Peace in Our Time, Egyptian Style

Listen to what Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil has to say about the violent reaction of the “Muslim street” to the Mohammed movie. There is no subtlety or indirection in his proposed solution to the riots and mayhem being committed by devout Muslims against Western interests all over the world, and especially in the Middle East. All the Western democracies have to do is curb the “abuses” of free speech by their citizens, and peace and understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim will return.

In order to make sure that there are no further “misunderstandings”, it’s important that the Western media present a balanced and accurate view of Islam, and especially of Egyptians. In other words, we must portray Egypt in ways that are approved and even composed by the Egyptians themselves, under the direction of their Muslim Brotherhood leadership.

Such is the future of the relationship between Egypt and the West.

Oh, and by the way — we are expected to keep the jizyah foreign aid flowing…

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:


Below are excerpts from the accompanying BBC article:

Film protest: Egypt PM urges US to end ‘insults’

Egypt’s Prime Minister Hisham Qandil has said the US must do all it can to stop people insulting Islam.

In an interview with BBC Arabic, Mr Qandil said it was “unacceptable to insult our Prophet” but also not right for peaceful protests to turn violent.

His comments come amid protests in the Middle East and north Africa over an anti-Islam film made in the US.

A man suspected of being involved in making in the film is being questioned by US probation officers.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula has denied involvement in the film, clips of which have been posted online.

The film has sparked violent protests in several countries, leaving at least seven people dead.

US embassies and Western businesses have been attacked, including the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, where the ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

The US has increased security at its overseas missions. It wants to send Marines to protect its embassy in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, but Sudan has rejected the request, saying it was able to handle security itself.

Mr Qandil said the film had been made by “wicked” amateurs, but that while it was “unacceptable to insult our Prophet” it was also “unjustifiable to have a peaceful demo turned violent”.

The Egyptian authorities have taken measures to ensure the safety of foreign diplomatic missions in Egypt, he said, but all sides needed now to improve their view of each other.

“Egyptians, Arabs, Muslims - we need to reflect the true identity of Muslims, how peaceful they are, and talk to the Western media about the true heart of the Muslims, that they condemn violence,” said Mr Qandil.

“At the same time we need to reach a balance between freedom of expression and to maintain respect for other peoples’ beliefs.”

When asked whether he thought the US should change its laws governing freedom of speech laws, he replied: “I think we need to work out something around this because we cannot wait and see this happen again.”

“This is a small number of people doing irresponsible work and everybody’s paying the price.”

The link between the US and Egypt was, he said, “a relationship that we need to make stronger based on mutual interests and respect for sovereignty”.

He also called on the US, and other governments, to “take the necessary measures to ensure insulting billions of people, one-and-a-half billion people and their beliefs, does not happen and people pay for what they do, and at the same time make sure that the reflections of the true Egyptian and Muslims is well in the Western media.”

The US has historically had a close relationship to Egypt, but earlier this week President Barack Obama said of Cairo: “I don’t think that we would consider them an ally, but we don’t consider them an enemy.”

“They are a new government that’s trying to find its way....I think we have to see how they respond to this incident.”