Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, August 20, 2012

Hamas official calls for death to all Jews and Americans

Following are excerpts from a sermon delivered by Deputy Speaker of the Hamas Parliament Ahmad Bahr, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on Aug 10, 2012.

Ahmad Bahr: If the enemy sets foot on a single square inch of Islamic land, Jihad becomes an individual duty, incumbent on every Muslim, male or female. A woman may set out [on Jihad] without her husband's permission, and a servant without his master's permission. Why? In order to annihilate those Jews.
[...]
Oh Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters. Oh Allah, destroy the Americans and their supporters. Oh Allah, count them one by one, and kill them all, without leaving a single one.

Maybe he should write an op-ed for The Guardian or The New York Times. I'm sure this can be justified somehow as a legitimate position that should be debated.

In February, I noted a story about a French-Jewish woman who had a daughter with a Saudi prince, who then kidnapped the child and is raising her in a Saudi palace as a Muslim. The mother, Candice Cohen-Ahnine, had won a French custody case but the prince refused to give up the girl, who was seen on Facebook in full niqab and playing with her father's guns.

Cohen-Ahnine had even written a book about her battle for her daughter.

It now seems possible that her dedication to her daughter has cost her life:

A French-Jewish mother in a high-profile custody battle with a Saudi prince has died after falling from a fourth-storey apartment, amid suspicions of foul play.
Police are investigating the death of Candice Cohen-Ahnine, 35, who fell from her Paris apartment on Thursday night.

Investigators had initially seen it as an accident, but by yesterday (Sunday) reports in the French media suggested that Ms Cohen-Ahnine had slipped and fallen to her death "as if she was escaping something dangerous".

Police refused to confirm the reports when contacted by The Daily Telegraph.

Ms Cohen-Ahnine's lawyer, Laurence Tarquiny-Charpentier, said the death "seemed to be some sort of accident", and did not know whether foul play was involved. She said there were witnesses, and more information is expected today.

"What I can tell you is that it wasn't a suicide," Ms Tarquiny-Charpentier said.

"She was a woman who was a real fighter and a very positive person, and plus, there were plans to see [her daughter] Aya in mid-September. That was her greatest motivation of all."

(h/t Ian)

Pure joy among Arabs after Sbarro's suicide bombing

Here is one of the most notorious monsters released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, now happily living in Jordan with her husband., another released terrorist.

From MEMRI:

Following are excerpts from an interview with released Hamas terrorist Ahlam Tamimi, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on July 12, 2012.
Ahlam Tamimi: 16 Zionists were killed [in the suicide bombing you helped carry out].
Interviewer: Was the sound of the explosion...?
Ahlam Tamimi: It was very loud. The mujahid Abdallah Barghouti did a perfect job producing the guitar [containing the bomb], and the results amazed everybody, thanks to Allah.
[...]
Afterwards, when I took the bus, the Palestinians around Damascus Gate [in Jerusalem] were all smiling. You could sense that everybody was happy. When I got on the bus, nobody knew that it was me who had led [the suicide bomber to the target]... I was feeling quite strange, because I had left [the bomber] 'Izz Al-Din behind, but inside the bus, they were all congratulating one another. They didn't even know one another, yet they were exchanging greetings.
[...]
While I was sitting on the bus, the driver turned on the radio. But first, let me tell you about the gradual rise in the number of casualties. While I was on the bus and everybody was congratulating one another, they said on the radio that there had been a martyrdom attack at the Sbarro restaurant, and that three people were killed. I admit that I was a bit disappointed, because I had hoped for a larger toll. Yet when they said "three dead," I said: "Allah be praised."
Interviewer: Was it an Israeli radio station or a Palestinian one?
Ahlam Tamimi: That station was in the Zionist language, and the driver was translating for the passengers.
[...]
Two minutes later, they said on the radio that the number had increased to five. I wanted to hide my smile, but I just couldn't. Allah be praised, it was great. As the number of dead kept increasing, the passengers were applauding. They didn't even know that I was among them.
On the way back [to Ramallah], we passed a Palestinian police checkpoint, and the policemen were laughing. One of them stuck his head in and said: "Congratulations to us all." Everybody was happy.
[...]

