Put an end to the stupidity please

It's one thing for Al Jazeera to attempt to justify the murderous terrorism of Dahab as some kind of collective Bedouin uprising against an oppressive Egyptian government, which really is expected from their style of journalism at the end of the day. But I am surprised by how easily their malice was eaten up this time by so many Egyptians, a.k.a. the self proclaimed "intelligencia" of the press.

First of all to get the "bedouin uprising" factor out of the question: Why would a disaffected bedouin who is angry with the Egyptian government blow himself up screaming Allahu Akbar (God is Great) as he attempts to ram himself into the MFOs (multinational forces) which monitor the peace in Sinai between Egypt and Israel?

It was clear from the very first bombings in Taba that Al Qaeda was involved. The simultaneuty of the strings of bombings in each of the attacks and the specific targetting of holidaying Egyptians in the national days of the 6th of October, the 23d of July (anniversary of the Egyptian revolution) and Sham en Nissim (Pharoanic Spring holiday, you can't get more Egyptian than that. And don't mistake this for Sinai liberation day, which was the day after the bombings.) were dead give-aways each time. The Israeli intelligence knew this and even gave warnings beforehand to its citizens of the specific days of the attacks (Of course, we received no similar warnings by our own government), but our govenrment denied the involvement of Al Qaeda all along, perhaps thinking that if it laid the blame on homegrown extremists it would play down the alarm. But of course our now familiar friend, the prominent foot in mouth disease, result of the intranspareny and obvious no-brainstorming of our decision making process, following the laws of nature once again had to switch itself around and apply also to those who set it free. And now the government, instead of saying "Hey governments of the world, we are fighting an indiscriminating terrorist enemy here, come help us root it out", it instead helped spread a false rumour of a mini civil war.

What can I say?

If you are still unconvinced, it is the bedouins themselves of these regions who are denying this, and rightly offended in their honour by this claim. Their living depends on tourism...why would they destroy their only source of livelihood? Is it because they were offended so bad by the Egyptian government that they had to go and attack international peacekeepers?

Or you can forget everything I just said altogether and read for yourself one of the terrorist's own confessions here, here and here. As you read these stories you will see that the level of knowledge of these simple uneducated people who are carrying out the attacks is the exact level of "education" you would get from following news of the world through the screen of Al Jazeera. And is it a mere co-incidence that one of their financiers is from AJ land of Gutter?...

وعاوز أقول إن فيه واحد اسمه موسي أيوب بيدعم الجماعة، ويقيم في قطر، حيث أبلغني المتهم موسي بدران بضرورة توجهي للبنك الأهلي فرع العريش علشان أصرف حوالة جاية من قطر باسمي، ولما استفسرت منه قال لي: إن فيه نسيبه اسمه موسي أيوب يعمل في قطر مدرب جمال يدعم الجماعة ويتبرع لها وبيحول لها فلوس، وهو سافر قبل تفجيرات طابا في أكتوبر ٢٠٠٤، وبالفعل ذهبت للبنك وصرفت الحوالة وكانت بمبلغ ٦ آلاف جنيه.

Here is what we do know from the news and from the investigations:

- The attacks were carried out by bedouins belonging to these terrorist cells from the north of Sinai, which is wholly less developed and less dependent on tourism than the south. The easiness with which they avoided security checkpoints to reach their targets is a piece of tragi-comedy:

