Our close ally, Egypt, is again proving the worst expectations of its authoritarian rule. Singer Sherine Abdel-Wahabdemon commented to an audience in Bahrain that “Here I can say whatever I want. In Egypt, anyone who talks gets imprisoned.” Egypt could object and show that it remains a nation committed to free speech. Instead, it immediately proved her correct by banning her from ever performing in her native country. Egypt is obviously not disturbed by the world knowing that it is opposed to basic civil liberties. It was more concerned that its arbitrary arrests and punishments had not silenced this star and it was intent on showing other Egyptians what would happen if they even acknowledge their lack of free speech. What is truly depressing is that the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi had the Egypt’s Musicians Union silence a fellow artist, who in turn has begged for forgiveness for acknowledging that free speech no longer exists in Egypt.
The singer has a habit of stating the obvious. She was sentenced to six months in prison last year after joking about the Nile being polluted. The Nile is polluted but apparently you are not to acknowledge the existence of pollution any more than you can the absence of free speech. Her sentence was suspended upon appeal and an apology.
Egypt has seen a dramatic rollback on civil liberties under al-Sissi with increasing pettiness and arbitrariness. A teenager was jailed for cartoons of Muhammad and a leading businessman was attacked for a cartoon of Micky Mouse with a beard. Then there was the three-year sentence given Amr Nohan, a 22-year-old law graduate for posting a Facebook image of el-Sisi with Mickey Mouse-style cartoon ears. A leading cartoonist Islam Gawish, 26, was arrested in Egypt by the hyper sensitive al-Sisi government. It even banned yellow vests in fear that Egyptians might be inspired by the Paris protests.
Sherine (as she is widely known) was shown making the obvious statement on a widely circulated video. That led to a complaint filed by a notorious lawyer named Samir Sabry. Sabry has used the law to fight against civil liberties and freedoms. He accused Sherine of “insulting Egypt and inviting suspicious rights groups to interfere in Egypt’s affairs.” Sabry is an international disgrace to the legal profession.
The complaint however had its intended impact. Sherine apologized about everyone being charged in order to avoid another such charge . She begged forgiveness, declaring “I am very tired. I made a mistake. I am sorry. I appeal the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt, who is our father. I feel that I was persecuted. I did nothing. I love Egypt.”
So there you have modern Egypt. Artists who prevent other artists from performing and lawyers who fight against basic rights. It is the Orwellian world of Al-Sissi, our trusted ally.
This is what happens in countries without individual rights. Throw in Sharia Law and the abuse is on steroids.
We really need to preserve our own liberty or suffer a similar fate.
the secular government of Egypt is against Sharia. That’s why they locked up that one Muslim Brotherhood guy who won the election.
Sharia Law would replace our Constitution and the people of the Islamic faith that are found objectionable believe it should. Sharia Law is a part of the basis of Iran being the worlds largest terrorist nation. The Iranian people object to much the Mullahs are doing. The vast majority of its population is very young.
Sharia Law currently governs personal interactions in Egypt, and always has – birth, death, marriage, inheritance. The expectations of female behavior is inherently based in Sharia Law. It is the culture of Egypt.
The Arab Spring saw an increase in extremism, and there is a movement to make Sharia Law govern all aspects of law in Egypt. Currently, unless something has changed, the Egyptian Constitution declares that it is based on Sharia Law.
There is a debate going on about what direction the country should go in. Meanwhile, tourism was affected, to the point that the touts were getting so aggressive they were a hair short of actually kidnapping prospective tourist customers. You have to hire a guide to defend you from the touts, who engages in an agreement on which touts to take you to.
The following article was written in 2012, before the latest constitution was ratified. It did, indeed, reaffirm that it is based upon Sharia Law.
