MENA House: "The Popular Coalition to Support Gamal Mubarak"

The streets of Cairo have been covered with posters of the face of Gamal Mubarak and the slogan "Gamal Mubarak...Gamal Masr" ("Gamal Mubarak, 'The beauty' of Egypt")

The aim of the newly-formed Popular Coalition to Support Gamal Mubarak is to promote and mobilise support for Mubarak in the upcoming Presidential elections in 2011 and to  encourage him to stand.

The co-ordinator of the group, Magdi al Kurdi, claims that it has numerous supporters from a wide variety of backgrounds. He has asserted that there are already 4000 participants and that there is backing from well-established individuals from different political parties. (Magdi al Kurdi resigned from the leftist Tagammu party to support Mubarak.)

MENA House: Music and the Egyptian Revolution

However, whilst there is much talk of Gamal's situation, the son of current President Hosni Mubarak has reiterated on numerous occasions that he does not want to run for the presidency. In a rare interview, with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Gamal answered, "Would you run for the Presidency in Egypt in the upcoming 2011 elections?" with an articulate, resounding, and convincing "No!".

So what is the point of this new group? Asked what would happen if  Gamal refused to put himself forward in 2011, El Kurdi responded that the organisation would continue to encourage Mubarak to rethink his position.

On a side note: Ali el Deen el Helal, Youth Minister and member of the National Democratic Party, has stated openly in the People's Assembly that it is "rude" to be discussing an era after Hosni Mubarak:

1) Egypt is still 16 months from the elections.

2) Discussion is impolite until Hosni Mubarak releases an official statement that he will not be running in the election.

3) Should Mubarak step down, there is no reason to worry "Egypt will find many more intelligent potential candidates".

One wonders if Ali el Deen el Helal thinks the Popular Coalition to Support Gamal Mubarak is rude and impolite in its loud consideration of Egypt's future. And perhaps one wonders what the leader of that coalition, el Helal, makes of the activities of his fellow members of the People's Assembly.

Israel-US Connect the Dots: Iran, Palestine, & Billions in Military Aid

On Sunday, Israel's Defense Ministry announced that Israel and the United States signed an agreement over the  Arrow III ballistic mssile shield, "The Arrow III will allow Israel to deal with the threat of ballistic missiles with long range and will give it the ability to shoot down weapons of mass destruction outside the atmosphere."

The step is a further consolidation of Israel's security institutions against the "existential threat" from Iran's long-range missiles.

However, this is not the end of the story. Two weeks ago US Assistant Secretary of State Andrew J. Shapiro said Washington intended to expand imilitary aid to Israel in the hope that West Jerusalem could reach tough decisions in its peace talks with the Palestinians. Speaking at the Brookings Saban Center for Middle East Policy in Washington D.C., Shapiro said, " In 2010, the administration requested [from Congress] $2.775 billion in security assistance funding specifically for Israel, the largest such request in U.S. history."

Gaza Latest: Hamas Response to EU & UN, Israel Ponders No Cooperation

Israel receives approximately $3 billion annually in foreign aid from Washington, equivalent to 2 percent of Israel's GDP and an extra $500 to every Israeli citizen. The second-largest recipient in the region, Egypt gets $20 per its citizen.

Before the 1998 Wye River Treaty, Israel received $1.2 billion for a partial withdrawal from the West Bank. Israel also received $1 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to prepare for a possible Iraqi missile bombardment in 2003 (and to be silent about that possibility).

Now, thanks to the "existential threat" of Iran, Washington is handing out billions more "incentives" for the Netanyahu government to show "real" gestures towards Palestinians, especially on the borders of a future Palestinian state, before direct negotiations.

MENA House: Music and the Egyptian Revolution

On 23 July 1952. Egypt's Mohammed Ali dynasty was replaced by a Republic. King Farouk I was overthrown, the monarchy was abolished, and the official name of the land of the Pharoahs became "The Arab Republic of Egypt".