This is not just Tamimi having false memories - this is what happened after every suicide bombing.

You can see here that she was treated like a rock star in the Amman airport when she arrived there after her release, to live TV coverage:

Tinderbox: Four Syrian shells land inside Jordan

From Ammon News:

State Minister for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Samih Maaytah said that four shells landed on Jordanian territory due to clashes between the Syrian government forces and the opposition forces on the Syrian side of the borders, injuring a Jordanian girl who suffered shrapnel wounds, Petra news Agency reported.

Maaytah added that four other citizens were sent to hospital suffering from panic.

He also expressed the government's condemnation of the incident, noting the government summoned the Syrian ambassador in Amman and handed him a letter of protest.

This has happened in Lebanon as well.

But if it happened on the Turkish border, I'm not sure that the reaction would be so muted.

Round-up of recent Iranian statements on Israel

From Israel's MFA:

Recent Iranian statements: Threats, delegitimization of Israel and antisemitism

Destroying Israel:

"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told them there was no place for the Jewish state in a future Middle East…. 'You want a new Middle East? We do too, but in the new Middle East ... there will be no trace of the American presence and the Zionists,'….
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address, 17 August 2012;
Reuters, Published: 17 August 2012

"The Israeli regime is a tool in the hands of Zionists to control the Middle-East and the entire world, Ahmadinejad stated. The Iranian president further stated that the International Quds Day is the day of unity among all human beings to remove the Zionist black stain from the human society."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address, 17 August 2012;
Fars News Agency, Iran; Published: 17 August 2012

"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ... said the very existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to the humankind and an affront to all world nations….The Iranian President further described the World Quds Day as an occasion for the unity of all human communities to wipe out this scarlet letter, meaning the Zionist regime, from the forehead of humanity."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address, 17 August 2012; IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency; Published: 17 August 2012

"Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei…. noted that liberating Palestine from the grip of Israel and its allies is a religious duty for all Muslims across the world."
Ayatollah Sayyid Khamenei - Statement made during a meeting with hundreds of veterans from the Iraq-Iran war, 15 August; Fars News Agency, Iran; Published: 16 August 2012

"General Amir Ali Hajizadeh ….said if the Zionist hooligans embark on practicing their verbal threats, they will provide the best opportunity for the destruction of Israel because then the forged regime will be wiped out of the map and thrown into the trash bin of history for ever."
Commander of the Aero-Space Forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Bridadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh - Interview with IRNA; IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency; Published 18 August 2012

"He [Ahmadinejad] added: 'Anyone who loves freedom and justice must strive for the annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the way for world justice and freedom.'"
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Speech to ambassadors from Islamic countries ahead of Quds Day, published on Ahmadinejad's website on 2 August 2012; Jerusalem Post; Published: 2 August 2012

"Zionists understand only the language of force, Ayatollah Khatami reiterated. He further noted that the Zionist regime will meet destruction through unity in the Islamic world."
Tehran's Provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami - Address to a large congregation of worshippers on Tehran University campus, 17 August 2012; Fars News Agency, Iran; Published: 17 August 2012

"Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami underlined the importance of this year's International Quds Day (August 17, last Friday of the Ramadan) rallies, and said that 'The nations of the region, which have toppled dictators, also have the power to annihilate the Zionist regime (Israel).'"
Tehran's Provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami;Iran Daily Brief; Published: 14 August 2012

"Khomeini's successor, Ayatollah Khamenei, said on Wednesday that the liberation of Palestine was top on the Islamic world agenda and predicted that 'the fake Zionist regime would soon fade away from geography and every inch of the occupied territories be returned to Palestinians.'
Ayatollah Sayyid Khamenei -15 August; DPA and the Associated Press, Haaretz; Published: 17 August 2012

Delegitimization of Israel's existence:

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told an annual anti-Israel protest in Tehran on Friday that the Jewish state was a "cancerous tumour" that will soon be excised….'The Zionist regime and the Zionists are a cancerous tumour,' he said. 'The nations of the region will soon finish off the usurper Zionists in the Palestinian land.... A new Middle East will definitely be formed. With the grace of God and help of the nations, in the new Middle East there will be no trace of the Americans and Zionists,' he said."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address, 17 August 2012; AFP; Published: 17 August 2012

"Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, said on Sunday that noble Quds and Palestine are the main issues of the world of Islam….Elsewhere in his address, the Ayatollah referred to ignorance of Muslim nations and governments for years and rule of the hegemonic powers over their fate as well as creation of the cancerous tumor of Zionism in heart of Muslim world….Zionism is a danger for entire humanity…."
Ayatollah Sayyid Khamenei - Address to officials and others, including ambassadors of Muslim states in Tehran, 19 August 2012; IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency; Published: 19 August 2012

"'The very existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to humankind and an affront to all world nations," the news agency's English-language report on the speech quoted him as saying. "Confronting Zionists will also pave the way for saving the whole humankind from exploitation, depravity and misery.'"
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address; 17 August 2012; New York Times, Published: 17 August 2012

Antisemitism:

"Ahmadinejad said that a "horrible Zionist current" had been managing world affairs for "about 400 years." Repeating traditional anti-Semitic slurs, the Iranian president accused "Zionists" of controlling the world's media and financial systems…. 'Quds Day is not merely a strategic solution for the Palestinian problem, as it is to be viewed as a key for solving the world problems,' he said.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Speech to Ambassadors from Islamic countries ahead of Quds Day, published on Ahmadinejad's website on 2 August 2012;
Jerusalem Post; Published: 2 August 2012

He [Ahmadinejad] said Zionists, who think solely of power, wealth and dominance over others, have been inflicting very heavy damage and suffering on the whole humanity for over two thousand years especially during the past four centuries. Saying that the two world wars were designed by Zionists and carried out by the US to retain dominance on other countries, the president further noted that Zionists have been administrating affairs in the US since the very beginning of its establishment."
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Quds Day Address, 17 August 2012; IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency; Published: 17 August 2012

Infographic: PalArab attacks for first half of 2012 (updated)

Source.

(Update: Challah Hu Akbar noticed that I was counting launchings or rockets/mortars, not the number of rockets and mortars themselves. I updated the graphic.)

Egypt paper recalls how Jews and Arabs lived together, skips a few facts

The Al Ahram youth newspaper has an article on how Ramadan is now celebrated in the old Jewish quarter of Cairo and how Jews used to live there in harmony with Arabs.

It is a nice article, with interviews of old Arabs who recall fondly their Jewish friends and even their being asked to do things forbidden to Jews on Shabbat.

The old Jewish quarter is now a shopping district, but without any Jews:

While the article is certainly not anti-Jewish. it tries to distinguish between "Egyptian Jews" and the "Zionists who now live in Israel," who are presumably not the nice Jews that they recall.

However, the article contains a glaring mistake in its description of how the tens of thousands of Egyptian Jews disappeared. It merely says "since 1948, Jews began to migrate from Egypt, sold everything and migrated either to Israel or to different countries."

Of course, the Jews were stripped of their possessions, subject to violent and often deadly attacks, and eventually expelled from Egypt.

As Wikipedia summarizes:

By the 1940s, the situation worsened. Sporadic pogroms took place in 1942 onwards. In 1945, the Jewish quarter of Cairo was severely damaged. As the Partition of Palestine and the founding of Israel drew closer, hostility strengthened, fed also by press attacks on all foreigners accompanying the rising ethnocentric nationalism of the age. In 1947, the Company Laws set quotas for employing Egyptian nationals in incorporated firms, requiring that 75% of salaried employees, and 90% of all workers be Egyptian. As Jews were denied citizenship as a rule, this constrained Jewish and foreign owned entrepreneurs to reduce recruitment for employment positions from their own ranks. The law also required that just over half of the paid-up capital of joint stock companies be Egyptian.

