Ayman Nour: One year since Obama’s inauguration

Barack Hussein Obama has made history since he became the first black person to win a seat in the U.S. Senate and made history for the second time when he won the Democratic Party’s nomination for the Presidential election. He has since made more history when he scored victory in the elections, becoming the first black American President in history.

But making history is different than entering this space and formulating the wide consequences resulted from this victory, as before Obama, American President James Buchanon also made history as the first and the only president to remain a lifelong bachelor, as well as President Martin Van Buren, considering English was not his mother tongue.

Obama’s real problem from the moment of his inauguration last January 20, 2009, is that he began a new phase, which is greater than making history; a difficult stage of the competition, much harder than the old Republican rivals or even his stubborn Democratic rival – and his current Secretary of State – Hilary Clinton, or with his predecessor: Bush.

Obama’s rival after one year in office is himself. He is the only person he cannot defeat, as Obama, the current President of the United States, is a rival to Obama – who was described by the dreamy minds as “the savior”; minds that painted the image of Obama and put it in the background of the image. They drew the descriptions of Moses splitting the sea and Joshua who stopped the sun, and Christ, who revives the dead! And certainly, Obama is not any of these prophets.

Although America is part of the world – and not the whole world – Obama has become a universal dream, especially considering the other was a universal nightmare. Strangely enough, and dangerous, is the conflicting expectations about Obama from related parties whose positions have conflicting interests and can only be unified by hope and ambition in this “magical” image. They have planted in their imagination of Barack Obama, who has to find an impossible approach to fulfill this imagination.

Obama’s problem, who had plenty of sympathy in Egypt and many Arab countries is doubled due to historical considerations and past experience with former presidents of the US, who at the beginning were greeted by them [Arabs], then they called on for their impeachment.

At the end of World War I President Woodrow Wilson made the 12 principles his priority. The last of these principles was the right of every nation to self-determination and Egypt’s Revolution in 1919 was against the British occupation of Egypt, demanding the right to self-determination, and the demonstrators shouted slogans honoring Saad Zaghloul (revolutionary leader) and Mr. Wilson.

In Syria, demonstrations demanded an American Mandate in the hope of the promise of Wilson.

Suddenly, President Wilson recognized the British protégé in Egypt, and demonstrations were organized to call for his impeachment, after it was organized in the beginning to cheer his life! The same thing happened in Syria, when he recognized the French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon!

When President Roosevelt declared the Four Freedoms, the motivation of Arabs turned from Hitler to America, then Truman succeeded Roosevelt, to recognize Israel, breaking Roosevelt’s promises during World War II, causing a shock to the Arabs and a shift in their feelings as they were frustrated.

This happened in 1956, when America gained its popularity back, for its stance against the tripartite aggression on Egypt, the popularity that has soon faded away because of America’s rejection in financing the construction of the High Dam.

When the Egyptian-American relations were restored, the Egyptian people welcomed President Nixon in an unprecedented event, then Carter remained to hold a special place in the hearts of Egyptians until America’s constant bias with Israel, which has been the cause of the deterioration of the Egyptian-American Rapprochement for years.

Obama’s real rival is the image of Obama himself, people who chant for his favor may in fact chant and shout against him. Only if he decided to read history well to be able to make it again after one year has already been lost.

BM

I Reject Anti-Semitism and Respect Egypt's Pluralism

Published on Wall Street Journal

Monday, November 2, 2009

The authors of "Why Are Egypt's Liberals Anti-Semitic?" (op-ed, Oct. 26), Amr Bargisi and Samuel Tadros, quote me at a conference I was invited to attend in the city of Port Said, Egypt shortly after my release from prison after contesting President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential elections.

I would like to clarify a few points regarding the statements attributed to me in the article. First, neither myself nor my party, El-Ghad, were the organizers of this forum. I was invited to attend in my personal capacity, and to make a short statement. I was not responsible for any graffiti or items placed on the banners in the conference.

Furthermore, my statements referred specifically to Israel's conduct during the Gaza war, which in my opinion was highly objectionable.

I was distraught over the excessive loss of civilian life in Gaza, and I regret that my comments were expressed in a way that was unclear and that may have understandably offended.