Fifty-eight years later, amidst talk of new relationships between media, politics, and change, it is useful to note one reason for the revolution's success: radio and newspapers might be essential for social interchange but they could also play leading politic roles

Dr Nahed Abdel Hamid attributes the Revolution's success to patriotic songs that brought out the emotion and passion in Egyptians for a "nation" and reached all social classes, unifying the state.  As Madonna's song "Music" explains, "Music makes the people come together....Music mixes the Bourgeoisie and the Rebel...."

During the 1940s and 1950s, Egypt produced some of the greatest and most well-known music artists and actors in the Middle East and North Africa. Abdel Halim Hafez (Andaleeb)  and Om Kalthoum, who respectively sang "Sawritna al Masriya" (Our Egyptian Revolution) and "Sawar-Sawar" (Revolutionary-Revolutionary), started a modern trend of patriotic expressionism practiced to the present day.

However, Abdel Hamid points out that these patriotic songs go back to the Ancient Egyptian era. "Wahawi ya Wahawi" (Greetings, Greetings), a song sung during the Revolution and to this day during Ramadan, is almost 3000 years old.

The story of the song is in drawings in the Karnak Temple.

In 1025 BC, King Mena went to fight a battle with the Hyksos, a tribe from the Gulf/Persian area.  Worried and concerned for her son, his mother Princess Iyaya travelled to find King Mena. On her journey, Egyptian troops and citizens greeted Princess Iyaha with the song: "w’h.wi w’h.wi i’h" and informed her of the good news that her son King Mena had defeated the Hyksos army.

The Ancient Egyptians also sang "w’h.wi w’h.wi i’h" during festivals to welcome the new moon and the new month. In this context, the song meant "how present (or how stable) is the moon".

Although we can never replay the tune of the song, the words remain as Egypt carries some of its ancient traditions. And so I wish you all a "w’h.wi w’h.wi i’h" and a Happy July Revolution....

Middle East Inside Line: Abbas-US Tension, Netanyahu's "Political Risk", More Gaza Flotillas?, UN-Israeli Relations

Palestinian Leader Abbas Presses US: Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, talking to his Fatah Party, said that he wants a more specific US commitment on the borders of a future Palestinian state before agreeing to direct talks with Israel.

During a phone conversation after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Obama reportedly pledged Abbas that he would forth ut his own map if Netanyahu did not bring one before the winter. However, it appears that Abbas wants something more concrete: “With all due respect to the American president, his message was not clear. We want clear answers to questions we presented to the Americans, especially regarding security, borders and the status of Jerusalem. We continue to insist that any negotiations with Israel be based on recognition of 1967 as the future borders of the Palestinian state.”

Middle East Inside Line: Turkey-Hamas-Israel, Netanyahu Denies “Map”, No Russia Missiles to Iran?

Next week, the Fatah Central Committee and the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization are scheduled to hold meetings in Ramallah on the peace process and the financial crisis within Fatah.

US Responds to Abbas: State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said that final status issues are to be discussed in direct talks. Asked whether or not the United States had an idea of what the borders of the future Palestinian state would look like, Crowley said that Washington would " play a constructive role, but ultimately this is a - this is something that the parties themselves have to resolve."

But the question is: So why did we have the proximity talks? With no fruitful consequences, this process in prior to the expected/pressured direct talks is far from facilitating the reflexes of both parties, especially of the Palestinians.

Netanyahu's "Political Risks": On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton that he is ready to take a political risk to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, but only if he does not have to take a security risk.

Netanyahu did not say whether he will end the freeze on Israeli construction in the West bank but Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor told Army Radio on Tuesday that, at the end of September, Israel will no longer be bound by it:

My view is that it would be wrong to build in places where there will be a Palestinian state. But it would be right to build in places that are destined to be part of the State of Israel, in the settlement blocs and the communities along the [separation] fence. The government needs to discuss this.

Israel Defense Force Strikes: On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Forces fired uon a group of Palestinians approaching Gaza's northern border with Israel. It is reported that two people were killed, one of whom is claimed to be a top Islamic Jihad militant. Palestinian medical workers say seven people were wounded, including a 10-year-old girl.

