The first survey conducted in Egypt since the fall of President Mubarak shows that the main priority of most Egyptians is freedom and democracy: they believe economic and social reforms can wait. And the evidence from the polling is..? Asked to rank the priorities of the new Egyptian government, this is what the public wants: 1. Political stability (74% made this their first or second priority out of six) 2. Security of the masses (57%) 3. Economic growth (39%) 4. Generation of employment (16%) 5. Better education (11%) 6. Better healthcare system (3%) It is also clear that Obama and many others in the international community have been quicker in condemning settlement construction in Israel than atrocities by Arab dictators against innocent civilians. Has retired South African judge Richard Goldstone considered the possibility of heading a special commission of inquiry to look into the war crimes that are being perpetrated against Libyans and other Arabs? Settlements may be a problem, but they are not more dangerous than the massacres that are being perpetrated against Arabs. It took President Barack Obama nine days to condemn Col. Muammar Gaddafi's massacres in Libya as ‘outrageous’ and ‘unacceptable.’ It took the UN Security Council more than a The Foreign Secretary William Hague is getting it in the neck for the chaos, and indeed the buck must stop with him. He has, however, reportedly been spending the day passing it to his officials who are said to have been carpeted. Well, Hague can’t totally get away with that: it was he who said,...
Friday, 25th February 2011
A case of wishful thinking?
2:50pm
I was more than a little puzzled to read apress release from YouGov about polling evidence from Egypt conducted by YouGovSiraj, YouGov’s Dubai-based Middle East company, for Al Aan, a pan-Arab satellite broadcaster. The press release says excitedly:
...The double standard
1:45pm
The unmissable Khaled abu Toameh, the Israeli Arab journalist whose record of unflinching truth-telling puts the entire western media to shame, yet again tells it as it is:
...Thursday, 24th February 2011
Carry On Up the Maghreb?
8:28pm
A huge amount of criticism has erupted today over the farcical incompetence of Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office in its efforts to evacuate British nationals stranded in Libya. While these terrified Brits faced marauding mobs and dwindling supplies of food, British embassy officials weren’t even answering their phones; while other countries were busily airlifting their people out in successive plane-loads, the British government was scurrying round trying to find an airline company to replace the flights designated for the rescue mission which had been cancelled.
Saturday, 26 February 2011
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