Anyone examining my record can easily discern that I have always supported and upheld Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, and have strongly opposed calls of aggression against Israel.

I have also consistently called for a peaceful and just resolution to the Arab Israeli conflict. I gave a recent interview published in Commentary magazine where I stated, "El-Ghad supports every treaty made by Egypt before and will keep it going. We want to ensure peace with every country in the world."

I would like to conclude that the "anti-Semitic" label is one that I strongly reject. My critiques pertain to the conduct of the state of Israel in certain contexts and not to the Jewish people as a whole. The history of Egypt is replete with contributions from Jewish Egyptians, and that history of pluralism that once defined Egypt is one that I recall fondly and deeply respect.

Principles of religious pluralism and mutual respect and tolerance are principles that I strongly advocate not just in my position as a political activist, but as a human being.

Ayman Nour

Ayman Nour's word to US Congress

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3

Campaign like Egypt

WOMEN'S LENS - Un coup d'oeil féminin

In the U.S., we are about 16 months away from our presidential elections, but they have already started campaigning...oh what fatigue it's going to be until it's over.

Unless we just do it Egypt's way. Practical, swift, costs little money but for the incarceration of the opposition. In 2005, when Ayman Nour dared to run against Mubarak for the presidency, he was jailed. Ok, it wasn't that simple, but they came up with some story about his having forged signatures on documents for his Al-Ghad Party. An absolutely great stunt! NO TV debates, no embarrassing UTube/CNN moments, not having to spend millions of dollars showing your face here and there. Conserving energy..Al Gore would be proud.



Mr. Nour apparently has a heart condition; geez people will just say anything these days to get out of jail, won't they?? His lawyer has made attempts to get him released (oh, add diabetes to that list of ailments, and possible police brutality), but to no avail.

Word has reached Washington who is positively ATWITTER about the situation, and is urging Nour's release. Why all this publicity, when Condy is going to Egypt bearing presents? She will be in Cairo to see the democratic process at work. How much criticism can Mubarak take?

The US just announced its Santa Claus tour of its Middle East allies the only way it knows how. But the purse strings have already been curtailed once against Egypt due to its unorthodox methods of quieting bloggers. What will they do now to help Nour? Did I mention that he had heart surgery while in jail?

Washington Post : Battle for Egypt's Future

By Jackson Diehl

Monday, April 25, 2005

CAIRO -- Ayman Nour, the liberal Egyptian opposition politician whose jailing early this year has made him the leading challenger to President Hosni Mubarak, recently tried to launch his campaign for September's presidential election by knocking on doors. Police stopped him, telling him he didn't have permission. He tried to stage a conference for 1,500 of his supporters. A fire set by pro-government thugs forced the temporary clearing of the hall. When that failed to stop the meeting, the electricity was cut off.

It gets worse. Nour says he has been served with a court order mandating demolition of a community center he has maintained in the Cairo neighborhood of Bab al Shariya, his political base. Pro-government newspapers have reported that his penthouse apartment also will be demolished. One weekly paper that recently began appearing alongside Nour's party organ at newsstands published an article detailing how the 40-year-old parliamentarian might be assassinated: A sniper, it predicted, would open fire on his car.

Then there is the continuing criminal case, which almost everyone outside Mubarak's government, and some inside it, regards as blatantly political. A trial date has been set for June 28, and Nour says the case has been assigned to a notorious Egyptian security court judge. That judge is known for his closeness to Mubarak and for the seven-year sentence he imposed four years ago on another liberal dissident, Saad Eddin Ibrahim. "I lie in bed at night thinking that either I'm going to end up in jail or I'm going to be killed," a visibly anxious Nour told me last week. "To say the least, this campaign has gotten off to a very bad start."

If so, the prospect is bad not just for Nour but for Mubarak, who effectively has staked his legacy and the future of the regime he leads on his promise to replace the rigged referendum that has previously extended his rule with a multi-candidate democratic election. There's little doubt the 76-year-old Mubarak will win the election, in part because it will exclude unsanctioned political parties--including the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's powerful Islamic movement. But a free and fair election within those limits--with access to the media and full freedom to campaign for Nour and the two or three other candidates who might challenge Mubarak--would be seen by most Egyptians and many outsiders, including the Bush administration, as a political breakthrough.

