a prominent Egyptian, Jihad el-Khazan has written an open letter to Mubarak, Egypt's leader, calling for a referendum on withdrawing Egypt's recognition of Israel.
Ayoon Wa Azan ( I Suggest a Referendum )
Jihad el-Khazen Al-Hayat - 29/12/07//
I need to make a suggestion to President Husni Mubarak and I do not see it hard to implement.
I suggest that the president calls for a referendum on one question: do you accept to withdraw recognition of Israel until a Palestinian state is established and lives in peace and security side by side with Israel? I suggest calling observers from human rights organizations worldwide, from Scandinavian countries and Switzerland, to supervise the referendum.
If this suggestion is hard to implement I suggest conducting a wide-ranging referendum of Egyptian public opinion that includes the areas of Nubia, Upper Egypt, the Nile Delta, Alexandria, and Cairo. In this referendum the Egyptians will be asked the above question. In order to avert argument about this referendum, I suggest that it would be held by a famous international company such as Gallup or BIU or Zoghby, along with monitoring by one of them.
If there are causes that prevent the Egyptian government from conducting a referendum or an opinion poll by itself, I suggest to task fellow Naguib Sawiris to conduct it at his own expense. He combines capacity and nationalism, as I can tell from my direct dealing with him.
My familiarity with Egypt is not matched by any American's. I know the Egyptians and I have always considered myself a fellow. On the basis of this familiarity, I say that a referendum on the suggested question will yield a result of an 80% approval of withdrawing the recognition of Israel. This is a conservative figure since the final one is likely to be 90%. As for the opinion poll, I think the result will likely range between 70% and 80% for the same answer.
The Egyptian street is at the forefront of Arab streets in terms of awareness and national sentiment, and asking the Egyptians to give their opinion and acting in accordance with it is the very democracy that the Bush administration is trying to spread among us.
We are all seeking democracy especially that we come from totally undemocratic countries; however, democracy à la United States is a barefaced lie because spreading democracy will end up in the creation of governments and systems opposing the United States and its foreign policy. While the Bush administration is characterized by its ignorance, vainglory, and stubbornness; the war cabal must be aware of the fact that democracy does not serve its cupidity in our region.
At any rate, I have put forward my suggestion to President Mubarak or any party that has the ability to hold a referendum, having in mind the impudence of Israeli Foreign Secretary Tzipi Livni who wants Egypt to play the role of the policeman working for Israel, whereas the latter is perpetrating massacres and destruction and transforming the Gaza Strip into a Nazi concentration camp surrounded on three sides by the Israeli SS soldiers.
I have also put it forward against the background the suspension by Congress of aids to Egypt for purely Israeli reasons. Indeed, the two houses of the American Congress are much more radical than the Knesset, and they even seem like a Knesset made up of Likud and Kadima exclusively, without the Labor Party, The Centre Party, and the leftist and moderate Liberal Party that supports peace.
Since I am referring to Congress, I do not see why an Arab country receives American congressmen representing Israel, not their country, the United States in Congress.
I prefer that Egypt would not receive Senator Arlen Specter. A look at his voting record, regardless of my personal opinion of him, confirms his radical Israeli apologist attitude in the vote on matters having to do with the Arabs, Muslims, and their interests. Similarly, I prefer that Syria would not receive him either, and if it did, he should only meet a Syrian MP enjoying an equal status. Syria has already received Tom Lantos and experienced his rudeness in a press conference he held in Damascus.
I call on the Egyptians, the Syrians, and all the Arabs not to fear them and not to respect them. Egypt is not receiving American aids but rather bribes worth $ 2 billion yearly to keep the peace treaty with Israel.
Each year $ 5 billion is deducted from American international aid and allocated to Israel. If Egypt withdraws from the peace treaty, the aid allocated to it will stop and Israel will become after 60 years of existence an illegitimate state, exactly as it started.
Finally, I hope that my message is very clear. I am not calling for any war or military confrontation or even a political one. I am against all wars and I oppose the massacre of all Arabs and Jews. All I am asking for is a referendum, which will guide us to democracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment