Egyptian lawsuit against leaders who met with Jews

The American Jewish Committee issued this press release last April:

An AJC Board delegation, meeting with senior government officials in Cairo, expressed deep concerns about the safety of minorities, especially the Coptic community, in Egypt. The latest assault, at the St. Marks Coptic Cathedral in Cairo over the weekend, comes after repeated fatal attacks on Christian sites across Egypt during the past two years.

In a series of meetings with senior government officials -- in particular, with the National Council for Human Rights and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the AJC leaders urged significantly increased protection of the Coptic Christian minority.

The AJC delegation also called for aggressive government measures to increase the safety of women in public spaces, noting the rise of harassment and violence that has accompanied a general erosion of civil order amidst the Egyptian political transition.

The group also urged senior government officials to resume normal political contact with Israel. The delegation lauded critical cooperation between Egyptian and Israeli security forces, including steps by Egypt to staunch tunnel traffic between Sinai and Hamas-ruled Gaza. But AJC noted the absence of high-level political and diplomatic contact and called for the return of Egypt's ambassador to Israel.

Today, Al Masry al Youm reports that a complaint is being lodged to the Egyptian attorney general about these meetings.

Egyptians are still obsessed over the statements made by Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam el Arian last year that Egypt should allow Egyptian Jews to return - when Israel is destroyed. So this lawsuit is meant to uncover whether the AJC was negotiating with the Muslim Brotherhood over Jews returning to Egypt and claiming their old property, or any other nefarious back-deals the Muslim Brotherhood was negotiating with these Jews.

This isn't a lawsuit against Egyptian leaders speaking to Israelis. It is against Egyptians speaking to Jews.