Where Egypt was, where it is, where it is heading

Phyllis Chesler starts by citing the frequently referenced June 2010 Pew Poll survey of Egyptians showing that

Fifty nine percent said they back Islamists. Only 27 percent said they back modernizers. Half of Egyptians support Hamas. Thirty percent support Hizbullah and 20 percent support al Qaida. Moreover, 95 percent of them would welcome Islamic influence over their politics….Eighty two percent of Egyptians support executing adulterers by stoning, 77 percent support whipping and cutting the hands off thieves. 84 percent support executing any Muslim who changes his religion … When this preference is translated into actual government policy, it is clear that the Islam they support is the al Qaida Salafist version.

She asks, “Is this Pew Center survey really true? What other indicators might we rely upon?” She then proceeds to look at a series of photos of Egyptians from 1959 to the present, and points out the changes that have occurred. Fifty years ago, 35 years ago, women appeared in public wearing normal Western-style clothing. Today the street scene is virtually all-male, with the occasional woman being covered.

She concludes:

My reading of these photos suggests that Egyptian women have already been Islamified. Whether they have done so to please their loving (or abusive) families or a favorite mullah, whether it was peer pressure from girlhood on that did it; or whether it was the teachings of the Muslim Brotherhood being preached in every mosque, on every media channel, and in school that did it, the fact is:

It is done. Women are veiled. Such women—and their fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons, will vote for the Muslim Brotherhood to run their country.

I wonder why no media have looked—really looked—at what the photos they themselves are running really tell us about who the “people” in the streets really are.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 06, 2011 04:23 PM | Send