Hosni Mubarak had harsh words for the United States and what he described as its misguided quest for democracy in the Middle East in a telephone call with an Israeli lawmaker a day before he quit as Egypt’s president. The legislator, former cabinet minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, said on TV Friday that he came away from the 20-minute conversation on Thursday with the feeling the 82-year-old leader realized “it was the end of the Mubarak era”. “He had very tough things to say about the United States,” said Ben-Eliezer, a member of the Labor Party who has held talks with Mubarak on numerous occasions while serving in various Israeli coalition governments.
“He gave me a lesson in democracy and said: ‘We see the democracy the United States spearheaded in Iran and with Hamas, in Gaza, and that’s the fate of the Middle East,'” Ben-Eliezer said.
“‘They may be talking about democracy but they don’t know what they’re talking about and the result will be extremism and radical Islam,'” he quoted Mubarak as saying.
(…)
“He contended the snowball (of civil unrest) won’t stop in Egypt and it wouldn’t skip any Arab country in the Middle East and in the Gulf. “He said ‘I won’t be surprised if in the future you see more extremism and radical Islam and more disturbances — dramatic changes and upheavals,” Ben-Eliezer added.
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Insha’Allah, Hosni, Insha’Allah!! :-)
Odd how Hosni’s closest confidants were Israeli.
And they weren’t even very good confidants. That was the sort of statement Mubarak might have preferred remain secret, not blabbed to a newspaper.
@Lysander: dear friend, let me congratulate you and all your compatriots from the very bottom of my heart – may you and your loved ones celebrate the beginning of (hopefully) a fully new era for Egypt!!!
@Lysander
Are you Egyptian?
If so do you live in Egypt or abroad?
I just assumed you were American.
He contended the snowball (of civil unrest) won’t stop in Egypt and it wouldn’t skip any Arab country in the Middle East and in the Gulf. “He said ‘I won’t be surprised if in the future you see more extremism and radical Islam and more disturbances — dramatic changes and upheavals,
We can only hope so. Maybe it will spread to the US, too. The ghosts of 1848 and 1871 resurrected? Hell yeah, I would like to see that before I die.
@Saker: Thanks!! I never thought I’d see this day. My only regret is that my dad, who passed away last August, isn’t here to experience it with us. But I think he can see it from where he is.
And since this started I’ve been practicing “Here Come the Sun” by George Harrison. A great little song and very much fits the occasion.
@Jack: Egyptian-American. Left Egypt when I was less than two, but been back many times to visit and the emotional bond is strong. Last time in Egypt was in November of ’09. Plan on visiting with my mom this fall.
@Sean: Ron Paul 2012! Let’s get it right this time.