Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
I'm usually a big fan of the Wall Street Journal, so I'm surprised by their coverage of the return of Qaradawi to Egypt.
Egypt rallies for further democratization, says the headline. Now remember, this is Qaradawi--I've written quite a bit about him on Ricochet. His return is pivotal and exceptionally ominous. But here's how they describe it:
One of Islam's most influential clerics, Yussuf al-Qaradawi--whose popularity and defiance of the regime got him banned from entering Egypt under Mr. Mubarak—delivered the traditional Friday sermon.
Mr. al-Qaradawi's return on Thursday night to Egypt from Qatar, where he spent years in exile, is the latest example of how Egypt's long stagnant political scene is being enlivened by an ideologically diverse array of leaders, who had been kept in check by Mr. Mubarak. Mr. al-Qaradawi is close to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.
"Enlivened?" I'll say. You really wouldn't grasp much about Qaradawi from this piece, would you?
Other reports hint at the liveliness of the scene: Egypt protest hero Wael Ghonim barred from stage, for example:
Google executive Wael Ghonim, who emerged as a leading voice in Egypt's uprising, was barred from the stage in Tahrir Square on Friday by security guards, an AFP photographer said. Ghonim tried to take the stage in Tahrir, the epicentre of anti-regime protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, but men who appeared to be guarding influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi barred him from doing so.
Ghonim, who was angered by the episode, then left the square with his face hidden by an Egyptian flag.
Very brave new world we're entering.
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Jun '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
And when Qaradawi becomes just like his hero, Hitler, are Egyptians who are opposed to him, or on the fence, going to have the courage to fight back against the tide? He doesn't have to sway a majority. His minority just has to be scary enough to make everyone else shut up, go along.
Jan '11
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
Your coverage and commentary have been invaluable. You are alternately prescient and ahead of the curve (hope that's not redundant). Your commentary has been more useful than on-site reporting!
Feb '11
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
Some of the leaders of the uprising have been calling for Egypt to cut off the flow of natural gas to Israel, which they refer to as "the Zionist entity." Other than USA Today (!), this story has not been very well covered.
Unfortunately, Israel apparently now has no LNG terminals, although one is slated to be completed by the end of 2012.
Feb '11
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
"Google executive Wael Ghonim, who emerged as a leading voice in Egypt's uprising, was barred from the stage in Tahrir Square on Friday by security guards, an AFP photographer said. Ghonim tried to take the stage in Tahrir, the epicentre of anti-regime protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, but men who appeared to be guarding influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi barred him from doing so."
I also would like to thank-you for writing about the return of this Islamist Cleric. The fact that Muslim cleric Yusaf al-Qaradawi could not make room and share the stage with Google executive Wael Ghonim puts and end to the lie about the so called reformation of the Muslim Brotherhood. How is it, that the secular could not be accommodated by the religious?
Jan '11
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
Qaradawi today:
"The revolution didn't end, the revolution has begun, it will participate in the building of Egypt, the new Egypt," he said. "Maintain the revolution and maintain your unity."
Revelers who couldn't get into the crowded square extended into the surrounding streets chanting, "The people want the purification of their land!"
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fgw-cairo-celebration-20110219,0,7080187.story
May '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
This is a little tangential, but when I read first encountered the term "Newspeak" while reading 1984, and for a long time afterwards, I misunderstood it to be "News-speak", which I interpreted to mean the dishonest prattle developed in and promoted by the media. I know better now, but I've never given up my preference for thinking of it in my idiosyncratic way. Claire's example reinforces that view. Too bad for the WSJ.
May '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
Here come the Islamic Republic of Egypt, and the expansion of the Islamic axis.
I think we're on the long road to war in the middle east, I really do.
Sep '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
I view this as a bad sign. I do not know how much influence Islamists have in the Egyptian military but this would indicate to me that it has some. The majority of Egyptians are comfortable with Islam; virtually none of them have any experience with liberal secular democracy. For me, thinking they will opt for a government controlled by the later instead of a government controlled by what they are comfortable with is naïve. The only question in my mind is will the military allow this? This is the first indication to me that they may.
Oct '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
Claire, The WSJ has a conservative editorial page, but from what I've seen, most of their journalists are conventional knee-jerk liberals. So this is their way of being multicultural and non-judgmental.
Oct '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
It is certainly not a brave new world, it is a reprise of a very old story. A democratic urge to reform a heirarchical political structure resulting in the destabilization of existing heirarchy and an opportunity for a shift in power relationships. In a culture dominated by Islamic theo-political philosophy, the outcome of a democratic movement will undoubtedly be a redistribution in power to the Islamicists. I doubt that there is enough power in the Copts and secularists to resist an Islamic power grab.
