Dispatches from Cairo #4: Islamist Protests and Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman

This is the fourth installment of my Dispatches From Cairo series in The Daily Organ. 

The protests that continue to flare up around the capital are not solely the handiwork of left-leaning secularists. Protesting has become the weapon of choice for any group with something to say, and after 30 years of not being able to say anything, people have a lot of bottled up anger to express.

Why Britain Should Vote “Yes” to Palestinian Statehood

A version of this article is posted on The Daily Organ.

As the U.N. Security Council’s vote on Palestinian statehood approaches, Britain, along with the rest of Europe, is keeping silent about which way it will vote, “in order to exert as much pressure on both sides to return to negotiations” according to Foreign Secretary William Hague. This statement is misleading, phrased as though responsibility for the failure of negotiations rested equally on both parties.

‘More Democracy, More Openness’: Norway’s Lesson

This article was published recently on both the MidEastPosts and MasterPeace blogs.

The “madman or terrorist” debate raging over the appropriate reaction to Anders Behring Breivik is dangerously obtuse. Simon Jenkin’s assertion in the Guardian’s Comment is free ‘that [because] he does something terrible does not make him a terrorist’ is nonsensical. The very definition of a terrorist is someone who uses violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. By any interpretation of his actions Breivik fits this description. While his mental health is something for medical experts to speculate on, he did not act in vacuum free from outside influences, and he had clearly stated political aims. His targets were both directly connected with Prime Minister Jens Stolenberg’s Labour Party, and his avowed purpose was to protest against the government’s stance on the perceived threat of Islam and it’s “loose” stance on immigration.