As tensions mount in Cairo over the Muslim Brotherhood’s erratic political decisions, the Brotherhood is also trying to navigate suspicion about its motives from oil-rich countries in the Gulf. In particular, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as one of the Brotherhood’s primary antagonists: Relations have deteriorated so much that a senior Brotherhood leader recently accused the UAE, home to more than 300,000 Egyptians, of “financing the opposition” in Egypt. The UAE is a small country, and it is understandably challenged by a transnational organization that uses religion as a means of attaining political power. Read more »
Archives for 2012
Journalist who used Twitter to chronicle the Arab Spring speaking at the IU School of Journalism
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, a respected commentator on Arab affairs who is widely recognized for his use of the popular social networking site Twitter during the Arab Spring, will speak Monday, Nov. 12 2012, at the Indiana University School of Journalism. Read more »
الإسلاميون في الإمارات ليسوا مدافعين عن حقوق الإنسان
يشير الغرب إلى الإسلاميين في الإمارات على أنهم ناشطون في مجال حقوق الإنسان. وفي الواقع أنهم فعلاً ناشطون ولديهم أجندة معينة، ولكن لا يوجد شك، في أنهم ليسوا النسخة الإماراتية لنيلسون مانديلا، كما أن نظرتهم إلى البلد ليست كتلك التي حملتها ماجنا كارتا.
Gulf Monarchies inside and outside
BloGlobal spoke to Sultan al-Qassemi about external and internal dimension of the Gulf Monarchies’ policies during the Festival of Internazionale 2012. Read more »
UAE Political Islamists Are Not ‘Human Rights Defenders’
For almost two years, the UAE’s political Islamists have been referred to in the West as human rights activists. No doubt, they are indeed activists with an agenda but there is also no doubt that they are not our version of Nelson Mandela, nor is their vision for the country that of the Magna Carta. I have been following their rhetoric — in Arabic — over the past few months on social media with great concern. I have found it to be xenophobic; anti-Semitic; sectarian; exclusionary; racist toward Asians, Africans and other Arabs and overall repugnant. Read more »
Romney Takes Issue With Muslim Brotherhood
From Mitt Romney’s geographic blunders to Obama’s ignorance of Iranian suffering under sanctions to both candidates’ treatment of Israel as a political ‘red line’, there are many good reasons why this election does not rank among the top issues in the Middle East. Read more »