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Posted by
Olog-hai
on Sat Apr 30 13:20:19 2011, in response to Egypt Revolts!, posted by JayZeeBMT on Fri Jan 28 16:01:55 2011.
edf40wrjww2msgDetailOT:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d Would Carter finally acknowledge his utter failure and how wrong he is if that happens . . . ?
Daily Telegraph
Over half of Egyptians want to end peace treaty with IsraelBy Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent
4:44PM BST 26 Apr 2011
More than half of Egyptians want to end the peace treaty with Israel, according to an opinion poll, which will worsen the West's fears about a shift towards conservative Islamic politics in the country.
The survey, the fullest to be conducted on any of the Middle East countries that have undergone uprisings in the "Arab Spring", found 54 percent of Egyptians wanted to end the treaty, signed in 1979, compared to 36 percent who wanted to keep it.
The survey also found a high degree of support for Islamic law and for a prominent role for the Muslim Brotherhood, which was banned before the February revolution.
But at the same time most would vote for secular parties if an election were held today, with a Brotherhood-led government winning the support of only 17 percent of the vote, lower than most recent estimates.
Two liberal parties, the New Wafd, which has roots in the colonial era, and al-Ghad, whose leader was jailed by the former president, Hosni Mubarak, each won similar or higher support.
The Muslim Brotherhood was seen as one of the big winners from the democratic uprising which toppled Mr Mubarak. Islamists were appointed to a constitutional committee to plan the next steps for Egypt's fledgling democracy.
Meanwhile, the military council temporarily in charge has moved to improve relations with Iran, broken off altogether after the Islamic revolution there in 1979.
Thirty percent of those asked said they agreed with the views of Islamic fundamentalists, with a similar number opposing them. Most people — 62 percent — thought Egyptian laws should "strictly follow the Koran" and 27 percent that it should follow Islamic principles and values.
In contrast to the popular image in the West, support for fundamentalist Islam was greatest in upper income groups and lowest among the poor.
The survey also demonstrated the contradictory attitudes of a country emerging suddenly from decades of dictatorship. The most unpopular figure in the country was Mubarak, for example, but the most popular was the head of the military and acting president, Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi. Yet for years, Field Marshal Tantawi was so close to his former boss that he was popularly known as "Mubarak's poodle".
That may reflect the success with which the military council has deflected blame for years of corruption and repression on to the police and civilian political figures. The hated former interior minister, Habib al-Adli, went on trial on Tuesday accused over his role in ordering police to open fire on demonstrators in the uprising. According to official figures, 846 people were killed in the unrest.
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