The following is research published today from MEMRI’s Special Dispatch Series and the MEMRI TV Project.
*Special Dispatch Series
Special Dispatch No. 3640—Egypt/Syria/Inter-Arab Relations
Article in Al-Hayat: Buthayna Sha'ban's Criticism of Mubarak's Egypt Is Just as Relevant to Syria
In one of her recent weekly columns, Buthayna Sha'ban, political advisor to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, welcomed the Egyptian uprising, describing it as a momentous event in Arab history. She wrote that Egypt's former president, Hosni Mubarak, had weakened and degraded the Arabs by withdrawing his country from the circle of the conflict with Israel, and had oppressed his people for three decades. Sha'ban also criticized the U.S. and the West, saying that they had refrained from supporting the Egyptian uprising out of concern for Israel's interests, and had thus violated the principles of democracy and freedom that they purport to uphold.
In response to Sha'ban's claims, Islamic researcher 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Khatib published an article in the Saudi daily Al-Hayat, titled "The Ideologue of Syrian Policy," in which he pointed out that Sha'ban's criticism could just as easily be leveled at the Syrian regime.
To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5065.htm.
Special Dispatch No. 3639—South Asia Studies Project/Pakistan/Islamic Reform
Pakistani Commentators Examine the Extremist Religious Mindset in Pakistan After Assassinations of Liberal Politicians over the Blasphemy Laws Controversy
On January 31, 2010, Pakistani religious activists hold mass protests in Islamabad against potential attempts to amend the blasphemy laws of Pakistan (Image courtesy: Roznama Ummat, January 1, 2011)
(Also read – Document: A Guide to the Blasphemy Laws of Pakistan)
Pakistan's federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian minister in the Pakistani cabinet, was killed in the federal capital of Islamabad on March 2 for supporting calls for reforming the blasphemy laws of Pakistan. This was the second assassination of a liberal Pakistani political leader in two months over the controversy surrounding the country's blasphemy laws. On January 4, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was shot dead by his own security guard for urging amendments in the blasphemy laws. Both Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti belonged to the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of Benazir Bhutto, who also was assassinated in December 2007, allegedly by Taliban personnel hired by some elements in the Pakistani intelligence services.
The editorials, article, and blog posting below examine the role of the Pakistani state in strengthening the extremist mindset in Pakistani society. All these opinions here represent a liberal criticism of the extremist mass thinking in Pakistani society.
To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5064.htm.
Special Dispatch No. 3638
Arab Israeli Knesset Member Ibrahim Sarsur: Arabs Must Switch from Defensive to Offensive
In an October 2010 article, Israeli Arab Knesset Member Ibrahim Sarsur, of the Ra'am-Ta'al party, wrote that just as the U.S. had invented the Muslim enemy in order to consolidate its exclusive control over the world, so too did Israel invent enemies and threats in order to justify its oppression of the Arab minority. One such invention, he said, was the demographic threat allegedly posed by the Israeli Arabs to the state of Israel – a lie that he said undermines both the coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel and the peace process with the Palestinians. Sarsur called on the Arabs and Muslims to abandon the defensive position to which the U.S. and Israel had pushed them, and to go on the offensive, in order to end Israel's and America's murderous policy towards the Arab and Muslim world.
The article was published in Al-Mithaq, the newspaper of the Islamic Movement in Israel, as well as on several Israeli Arab and Palestinian websites.
To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5063.htm.
*From the MEMRI TV Project
MEMRI TV Clip No. 2810 - Fatah Spokesman in Europe Jamal Nazzal: PLO Killed More Israeli Soldiers in Lebanon in 1982 than Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hizbullah Killed in 30 Years
Following are excerpts from an interview with Fatah spokesman in Europe Jamal Nazzal, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on January 25, 2011:
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2810.htm.
MEMRI TV Clip No. 2809 - Jordanian Islamist Zaki Bin Rashid Calls for the Assassination of PA President Mahmoud Abbas by Palestinians
Following are excerpts from an interview with Jordanian Islamist Zaki bin Rashid, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on January 24, 2011:
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2809.htm.
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