THE MUSLIM “MARTIN LUTHER”?: WITH ANKARA RELATIONS “IN RUINS” & POSSIBLE QATAR RAPPROCHEMENT—SISI CALLS FOR ISLAMIC REFORMS

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Contents:

From Egypt's Leader, an Ambitious Call For Reform in Islam: Sarah El Deeb & Lee Keath, Yahoo News, Jan. 8, 2014— Egypt's president opened the new year with a dramatic call for a "revolution" in Islam to reform interpretations of the faith entrenched for hundreds of years, which he said have made the Muslim world a source of "destruction" and pitted it against the rest of the world.

Amid Rumors of Mashaal's Expulsion, Doha Trying to Regain Alliance With Egypt, Saudi Arabia: Jonathan Spyer, Jerusalem Post, Jan. 11, 2014— It is still not clear whether reports in Turkish newspaper Aydinlik concerning the expulsion by Qatar of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal are accurate.

Erdogan's Egyptian Nightmare: Burak Bekdil, Gatestone Institute, Dec. 30, 2014— Back in 2011, everything ostensibly was coming up roses between Turkey and Egypt.

Egypt Urges West to Provide Military Support to Tackle Islamic Extremists: Matina Stevis, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 13, 2015 — Western powers should give military support to Egypt to help it combat the Islamic extremism that led to the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a kosher supermarket in Paris, the Egyptian foreign minister said Tuesday.

On Topic Links

Egypt’s Sisi: Islamic “Thinking” Is “Antagonizing the Entire World”: Raymond Ibrahim, Islam Translated, Jan. 1, 2015

Egyptian President al-Sisi vs. Hamas: Yoni Ben Menachem,  JCPA, Dec. 4, 2015

Report: Egypt Arrests ISIS Cell Planning to Assassinate Key Political Figures: Yasser Okbi & Maariv Hashavua, Jerusalem Post, Jan. 5, 2015

John Baird Headed to Egypt to Push for Jailed Canadian Journalist Mohamed Fahmy’s Release:  National Post, Jan. 13, 2015

FROM EGYPT'S LEADER, AN AMBITIOUS CALL FOR REFORM IN ISLAM                                                

Sarah El Deeb & Lee Keath                                                                                                    

Yahoo News, Jan. 8, 2015

Egypt's president opened the new year with a dramatic call for a "revolution" in Islam to reform interpretations of the faith entrenched for hundreds of years, which he said have made the Muslim world a source of "destruction" and pitted it against the rest of the world. The speech was Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's boldest effort yet to position himself as a modernizer of Islam. His professed goal is to purge the religion of extremist ideas of intolerance and violence that fuel groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State — and that appear to have motivated Wednesday's attack in Paris on a French satirical newspaper that killed 12 people.

But those looking for the "Muslim Martin Luther" bringing a radical Reformation of Islam may be overreaching — and making a false comparison to begin with. El-Sissi is clearly seeking to impose change through the state, using government religious institutions like the 1,000-year-old al-Azhar, one of the most eminent centers of Sunni Muslim thought and teaching. Al-Azhar's vision for change, however, is piecemeal, and conservative, focusing on messaging and outreach but wary of addressing deeper and more controversial issues.

Al-Azhar officials tout a YouTube channel just launched to reach out to the young, mimicking radicals' successful social media outreach to disenfranchised youth. They proudly point out that clerics in the videos wear suits, not al-Azhar's traditional robes and turbans, to be more accessible. Young people "have a negative image toward this garb," said Mohie Eddin Affifi, an al-Azhar official. "As soon as they see it they don't listen." In a more ambitious effort, religious school textbooks are under review. Affifi said texts outlining rules for slavery, for instance, have been removed. It's a problem across the Muslim world: State religious institutions are burdened by stagnation and heavy control by authorities.

For decades, al-Azhar has lost credibility in the eyes of many Muslim youth who see it as mouthpiece of the state rather than an honest interpreter of religion. More appealing to some young men and women searching for identity in a rapidly changing world are calls for a return to the roots of the faith, including from the extremists of al-Qaida and the Islamic State. In his Jan. 1 speech at al-Azhar addressing Muslim clerics — held to mark the Prophet Muhammad's birthday — el-Sissi called on them to promote a reading of Islamic texts in a "truly enlightened" manner to reconsider concepts "that have been made sacred over hundreds of years." By such thinking, the Islamic world is "making enemies of the whole world. So 1.6 billion people (in the Muslim world) will kill the entire world of 7 billion? That's impossible … We need a religious revolution."

