Iran and Egypt, Twin Outsiders of the Muslim World – By Mohamad Korrani at PBS Org

A resonant history of influence and inspiration suggests it is now the turn of the Iranian people, and soon.

[ comment ] Tahseen Bashir, the late Egyptian intellectual and erudite diplomat, once said that Egypt and Iran are the only two real countries in the region, and the rest are simply “tribes with flags.”

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The intellectual dialogue between Fatimid Egypt and Iranians was vast and multifaceted and Iranians responded by starting their own Ismaili movement. It failed politically but succeeded culturally, producing some of the grandest works of Iranian literature and thought like the Safarnama (Book of Travels) of Nasser Khosrow, the History of Beyhaghi, and the philosophy of Avicenna.

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Filed under: Egypt, Fatimid Empire, Iran, Islam, Ismailis, Muslims Tagged: | a, Avicenna, Egypt, Fatimid Empire, Iran, Islam, Ismailis, Nasir Khusraw, Safar Nama

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Protests in Egypt: The Twilight of the Despots – By Stefan Weidner at Qantara de

In his essay, Stefan Weidner points out that Mubarak is not the only one who seems to have lost touch with the reality of the situation in Egypt, so too have Western governments and media

 
The beginning of the end of the regime? “Mubarak is still officially in power, but that power is disconnected from Ground Control, floating off like Major Tom in outer space. The engine of change is hurtling full steam ahead, but the President’s carriage, the one still receiving all the international calls, has been left standing on the tracks,” writes Stefan Weidner

To Egyptian ears, it must have sounded like mockery when US President Barack Obama, who once seemed to be the bearer of international hope, said on Friday that he had impressed upon Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak his responsibility to deliver reform.

On Sunday morning, 19 private jets carrying the families of businessmen close to the regime left Cairo for the Gulf states. No police have been seen on the streets of the capital for the past three days. No one is curtailing the people’s freedom to demonstrate any more; at most it is the demonstrators themselves who are calling for order and turning, when necessary, to the army for help.

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Filed under: Arab countries, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, President Obama Tagged: | Arab countries, Democracy, Egypt, Europe, Human Rights Abuses, Israel, President Obama, The west, Tunisia, US Media

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