After the foundation of Israel in 1948, difficulties multiplied for Egyptian Jews. That year, bombings of Jewish areas killed 70 Jews and wounded nearly 200, while riots claimed many more lives.[26] During the Arab-Israeli war, the famous Cicurel department store near Cairo's Opera Square was firebombed. The government helped with funds to rebuild it, but it was again burnt down in 1952, and eventually passed into Egyptian control.

In the immediate aftermath of trilateral invasion during the Suez Crisis of 1956, on November 23 by Britain France and Israel, a proclamation was issued stating that 'all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state', and it promised that they would be soon expelled. Some 25,000 Jews, almost half of the Jewish community left, mainly for Europe, the United States and South America, and Israel, after being forced to sign declarations that they were leaving voluntarily, and agreed with the confiscation of their assets. Some 1,000 more Jews were imprisoned.

After the 1967 war, more confiscations took place. Rami Mangoubi, who lived in Cairo at the time, states that nearly all Egyptian Jewish men between the ages of 17 and 60 were either thrown out of the country immediately, or taken to the detention centres of Abou Za'abal and Tura, where they were incarcerated and tortured for more than three years. The eventual result was the almost complete disappearance of the Jewish community in Egypt; less than a hundred or so remain today.

I had not heard of the 1945 riots, and looked them up:

And it turns out that the Egyptian 1945 riots sparked a much larger pogrom in Tripoli a few days later:

It is so much nicer to recall how tolerant your country was and ignore how anti-semitic it ended up being as it ethnically cleansed its entire population of Jews.

Sunday links

From Ian:

The sinister alliance of the Islamist-Marxist axis

"Since the year 2000, there has been an increasing convergence between those who belong to the radical left and those who promote Islamism in the West. One of the key areas in cementing their rapprochement has been the Palestinian question. The new “alliance” was further reinforced during the past decade by the Iraq war, the Second Lebanon War, and the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2009."

US congresswoman calls on EU to ban Hezbollah

The chairwoman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros- Lehtinen (R-Florida), sent a letter – ahead of the annual Al-Qods Day marches in Europe on Saturday – to José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, urging the EU to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Ashton slams Ahmadinejad’s ‘hateful’ words comparing Israel to ‘cancerous tumor’

EU foreign policy chief joins Ban Ki-moon and the Obama administration in condemning Iranian president’s Friday speech

Jewish groups step up protest over UN head’s trip to Tehran

Ban Ki-moon should not visit a country whose leaders have ‘routinely, ritually, and sometimes daily called for the annihilation of a UN member state,’ says AJC

U.S. Says Iraqis Are Helping Iran to Skirt Sanctions

When President Obama announced last month that he was barring a Baghdad bank from any dealings with the American banking system, it was a rare acknowledgment of a delicate problem facing the administration in a country that American troops just left: for months, Iraq has been helping Iran skirt economic sanctions imposed on Tehran because of its nuclear program.

Ex-Malaysian PM reasserts Israel ‘rules world by proxy’

Mohamad, long known for his anti-Semitic views and avid support for the Palestinian cause, said during a summit for the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 2003 that “the Nazis killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million [during the Holocaust]. But today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.”

Zubeidi released as gesture for Eid al-Fitr

Former al-Aqsa Brigades commander in Jenin released from Jericho prison together with seven other inmates “On Friday, Zubeidi's brother announced he was launching a hunger strike in protest of his incarceration. Zubeidi claimed he was never formally charged with any offence.”

Militants fire RPG at Egypt army convoy, injure 3

The attack took place while the police were on their way back to the city of el-Arish after arresting two suspects at the border town of Rafah, a security source said.

Official: Yemeni militants infiltrated Egypt before Rafah attack

Ten Yemeni militants infiltrated Egyptian soil two months ago and trained local Jihadi cells in the Sinai peninsula, a security official said Friday.

