Egypt

The Muslim Brotherhood announced Saturday that it has formed a political party, called the Freedom and Justice party.

Leaders of the group were quick to dispel worries that the party will be governed by Islamic conservatism, stating “the party will not be Islamist in the old understanding.” 

Yet the question remains - will the party’s platform include ‘freedom and justice” for women and religious minorities?

A recent opinion poll shows that a majority of Egyptians want the Quran as the State’s source of law. 

Furthermore, the poll showed that Egyptians are more open to the inclusion of religious parties in future governments, with one in three Egyptians polled having a “very favorable” view of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Meanwhile only 36% of people questioned feel it is “very important” for Christians and other minority religions to be allowed to freely practice their religions. 

I guess we’ll have to see what the September elections bring…

Security personnel in Saudi Arabia are working to crush growing uprisings in the country. Saudi activists are using Facebook and other social media to call for a "day of rage" and to garner support. 

Watch the report below for the full story. 

A senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood has praised Iran for unifying the world’s Muslim countries.  

He also said Ahmadinejad is “the bravest man in the Muslim world,” and that Egypt needs “innocent, honest, brave leaders like him.” 

And the Obama administration has said it supports a role for the Muslim Brotherhood in a reformed Egyptian government… 

Iranian authorities, who outspokenly supported the revolution in Egypt, refused to grant permission for yesterday’s rally in Tehran, which was scheduled to show solidarity with the Egyptian people.

The rally turned quickly into an antigovernment demonstration, and Iranian officials responded to protesters with violence. 

One person was killed as police worked to break up the antigovernment protests. 

The protesters chanted “Death to the dictator" and "Mubarak, Ben Ali, now it's Seyed Ali's Turn," referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  

After social media successfully helped bring about revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, the repressive regime of Algerian President Abdelaziz Boutifleka shut down internet and deleted Facebook accounts across the country. 

Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators were arrested, with 30,000 riot police in the streets of Algiers alone. 

Will this revolution be successful? Will another nation be opened to possible radical Islamic takeover?

Watch the Associated Press recap of the 18-day protests in Egypt.

Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key U.S. ally against al Qaeda, announced he will not extend his presidency at the end of this term (which ends in 2013). 

Saleh is trying to avoid mass protests, similar to those in Egypt and Tunisia.

While Yemen under Saleh has slowly become a "failed state", with extreme poverty, hunger, and unemployment, leaving the country open to an al Qaeda take-over does not really seem like the ideal solution. 

Read more here. 

The current uprising in Egypt could very likely bring about a chain of events similar to those in Iran in 1979 – democratic protests followed by an Islamist regime. While the Muslim Brotherhood may not be the leader of the uprisings in Egypt, it is the only large organized opposition group. It is bound at some point to become the leading force of the protests, especially if the regime is overthrown. 

According to the latest Pew poll, 30% of Egyptians are pro-Hezbollah, 49% are pro-Hamas, and 20% “smile” at al-Qaeda. 1 out of every 5 Egyptian favors extreme Islamist terrorist groups, while 1 in every 3 supports revolutionary Islamists in other countries. This does not tell us exactly how many Egyptians would favor an Islamist government in Egypt, but certainly paints a very frightening picture. 

Furthermore, 82% of Egyptians want stoning as the punishment for adulterers, 77% prefer whippings and hand amputations for stealing, and 84% want the death penalty for converts from Islam. 

These findings indicate that a large majority of Egypt’s population would support the Muslim Brotherhood as the future leaders of the country. This prospect has the potential for very negative repercussions throughout the Middle East – for Israel in particular – for America, and for other Western democracies. 

"Expecting Muslim women to be behind the reformation of Islam and Sharia, is like asking slaves to end their own slavery without their masters’ approval or asking prisoners to get out of prison without the guards opening the doors. […] For Muslim women to simply revolt against Islamic gender apartheid will be regarded as anti-man, anti-family, anti-religion, anti-government and worst of all, anti-Allah himself."