"Supporters of Egypt's military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi set fire to a Qatari national flag during a demonstration outside the Qatari embassy in Cairo on November 30, 2013 (AFP Photo/Mahmoud Khaled)" [Source: AFP, "Egypt, Qatar plan reconciliation summit: diplomat" December 24, 2014].
Title: Mona El-Ghobashy on the Egyptian Military's Role in Curtailing Democratization. Source: DU Center for Middle East Studies. Date Published: September 21, 2014. Description:
CMES Director Nader Hashemi sits down with Mona El-Ghobashy, former Assistant Professor at Barnard College, to discuss the role played by Egypt's military in undermining the democratic transition and returning the country to authoritarianism."The Egyptian political arena is distinguished from the Tunisian political arena by one major elephant in the room, and that is a highly politicized military establishment. A military establishment that sees itself not just as the core of the state, but as above the state, and above society. This military establishment doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's a major U.S. ally. It's a major client of the U.S. government and has been since 1979, to the tune of $1.3 billion dollars in military assistance every year. Every military in every country already has a leg up over civilian forces by its control of coercive power, but beyond that, the Egyptian military also has the support of a major world power. That is fundamentally different from the smaller, much less politicized Tunisian military. So, on that front, the Egypitan Muslim Brothers face a much more implacable adversary in the Egyptian military than the Tunisian Islamists." - Mona El-Ghobashy [7:29 - 8:26].
Title: Egyptian Intellectuals Clash over Qatar-Egypt Reconciliation. Source: MEMRI TV. Date Published: December 31, 2014. Description:
Egyptian sociologist Professor Saad Eddin Ibrahim clashed with lawyer Samir Sabri over recent reconciliation between Qatar and Egypt. In a debate aired on the Egyptian Dream TV on December 23, Sabri accused Ibrahim of "affiliating with the U.S.," and in return, Professor Ibrahim accused Sabri of being a liar and of affiliating with Israel."Then the (Qataris) say: "Why should we apologize for those who were killed?" This is unheard of. We should bring the mother of a martyr, who was killed through Qatari financing, and ask her if she agrees with this reconciliation. She has the right to avenge his death. None of us has been wounded - my son hasn't died, and nor has my sister's husband. Nothing has happened to us. But we have seen soldiers killed because of Qatari financing. Qatar is financing Hamas and Sudan, and millions of dollars are flowing from Qatar to finance terrorism against Egypt, against Libya, and against Syria." - Egyptian lawyer Samir Sabri.
