Again Cairo gets a slap from Washington. The Biden administration is withholding $130 million to Egypt on the grounds of human rights violations. Although this is 10% of the amount of military aid to the country of the Nile, which is about 1.3 billion dollars a year, this is enough to wake up the conspiracy enthusiasts.
"The story is not human rights. What is required of Egypt is far from that. The most important thing is that Egypt be an obedient country in America's military camp," said Egyptian researcher Ahmed Rafat.
"It is ridiculous and infuriating to freeze the funds on the grounds of the Egyptian government's human rights violations. These are false claims," argued MP Mustafa Bakri.
According to him, "Egypt released hundreds of political prisoners and called for a national dialogue to achieve political reforms. America needs to look in the mirror before it reckons with others. We will not accept dictates from America in exchange for money and at the expense of our sovereignty and independence."
A-Sisi.
Absent from the UN rally, photo: AFP
Others believe that Israel is behind the whole thing.
Commentator Nur Nada explained that "American aid is historically linked to President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the attempts of the American government to replace the Nasserist regime with a regime loyal to him. This caused the withdrawal of the economic role played by the Egyptian state and the neutralization of the army in the Arab conflict with the Zionist entity by signing the Camp David Accords with Israel".
A word from Biden
A sign from the Egyptian president himself could be seen at the UN General Assembly, from which al-Sisi was absent last week. Arab commentators estimated that the absence was related to tensions with the US over the freezing of aid funds.
Al-Sisi, for his part, said that "emergency circumstances" did not allow him to come.
The delay in transferring the money is generally a compromise within American politics itself.
Legislators in the Democratic Party demanded a halt to the entire amount of aid that is conditional on reforms in the field of human rights and stands at $300 million, but the Finance Department settled for a delay of $130 million, claiming that there had been some progress on the issue.
King Abdullah of Jordan, photo: AFP
And yet, one can understand the Egyptian anger.
The United States recently signed a memorandum of understanding that on the face of it promotes Amman up the ladder at the expense of Cairo. About a week ago, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Spadi signed the memorandum. The document regulates aid of 1.45 billion dollars a year to Jordan, which is facing an economic crisis. The money It will start flowing in 2023 and will continue to arrive every year until 2029. Biden gave his promise on the matter to King Abdullah at a summit held this summer in Saudi Arabia.
Jordan is not a follower of human rights to say the least.
The Human Rights Watch organization called for the deterioration of human rights in the Kingdom to be addressed.
According to the international organization, in the last four years the Jordanian authorities have intensified the repressive measures against the opposition with a series of laws to silence any criticism.
The report stated that the government uses laws to arrest journalists, political activists and members of independent parties and their families. All this to suppress the opposition in the country.
Human Rights Watch cited 30 cases between 2019-2022 in which the Jordanian authorities used a broad interpretation of anti-defamation laws to arrest and charge citizens who expressed political opinions on social media or in public meetings.
On top of that, the Jordanian government disbanded parties and labor unions.
"It is necessary to address the deterioration of human rights that Jordan is currently witnessing. The maintenance of stability cannot forever be a justification for violating the rights of citizens," said Lama Pekia, director of the organization's Middle East and North Africa department.
US President Biden, photo: AFP
A senior Jordanian source told the Reuters news agency that the Jordanian government is currently examining the report and will respond to it in detail. One can only hope that the answer will come someday. The Jordanian government also claimed that the law on political parties that was recently updated removed the restrictions on non-violent activity of the opposition and is a step in a democratic direction More.
As mentioned, the delay in the transfer of aid to Egypt is indeed more related to American politics in the USA, but it shines a ridiculous light on the USA.
On the one hand, relatively limited financial aid is being delayed because of human rights violations, and on the other hand, a contract was signed to provide billions of dollars in support to a kingdom that tramples on the opposition and freedom of expression.
An interesting public opinion poll was recently conducted, commissioned by the Washington Institute for Middle East Studies.
The survey was conducted between July 20 and August 11, 2022 through an independent polling institute in the region, and examined the positions of the Egyptian public on a variety of issues.
A warning light for the US
One of the most significant figures in the survey is that about half of the Egyptian public (47%) agreed with the following statement: "We cannot trust the US these days.
We need to see China and Russia more as partners." This rate has increased by ten percent since November 2021.
China may be the next thing in Egypt.
Regarding relations with foreign powers, China came in first place with 64% of respondents in the survey stating that the relationship with them is very important or quite important.
It is followed by the USA (58%), Russia (52%) and the European Union (46%).
Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The next thing in Egypt?, Photo: E.P
The creaks in relations with the US may further divert Egypt to the East. There, under the auspices of Beijing, the weight given to human rights issues is zero. This is bad news for the liberal forces in Egypt, who are at worst between the army's hammer and the Islamist anvil.
Israel also has reason to worry.
The survey revealed that there is very little popular support for "normalization".
Barely 11% agreed that people should be allowed to have business and sports relations with Israelis.
This despite the warming of official ties.
The figure has remained stable since December 2021. If a day comes and Egypt breaks away from the US, Jerusalem will have to recalculate its route.
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