Shoot dead Osama bin Laden for $325: Former SEAL recreates compound so people can copy raid on Bin laden complex

Offers people the chance to participate in a re-enactment of the Seal raid that executed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani compound last year

How a film on Africa’s ‘lost’ Jewish tribes rekindled its maker’s own Jewish identity

Laurence Gavron splits her time between France, Israel and Africa — where, along with focusing her lens on ‘Jewish’ tribes, she’s now also begun a unique political career in Muslim-dominated Senegal

New solar device keeps homes warm, even in cold climes

An Israeli water heater gathers sun like bees gather honey, retaining enough heat to warm more than just dishwater.

BBC The Best of Men (on YT video might disappear)

90-minute film told the true story of Dr Ludwig Guttmann, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany who founded the Paralympic Games.

Photos: Gaza kids sharing Eid candy with masked terrorists

A very revealing photo-essay on the Islamic Jihad Al Quds Brigades website shows eager kids offering candy and cookies to masked Islamic Jihad terrorists.

One child, Mahmoud, told the Islamic Jihad "media war" correspondent, "Since yesterday, my friends and I have been planning to visit the Mujahideen; we were waiting for this moment, and my mom that prepared for me festival cakes and candy in order to present it to them."

Thanking the kids, one of the brave masked mujahadeen said "We thank the mothers of these children who baked festival cakes for the the mujahideen, and assure them that we will not deviate from the option of Jihad and resistance at all costs and no matter how great the sacrifices and difficulties."

"These aren't exploding candies, are they?"

"Hey, one kid is eating my candy! I must shoot him!"

"Say 'Jeeeeehad'"

Isn't that sweet?

(h/t Challah Hu Akbar)

The "kill Aisha" conspiracy grows!

The Arab rumor that a toy gun says "Kill Aisha" has now reached the Salafists of Tunisia, as they are confiscating the blasphemous gun that says "Go! Go! Go! Pull over and save the hostages!"

I've covered this bizarre story, where it pops up in different places in the Arab world, a number of times.

Here's the latest video showing the outrageous gun:

But I smell a larger plot.

Searching through the many outraged videos made by Islamists trying to start rioting over a toy gun, you notice that there are many different variants of this toy.

Why make so many variants of a gun that says things that are insulting to Muslims?

It must be that as soon as one is confiscated, another is made to take its place, in order to brainwash poor Muslim kids into wanting to kill Mohammed's favorite wife (or, perhaps, any nearby 6 year old girl)!

The phrase "Save the hostages!", which is a pretty boring sound clip for such awesome looking toy guns, must have been deliberately chosen for its hidden meaning in Arabic! Why else would it be re-used in so many toy weapons?

Circles within circles. I wouldn't put it past Islamophobic Westerners to conceive such a plot.

In fact, I received a secret memo from a highly trusted, highly reliable source who has never lied to me (to my knowledge) detailing how far this toy gun conspiracy goes. I'm convinced it is real, but I'll research it for a couple of hours and prove to myself that it is legitimate before releasing it and unleashing a torrent of deadly Muslim riots. (I'm a responsible journalist, after all.)

The truth must be heard!

Something else for BDSers to boycott

From Shalom Life:

One in six women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. That's a staggering number, and one of the most common places where women will be victimized is in nightclubs.

Ever since date rape drugs have become easy accessible, women have had to be on high alert whenever drinking in public, otherwise someone could easily slip an odorless and tasteless drug that can render a person unconscious and put them in a position to be taken advantage of.

An israel professor of Tel Aviv University, Fernando Patolsky, and his partner Michael Ioffe, have invented what will hopefully become a common sight in bar and clubs around the world, an Anti-Date Rape Straw.

The straw can currently detect the two most common drugs being used, ketamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, of GHB. Patolsky and Ioffe are working on adding more drug detection abilities, including rohypnol, aka ruffies.

The idea is that women will carry the straw with them when they go out, and they can reuse the straw as many times as they like until the straw encounters the presence of any date rape drugs. If the straw detects any drug in the drink, a chemical reaction will be created and the straw will change colour, depending on the drug.

Patolsky and Ioffe hope to commercialize the product within a year.