Radicals — and el-Sissi's Islamist political opponents who have wide religious followings — angrily denounced el-Sissi, saying he was trying to corrupt the religion. Even secularists, who would normally promote a more modern interpretation of Islam, frowned at el-Sissi's statist approach to such a complicated issue. "A state-approved revolution," questioned Amina Khairi, a columnist in the generally pro-state newspaper al-Watan. And even state religious officials pushed back against the use of the word "revolution" or the idea of dramatic change. Affifi, from al-Azhar, told the AP that el-Sissi didn't mean changing texts — something even el-Sissi quickly made clear in his speech. "What the president meant is that we need a contemporary reading for religious texts to deal with our contemporary reality," said Affifi, who is secretary general of the Islamic Research Center. The center is an Al-Azhar body responsible for studying Islamic issues and for providing preachers to explain religious affairs to the police, military, schools, government and private companies. It is also responsible for censorship. He said al-Azhar has already been working for months on such a campaign, following calls for modernizing the faith that el-Sissi has been making since his May presidential election campaign. Committees have been examining textbooks used in the large network of grade schools and universities that al-Azhar runs across Egypt to remove things that have "no place in modern life." Texts on slavery and on refusing to greet Christians and Jews, for example, have been removed. Affifi said positions on issues like slavery, jihad and dealings with non-Muslims were adopted by scholars five centuries ago in a particular historical context. "These were opinions of scholars, these interpretations are not sacred."

There is also a push to encourage a nationalism that officials see as moderating religious sentiment. El-Sissi this week attended Christmas services for Egypt's Orthodox Coptic Christians and declared that Egyptians should not view each other as Christians or Muslims but as Egyptians. The sheik of al-Azhar has launched a campaign in schools and universities promoting the message that "love of nation is part of faith," said Affifi. Al-Azhar also plans to introduce a new Islamic culture course in all of Egypt's universities, Affifi said. For el-Sissi, the impetus for his modernization campaign is not only the violence wreaked by extremist groups around the Mideast and the world. It's also rooted in his political rivalry with the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sissi, then head of the military, led the overthrow in July 2013 of an elected president from the Brotherhood, and since then Egypt has cracked down hard on Islamists, with hundreds killed in street clashes and thousands jailed. To counter Islamists' claims of religiosity, el-Sissi has presented himself throughout his rise as a pious proponent of a moderate, mainstream Islam…         

[To Read the Full Article Click the Following Link—Ed.]     

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AMID RUMORS OF MASHAAL'S EXPULSION,                                

DOHA TRYING TO REGAIN ALLIANCE WITH EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIA                                                 

Jonathan Spyer                                                                                                             

Jerusalem Post, Jan. 11, 2015

It is still not clear whether reports in Turkish newspaper Aydinlik concerning the expulsion by Qatar of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal are accurate. Hamas officials have indignantly denied that their leader is shortly set to quit his Doha home. But certainly, Mashaal’s expulsion would fit with the broader pattern of recent events. Recent months have witnessed a number of acts by Qatar suggesting it is seeking to repair relations with its fellow Gulf monarchies, and with Egypt. Hamas, the enemy of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the Saudis, can have no part in this.

The expulsion of Mashaal, if it takes place, will be the latest concession by Doha to the wishes of Cairo and Riyadh. Qatar’s latest moves are the fruit of partial defeat for Doha in its regional agenda; Saudi Arabia and Egypt are the winners. Lets take a look.  Qatar, in the first two years of the regional upheaval that began in 2011, appeared to be riding high. The tiny emirate backed the Muslim Brotherhood movement; its enormously influential Al Jazeera channel pumped out propaganda on behalf of the movement and against its enemies. In late 2012, at what was evidently its high-water mark, the Qatar-Brotherhood alliance appeared to be forming a new power bloc in the Middle East. The Brotherhood had achieved power in the most populous Arab state – Egypt. It[s] Tunisian iteration, al-Nahda, won elections there. Militias associated with a Brotherhood-type outlook and financed by Qatar, such as the Tawhid Brigade of Aleppo, were playing a key role in the Syrian war – and victory looked within reach. Turkey, under the rule of the Brotherhood-influenced AK Party, had drawn close to Qatar and saw itself playing a key role in the emergent Sunni Islamist alliance.

