Updated at 3:49 a.m. ET: CAIRO An ultra-conservative Islamist cleric in Egypt faces charges of blasphemy after he allegedly tore up and burned copies of the New Testament at a protest in front of the American discount rental cars tampa fl Embassy in Cairo.
Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud Abdallah, also known as Sheikh Abu Islam, is part owner of a private ultra-conservative Islamic TV station known as Al Uma and was participating in demonstrations against a U.S.-made movie denigrating the Prophet Muhammad that swept the Muslim world in the last month.
The case is a rare example of the country s often-criticized blasphemy laws being used against someone who allegedly insulted a religion that is not Islam. That trial is scheduled to begin September discount rental cars tampa fl 30.
Another case that has received less attention illustrates the quandary Egyptians find themselves in amid the explosion of protests and expression following the revolution that deposed President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Slideshow: discount rental cars tampa fl Anger over film spreads throughout Muslim world
Egyptian human rights organizations have say that Zaki has been tortured and was being held at an undisclosed location. His house was searched without a proper warrant when no one was home, they contend.
As these simultaneous trials show, even sharing an idea is now enough to land you in jail in Egypt. This may seem a contradiction given that many Egyptians cite the explosion of free speech, alongside the right to protest, discount rental cars tampa fl as a major gain of the revolution.
Traditionally, this has been a one-way street, with most of those being tried cited for insulting Islam, including famed Egyptian icon and actor Adel Imam. Most insults to Christianity in Egypt have gone unpunished from references in media to derogatory and inflammatory comments made publicly.
The two cases, along with others since the revolution, have really challenged Egyptians definition of free speech and whether the legal system in Egypt is capable of defending the right of people to express discount rental cars tampa fl themselves freely especially when it comes to the issue of religion.
Journalist Mona Eltahawy discount rental cars tampa fl joins from Cairo, Egypt to describe the protests that surged throughout the Middle East, Northern Africa, and the Pacific Rim this week, and what the true source that caused the outbursts of violence.
Many are already ringing the alarm bells that the new constitution discount rental cars tampa fl may enshrine restrictions on free speech rather protecting it. If so, many Egyptians will undoubtedly discount rental cars tampa fl feel that perhaps the one gain the revolution produced in the short run was merely an illusion.
Obama has a pragmatic Mid-East policy, as would Romney, or anyone who cares about their country more than their ego. The US is the dominant force in the region. Now quit trying to stir up more sh*t while the adults go back to quietly working in the interests of the US and the region.
Now, to the topic, even when I was a devout Christian, I wouldn't have cared about burning the Bible, discount rental cars tampa fl because I understand the difference between a physical medium (book) and "sacred text" the information.
The sooner some other people get there, the better. Anyway, this isn't about religion so much as rampant poverty discount rental cars tampa fl and unemployment, lack of opportunity in the region. 10 votes #1.4 - Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:35 AM EDT jim825 Comment collapsed by the community
Even though you got collapsed I want to continue along the same lines as I heard obama apologized to the muslim world for there being a bible in the first place. discount rental cars tampa fl He further pointed out that he would, by executive order, extend obamacare to any muslim that was injured during the burning of the new testament.
Obama of course, in a carefully worded statement, blamed the existence of the Bible on Charleton Heston and the NRA. He concluded his remarks by telling the Supreme Court that they had to remove the Ten Commandments from the courthouse because muslims found those commandments to be against everything Allaf teaches them and they are an offense. 18 votes #1.5 - Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:48 AM EDT MISCHIEF9
discount rental cars tampa fl Oh yes.... We should ignore discount rental cars tampa fl the legacy Bush left us... Yep... 11 TRILLION dollar debt etc. Its not blaming someone when it's FACTS. Obama must have started his administration with a complete clean slate, and our economy wasn't in a recession
As for the acts of this Cleric... does this mean we are supposed to burn our buildings? Riot? Burn Egypts Flag?? Do we blame Obama for not doing enough to protect the BIble? 8 votes #1.8 - Thu Sep 27, 2012 7:15 AM EDT FedupwithFed
Is anyone actually falling for this krap ???......Sure, discount rental cars tampa fl sure, they arrested one of Egypts most Islamic clerics and are going to try him on BLASPHEMY ??.....A Death Sentence crime in Egypt....take him out back and lop his head off....just to show the West how Democratic they are....While just yesterday the Mooslim Brotherhood President of Egypt told the UN...that the U.S's right to free speech is not a Universal concept ???, And we should ban any anti-islam discount rental cars tampa fl anything.....and discount rental cars tampa fl meanwhile Coptic Churches burn in Egypt....
