Cairo, Egypt's News Today-Hit al Qaida Hard

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                   

Egypt has not slept.  Al-Qaida was surprised today when their Chief, Ayman al-Zawahri found out his brother was arrested today in Cairo.  Mohammed al-Zawahri b: 1953, a Jehadi Salafist, who are even more extreme than the Muslim Brotherhood, if that is possible, was detained in Gaza which is right across the Nile River from Cairo.  He had spent time in prison from 2000 to 17 March 2011 and then was re-arrested soon after.

173 people were killed yesterday.  The Muslim Brotherhood rebels held up in the downtown Cairo Mosque. People had ignored the 7pm curfew and kept battling.

Protesters find themselves in a crossfire.  The Four Seasons Hotel was the scene of a gunfight right at the doorway  with opposing sides who were wielding guns and machetes.  There are plain old criminals roaming the streets.  One cannot tell who is friend or who is foe, depending on what side you are on.

Two days ago the police had moved thousands of protesters from sit ins supporting Morsi and wound up killing about 200 to do so.  Egypt is the 5th most populous Muslim country  in the Middle East with about 91 million people.  That's not counting the Syrian refugees that took refuge there.  The military-government issued a statement saying that they, the police and the people were together in the face of the treacherous terrorist scheme against Egypt.  They had promised to restore order and security but the Brotherhood isn't letting it happen.  Two policemen have been killed.  One of the Muslim Brotherhood members killed was 30 year old Dr. Khaled el-Banna, the grandson of the Brotherhood's founder, Hassan el-Banna who was shot almost in the same locale in 1949.  This was at Ramses Square where much of the rebellion was going on.

There have been marches where one could see guns in the hands of civilians on both sides.  One Morsi supporter held a machine gun near the hotel.  Other civilians threw rocks or held sticks while police fired.  .

A coalition of Morsi supporters say they will continue demonstrating for this coming week. " The coalition says that they won't back down until it topples the government installed by the military."

Looking back in better days, there was a bus from Cairo to Jerusalem that started in 2008.  They had 3 busses going; one that left at 6am, one at 9:30am and the last at 10:15pm.  A person just bought his ticket a day in advance.  The same was repeated from Jerusalem.  I'm sure that isn't happening today, and of course all tourism is hurt with the rebellion going on.   Maybe someday again all will be quiet and it can again be a great tourist spot.  

Resource:  http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/aug/17/egypt-brother-of-al-qaida-chief-arrested/
Oregonian newspaper 8/17/13 front page, and A7 Violence, anarchy raise toll in Egypt by David Kirkpatrick and Kareem Fahim, NY Times
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Sadat
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/17/mohammed-al-zawahiri-arrested_n_3772315.html

Arabs Against Jews in Jerusalem  Million Prepare for Demonstration

Nadene Goldfoot
A million Egyptian Arabs are planning a march against Judaization of Jerusalem! Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt are behind this demonstration in Cairo to take place a week from Friday, during our Thanksgiving holiday.

They will leave from the Al-Azhar mosque, the largest in Egypt and walk to Tahir Square.  Leading the march will be Ahmed a-Taib, the highest Islamic cleric in Egypt and most important in the Sunni Arab world who is the head of the Al-Azhar mosque.  He's pushing everyone to join them.  Earlier this year he met with Khaled Masha'al, a big-shot terrorist, to work out a plan which Hamas could use to achieve the goal of eliminating Jews from Jerusalem. 

They've also set up a committee to stop the progress of Zionists to Judaize Jerusalem.  Muhammad Amarra, chairman, cites Jewish presense to that of the Crusader occupation.  I'd say that they're a little late by about over 3,000 years, as Kings Saul and David and Solomon made it quite clear that Jerusalem was a Jewish city.  By this they may mean to destroy any Jewish article in the city. 

They plan on "defending" the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount.  All politicians and even the Coptic Christians are expected to endorse their platform.  They intend to remove Jews from Jerusalem.  They're calling on all "liberal and freedom-seeking groups" to support the Arab effort to liberate "Al-Quds" the Arabic name for Jerusalem. 

What American politician was unperturbed when it was brought up that the Muslim Brotherhood could become a leading party in Egypt's Arab Spring?  Remember?  Here we may have the whole country of Egypt trying to wipe out Israel again. 