Two years on, nearly all of this is in ruins. Most importantly, the army is back in power in Egypt and is engaged in an attempt to crush the Brotherhood. In Tunisia, Nahda lost elections in 2014 and has ceded power to its non-Islamist rivals. In Syria, a region-wide mobilization by Iran of its allies and proxies, and the determined support of Russia as well as rebel confusion and disunity, have saved Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. This has left both Qatar and Hamas somewhat beached. Doha had antagonized its fellow Gulf monarchies to distraction, in the service of a new power bloc that apparently is not going to come into existence after all. Hamas, meanwhile, had also placed its bets on this emergent Sunni Islamist bloc. The Palestinian branch of the Brotherhood had removed itself from Damascus, rejected the Iranian attempt to exhort it to declare its support for Assad, and suffered a major loss in Iranian funding as a result.

Recent months have seen both Qatar and Hamas seeking to adjust themselves to this new reality, but in different directions. In mid-September, Doha ordered several prominent members of the Egyptian Brotherhood to leave the emirate. They had been offered asylum after fleeing their country following the military coup in July 2013. The first indication of improved relations with other Gulf states came after a surprise summit of Gulf Cooperation Council countries on November 16, 2014. As a result of this meeting, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates agreed to return their ambassadors to Qatar after an absence of eight months. In the days after, Saudi King Abdullah II received a phone call from Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The GCC summit in Bahrain in early December saw further Qatari concessions on Libya and Egypt, where Doha’s position had run in direct contradiction to that of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Doha gave its full support to Sisi and his “road map” for Egypt at the summit; afterward, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Mohammed al-Attiya pledged Doha’s support for Sisi, and spoke of the importance of Egypt’s regional role. Then, on December 20, Sisi met with an envoy of the Qatari emir, in a meeting brokered by Riyadh. Thus, the Mashaal departure, if indeed it takes place, will be the latest in a string of concessions offered by Doha to the Cairo-Riyadh alliance – which is emerging as the key power arrangement among the Sunnis at present.

Qatar is of course enormously wealthy, but it is also a flimsy state, lacking hard power of any kind. For its economic and business activities to continue to flourish, it cannot afford to stray too far from existing power alliances, which will inevitably be dominated by states other than itself. For a while, the Qataris thought they were set to be the financiers and cheerleaders of a new, Egypt-centered bloc – yet that bloc was stillborn. The Qataris are now accommodating themselves to this reality. Hamas, too, must make its own new arrangements, and indications are that the movement is leaning in the direction of renewed rapprochement with Iran. The year 2014 saw a gradual thaw in relations between Hamas and Tehran, though all suspicion is unlikely to have dispelled. Hamas’s needs are different from those of Qatar. And of course, Hamas has no way to align with the Cairo-Riyadh alliance – which regards it as an element of the Brotherhood they are seeking to defeat. This leaves Tehran or Ankara as possible backers – or more likely, a hedging and a combination of the two.

Of course, one should not assume that Qatar will entirely end its support for Islamist movements. Doha has not fallen in love with Riyadh; it is repositioning out of necessity and through clenched teeth. The more extravagant Egyptian demands – such as that Doha expel prominent Brotherhood preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi – are unlikely to be fulfilled; Qaradawi has lived in the emirate since 1961. Ultimately, what the Qatari concessions indicate is the burgeoning strength of the Cairo-Riyadh alliance, which has forced a Qatari realignment while appearing to offer no, or hardly any, gestures in return. This new alliance (which has good, if largely silent, relations with Israel), is perhaps the most important diplomatic development in the region since 2011. As of now, with the US seeking rapprochement with Iran, the main blocs facing one another in the region are the Iranians and their allies against the Saudis and their own. The Brotherhood and the Salafists are a factor, to be sure, but for the moment a weaker one. In sum, the travails and maneuvering of Qatar and Hamas reflect the disarray of the Sunni Islamist camp.

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ERDOGAN'S EGYPTIAN NIGHTMARE                                                                                    

Burak Bekdil                                                                                                       

Gatestone Institute, Dec. 30, 2015

Back in 2011, everything ostensibly was coming up roses between Turkey and Egypt. In a speech that year, then-Turkish President Abdullah Gul mentioned "…an axis of democracy of the two biggest nations in our region [Turkey and Egypt], from the north to the south, from the Black Sea down to the Nile Valley…" In September 2011, then-Prime Minister [now President] Recep Tayyip Erdogan found an emotional hero's welcome at Cairo's Tahrir Square. Tens of thousands of Egyptians had flocked to the Cairo airport to welcome him. Streets were decorated with posters of Erdogan. In early 2012, a survey by TESEV, a Turkish think-tank, found that Turkey was the most popular country for the residents of seven Arab countries, including Egypt. But against that glittering backdrop, this author wrote in June 2011: "For Ankara, Cairo can be the new Damascus until another capital becomes the new Cairo. At that time, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Erdogan's one-time best regional ally, had already become his worst regional nemesis.

