News and Analysis (12/8/12)

With the opposition split over how to respond to Mursi’s invitation to dialog, the FJP and the military signal mutual support …

• Muslim Brotherhood Call for Dialogue After Cairo Office Attack (Guardian)
• Egyptian Military Calls for Talks to End Violent Crisis (Guardian)
• Egypt Army Statement Balanced, Says Muslim Brotherhood Official (Reuters / Yahoo)
•  Egyptian President Poised to Grant Military Broader Police Powers (Washington Post)
• Egypt Opposition Rejects President Morsi’s Call for Talks (BBC)

… but dissatisfaction with Mursi’s assumption of dictatorial powers is not limited to the secular opposition:

• As Egypt’s Morsi Remains Defiant, a Former Top Brother Speaks Out (Christian Science Monitor)
• Egypt’s Anti-Morsi Protests Spread Beyond Cairo (Christian Science Monitor)
• The politics of post-Mubarak Egypt have broken (Christian Science Monitor)
• Why Egyptians Are Angry at Morsi, in Charts (Washington Post)

Backed by the anonymous replacement for the head of the “Qassem armed wing,” recently assassinated by Israel as he was reviewing a false Israeli offer for a cease-fire, Meshal shows that Netanyahu has no monopoly on intransigence, declaring “There will be no concession on an inch of the land”:

• Feted in Gaza, Hamas Leader Hits Out at Israel (Reuters)

“An internal report for the U.S. Congress has concluded that Iran probably is no longer on track, if it ever was, to having an ocean-crossing missile as soon as 2015”:

• Iran’s Long-range Missiles Said to Lag U.S. Intelligence Fears (Reuters)

“The white woman from suburban Philadelphia who became a Muslim jihadist and has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder a Swedish cartoonist” says she turned to Islam to escape violence against women in America and to militancy in anger over the Israeli bombing of children:

• ‘Jihad Jane’ Explains Her Strange Journey from Victim to Radical Muslim (Guardian)

“[T]here is only one Muslim woman member of Parliament in Thailand,” but the new Leadership Academy aims to change that:

• Leadership Academy for Muslim Women (The Nation)

This is “a ‘teachable moment’ in terms of shining a light on how the ‘fear-mongers,’ that is, the Islamophobia network in the United States, works to try to disrupt and discredit strong interfaith work among religious groups at the grassroots”:

• Hate Mail over Muslim Conference Provides Opportunity for Christian Witness (Washington Post)

With Jordanians increasingly dissatisfied with the declining economy, “[t]he Muslim Brotherhood seems ready for a more active role in Jordanian politics. But the group says it wants no part in changing the government”:

• Muslim Brotherhood Ready for More Active Role in Jordan (VoA)

As the …

• US Uses Rumours of Chemical Weapons to Underpin Threat of Action in Syria (Guardian)

… the French fund the rebels who have elected a new ommander and will next target the Damascus International Airport:

• France Funding Syrian Rebels in New Push to Oust Assad (Guardian)
• Syrian Rebels Elect New Military Commander (Reuters)
• Syria Rebels Aim to Seize Damascus Airport (BBC)

“The comments follow a diplomatic flap after Bahrain’s crown prince did not mention the U.S. at the opening of the conference Friday as he listed critical allies in the kingdom’s 22-month battle against an Arab Spring-inspired uprising. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet”:

• US Officials Say No ‘Pivot’ Away From Mideast (AP / abc News)

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