Later Wednesday, the IDF fired at a group of Palestinians attempting to infiltrate the West Bank settlement of Barkan, killing one of them. The IDF spokesperson's office said that the casualty was armed though the group was trying to enter the settlement for criminal and not terror-related purposes.

Other Flotillas Coming?: After the Turkish organisation IHH, backers of the Freedom Flotilla, stated that there will be more convoys to break the siege, another flotilla is reportedly being organized by Palestinian businessman Yasser Kashlak, who last month tried and failed to organise ships from Lebanon. The two ships are slated to sail from Libya by the end of this week.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry instructed ambassadors to ask senior officials in the US, United Nations, European Union, and Egypt to pressure Syria and Lebanon to stop the flotilla. Officials think that Cairo will help again as it did when recently diverting the Amalthea to its port of el-Arish.

It is also reported that American activists are trying to raise funds for their own ship to Gaza, which they plan to call The Audacity of Hope, the same title as a book by President Obama.

Israel's F-35 Dream Coming True?: Israel is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks regarding the purchase of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), senior defense officials said on Wednesday.

If Israel receives the jets, which will not be before 2015, it will be the first foreign country using them.

Israel is primarily concerned with the price of the aircraft, which could go as high as close to $150 million each. Therefore, officials are still considering whether it would be a better idea to get F-15s from Boeing.

UN-Israel Relations: On Wednesday, the UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs reported to the Security Council that aid convoys like May's Freedom Flotilla “are not helpful to resolving the basic economic problems in Gaza and needlessly carry the potential for escalation”. However, the report continued to call “for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards” regarding the 31 May attack on the Flotilla. While the report underlined "the Quartet's efforts to bring direct negotiations", it said, "The prospect of expulsion from their home city of Palestinian legislators in east Jerusalem would be a serious step backwards and would undermine hopes of making political progress."

In response, Israel's Ambassador Gabriela Shalev underlined Israel's two demands: right to security from threats and recognition as a Jewish state. She said, "A request that Israel recognize a Palestinian state as the nation-state of the Palestinian people must be met with an acknowledgment that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people."

Shalev called on Hamas to release detained Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and explained the definition of "peace": "Peace is not merely a signed document. It is a set of values that allows us all to live our lives in security and with hope –-- Israelis and Palestinian alike."

MENA House: "Official Statements" on Mubarak's Health; 50 Years of Egyptian TV

It is official: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is "fine" and "very active".

At a press conference in Orba Palace, Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Soliman Awad addressed foreign reports on Mubarak's health. The conference was arranged after The Washington Times published that sources from "international intelligence agencies" claiming that President Hosni Mubarak had less than one year to live. [Editor's Note: EA had published the reports about Mubarak's cancer, claimed to be terminal, two weeks ago.]

Awad said, "As a diplomat, I am used to dealing with rumours" and that only God knows when the life of an individual will end. He went on further to say that "

Official statements are rarely made regarding President Mubarak's health. Even when the news filtered out through London-based Arabic newspapers and EA and then was splashed by The Washington Times, Egyptian domestic news and evening discussion programmes did not touch the subject. Only when the official statement was made, did presenter Mona el Shazly reassure the Egyptian public that the President's health is fine.

The "official statement" also followed claims that, in light of the reports on Mubarak's poor health, Israeli Minister Arieh Eldad advised Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu not to rush negotiations with the Egyptian President as brokering a deal with Egypt in the circumstances would be a mistake.

So the question is begged: was the official statement made to establish the "truth of the situation" or to dispel inaccurate rumours? Was this for economic stability? After all, in summer 2008, news raced around the streets of Egypt that President Mubarak had died.  The response: shares were sold for pennies and there was widespread panic. 

On a lighter side note, Happy 50th Anniversary to Egyptian TV --- on 21 July 1960, at exactly 7 p.m., Cairo went on-air.

Here's a short clip showing the birth of television in Egypt, with all-time greats Omar Sharif, Kamal el Shenawy, Ahmed Ramzi, Roshdi Abaza and his wife Samia Gamal.  The list goes on...