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Can an Ex-Assassin Bring Peace to Egypt?
Hat Tip: BuzzMachineCommentary/Analysis, Franz Schurmann Pacific News Service, Jul 25, 2003 Editorâs Note: A man in prison in Egypt for the assassination of Anwar Sadat just may become key to peace in Egypt and beyond. The assassination of Sadat marked the turning point for me, personally, regards Arabs and Islam. I thought Sadat and his wife were a class act. This is an interesting story for what it might do to lessen the idiocy quotient. A novel experiment for domestic and even world peace is happening in Egypt, where a prison inmate has stirred the Islamic world by citing the Quran and the Sunna (the sayings and doings of the prophet Mohammed) to argue that "killing Jews, Christians and Americans is wrong." Novel, indeed... Egypt, an important player in several Middle Eastern and African peace processes, is considering releasing from prison Karam Zohdi, 50, a key figure in the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. In fact, Zohdi has already served his 25-year sentence, because under Egyptian law nine prison months are considered equal to a calendar year. So, you ask, "If he has completed his sentence, then why is Egypt only âconsideringâ releasing him?" Because it is yet another Arab dictatorship and Mubarek is both the beneficiary of his crime - and his jailer. Unlike American presidential assassins, who were mostly loners, Zohdi was a member of the Egyptian Jamaâa al-Islamiya, a militant Islamic group founded in 1978, the same year the Camp David peace accords were signed between Israel and Egypt. Zohdi escaped the death sentence that took the lives of five of his Jamaâa comrades for assassinating Sadat. While in prison he earned two law degrees, one from Cairo University. Ah, another JI follower... to get off without losing his head, he mustâve been only the getaway driver... More important, while in prison he immersed himself in Islamâs canonical book and concluded that what he did in 1981 was a grave sin. But what has stirred Muslims is that he has not renounced the teachings that underlie the most radical of Muslim fundamentalist beliefs. He still remains loyal to the strict Hanbali school of religious thought, one of four major Sunni denominations. So heâs mellowed in his old age and now, at last, maybe he even has some scruples... Zohdi says that killing Anwar Sadat and the policeman who died defending him was a "grave sin." He holds that some members of Jamaâa al-Islamiya were misguided and created "fitna" (civil strife) by insisting on the use of violence. However, he still refers to the recent suicide bombers who killed several people in the Saudi capital Riyadh as "his brothers," even though they made a "horrible" mistake. After much study of Islamic texts, he says he is convinced that fighting fitna without hatred must be the goal of every Muslim. And, he says, that means combating "jinsiya," the notion that people can be killed or harmed based on race, creed or national affiliation, as in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. More... So is he for real - or is he playing to both crowds - and angling to be another powerful cleric? I think heâs got the job locked up, if the author of this piece knows what heâs talking about - and Mubarek buys it. As for the authenticity of his peaceful intentions, well... Lessee: Law Degrees, check. Murdering Sadat = âgrave sinâ, check. Talking peace, check. Still a devout believer, check. He certainly knows the Egyption Parole Board Shuffle. Posted by: PD 2003-07-28 |
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