British Egyptians are flying the flag for El-Sisi

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An expatriate voter holds the Egyptian flag. (AN photo)
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Expatriate voters hold the Egyptian flag. (AN photo)
Updated 17 March 2018
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British Egyptians are flying the flag for El-Sisi

LONDON: Sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi outside the Egyptian Embassy in London Friday morning as expatriates turned out to cast their vote in the country’s forthcoming election.
Supporters chanted their backing and tied the national flag to railings outside the embassy in Mayfair as overseas voting got underway at 9 a.m.
“Everyone here supports El-Sisi,” said political activist Sohaib Amr. “But regardless who wins, if you want democracy, it’s important to vote.”
El-Sisi has encouraged Egyptians to go to the polls in the hope of securing a large turnout in the March 26-28 election, which he is widely expected to win. In 2014, the former army chief secured almost 97 percent of the vote, but less than half of the electorate turned out, despite polling hours being extended to a third day. 
Around 10 million Egyptians live abroad, accounting for a significant percentage of the country’s electorate. Of a population estimated at 96 million by the World Bank, 60 million are eligible to vote.
By midday on Friday, more than 200 voters had passed through the door of the Egyptian Embassy in London, where voting will continue throughout the weekend.
“We anticipate a big turnout,” said Mervat Kahlil, leader of an Egyptian electoral group that laid on buses to ferry voters to the polling booths. “We want to encourage the democratic process. You can choose whoever you like but it’s important to vote,” she told Arab News.

Mohammed Kilany, an Egyptian hotelier, made the five-hour drive from South Wales and took two days’ off work to come to London and place his vote. He said it was “important to show support.” “All of the media are now against El-Sisi, but actually all of Egypt wants this to happen… they want peace and stability and they see this in El-Sisi.”
Supporters say El-Sisi is the man to restore order to the country, still reeling from the upheaval of the 2011 Arab Spring. Last month, the army launched a major assault in Sinai, a stronghold for Daesh militants since their defeat in Syria and Iraq.
“The most important thing is to make the country safe and secure, and he’s achieving that. He’s done a lot for Egypt over the last four years,” said Ahmed Hady, an Egyptian who has lived in the UK for 44 years. “Any other government would have taken two or three times as long to achieve what he has done.”
Munira Namsha and her husband Dr. Sala Samra both voiced support for the incumbent. “I hope that President El-Sisi will win; I’m sure he will. Most of Egypt is 100 percent behind him, he is the one to bring the country out of this mad economic situation and fight terrorists,” she said.
The race has been whittled down to two runners, with Musa Mustafa Musa, chairman of the liberal El-Ghad party, El-Sisi’s only rival.
Musa who entered the race at the last-minute in January, was previously a vocal advocate for his electoral opponent. Last year he launched a campaign called “Supporters of President El-Sisi’s nomination for a second term.” 
El-Sisi supporters outside the embassy dismissed opposition accusations that Musa is a token candidate put forward by the government in an attempt to legitimizie the election, and said the president will win because he has the support of “all Egyptians.”
“I’m sure that El-Sisi will win, he’s the only one we can trust. I don’t think the opposition matters at all,” Dr. Samra said.
Several potential candidates were arrested or dropped out earlier in the contest, prompting opposition figures to call for a boycott of the polls. In January, president El-Sisi issued a warning, telling critics: “Whoever wants to mess with Egypt and ruin it, has to do away with me first.”
Referencing the mass protests that unseated former president Hosni Mubarak during the 2011 Arab Spring, he said: “Be warned. What happened seven or eight years ago, will not happen again in Egypt… What didn’t work then, will not work now.”
The UN has raised concerns over the “climate of intimidation” in the run-up to the election, citing arrests, torture of detainees and media silencing. UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein said in a report that said “potential candidates have allegedly been pressured to withdraw.”


