Book of the Month

Shuts and Failures

by Michael Maiello

Egypt, Hearing From Obama, Moves to Heal Rift From Protests

by artappraiser 9/14/2012 - 1:35 am

By David D Kirkpatrick, Helene Cooper and Mark Landler, New York Times, September 13/14, 2012

CAIRO — Following a blunt phone call from President Obama, Egyptian leaders scrambled Thursday to try to repair the country’s alliance with Washington, tacitly acknowledging that they erred in their response to the attack on the United States Embassy by seeking to first appease anti-American domestic opinion without offering a robust condemnation of the violence [....]

During a late-night, 20-minute phone call, Mr. Obama warned Mr. Morsi that relations would be jeopardized if Egyptian authorities failed to protect American diplomats and stand more firmly against anti-American attacks [....]

“We are taking the heat from both sides,” Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for the Brotherhood, acknowledged Thursday as the group responded belatedly with a televised presidential address, a letter to the editor in The New York Times by its top strategist, and a series of sympathetic online messages aimed at mollifying American officials [....]

Here is the Letter-the-editor mentioned above, from the Muslim Brotherhood's 'top strategist' and Deputy President, Khairat El-Shater:

‘Our Condolences,’ the Muslim Brotherhood Says

Read the full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/world/middleeast/egypt-hearing-from-obama-moves-to-heal-rift-from-protests.html

Anti-American Protests Over Film Enter 4th Day; Widen to Much of the Muslim World
By David D. Kirkpatrick and Alan Cowell, New York Times, September 14/15, 2012

CAIRO — [....]

In Lebanon, one person was killed and 25 injured as protesters attacked restaurants, while in Sudan demonstrations flared outside of the German and British embassies. There was also turmoil in Yemen, Bangladesh, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq. Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem, and held protests in the West Bank and Gaza.

State media in Egypt said that more than 220 people had been injured in the clashes since Tuesday.

[....]

The Muslim Brotherhood said in an online message Friday morning that it was “canceling” its call for a nationwide protest against the offensive video and would bring only a “symbolic” demonstration to Tahrir Square.

The cancellation was the latest sign of its rush to distance itself from the violence and vandalism against American embassies by outraged Muslims after the initial reticence of the group and its ally, Mr. Morsi, triggered a backlash from Washington.

Earlier in the week the group had applauded the protests outside the embassy and promised a larger demonstration after noon prayers on Friday, but by Thursday the group had already revised that to encouraging only smaller demonstrations outside individual mosques — which was all but inevitable in any event — even before it withdrew the call altogether.

In Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to strike the same balance, condemning “insults against the supreme values of Islam” and declaring that “the right to protest can never justify any act of violence, any act of terror, especially to hurt innocent people. That would be neither conscientious nor Islamic.”

[....]

by artappraiser 9/14/2012 - 10:20 am

Google Blocks Access to Inflammatory Video in Egypt & Libya
By Claire Cain Miller, New York Times, Sept. 13/14, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO — As violence spread in the Arab world over a video on YouTube ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad, Google, the owner of YouTube, blocked access to it in two of the countries in turmoil, Egypt and Libya, but did not remove the video from its Web site.

Google said it decided to block the video in response to violence that killed four American diplomatic personnel in Libya. The company said its decision was unusual, made because of the exceptional circumstances. Its policy is to remove content only if it is hate speech, violating its terms of service, or if it is responding to valid court orders or government requests. And it said it had determined that under its own guidelines, the video was not hate speech [....]

 

by artappraiser 9/14/2012 - 10:26 am

It's Friday after services, and it's happening like everywhere but Libya?

Live updates-Protests spread against US over anti-Islamic film, guardian.co.uk

Live• UK and German embassies targeted in Sudan
• KFC restaurant attacked and burned in Lebanon
• Libya makes arrests over Benghazi US consulate attack

Read the latest summary

by artappraiser 9/14/2012 - 10:59 am

@ the Iranian dissident site "Green Voice of Freedom":

12 Essential points about the offensive film on the Prophet Muhammad, and the subsequent reactions in Libya & Egypt
created 09/13/2012 - 18:00, updated 09/13/2012 - 18:43

Meanwhile, I cannot get Iran's state news site, IRNA, in the English version. The link to "English" is still at the upper left, but when you click on it, it takes you to a page that doesn't work which also has a different url than it used to have (note the url has "old" at the start.)

by artappraiser 9/14/2012 - 11:17 am

I just tried it; works fine.

by acanuck 9/14/2012 - 12:32 pm (re: artappraiser)

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