Hisham Qandil, the Egypt prime minister, centre, and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet in Cairo today.
Hisham Qandil, the Egypt prime minister, centre, and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet in Cairo today.

Expectations of a different Egypt caught in a similar crisis



CAIRO // In December 2008, Israel launched a massive air and ground assault on the Gaza Strip, designed to end the periodic rocket attacks launched by militants in the tiny coastal territory.

The incursion lasted three weeks, killing an estimated 1,400 Palestinians and injuring more than 5,000. It ended just days before Barack Obama was inaugurated as the new US president.

At the time, the Muslim Brotherhood - with Mohammed Morsi as one of their main strategists - went out of its way to embarrass then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak for his Gaza policies. The Islamist group, that was then the largest opposition bloc in the Egyptian parliament, repeatedly called on Mubarak to throw open the gates of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula.

Mubarak refused. He allowed only a limited stream of injured out of Gaza and a few lorry loads of medical supplies in. The policy cost Mubarak tremendous domestic prestige, allowing his critics to paint him as subservient to US and Israeli orders and an equal partner in the suffering of the Gazans.

Four years later, Mr Morsi finds himself on the opposite side of a similar situation. Mubarak was swept away by a whirlwind revolution nearly two years ago and Mr Morsi is now occupying Egypt's presidential palace and walking the same geopolitical tightrope on Gaza. How he responds to the crisis will be subject to intense international and domestic scrutiny and pressure.

So far, Mr Morsi has taken steps to differentiate himself from his predecessor. He dispatched prime minister Hisham Qandil on an unprecedented visit to Gaza in the midst of the hostilities. And he has publicly stated that the Gaza policies of the Mubarak era died with the revolution.

"I say to those, on behalf of all the Egyptian people, that Egypt today is different from yesterday, and Arabs today are different from yesterday. I say confidently that Egypt will not leave Gaza alone," Mr Morsi said in a speech on Friday after prayers at a suburban Cairo mosque. "We assure [Israel] that the price will be high for continued aggression."

Officials with Hamas, which was originally founded as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, have made it clear that they expect a very different Egypt this time around. In a speech this week in Khartoum, Sudan, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal stated that postrevolutionary Arab governments, such as Egypt, must turn a new page on Gaza.

"Today the leaders of Arabism and Islam must raise the ceiling and change the rules of the game," said Mr Meshaal, adding that it was time to "pluck the fruits of the Arab Spring".

Mr Morsi must balance those expectations and find ways to show he is different than Mubarak, while still somehow preventing a rupture with Washington or Tel Aviv.

"The Egyptians are caught in the middle ... They're not prepared for an escalation; they don't want to be dragged into it. They stand to lose big if there's a real escalation," said Shibley Telhami, a Palestinian-born University of Maryland professor and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution a Washington DC think tank, in an interview with the MSNBC satellite news channel on Saturday. "The US doesn't have all that much leverage with the Israelis. When it comes to an issue like this (the Israelis) do what they think is right for them."

So far, Mr Morsi's steps have been largely symbolic. The visit by Mr Qandil visit was important, but the prime minister has no foreign policy experience and served as irrigation minister before assuming his current post. Any true negotiations or contacts between Egypt and Hamas will just take place just as they did under Mubarak - via backdoor channels through Egypt's intelligence services.

Those contacts are continuing and Mr Morsi has sounded a note of optimism.

"There are some indications that there could be a ceasefire soon," he told a joint news conference on Saturday in Cairo, with the visiting Turkish prime minister Recep Tayipp Erdogan. But, Mr Morsi added, there are "no guarantees."

The Arab League has essentially deputised Egypt to act as an intermediary in the conflict. An emergency session of Arab League foreign ministers on Saturday produced an endorsement of Egypt's role. It also issued a veiled threat that the league could abandon its support for the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which offered widespread Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for territorial concessions and compensation for Palestinian refuges who cannot return home. But even that threat was largely symbolic since Israel has never really taken the initiative seriously.

Egyptian security officials say a senior Israeli official arrived in Cairo for talks on reaching a ceasefire to end the Israeli offensive. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under security guidelines, did not identify the Israeli. Israeli officials declined to comment. Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who was in Cairo, confirmed the Israeli's arrival.

Response by Egypt's public to the Gaza violence has been muted. A November 16 protest against Israel in Tahrir Square drew about 2,000 demonstrators, a small gathering by Tahrir protest standards. And Saturday's tragic accident in southern Egypt a train ploughed into a school bus full of young children, killing at least 47, may temporarily overshadow Gaza concerns.

But if Israel launches a ground offensive with tanks as in did in 2008, public anger in Egypt will spike and many will be looking at Mr Morsi for more than just symbolic gestures.

foreign.desk@thenational.ae

* With additional reporting by the Associated Press

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MATCH INFO

Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

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THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
How to apply for a drone permit
  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
  • Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
PROFILE OF SWVL

Started: April 2017

Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport

Size: 450 employees

Investment: approximately $80 million

Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

The Disaster Artist

Director: James Franco

Starring: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogan

Four stars

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners

Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta​​​​​​​
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)

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ATP WORLD No 1

2004 Roger Federer

2005 Roger Federer

2006 Roger Federer

2007 Roger Federer

2008 Rafael Nadal

2009 Roger Federer

2010 Rafael Nadal

2011 Novak Djokovic

2012 Novak Djokovic

2013 Rafael Nadal

2014 Novak Djokovic

2015 Novak Djokovic

2016 Andy Murray

2017 Rafael Nadal

2018 Novak Djokovic

2019 Rafael Nadal

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THE DETAILS

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Sri Lanka squad for tri-nation series

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My Country: A Syrian Memoir

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The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The biog

Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology

Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India

Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur

How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993

Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters

Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo

The specs

Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now