On the other hand, an electoral farce featuring the persecution or jailing of Nour and the ballot-box stuffing widely reported in previous Egyptian elections would eliminate the possibility that Egypt, like Mexico or South Korea, will be led to democracy by its ruling party. It could also scatter the group of young technocrats who, under Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, have embarked on an aggressive effort to liberalize the economy and modernize the regime. The prosecution of Nour, one told me, is intended "to stop the reforms." Nazif, whose tax and tariff cutting and privatization of state companies have prompted a 130 percent gain in the Cairo stock market since last summer, insists the government is committed to real change. "We led peace. We can lead political reform," he said, echoing the phrase President Bush has used for Egypt. He added: "We don't have any differences" with Washington "on where we want to be. We might have some differences on the tactics and the pace." A senior Egyptian security official I spoke to was more circumspect, but also adamant. "This won't be the Tunisian model," he said, referring to the farcical multi-candidate election staged by strongman Zine Abidine Ben Ali last year. "It will be fair, it will be open and it will be under the eyes of everyone in our society."

The real meaning of these pledges is now being hammered out in official committees that are drafting the constitutional amendment providing for presidential elections, the law that will govern this year's campaign and the ruling party's platform. Regime liberals are pressing for a month-long window in which opposition candidates will each get two hours a week on state television; a suspension of emergency regulations that now bar them from holding public rallies and demonstrations; public financing for their campaigns; a nonpartisan authority to manage the election and, crucially, international observers to guarantee that the balloting will be fair and the count honest. Intriguingly, the national judges' union recently declared that its members will not supervise polling places, as had been expected, unless Mubarak accepts reform legislation making the judiciary more independent.

Yet the liberals concede that even if they win all their battles, they have no control over the prosecution of Nour, which is in the hands of Mubarak and his security apparatus. Nazif said the case could be wrapped up in June, allowing Nour to campaign freely if he is acquitted. But the security official I spoke to said the case would be extended, after a preliminary session, until October--meaning that Nour will run with the prospect of being sentenced to a prison term after Mubarak is safely reelected.

"This is a battle about the future," Nour said. "They want to convict me, even if only for a day, so that I can't run for president or parliament again." That would help clear the path for Mubarak's son Gamal, who, like Nour, is in his forties. It would also propel Egypt toward the very political turmoil and international isolation that Mubarak seeks to avoid.

"TOMORROW" IN LIMBO

Al-Ahram Weekly

The future looks far less certain for Al-Ghad Party in light of its leader Ayman Nour's continuing detention, reports Mona El-Nahhas

"Don't allow them to destroy our dream," jailed Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party Chairman Ayman Nour wrote his colleagues from his Tora prison cell. "Keep on the lookout for any attempts to split the party. Stand as one, because the situation is very critical."

Nour, a prominent opposition member of parliament, was arrested on 29 January on charges of forging 1433 of his party's membership applications, which were used during the official registering of the party last October.

Al-Ghad leaders, shocked by the sudden turn of events, said the case was politically motivated. "They imprisoned him as an example of [what could happen] to any other opposing voice that dares to call for reform," said Wael Nawara, the party chairman's assistant. "The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) does not allow any other party to threaten it." Nawara said the NDP -- worried about Al-Ghad's potential to be a serious rival -- "started to fabricate a case to get rid of the party".

In an interview at Nour's Zamalek residence, the party chairman's wife, TV broadcaster Gamila Ismail, who also serves as Al-Ghad's assistant secretary-general, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Nour's case was "politically motivated", and that Nour himself was "afraid he would remain in detention until parliamentary elections take place".

Ismail said she was also worried about plans aimed at weakening and splitting the party. She said "security bodies" had made "contact with leading founders [to] convince them to run in elections for Nour's post. They also planted seeds of strife, by infiltrating the party ranks."
Party members have indeed begun to criticise the way the party's elections were staged.

"Leading posts were seized by businessmen and family acquaintances," said a party member who spoke on condition of anonymity. "People with extensive political experience were excluded."

The US's reaction to Nour's arrest has also rankled the party. The US State Department issued a statement "deploring [Nour's] arrest and calling on the government to re-examine the issue". A Washington Post editorial described him as being "the sort of future leader capable of winning broad support". According to the newspaper, it was "that, and not forgery, [which] landed him in jail".

