EGYPT: Uproar over the conviction of a pro-Palestinian activist

Dozens of activists protested in Cairo on Thursday over the conviction of an anti-government journalist who had been sentenced to prison for illegally crossing into the Gaza Strip during Israel's 22-day incursion into the Palestinian enclave.

Magdy Ahmed Hussein, an Islamist journalist and vehement critic of President Hosni Mubarak, was sentenced by a military tribunal on Wednesday to two years in prion and fined nearly $1,000 (LE 5,000) for sneaking into Gaza through tunnels last month. It is difficult to challenge such a verdit in a military court, where the journalist was tried: Defendants are denied the right to appeal in military courts. 

“This verdict is a way to punish Magdi for his anti-Muabrak positions,” his wife, Naglaa Qalyoubi, said on the sidelines of a press conference held at the press syndicate in support of Hussein. “Magdi was among the first people who said no to Mubarak and this is the reason behind the hefty sentence.”

ISRAEL: Cautious optimism on Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit

Israel Defense Force Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit was captured and taken to Gaza in June 2006 during an attack by Hamas that killed two other soldiers. Hamas says Shalit shall be released only in return for Palestinian prisoners, among them high-profile detainees whom Israel is loathe to release.

Israel has made prisoner exchange deals before, bending its own policy against freeing those 'with blood on their hands' for soldiers, even dead soldiers, but not with Hamas. Recent reports said Israel is considering a much more flexible definition of prisoner categories to facilitate Shalit's release.

Many were critical of the government's decision to enter a truce agreement in June 2008 without securing Shalit's return. Israel apparently took calm where it could get it while continuing to consider the terms for Shalit's release. Hamas had remained adamant that the soldier would be released only as part of an exchange.

Now Israel says the military operation in Gaza that followed the collapse of last year's cease-fire has created "leverages" for advancing an agreement. In other words, Hamas wants the crossings opened; Israel wants Shalit.

GAZA: Lebanon aid boat held by Israel navy

Another attempt to break the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza was thwarted by the Israeli navy.

A Lebanese ship bound for Gaza and reportedly carrying 60 tons of medical and food supplies to Palestinians was forcefully towed to an Israeli port.

A reporter from the Arab satellite TV channel Al Jazeera said that Israeli soldiers shot at the ship, called the Brotherhood Boat, before allegedly boarding it and physically abusing its passengers, charges Israel denied.

The ship was reportedly transporting Muslim and Christian religious figures in addition to peace activists in a symbolic gesture against the continued clampdown on  Gaza.

“Israeli soldiers are pointing their rifles at us.... They are beating up the passengers on the ship,” the reporter said, seemingly shaken, via telephone live on television earlier today.

Contacts with the journalist were abruptly interrupted in the middle of her call.

EGYPT: Activist to stand trial in military court for tunneling into Gaza

An outspoken critic of Hosni Mubarak’s regime is expected to be tried in a military court Thursday on grounds of crossing into Gaza through illegal channels.

Magdy Ahmed Hussein, a journalist with strong Islamist leanings, was accused of sneaking last month through tunnels that link the Egyptian frontier with the Gaza Strip. The tunnels have become a growing nuisance for the Egyptian government. Israel, United States and European countries frequently have criticized Egypt for not doing enough to control the smuggling of weapons to the Hamas government in Gaza.

EGYPT: The Arab battle over Gaza

The bickering and divided — some would say dysfunctional — Arab world will attempt to put aside its differences during an international summit in March to raise money for Gaza Strip reconstruction.

Cairo has called the meeting to rebuild the Palestinian enclave that was battered by an estimated $2 billion in damages from the 22-day Israeli incursion against the militant group Hamas.

The fate of Gaza has widened the split in the Arab world between U.S. allies, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and countries and political organizations, including Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon, that are linked to the anti-Western influence of Iran.

Cairo and Riyadh boycotted an emergency summit in Qatar last month, arguing that it threatened Arab unity by further polarizing Middle East politics.

The crux is Hamas.

LEBANON: Hezbollah says war with Israel is always a possibility

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said today that he was confident that his Shiite militia's military capacity would make Israel think twice about trying again to weaken the organization by launching another military confrontation.

During a rare press conference, during which he appeared to reporters on a giant screen for security reasons, Nasrallah maintained that the possibility of a war is always present.