“By 1980, the inflationary spiral had reached the point that Article 2 of the Egyptian constitution was amended to read that “the principles of the Islamic sharia are the main source of legislation.””
https://carnegieendowment.org/2012/05/15/egypt-and-islamic-sharia-guide-for-perplexed-pub-48119
https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/12/13/islam-in-egypts-new-constitution/
(Music)
On the 12th day of Xmas my true love said to me…
Go bomb Egypt…
Get that Sissy…
Come back to Kansas…
Five… Golden … Trees…
Four colly birds, three french hens,,,
And a Sissy in a pear tree!
Pseudo Theocrats.
Theocracy.
except it’s not.
“Our close ally, Egypt, is again proving the worst expectations of its authoritarian rule. ”
I see concerns of free speech in Egypt but we should be focusing our concerns on free speech in America. Free speech for conservatives has been shut down with blacklisting, violence, low grades in schools and universities, etc. One can’t even place a bumper sticker on a car that doesn’t meet the left’s expectation without running the risk of the car being damaged.
We voted for a President. Does that mean we have a Democratic Republic? The Administrative State is calling a lot of the shots and they weren’t elected.
Absurd,
I thought the “Arab Spring” initiative was supposed to fix all of that.
With support and intervention from the U.S., how could it not succeed?
Crowds in Egypt did gift shoes, tomatoes, and other items to Hillary. They threw them at her motorcade while chanting “Monica, Monica”.
I don’t think that was part of the objective of our involvement in “The Arab Spring” initiative, but I see in some recent previous comments there are still some fans of the “Mubarek must go”, “Gaddafi must go”, etc. U.S. policy.
The ‘Arab spring’ wasn’t an ‘initiative’. It was an abrupt mass movement you see from time to time in countries which don’t have any political safety valves. The problem in the Arab world is in the realm of sociology or social anthropology: a deficit of the sort of factors which bind the elements of society together sufficiently so a public life can be constructed and maintained that doesn’t rely on fairly crude and heavy-handed methods administered by cohorts of cousins.
The main partisan forces in Libya appear to have largely defeated the armed bands of secondary and localized forces, so some sort of resolution may be reached in the next year – one where one side defeats the other or where a modus vivendi is reached and they partition the country between them.
it was safer for its citizens overall, and better for the US under Qadaffi. another Hillary failure.
When considering the trigger-challenged Left, whatever curtailment of free speech exists in Egypt, is tenfold worse in the U.S. Where acknowledging pollution of the Nile would only discourage tourism in Egypt, acknowledging an immigration invasion on the U.S. southern border would dramatically shorten the half-life of Democrats. And where a man can have his career implode by merely blinking at a female co-worker, in Egypt men and women still get along.
Prof. Turley, some places have rotten political cultures and cannot sustain much public discussion or political participation. Look at what’s happened in Egypt over the last 9 years. A military regime in Egypt is about the best you can do. Other Arab countries have options. Egypt in our time does not.
Well, if this isn’t a conundrum for Leftist, on one hand, she can’t do with her body as she wishes, sing, on the other hand, they probably love that her free speech rights were curtailed! Leftistism, you just can’t be happy.
Leftism? You must be joking. This is exactly what Trump is stumping for. Have you been reading his attacks on comedians and journalists.
Name one time where President Trump weaponized the government to silence his opposition. If you need an example, think IRS and Lois Lerner.
Grateful Dead live at the Sphinx in Egypt 1978
The song is Ollin Arageed, a traditional Egyptian marriage song performed once in a person’s life while their vows are being exchanged.
Lyrics of the song
الحلوةُ ” الحلوةُ وعدت و أهلت في الموعد تخطر كالبال لهفت روحي حين أطلت نستقبلها بالاحضان , و بفرحة اسعد إنسان و بقلبِ يرقص نشوان , الحلوةُ ينبوع حنان يقصده قلبي الظمآن فتذوب شجوني و همومي بحديث باقة ألحان يبعد عن قلبي الاحزان و يحيل فؤادي نيسان , الحلوة تقترب خُطاها أعرف مشيتها و شذاها تهمس بالبسمة مُحياها و يشيع الأنس محياها ما اروعها ما أحلاها
If you offend the government of Egypt the government will do the Egypt Punishment and cram a pyramid up your rear east end.