Arab Spring Winter
• When you see headlines like this, you know the Muslim Brotherhood’s facing curtains for certain:
• The Egyptian army’s really going to war on Rafah’s smuggling tunnels — YNet says 40 have been destroyed in recent days. Elder of Ziyon rounds up Egypt’s backlash at Hamas. More at AP.
• The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen was injured in Egypt. More on this at the Daily Telegraph. See related video.
• Maan News: Hundreds of Palestinian pilgrims are stranded in Saudi Arabia because of Egyptian unrest.
• An Egyptian paper published excerpts of Mohammed Morsi’s conversation with General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi shortly before the president’s ouster. Morsi tried to cut a deal allowing himself and family to leave the country. YNet writes:
Al-Sisi added, “I’ll be honest with you – we have enough proof against you and many other government officials to convict you of compromising national defense.”
Following that remark, Morsi asked to place some calls and consult on the issue, but al-Sisi said he was only allowed to speak with family members, adding “You are under house arrest as of this moment.”
• Islamists in Alexandria were caught on video chucking youths off a roof during demonstrations.
• London’s Sunday Times looks at the possible charges Mohammed Morsi could face in a trial:
The most serious charges being considered relate to 100 protesters, who died in a series of demonstrations during his volatile period in office.
Other possible charges against him include “insulting” the judiciary. He could also be accused of “conspiring with foreign elements” — namely the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah — over his escape from prison during the final days of the rule of his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak . . .
• For commentary/analysis of the Egyptian situation, see Michael Weiss, Mark Steyn, Jeffrey Goldberg, and the NY Times.
• Cracking down on free speech, Jordan shut down 254 “news” web sites that didn’t have licenses. And you thought that the debate over Glenn Greenwald’s journalism was hairy . . .
One of the sites blocked in the past two days is 7iber, Arabic for “ink”.
Its editor, Lina Ejeilat, told AFP 7iber was an interactive website that published reports and features from contributors, and said it should not be covered by the legialation.
“We are a blog and definitely not a news website,” she said.
Rest O’ the Roundup
• After years of legal wrangling, Britain finally deported Abu Qatada to Jordan. The 53 year-old preacher, born and raised in Bethlehem, faces terror charges in Jordan. According to the Daily Telegraph:
Britain was finally able to expel the father-of-five after the two governments last month formally approved a treaty guaranteeing that evidence obtained by torture would not be used against him in any retrial.
Home Secretary Theresa May said his departure proved that the government’s efforts to deport him had been worth the £1.7 million ($2.7 million, two million euros) legal bill and would be “welcomed by the British public.”
Jordanian prosecutors filed charges against Qatada for “conspiring to carry out attacks on Americans, Israelis and other Western targets,” and began questioning him soon after his arrival.
• Rod Liddle on the BBC’s reaction to the Prebble Report, which found liberal bias at the Beeb: BBC bias is today’s news, not a history special.
This is the thing with BBC executives — they always admit to bias in the past and stoutly deny that it still happens.
(Image of Egyptian leaders via YouTube/euronewsfr, Abu Qatada via YouTube/Julia Souza)
For more, see Thursday’s Israel Daily News Stream.
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