‘Egypt learning to defend itself from its neighbour Israel’

Leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz yesterday published an opinion piece written by Zvi Bar’el equating Egypt with Israel as both are suffering the symptoms of the same problem regarding accusations of being violators of human rights.

Bar’el noted the criticism Egypt came under after it decided to close El-Nadeem Centre for the Management and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence as well two similar organisations over claims of financial irregularities. This led the European Parliament to pass a nonbinding resolution deeming Egypt a systematic violator of human rights and accusing it, inter alia, of torturing and disappearing people.

“These are not new accusations,” he said, “Back in December 2011, almost a year after the Egyptian revolution, the transitional military government… indicted 43 human rights activists on charges of accepting $1.5 million from abroad. The activists received jail sentences.”

He added: “Al-Sisi’s regime didn’t invent such harassment. Nor is the tepid response of US Secretary of State John Kerry, who said last week that Washington was ‘deeply concerned by the deterioration in the human rights situation in Egypt,’ including the decision ‘to reopen an investigation of Egyptian non-governmental organizations,’ likely to alter its policies.”

“It now seems Egypt has learned a thing or two from its Jewish neighbour.”

“As in Israel, most of the media happily collaborate in the persecution of human rights groups and parrot the government’s positions.”

Bar’el said: “Egypt… claimed that the resolution relied on ‘baseless information’. And its third argument, which sounds very familiar as well, was that the resolution undermined Egyptian sovereignty.”

“As in Israel, however, it’s doubtful this criticism will affect the government’s conduct. NGOs will continue to be shut down and their activists arrested and tried. Thus anyone who wants to see Israel’s image in the mirror can simply glance out the window at its neighbour.”