979 treaty between Egypt and Israel limits Egyptian military presence in the Sinai, but the pro-Palestine forces that attacked the border post were looping through the Sinai to attack Israel from outside the Gaza Strip.
Egypt’s crackdown on Egyptians, both Islamists and others, benefits Israel. Israeli officials have voiced many of the same concerns American conservatives have about an Egyptian president and parliament associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. But Mursi is proving hard to predict or pigeonhole.
Israel fear he would be supportive of Hamas in the Gaza, since Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, but Mursi ordered the smuggling tunnels into Gaza from Egypt sealed by bulldozers. In the past, when Egypt did anything about the tunnels, it barely amounted to saying “don’t use these,” with a slap on the wrist.
Though Egypt’s transition from the Mubarak regime is hardly complete, but it more stable than Tunisia and Libya. Mursi is the only Middle Eastern leader who can speak to and for the rebels in Syria from a position of experience. He opposes any military intervention in Syria from any source.
Mursi told the Reuters reporter, “We see that all the countries in the region need stability and peaceful co-existence with each other. This cannot be achieved with wars but through political work and special relations between the countries of the region.” Mursi has also called for meetings with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran to discuss a resolution in Syria. “Now is the time to stop this bloodshed and for the Syrian people to regain their full rights and for this regime that kills its people to disappear from the scene. There is no room to talk about reform, but the discussion is about change.” Mursi called for “the friends of the Syrian people in China and Russia and other states” to back the aspirations of the Syrian people. Mursi adds a new dimension to discussions with the al Assad regime.
Last week, Mursi was in Tehran to attend a summit of the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement. It was the first time an Egyptian leader has visited Iran since the revolution in 1979. Mursi would not be drawn into any statements concerning restoration of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran or any assessment of the tensions over Iran’s nuclear program. Instead,
Seeking US aids and IMF loans, Mursi is expected to visit the USA in September. Asked about our upcoming election, Mursi stated that he believes that the United States is a “stable institution” and Egypt doesn’t work with the USA in terms of personalities.
One of the missions of the Muslim Brotherhood is the creation of Islamic states, but Mursi said that the nature of Egypt, the framework of the new constitution, would be up to the people of Egypt, and not to him or his political party. The new constitution is being drafted by an assembly and then will be presented to the Egyptian people in a referendum.
Israel, after lying low for some time upon the Arab Spring and its effects, is back in its coercive tactics to bully new Egyptian government and get what it wants. In doing so, Tel-Aviv terror strategists closely follow the tactics of Washington.
In an effort to accommodate the Zionist concerns, Egypt has apparently responded positively to as it inserted battle tanks into the Sinai Peninsula as part of its anti-terror sweep by replacing them with lighter armored personnel carriers. The official Egyptian explanation is that the lighter vehicles are more appropriate to the “new phase” of operations. There is however no direct confirmation that the Israeli concerns were part of the decision to deploy the replacement vehicles.
The 1979 treaty between Egypt and Israel requires Israel to sign-off on any changes in troops or weapons. Concerns were flamed by calls that began during the unrest that ultimately deposed Hosni Mubarak for the treaty to be either re-negotiated or abrogated altogether.
When the tanks were deployed after an August 5th terrorist attack that left 16 Egyptian border policemen dead, many expressed concern that the pact would be tested, arguably the first time to this degree since it went into effect.
Background of Mursi does not indicate he could betray the Palestinians or become a pro-Zionism leader or pro-imperialist or pro-US. Mursi was born in the Nile Delta in a small village. After receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Cairo University, he attended the University of Southern California where he received his Ph.D. in engineering in 1982. He taught at Cal State Northridge until 1985 when he returned to Egypt to teach at Zagazig University. Mursi lived in America during two unusual periods in its history, the Carter and Reagan administrations. Carter’s was marred by the OPEC oil embargo and the seizure of our embassy personnel in Iran, but characterized by Jimmy Carter’s seemingly dedication to human rights in all situations. Reagan’s was filled with belligerence toward the then “evil empire” of the Soviet Union, unbridled spending and two major scandals – the Iran-Contra mess and the collapse of the savings and loan industry.
For Mursi America and its systems are not ideal for the promotion of human dignity or global survival. Fake national prestige seeking is not good for nay nation. Mursi could see the basic dichotomy of America, the internal conflict between desiring peace and advocating war, between honoring human rights and ignoring human rights in our allies. Mursi came away from his time in America hating the western lifestyles and non-Islamic values, or lack thereof, maybe he came away from America understanding the difficulties of governing and leading a diverse nation filled with people who share very little in terms of ideologies and values.
Notes
Israel and the fascist ideology its Zionists pursue very religiously as the “gods special representatives” on earth, can never be a friend of Muslim nations, including the haplessly divided Arabs, unless, of course, the their promoters in USA and Europe put their dirty feet down and deal with Israel firmly. And unless the Israel state criminals are punished for heir crimes against humanity, there is no hope that Jews will ever change their fascist mindset or surrender full sovereignty to the besieged Palestinians. . .
And Israel cannot be a genuine friend or ally of Egypt either. It wants to maintain the terror blockades and terrorize the Palestinians with holocaust attempts by regular genocides. .
President Mursi should not fall into trap of US-Israel terror twins. Now USA has terrorized the globe, making the humanity suffer even more. Later, he could hopelessly repent for any mistakes he commits now against Palestine interests.
America is not a role model for Egypt its secretive, terrocratic system is not good for any nation in the third world, including Egypt. In the name of aid and loan, Mursi will not mortgage the sovereignty of his nation to USA or NATO terror syndicates.
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