The big problem is the mosque over the Temple Mount.  Probably the Muslims have been destroying anything Jewish under it.  It has even been wondered if the Ark of the Covenant wasn't under there.  Here Abbas's Fatah with Hamas have accused Israel of destroying artifacts and it is they who intend to do this along with forcing out all Jews.   

Jerusalem is not a word in the Koran.  They know our history, they just  don't intend to accept it.  It interferes with their ambition of a complete take-over of Israel. 

 However, this Saturday in Cairo started off with a riot of their own in Tahir Square.  A tent was asked to be moved by the police, and the occupants refused, so it ended with 600 wounded and one dead.  Hopefully, the citizens of Egypt will have had enough demonstrations for the time being and will not attend next week. 

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalemhttp://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/149905
http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/hamas-million-man-march-in-cairo-against-judaization-of-jerusalem/
pamela@atlasshrugs.com
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/149905

Islamist Jihad Terrorists Taking Over Gaza

Nadene Goldfoot
Hamas terrrorists are  being overtaken by an extreme terrorist group in Gaza called the Islamist Jihad.  They seem to be responsible for the recent barrage of 39 missiles fired into Israel hitting everplace from the border to Ashkelon, which is the farthest city from Gaza and contains the area's main hospital, the Barzilai Medical Center, treating Arabs and Jews alike.

They were invited to Cairo to talk about a cease fire, which of course would give the terrorists time to re-position  their new portable missile launcher and  take a lunch break.  It didn't happen, but Israel's Knesset has given the IDF to go in and stop these missile shooters, which seems to have brought the shooting to a half for now. 

By their name, I wondered if this group isn't an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood, the most organized politcal group in Egypt?  The answer is that they are.  Their goals are the same;  the destruction of Israel.  They plan to replace the tiny state with an Islamist state.  They started in Beirut Lebanon and were supported by Hezbollah terrorism, then branched out to an office in Damasus,  and are also found in Judea and Samaria's Arab population in Hebron and Jenin and of course have become predominant in Gaza.  What is worrisome is that they have been known to recruit chemical engineers into their web of destruction. 

There was a point where Hamas was trying to stop their rocket attacks, but have decided to just sit back and let them be the bulldogs in their plot to destroy Israel.  They have no intention to sign any peace treaties with this goal in prominence.  Like Hamas,they do not discriminate between civilians and soldiers.  They aim in a general direction of a highly populated Southern Israel and the population has 12 seconds to run for a bomb shelter.  Heaven help you if you are disabled in anyway.  One Israeli fellow in his 50's was hit in the stomach with shrapnel and died from his wounds.  Many were injured while others were so emotionally upset that they had to be hospitalized as well.   


Resource: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=243793
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Jihad_Movement_in_Palestine

5.9 Earthquake Felt in Israel

Northern Israel around Nahariya and Safed felt an earthquake the most that struck all of Israel Friday afternoon.  It was centered on the island of Crete in the town of Iraklio, a Greek island.  There was no damage.  The Island is 76 miles away from Israel. 

I remember being in my apartment building sometime between 1980-1985 taking part in a lesson on the highest floor of the building when an earthquake struck in Safed.  The building swayed at that height, but we were okay and resumed our lesson.  It was scary, though.  I actually lived on the bottom level and my husband never knew it had happened.

Earthquakes happened in Safed in the late 1800's.  I visited a friend who lived in a beautiful home that had been dug out of the earth that had been swallowed up in an earthquake.  She must have been a home decorator because she kept the influence of the Middle East with bright pillows, and had lots of green plants inside.  It was just breath-taking and so simply done.  Then I had to return to my small lower-level apartment with black bars on the ground floor window in the living room.  I had another friend, Dov Silverman, school principal, author of stories about Safed, who lived in an actual house.  It was exciting to visit him and his house being I hadn't seen one for so long.  Most all people in Israel live in high rise apartment buildings for lack of space, I imagine.  If you're from New York it's not a shock, but coming from Portland, Oregon and home-style living, it took some getting used to.  Out of the 5 1/2 years I lived in Israel, that was the only earthquake that I experienced.  I've felt several little ones in Portland before that. 

Cairo, Egypt also felt the quake. 

Resource:  http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=214767