Edited on Feb 18, 2011 at 11:14amNov '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
Looks like Mr. Ghonim may have gotten over his anger. Too bad.
http://twitter.com/#!/Ghonim/status/38676935563280384
Oct '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
I loved Sheikh Qaradawi Khutbah today. Was truly inspired when he said: Today I'm going to address both Muslims and Christians. Respect!
GhonimWael Ghonim
Kevin Shook: Looks like Mr. Ghonim may have gotten over his anger. Too bad.
http://twitter.com/#!/Ghonim/status/38676935563280384 · Feb 18 at 11:47am
Naive!
May '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
The best on-going aggregation of commentary I have seen on the MB and Qaradawi in particular has been from Ron Radosh. See this and this, lots of interesting links as well. Qaradawi is clearly operating in the same way as did the Ayatollah Khomeini, albeit moving even faster.
And in many ways, Obama seems to be obliging the mirror of history by channeling Jimmy Carter.
Dec '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
Good Berean: I loved Sheikh Qaradawi Khutbah today. Was truly inspired when he said: Today I'm going to address both Muslims and Christians. Respect!
GhonimWael Ghonim
Kevin Shook: Looks like Mr. Ghonim may have gotten over his anger. Too bad.
http://twitter.com/#!/Ghonim/status/38676935563280384 · Feb 18 at 11:47am
Naive! · Feb 18 at 12:05pm
Rival factions worked side by side—not together—in deposing Mubarak (the military foremost).
The consolidation of power in every true revolution—the Khomeini kind, not the guiding hand kind as in Iraq—culminates in the most ruthless murdering the idealistic.
If Mr. Ghonim does not bow to Qaradawi in a deeply repentant CYA, he is gone. Even so, he may have no way out.
Oct '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
Charles Gordon
Good Berean: I loved Sheikh Qaradawi Khutbah today. Was truly inspired when he said: Today I'm going to address both Muslims and Christians. Respect!
GhonimWael Ghonim
Kevin Shook: Looks like Mr. Ghonim may have gotten over his anger. Too bad.
http://twitter.com/#!/Ghonim/status/38676935563280384 · Feb 18 at 11:47am
Naive! · Feb 18 at 12:05pm
Rival factions worked side by side—not together—in deposing Mubarak (the military foremost).
The consolidation of power in every true revolution—the Khomeini kind, not the guiding hand kind as in Iraq—culminates in the most ruthless murdering the idealistic.
If Mr. Ghonim does not bow to Qaradawi in a deeply repentant CYA, he is gone. Even so, he may have no way out. · Feb 18 at 12:49pm
Agreed. Machiavelli wins the field when idealism is not fortified with determination. It will require a number of Christian and secular martyrs to shift the momentum away from an Islamic consolidation of power. One doubts that Mr. Ghonim will play the part.
Edited on Feb 18, 2011 at 1:35pmOct '10
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
"One of Islam's most influential clerics, Yussuf al-Qaradawi--whose popularity and defiance of the regime got him banned from entering Egypt under Mr. Mubarak—delivered the traditional Friday sermon...."
"Ghonim tried to take the stage in Tahrir, the epicentre of anti-regime protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, but men who appeared to be guarding influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi barred him from doing so.
Ghonim, who was angered by the episode, then left the square with his face hidden by an Egyptian flag."
the hijacking has already begun.
Feb '11
Re: Qaradawi Returns: The Newspeak Version
Another way to look at the left's sudden love for the Brotherhood. In December, as Peter King's planned hearings were starting to be discussed, the left began to stomp its feet. How dare King and other bigots on the right try to demonize American Muslims and their 'civil rights' organizations? Initially, there seemed to have been no recognition that the Brotherhood connections were beyond question. Once this was known, by the second half of December and early January, the defense of American Muslims grew to encompass a defense of the Brotherhood as well. And it has been easy to see where most defenders were getting their information.
In 2010 a number of well-designed and flashy websites in defense of CAIR, ISNA, MAS, etc., came online: Loonwatch, What If They Were Muslims, SpencerWatch, Islamophobia, Ikhwanophobia (!). They have the same designer, same audience; incestuously pass materials back and forth; share commentators on forums. I caught one just before it went proxy. It was registered by a lawyer in Fairfax, VA (home to CAIR). Apologetic material flowed from these sites directly into the left's defense of American Muslims and the Brotherhood.
And then came Egypt....
Edited on Feb 19, 2011 at 11:37am