وتوجهنا بالسيارات الثلاث في اتجاه طريق العريش - القنطرة، شرق، ثم إلي بئر العبد، ثم إلي عيون موسي، وكان هناك كمين شرطة، فدخلنا شمال في الجبل في مدق علشان نتفادي الكمين، ثم طلعنا علي الأسفلت تاني، حتي قبل كمين أبورديس دخلنا شمال في مدق خلف الجبل، واتغدينا وصلينا الظهر والعصر قصراً، وكملنا طريقنا، ثم طلعنا علي الأسفلت بعد الكمين وقابلنا كمين عند مفارق فيران، وقطعنا طريق المفارق سانت كاترين، ثم كمين الطور، وكمين تاني إلي أن وصلنا إلي المدق الجبلي اللي قبل كمين شرم الشيخ، وكان فيه محجر رمل ركنا فيه لأنه مهجور، وصلينا المغرب، وقمنا بعد ذلك بتظبيط الأنابيب، وبناء علي تعليمات صلاح قائد المجموعة، قام شافعي بحمل شنطة لونها أسود من اللي بتتحط علي الضهر، داخلها أنبوبة بوتاجاز صغيرة مليئة بالمتفجرات استعداداً لبدء التنفيذ، ثم اتكلم قائد المجموعة مع سامي وفهمه كيفية تفجير السوق التجارية بالسيارة اللي هيسوقها، وفهم حنفي كيفية تفجير فندق غزالة بالسيارة اللي هيسوقها ثم صلينا العشاء، واتحركنا بالسيارات الثلاث وطلعنا علي الأسفلت، ووقفنا في منطقة بين الرويسات وشرم الشيخ، وبعد كده الشافعي اللي هيفجر نفسه بالأسطوانة ركب مع حنفي السيارة علشان يوصله إلي شارع الملك قابوس، ثم يتوجه حنفي بالسيارة المفخخة إلي فندق غزالة لتفجيره،
وتوجه سامي بالسيارة المفخخة الثانية إلي السوق التجارية.وكان اتفاقنا معاهم أنهم لا يفجرون أنفسهم إلا بعد تحركنا بالسيارة الثالثة بعيداً عن شرم الشيخ بنصف ساعة، علشان نكون عدينا من كمين شرطة شرم الشيخ، وبعد نصف ساعة شوفنا لمعة وضوء ونار، فعرفنا إن ده الانفجار، وقبل ما نوصل مدينة الطور سمعنا من راديو لندن إن فيه انفجارات في شرم الشيخ، فاحنا فرحنا وهنينا بعض، وقبل مدينة رأس سدر دخلنا الجبل لغاية الصبح، وكملنا طريقنا للعريش، ووصلنا إلي البيت اللي في حي السمران ولم نجد قائد التنظيم فاتصلنا به، فأرسل لنا سيارة نقلتنا إلي منزل سليمان البلاهيني واسمه الحركي «شاهين»، وهو أحد أعضاء التنظيم.

- That the suicide attacks on the Egyptian security force and on the MFOs were timed with an attempted attack from the Palestinian side to blow up the Rafah border (yes, again, this is like the third or fourth time already), proves that there is co-ordination with terrorists from across the border. (Is it a co-incidence that I did not read any complaints or even news of this attempt in the local media?) The suicidal nature of the attacks are pointers as well.

Ideas to fix this problem:

- The north of Sinai must be developed first in infrastructure then in tourism to it's potential. I doubt that the north of Sinai is any less beautiful than the south, and therefore I see no reason why the northern town of Al Arish should be turned into a terrorist haven, anymore than I see why Helwan which used to be renowned for its natural springs is now monstrous cement factory land, anymore than I see why the green Nile Valley has been turned into a concrete jungle. But then again, these are sighs after sighs of Egyptianisms which make no sense to post-revolutionary mortals and are therefore better left alone. But I mention these tragic examples as big no-nos to any similar future 'ideas' of development.

- Unlike some people who would like to see Egypt at war again, I think the demilitarization of Sinai is one of the best things that happened to it since the middle east process began, and makes it a true land of peace. It's no wonder why Al Qaeda is trying to compromise security there and provoke more forces to go in, the real goal it sees in scrapping the Camp David treaty (their wishful thinking I guess). Needless to say however, events show that it is in the interests of both Egypt and Israel for the borders and the forces necessary to combat these terrorists be more equiped and secured to wipe them out.

Finally, fellow Egyptians, please re-check the "facts" you get from the emotional crackfiends of Al Jazeera and Al Arabi Al Nasseri before you help spread a false rumour of civil war in your country to your fellow citizens and to the rest of the world.

Thank you.