What a moral dilemma for Israel-hating women who like to party!

(h/t Max)

Mahmoud Abbas laid a wreath in honor of mass murderer Yasir Arafat today, on the occasion of the first day of Eid al Fitr.

He said that next year he hopes to lead a Palestinian Arab state along the so-called "1967 borders" with its capital in Jerusalem.

And the pro-PA media outlet Palestine Press Agency headlined the story as him saying "Next year in Jerusalem."

He also led Eid prayers at a nearby mosque, along with a large number of prominent PA officials and diplomats.

Abbas also sent a representative to lay another wreath at a memorial for "martyrs" (i.e., terrorists) in Jericho.

Abbas received best wishes for the holiday from Shimon Peres, Binyamin Netanyahu - and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Thousands more flee Syria, Lebanon increasingly unstable

From Ya Libnan:

In the last few days, thousands of Syrians have poured across the borders of neighboring countries, fleeing increasing violence in their homeland but creating tension elsewhere.

More than 170,000 Syrians have sought sanctuary in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq,at least 12,000 of them just in the last three days — leading to a growing humanitarian crisis, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday.

At least 168 people were killed across the country Friday, activists said, many of them in the cities of Aleppo, Damascus and Dara, as the regime of President Bashar Assad uses attack helicopters and warplanes with greater frequency in its assaults on towns and cities.

Syrians fleeing to Lebanon, however, are finding a potentially unstable situation there as well.

The leader of a prominent Lebanese political party on Friday called for declaring a state of emergency as the Syrian conflict spilled over into his country.

Samir Geagea, leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces party, called for the measure a week after Lebanese politician Michel Samaha was arrested and accused of planning to target Sunni Muslims in Lebanon. And on Wednesday, a powerful Shiite Muslim clan abducted dozens of Syrians and other foreigners in retaliation for the kidnapping of one of their kin by Free Syrian Army rebels.

More abductions were reported Thursday, though the clan denied responsibility.

“The image formed in every citizen’s mind now is that Lebanon is an uncontrolled state with no authority, constitution or rules whatsoever,” Geagea said in a televised news conference in which he condemned the abductions. “No matter how righteous and decent their cause was, nothing justifies what happened, as it paralyzed the country and annulled the state’s role.”

Speaking of Samaha, the latest details in the case show Lebanese impotence:

Lebanon President Michel Suleiman said on Saturday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should call him and explain the transfer of weapons from Syria to Lebanon in the car of former Information Minister Michel Samaha.

“ The Lebanese judiciary accused a Syrian official of sending weapons to Lebanon , and I expect the Syrian president to call me and explain the incident . I hope this call will take place,” National News Agency quoted Suleiman as saying.

Following his arrest, several reports revealed that Samaha confessed under interrogation that he had transferred “explosives from Syria to Lebanon in order to carry out bombings in North Lebanon, particularly in the area of Akkar, with Syria’s knowledge.”

An Air France flight bound for Beirut last week was forced to land in Syria because protests effectively closed the Lebanese airport

Egypt's Morsi warming up to Iran

From Egypt Independent:

President Mohamed Morsy will attend the Non-Aligned Movement Summit, Iran on 30 August on his way back from a visit to China on 27 August, sources at the presidency told MENA on Saturday.

Morsy received an invitation to the summit from the envoy of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hamid Baqaei.

"We look forward to Egypt’s participation as a founding member of the movement," Baqaei said.

The presidency of the Non-Alignment movement would be handed over by Egypt to Iran during the summit, which would also discuss the challenges facing the movement.

Diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran were severed more than 30 years ago, but since Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was toppled, both Cairo and Tehran have signaled interest in renewing ties.

Earlier, Egypt said it would send a lower-level representative to the Tehran summit, as most nations are.

It seems improbable that Morsi does not understand the symbolism of this move, as it is a clear slap in the face of the West trying to isolate Iran. To an extent, it is also a power play as Egypt wants to re-assert its leadership of the Arab world, a status that Saudi Arabia has been trying to take for itself.

This is only good news for Iran.