Don't believe any of this BS unless we see the cleric's head getting choped off. Now should we see the cleric's head getting cut off WORRY becouse obama will ammend the bill of rights to make it a crime to say anything anti muslim. Don't worry though it will still be ok to submerge a crucifix in URIN and call it art!. 5 votes #1.13 - Thu Sep 27, 2012 9:18 AM EDT Yashmak
'Participating in demonstrations' against a YouTube trailer (which itself discount rental cars tampa fl had only 6000 hits at the time our embassies were attacked) for a movie no one has seen, and which may not actually exist. discount rental cars tampa fl Nice. 6 votes #1.14 - Thu Sep 27, 2012 10:56 AM EDT jscusmc69
THAT is THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN discount rental cars tampa fl CIVILIZED PEOPLE and TRASH that use the word "RELIGION" to cover uo the real meaning "ISLAM IS A CULT OF VIOLENCE AND HATE. 8 votes #1.15 - Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:22 AM EDT Svenolafson
Maybe we should take a page, no pun intended, from the Islamist states and start rioting, enter their embassies, sodomize their ambassadors and then kill them? I wonder if Obama would then blame it on the Cleric? 3 votes #1.16 - Thu Sep 27, 2012 1:53 PM EDT JS in SD
This is going to be interesting to watch. The outcome will determine whether Egypt has any real intentions of becoming a democracy or if it was all just for show to gain US support until the Islamists could get control. If they are serious about becoming a democracy then these blasphemy laws need to be done away with. They are too easily used to repress dissent and the free expression of ideas that are critical to the functioning of a true democracy. My guess is that the Islamists will win out and the blasphemy laws, with their inherent repression discount rental cars tampa fl of free speech, will remain discount rental cars tampa fl and will continue to be used to silence dissent. 42 votes #2 - Wed Sep 26, 2012 4:01 PM EDT dsb
Democracy doesn't mean freedom of speech is guaranteed. It simply means that the populace gets to choose exactly what laws they want. Just because we value freedom of speech doesn't mean that another country will feel the same. If the populace decides that they prefer that their religious laws should govern the country then democracy has worked and the people have chosen.
The important part of democracy is that the people get a choice. And that they continue to have the choice to make changes. Whether we agree with their choices is of no consequence. 40 votes #2.1 - Wed Sep 26, 2012 4:16 PM EDT latekate
Nothing to see here folks, just typical Muslim theatrics and monkey games. Islam does not care about freedom of expression, individuality or the rights of any living being on this planet. Just the feelings and useless words of a dead corpse named Mohammad is under their protection and without restriction. 31 votes #2.2 - Wed Sep 26, 2012 6:33 PM EDT screminmimi
You are full of it. At the time religion was removed from all our public institutions, a lot of the states were adamant that they wanted the religious symbols, prayers and such to be kept. It was not the will of the majority that had them removed, it was the will of a handful of men with lifetime jobs who could not be held accountable for any decisions discount rental cars tampa fl they made and who were not elected by the people.
And I am not a religious person. But to say that every Christian and atheist in a country should have to bow down to the Islamic religion because the majority demanded it, and to call that democracy, makes me think you are demented.
I believe that this is a democracy in which a significant percentage of the population has little understanding of basic concepts. Your idea that democracy and freedom of speech as separate discount rental cars tampa fl is an excellent example of such a misunderstanding. So I will quote two Supreme discount rental cars tampa fl Court justices on the relationships between the two ideas and then summarize in my own words.
discount rental cars tampa fl "Those who won our independence discount rental cars tampa fl believed that the final end of the state was to make men free to develop their faculties, and that in its government discount rental cars tampa fl the deliberative forces should prevail over the arbitrary. They valued liberty both as an end and as a means . They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty. They believed that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that without discount rental cars tampa fl free speech and assembly discussion would be futile ; that with them, discussion affords ordinarily adequate protection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government."
Full and free exercise of this right by the citizen is ordinarily also his duty; for its exercise is more important to the nation than it is to himself. Like the course of the heavenly bodies, harmony in national life is a resultant of the struggle between contending forces. In frank expression of conflicting opinion lies the greatest promise of wisdom in governmental action ; and in suppression lies o
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