The Turkish-Egyptian love affair would, in fact, be quite short-lived. In August 2013, about a month after General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt toppled the Muslim Brotherhood rule of President Mohammed Morsi, Erdogan appeared on TV, reading — in an unusually soft voice — a letter by the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed al-Beltagy. The letter was written to Beltagy's daughter Asmaa, a 17-year-old girl, who had been killed in Cairo when security forces stormed two protest camps occupied by supporters of the deposed president. Poor Asmaa had been shot in the chest and back. "I believe you have been loyal to your commitment to God, and He has been to you," her father wrote in the letter. "Otherwise, He would not have called you to His presence before me." Erdogan's tears were visible. Later, Asmaa became another symbol for Turkish Islamists; Erdogan cheered party fans with the four-finger "Rabia" sign, in reference to his solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood, and as a sign of his endearment for the unfortunate girl. Even on the playing field, a few footballers made the same sign after scoring.

After the coup in Egypt, when el-Sisi ran for president and won the elections, Turkey's Erdogan declared them "null and void." And not just that. Erdogan also said that he did not view el-Sisi as "president of Egypt." At another time, he said, "Turkey would not recognize the coup regime in Egypt." Last July, he called el-Sisi "an illegitimate tyrant" and a "coup-maker." Meanwhile, neither was Erdogan a "rock star" in Cairo nor was Turkey "the most popular country." Egyptian non-governmental organizations [NGOs] called on Egyptians and Arabs to boycott Turkish goods and soap operas. Egypt's intellectuals, writers and businessmen were recommending a break in Egypt's relations with Turkey because "they were disappointed." Egypt unilaterally cancelled both visa-free travel for Turkish citizens and a transit agreement for Turkish trucks.

In the anti-el-Sisi campaign, Turkey was not alone. Its only regional ally, Qatar, fully supported Turkey against Egypt's elected "coup leader." Erdogan was happy. At least until a few days ago…. In Ankara, Erdogan was all smiles when he offered a red-carpet ceremony to the visiting Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Happy to have his best ally as a guest, Erdogan probably did not know the Emir's next move on the Middle Eastern chessboard. A few days after al-Thani's merry visit to Ankara, Qatar announced its determination to thaw ties with Egypt, ending its alliance with Turkey over "Egypt's illegitimate tyrant." "The security of Egypt is important for the security of Qatar … the two countries are linked by deep and fraternal ties," ran a statement from the office of al-Thani on Dec. 21. It was a real cold shower on Ankara — and Erdogan. The statement had come one day after el-Sisi met in Cairo with a Qatari envoy, suggesting a possible thaw in relations. After the meeting, el-Sisi's office issued a statement saying, "Egypt looks forward to a new era that ends past disagreements." Apparently, the Egyptian-Qatari reconciliation had been brokered by Saudi Arabia and, once again, Turkey was the odd one out.

In its immediate vicinity, Turkey does not have diplomatic relations with three countries — Armenia, Cyprus and Syria — and has deeply problematic diplomatic relations with two countries: Israel and Egypt. This situation is not sustainable. Even Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has said that Turkey should repair its relations with Egypt. But this is not an easy task. In the unlikely event of a reconciliation, Erdogan's previous big words on el-Sisi the coup-maker will make him look like a leader shaking hands with an "illegitimate tyrant." On Dec. 24, Turkey's foreign ministry spokesman said that bilateral ties with Egypt could "normalize if the country properly returns to democracy, if the Egyptian people's free will is reflected in politics and social life." Meaning, no normalization. The spokesman would not comment on Qatar's policy change on Egypt. Turkey aspires to be a regional leader with no, little or problematic dialogue with about a dozen countries in its region. Erdogan's top advisors have found a nice euphemism for this situation: "precious loneliness." In reality, it is rather a blend of miscalculation and over self-confidence.                                                                                               