Several leading party members reacted to the US stance by publicly voicing their rejection of any external interference in Nour's case. Forty party members from Al-Qalyubiya were provoked into submitting their resignations last Thursday. In a statement bearing their signatures, they criticised "Nour's dealings with the US at a time when he [himself] harshly criticised anyone who deals with the US".

One of the party's senior founders, Sherif Esmat Abdel-Meguid, son of the former Arab League secretary-general, also submitted his resignation.

The party's connection to the US became a hot topic of debate last December, when US ambassador to Cairo David Welch visited Nour at his residence. "As a liberal party, calling for an open relationship with the West and the US," Ismail said, "it was very natural to meet the US ambassador." She said it was Welch who asked to meet Nour to congratulate him on the formation of the party and find out more about its programme. "As a precautionary measure, Nour decided to notify Shura Council speaker Safwat El- Sherif about the Welch meeting in accordance with the political parties law," Ismail said.

Two days before his arrest, Nour met former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright. The meeting took place "at a reception to which we were invited along with several top state officials including presidential political adviser Osama El- Baz and senior NDP members. Nour talked with Albright for less than two minutes. They just shook hands," Ismail said. She said her husband's patriotism was above suspicion.

Meanwhile, the case against Nour does not look to have much legal ground on which to stand, according to Sameh Ashour, a member of Al-Ghad Party leader's defence team. "Nour does not have any legal responsibility for checking membership applications. It's not his business." The political parties law stipulates that party founders submit at least 50 membership applications to be eligible for a licence. "Why would Nour go to the trouble of forging such a huge number of applications?" Ashour asked. He said the names of the party's 2005 founders were published via paid advertising in newspapers.

Nour's arrest took place just a few hours after the People's Assembly stripped his parliamentary immunity. He was ordered on 31 January to be remanded in custody for 45 days pending investigations.

Nour sent parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorour a letter from his Tora prison cell last week complaining of having been subjected to inhumane treatment, and urging Sorour to take action. On Sunday the People's Assembly dispatched a delegation from its Human Rights Committee, headed by Mansour Amer, to examine Nour's complaint.

Following the visit, the committee recommended that Nour -- a diabetic with heart problems -- be hospitalised to get the medical care he needs. The committee's report will be submitted to the interior minister and the prosecutor-general.

The party's secretary general, Mona Makram Ebeid, is in charge until Nour's release. Ebeid attended the first session of the national dialogue with the NDP that took place two days after Nour's arrest, presenting the gathering with the party's reform plan.

Nearly three weeks before his arrest, Nour submitted a draft constitution to the People's Assembly, calling it Al-Ghad's alternative to the constitution currently in use, and simultaneously staging a campaign to get one million signatures in support of it. The draft calls for fully democratic presidential elections within a parliamentary republic, thereby curtailing the president's powers.

Although his parliamentary immunity has been revoked, Nour is still an MP. When the investigations are over, his MP status will be re- examined. Legal experts said that if he were found guilty, his membership would also be revoked upon the approval of two thirds of MPs. If he is found innocent, his immunity will be restored, and he will have the right to run in the coming parliamentary elections.

In another blow to the new party, the Shura Council-affiliated Supreme Press Council banned the party's weekly mouthpiece Al-Ghad on Tuesday just one day before it was set to appear on the newsstand.

The council's decision was based on a letter submitted by the party's Deputy Chairman Ragab Hemeida, in which he claimed that the party does not approve of Ibrahim Eissa being the mouthpiece's chief-editor.

During the party's first congress last November, Eissa was chosen as Al-Ghad 's chief-editor. Eissa was the chief- editor of Al-Destour newspaper, banned in 1998 after it published a dubious statement containing threats against three Coptic businessmen. The publication was accused of sensationalism.

High-ranking party members said that Hemeida acted against Eissa in an attempt to bolster Nour's case. These same members met on Tuesday to declare their opposition to Hemeida's stance. "We are not going to get rid of our people, even if it is in exchange for Nour's release," Ismail said. Although Hemeida was forced to withdraw his letter to the council, it remains unclear when the paper will actually appear.