Hezbollah’s chief was speaking on the occasion of the “freedom day," a date marking a major swap of prisoners with Israel in 2004.

Beyond the rhetoric that a new military confrontation would be “highly costly” and “highly difficult” for Israel after their first "failed" war in July 2006, Hezbollah’s leader was generally careful to make no signal of any plan to provoke a fight with the Israelis.

IRAN: Tehran offers to help rebuild Gaza

Western governments may be deliberating about how and whether to give reconstruction help to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip without strengthening Hamas.

But has Iran has had no such compunctions.

On Sunday, the speaker of Iran’s parliament said that his country would rebuild the Palestinian legislature building destroyed by Israel during the recent war in the Gaza Strip. Ali Larijani, speaker of the Iranian majlis, or parliament, announced that the Islamic Republic’s legislature would take responsibility for the reconstruction effort, according to Iranian state media.

Larijani also said that Iran’s parliament would soon organize a conference on Gaza reconstruction.

GAZA STRIP: Scenes from an aftermath

I'm clearing through my notebooks after a dizzying first week in Gaza. Here are a couple of random scenes that didn't make it into the paper.

'Where is the Arab street?'

Jammed up against the stick shift in a packed communal taxi making the 15-minute drive between the southern towns of Rafah and Khan Yunis. Playing on the radio is what seems like a generic and rather bouncy Arabic dance diva song, until you catch the words.

"Where where where/Where are the millions," she sings. "Where is the Arab street? Where is the Arab rage?"

Who's to blame?

**Standing in front of the massive crater that used to be their family home, Ibrahim Madi, 65, and his son-in-law Ahmed Shaer break into a spontaneous political debate.

Madi is a lifelong supporter of the Fatah faction and opposes Hamas' control of Gaza. But even if he blames Hamas for bringing destruction onto Gaza, he blames Israel more.

"It's true that Hamas is responsible for this, but then [Israel] should go and strike Hamas, not a residential neighborhood," he say. "They're trying to erase the word Palestine from the map."

Shaer, 28,  chimes in and the debate ensues:

“Who’s to blame here? It’s one word: Hamas.”

“No, Israel is to blame”

“They fire rockets, what do they think will happen?”

“Why shouldn’t they fire rockets? Be quiet.”

A final message

On Jan. 18, the day the unilateral Israeli cease-fire began, Ibrahim Muammar, who works with a non-governmental organization in Rafah, says he picked up his phone and heard a recorded message declaring that Israel, "didn't use the full extent of its power. You need to know that we are capable of much more."

The message warned Palestinians in Gaza not to try an launch anymore missiles against southern Israel or attack Israeli troops. Otherwise, the Jewish state would "respond with its full power."

Amazingly, the message ends with an Arabic proverb that loosely translates as: "The rational man knows what's good for him."

— Ashraf Khalil in Gaza City

EGYPT: Movie star facing death threats for criticizing Hamas

Egyptian movie star Adel Imam has sparked a fuss by criticizing Hamas and holding it partially responsible for the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. His criticism of the Palestinian militant group has spurred radical Islamist leaders to issue a fatwa calling for Imam's execution.

Earlier this month, Imam told the independent daily al-Masry al-Youm:

“The Egyptian leadership warned the Palestinian leaders against Israeli attacks; however, they did not pay attention and fought a disproportionate war. It is better that Hamas stops what it is doing because Israel will not respond with flowers.”

Imam also criticized pro-Hamas demonstrations that erupted around the Arab world blaming Egypt for the blockade suffered by Hamas.

KUWAIT: Arab rift over Gaza hard to heal

Arab divisions, which have hardened since the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, resurfaced at the Kuwait summit.

Arab governments failed today to develop a common position over the situation in Gaza, but hopes for reconciliation arose after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia criticized Arab divisions and called for unity. “We have transcended the phase of differences and opened the door for Arab fraternity and unity to every Arab.” 

Shortly after, Egyptian, Saudi, Qatari and Syrian leaders sat for lunch together, which some media celebrated as a sign of a possible rapprochement  between the U.S. allies who refuse to throw their full support behind Hamas, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia on one hand, and Iranian allies in the region,  namely Syria, on the other.