German parliament passes controversial antisemitism text

Updated 7 sec ago
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German parliament passes controversial antisemitism text

BERLIN: The German parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly backed a resolution aimed at tackling a spike in anti-Semitism linked to the war in Gaza.
However, critics of the resolution — including voices from the Jewish community — say it could restrict artistic and academic freedom.
The text calls for a ban on public funding for any group “that spreads anti-Semitism, calls into question Israel’s right to exist or calls for a boycott of Israel.”
In cases of anti-Semitic acts in schools and universities, it calls for those responsible to be excluded from classes or even expelled.
The resolution was proposed and supported by MPs from the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the conservative CDU-CSU, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
About 100 Jewish artists and intellectuals living in Germany said in a statement that the resolution would “weaken, rather than strengthen, the diversity of Jewish life in Germany by associating all Jews with the actions of the Israeli government.”
The general secretary of Amnesty International’s Germany chapter, Julia Duchrow, said that while Amnesty “explicitly welcomes the goal of adopting measures to fight anti-Semitism... the resolution adopted today not only fails to achieve this, it could lead to serious violations of basic human rights and legal uncertainty.”
“This resolution leaves space for abuse, criminalizes legitimate criticism of Israeli government policy and serves the racist narrative of ‘imported anti-Semitism’,” she said.
In an open letter in October 2023, Amnesty and 103 other civil society organizations had warned against conflating anti-Semitism and criticism of the policies of the Israeli government.
“Branding legitimate criticism of Israel’s human right record as anti-Semitic also undermines the fight against genuine anti-Semitism,” they pointed out.
While also mentioning anti-Semitism from the far right and far left, the German parliament’s resolution says that “in recent months the alarming extent of anti-Semitism based on immigration from North Africa and the Middle East has become clear.”
This accusation against immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East — who could be Christian, Jewish or Muslim and might either support or oppose the policies of the Israeli government — was criticized by some in the Greens.
But it was backed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), whose MPs also voted for the text.
AfD lawmaker Juergen Braun called “mass immigration... the central problem endangering Jewish life in Germany.”
The far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) was the only party to vote against the resolution, with the other far-left Die Linke party abstaining.

Arab American US election successes marred by claims of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias

Updated 22 min 49 sec ago
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Arab American US election successes marred by claims of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias

  • Several Arab Americans candidates were reelected despite growing concerns about anti-Arab sentiment amid ongoing wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran
  • Syrian American candidate for Illinois House of Representatives says she was targeted by anonymous Islamophobic and anti-Arab attacks during campaign

CHICAGO: Alongside Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the US presidential election on Tuesday, and amid ongoing tensions in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, several Arab American incumbents won reelection to their offices at state and congressional levels, some of them unchallenged.

Four Arab American members of Congress will return to the Capitol to represent their districts in California, Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan, while five were reelected to State House seats in Illinois, Michigan, Colorado and Iowa.

In some places, however, there were allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment as opponents sought to capitalize on voter concerns about terrorism and foreign conflicts.

Suzanne Akhras, a Syrian American Democrat who lost to Republican incumbent Nicole La Ha in the race to represent the 82nd District in the Illinois House of Representatives, said she was targeted by anonymous text messages and phone calls falsely linking her to Islamic terrorism, including claims of ties to Hamas.

“These calls and texts tried to portray me as a danger to the community I love,” she said in a campaign video message to voters in September. “I have lived in Burr Ridge for nearly 20 years. I have been a PTA parent. I have spent my life advocating for vulnerable people and being of service. I founded a very successful non-profit organization.

"I am a proud American. I cherish our shared values of freedom; freedom to express our diverse faiths and freedom to celebrate the diversity of our backgrounds and cultures. Those freedoms I hold dear are under attack in our district. These attacks against me are based on racism, Islamophobia and are xenophobic.”

Akhras, who said she has been recognized as an “upstander” by the Illinois Holocaust Museum for confronting hate speech and crime, said the “disturbing calls and text messages” began shortly after she began campaigning door-to-door. She criticized the Republican Party in the state for failing to denounce the attacks, and accused La Ha of running an “abhorrent and dangerous, xenophobic” smear campaign.

Akhras, who wears a hijab and whose husband, Dr. Zaher Sahloul, helps provide humanitarian medical services to refugees and displaced people in conflict zones, including Gaza, also said that despite winning the Democratic primary in March, she received no support from the Illinois Democratic Party.

