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Egyptian special forces secure the main floor Monday inside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The Egyptian government says Egypt's museums and ancient monuments, including the Pyramids, are now safe.
Zahi Hawass, the antiquities minister in President Hosni Mubarak's new government, posted an update on his personal Web site this morning that the military had begun safeguarding the nation's heritage sites:
The commanders of the army are now protecting the Egyptian Museum, Cairo,and all of the major sites of Egypt (Luxor, Aswan, Saqqara, and the pyramids of Giza) are safe. The twenty-four museums in Egypt, including the Coptic and Islamic museums in Cairo, are all safe, as well. I would like to say that I am very happy to see that the Egyptian people, young and old, stood as one person against the escaped prisoners to protect monuments all over the country. The monuments are safe because of both the army and the ordinary people.
Some foreigners think Egypt is not interested in protecting our monuments and museums, but that is not true, at all. Egypt has 5,000 years of civilisation, and we love our heritage. I want to send a message to the people of Egypt: all of you are responsible, to ultimately be judged by your own history, to protect your monuments, and should not permit ignorance or outlaws to damage our history – it is the most important thing we own. I am sure the bells from the churches are ringing now, and the voices from the minarets of mosques are calling, to say that Egypt is a safe place to live.
Last week, Bedouins pulled up in a truck and looted a storage site in Qantara, near the Suez Canal, but Hawass writes that 288 objects — " the majority of what was stolen" — have now been returned.
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"Safe place to live"? Well, with the military guarding the museums, at least it's a safe place to be dead.
Egypt is, indeed an Islamic country. One of the hidden agendas in Islam today is the presence of the followers of Mohammed Ibn al Wahab who are not just conservative but also have revised the Q'ran to say things that would have appallled the Prophet Mohammed. They have chosen to change the meaning of the word "J'had" to mean "Holy War." In Islam this should be an oxymoron linking two words that contradict each other. "J'had" in Arabic, several sources say means "the struggle." That is what we do every day of our lives to survive and live out our lives as best we can.
This relates to these recent protests in Egypt directly. We have no real idea what the "Muslim Brotherhood" plans to do if they gain recognition again. If they plan to support ideas like the Wababe version of J'had, then they should be kept in check. Most Egyptians do not want chaos, extreme radicalism or all of the ills that you see today in Iran. They tell the world that every day with many things, including the present demonstrations and protests.
The important thing for we Americans to remember is that Egyptians are not robots that will follow Islamic leaders without question. They are educated, speak at least two languages, Arabic and English and have a civilization that has lasted for at least 5 millenia. If we decide to "help" them with this change of regime, we may get the same invitation that Hosni Mubarek got: "Leave Egypt as soon as possible."
Well said, Mr. Liston.