Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Morsi haunted by remarks about Jews he made in 2010



It seems that the Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi has a new problem now that a video has surfaced of remarks he made in 2010, before he was elected president. In the video he said that the negotiations of the Palestinians with Israel have been a waste of time and will lead nowhere (not a baseless remark as far as I am concerned), but he also called us Jews bloodsuckers and descendants of apes and pigs. The U.S. White House and State Department asked for a clarification. AP reported:
The Obama administration on Tuesday gave a blistering review of remarks that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi made almost three years ago about Jews and called for him to repudiate what it called unacceptable rhetoric.
In blunt comments, the White House and State Department said Morsi's statements were "deeply offensive" and ran counter to the goal of peace in the region. The State Department, noting that a senior congressional delegation is now visiting Egypt, said the remarks complicated efforts to provide economic and military aid to Egypt.
"We believe that President Morsi should make clear that he respects people of all faiths and that this type of rhetoric is unacceptable in a democratic Egypt," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
Morsi was a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood in 2010 when, according to video broadcast last week on Egyptian television he asked Egyptians to "nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred." Months later, in a television interview, Morsi referred to Zionists as bloodsuckers who attack Palestinians, describing Zionists as "the descendants of apes and pigs."
"We completely reject these statements as we do any language that espouses religious hatred," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. "This kind of rhetoric has been used in this region for far too long. It's counter to the goals of peace."
A group of senators, including Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Christopher Coons, D-Del., is currently in Cairo. Nuland said she expected they would make their views known to Egypt's leadership.
For once I'm happy with the U.S. reaction. Morsi - everyone in fact - should know that comments like he made testify of an 8unacceptable and  backward way of thinking (which, by the way, is not common to all  Egyptian Muslim Brothers, nor only to be found in Egypt - unfortunately). 

PS.  I'm not a fan of MEMRI, the agency that unearthed this video. Oh, no. They are an Israeli led organisation whose main job it is to publish as many specimens of  the Jew-hating (or West hating) nature of islamic peoples as possible, so that we understand what a hateful bunch they are. They pose as an unbiased agency, but at the same time zealously scan the most obscure papers and broadcasts in the hope of finding lots of offensive material what they then can present as truly representative of the Islamic world. But as biased as MEMRI is, apperently they sometimes dig up something that really merits to be made known...

1 comment:

Daniella van den Akker said...

"the real tragedy in Egypt is not the affiliation of its ruler but the ruler's inability to manage the country." Elbaradei yesterday.
Its time, he had his chance. De andere video's die nu opduiken die betrekking hebben op zijn reacties op de regering in de periode 2005 toen er ook gebouwen instortten en treinen botsten zullen meer volkswoede teweegbrengen dan uitlatingen van deze video uit 2010 temeer daar deze vlak na de massacre van 2009 in Gaza was! walgelijke video dat wel absoluut. groet Daniella