Elsewhere, Darrell Issa, who is of Syrian-Lebanese heritage, was reelected to Congress as the representative for California’s 48th district, defeating Democrat Stephen Houlahan with 60.2 percent of the vote.

In Minnesota, Democrat Ilhan Omar, who is of Somali descent, was reelected as the member of the House of Representatives for the 5th District with 75 percent of the vote, easily defeating her Republican rival, Arab American Dalia Al-Aqidi.

Democrat Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian American , defeated Republican James Hopper with 69.7 percent of the vote in Michigan’s 12th Congressional District. Republican Darin LaHood, who is of Lebanese heritage, ran unopposed in Illinois’ 16th District.

Two Arab American members of Congress, Democrat Anna Eshoo from California and Republican Garret Graves from Louisiana, did not seek reelection.

At the state level, Democrat Nabeela Syed, who is of Indian heritage, secured a second term in the State House as the representative for the 51st District with 55 percent of the vote, ahead of Republican rival Tosi Ufodike.

In Michigan’s 3rd District, Democrat Alabas Farhat defeated Republican Richard Zeile with 67.9 percent of the vote. Democrat Iman Jodeh was reelected in Colorado’s 41st District, gaining 61 percent of the vote against Republican Robert McKenna.

Palestinian American Abdelnasser Rashid and Syrian American Sami Scheetz, both Democrats, retained their seats without a challenge in Illinois’ 21st District and Iowa’s 78th District respectively.


US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal — official

Updated 07 November 2024
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US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal — official

  • Prosecution can appeal decision but it was not immediately clear if they would do so
  • Agreements triggered anger among some relatives of victims of the 2001 attacks

WASHINGTON: A US military judge has reinstated plea agreements for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants, an official said Thursday, three months after the deals were scrapped by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The agreements — which are understood to take the death penalty off the table — had triggered anger among some relatives of victims of the 2001 attacks, and Austin said that both they and the American public deserved to see the defendants stand trial.
“I can confirm that the military judge has ruled that the pretrial agreements for the three accused are valid and enforceable,” the US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The prosecution has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so.
The plea deals with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices were announced in late July in a step that appeared to have moved their long-running cases toward resolution after years of being bogged down in pre-trial maneuverings while the defendants remained held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.
But Austin withdrew the agreements two days after they were announced, saying the decision should rest with him given its significance.
He subsequently told journalists that “the families of the victims, our service members and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out in this case.”
Much of the legal jousting surrounding the men’s cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone methodical torture at the hands of the CIA in the years after 9/11 — a thorny issue that the plea agreements would have avoided.


US military ready to carry out lawful orders of next administration, Pentagon chief says

Updated 07 November 2024
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US military ready to carry out lawful orders of next administration, Pentagon chief says

  • “The US military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena;,” Austin wrote

WASHINGTON: US Défense Secretary Lloyd Austin told troops that the Pentagon was committed to an orderly transition to the incoming administration of Donald Trump, adding that the military would not get involved in politics and was ready to carry out “all lawful orders.”
“The US military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena; to stand guard over our republic with principle and professionalism; and to stand together with the valued allies and partners who deepen our security,” Austin wrote in a memo to troops that was sent out on Wednesday night.


Germany arrests a US citizen over accusations of spying for China

Updated 07 November 2024
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Germany arrests a US citizen over accusations of spying for China

  • The suspect, who was only identified as Martin D., was arrested in Frankfurt
  • His home was being searched

BERLIN: Germany’s federal prosecutor office said it arrested an American citizen on Thursday who allegedly spied for China.
The office said that the suspect, who was only identified as Martin D., was arrested in Frankfurt and that his home was being searched.
The accused, who until recently worked for the US Armed Forces in Germany, is strongly suspected of having agreed to act as an intelligence agent for a foreign secret service.
Earlier this year, he contacted Chinese government agencies and offered to transmit sensitive information from the US military to a Chinese intelligence service, according to an investigation by Germany’s domestic intelligence service.
He had obtained the information in question in the course of his work in the US army, the prosecutor’s statement said, without giving any further information.