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Israel-Egypt peace appears to be nearing its end
By Ryan Jones
Egypt's new dominant political force, the Muslim Brotherhood, vowed this week to increase Cairo's hostility toward Israel and possibly even cancel the Camp David Accords.
This was contrary to all the grand statements by Egyptian, Israeli and Western diplomats that the Camp David Accords were in no danger, but comes as absolutely no surprise to observers viewing the situation through the lens of reality.
In an interview with the Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat published on Sunday, Muslim Brotherhood deputy leader Dr. Rashad Bayoumi insisted that his group will never recognize Israel or its right to exist "under any circumstance."
When reminded that the Camp David Accords obligate Egypt's government to recognize and have peaceful relations with Israel, Bayoumi said he doesn't care.
"This is not an option, whatever the circumstances, we do not recognize Israel at all," said Bayoumi, adding, "The Brotherhood respects international conventions, but we will take legal action against the peace treaty with the Zionist entity."
Bayoumi's remarks followed the first two rounds of voting in Egypt's first parliamentary election since the fall of former dictator Hosni Mubarak. The Muslim Brotherhood is on track to control 40 percent of the parliament by the time the third round of voting is completed this week. Allied Islamist party al-Nour will come in second place by winning around 30 percent of the vote.
Western leaders have tried to downplay the fact that Egypt's next government will be controlled by Islamist parties with ties to Hamas and other terror groups. But for anyone listening to Egypt's new leaders themselves, it is clear that Egypt is going in the direction of Iran and that the days of the Camp David Accords are numbered.
Another lie making the media rounds is that Egypt's revolution and even the rise of the Islamists is good for the country's 8-10 million Coptic Christians. Bolstering this fallacy was a photo showing a handful of Coptic Christians forming a protective ring around praying Muslims during the first anti-government demonstrations early last year (seen above). Over the past week, that photo has placed highly on various polls for the best news photos of 2011, and perpetuated the myth that Egypt's revolution was a united Christian-Muslim effort, or rather, that it was not about religion at all.
But since that photo was taken, the rising Islamic tide in Egypt has claimed many Christian lives, and Coptic leaders have complained that the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists are leaving them out of crucial decision-making processes that will determine the future of Egypt.
In a recent act of Muslim-on-Christian violence in Egypt, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that a number of Coptic homes were burned near the central Egypt city of Asyut by Muslim mobs angered by a local Christian boy sharing a critical drawing of the Prophet Mohammed on his Facebook account.
Police stopped the mob from completely destroying the boy's house, so they simply moved on to the next village and attacked the homes of two Christian families that had nothing to do with the drawing or its dissemination over the Internet.
At any rate, had the mob not taken care of the boy and his family, the new Egyptian courts would have. In October, an Egyptian court sentenced a young Christian man to three years in prison for posting opinions deemed offensive to Islam and Mohammed on his Facebook account.
By all accounts, Israel will soon have a second Islamic Republic to deal with, this time on its very doorstep. And it will be heavily armed with the best American weapons.
Original Article
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