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EGYPT URGES WEST TO PROVIDE MILITARY SUPPORT TO TACKLE                                        

ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS                                                                                            

Matina Stevis                                                                                                                 

Wall Street Journal, Jan. 13, 2015

Western powers should give military support to Egypt to help it combat the Islamic extremism that led to the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a kosher supermarket in Paris, the Egyptian foreign minister said Tuesday. Along with other foreign leaders, Sameh Shoukry attended a rally Sunday in the French capital in honor of the 17 people who were killed in last week’s attacks. On Tuesday, Mr. Shoukry said his government deserves the weapons it needs to help fight the terrorist groups who carry out such assaults. “We expect that our partners to whom we have continued to lend our support…will reinforce our ability to be an active participant in the fight against terrorism, whether indigenously or internationally,” he said in an interview at U.N. offices in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

The foreign minister also described as “counterproductive” discussions about a coalition in which some members are restricted in their acquisition of arms and military technology. The U.S. suspended part of its $1.3 billion in annual economic and military aid to Egypt after Mohammed Morsi, the country’s first freely-elected president, was ousted in a military-led coup in July 2013. Part of the withheld aid was restored last June, and the entire amount was reinstated in a $1.1 trillion spending bill passed by U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in December. Under the bill, the money will be disbursed subject to the Cairo government taking steps to improve human-rights conditions in Egypt.

The presence of a top Egyptian official at Sunday’s rally, which was intended as an affirmation of press freedom and freedom of expression, has been widely denounced, occurring as it did amid criticism of its human-rights record by foreign governments and rights organizations. The monitoring group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that it was “appalled by the presence of leaders from countries where journalists and bloggers are systematically persecuted such as Egypt.” About 1,300 protesters were killed by Egyptian police and more than 3,500 Muslim Brotherhood supporters were arrested in 2014, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued in December. The group also found evidence of torture of political detainees in Egyptian prisons and extrajudicial killings.

Mr. Shoukry’s participation in the rally also came against the background of the highly publicized conviction last year of three journalists for the satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera. The three—an Egyptian, an Australian and an Egyptian who also holds Canadian citizenship—were convicted by an Egyptian court last year and sentenced to long jail terms for news reporting that was “damaging to national security.” On Jan. 1, they were granted a retrial. Mr. Shoukry said the criticisms for participating in the Paris rally were “totally unfair and it is a convolution and a disservice to those journalists that lost their lives in France. The issue should not be utilized or manipulated.” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi has been under international pressure to invoke his executive power and free the journalists or deport the two holding foreign passports. In his comments Tuesday, the foreign minister said the president would resort to that pardon power “when he deems it necessary and of an interest to the nation.”

Mr. Shoukry said Egypt’s bid for one of the 10 nonpermanent seats on the U.N. Security Council wouldn’t be affected by the journalists’ court case. “I think Egypt’s contribution to the international community and multilateralism far exceeds any specific case related to other legal dimensions.” At a reception following his comments to reporters in Nairobi, a number of Nairobi-based foreign correspondents staged a peaceful protest, standing near Mr. Shoukry with their mouths taped, an image that has become ubiquitous in protests around the world supporting the immediate release of the Al Jazeera reporters. The protesting journalists were removed by security guards.

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On Topic

Egypt’s Sisi: Islamic “Thinking” Is “Antagonizing the Entire World”: Raymond Ibrahim, Islam Translated, Jan. 1, 2015—Speaking before Al-Azhar and the Awqaf Ministry on New Year’s Day, 2015, and in connection to Prophet Muhammad’s upcoming birthday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a vocal supporter for a renewed vision of Islam, made what must be his most forceful and impassioned plea to date on the subject.

Egyptian President al-Sisi vs. Hamas: Yoni Ben Menachem,  JCPA, Dec. 4, 2015—At the end of last month, Egypt’s Prosecutor General filed a lawsuit against Hamas’ military arm Ezzedin Al Qassam for a quick trial. The proceedings were intended to declare Hamas a terrorist organization and outlaw its activity altogether.

Report: Egypt Arrests ISIS Cell Planning to Assassinate Key Political Figures: Yasser Okbi & Maariv Hashavua, Jerusalem Post, Jan. 5, 2015—Egypt has arrested an Islamic State cell that planned to assassinate government ministers, media personalities and businessmen in the coming days, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai reported on Monday.

John Baird Headed to Egypt to Push for Jailed Canadian Journalist Mohamed Fahmy’s Release:  National Post, Jan. 13, 2015— Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is on his way to Egypt, where he is expected to push for the release of imprisoned Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy.

Rob Coles, Publications Chairman, Canadian Institute for Jewish Research/ L'institut Canadien de recherches sur le Judaïsme, www.isranet.org

Tel: (514) 486-5544 – Fax:(514) 486-8284 ; ber@isranet.wpsitie.com