WASHINGTON — The Egyptian Association for Change – USA and the Coalition of Egyptian Organizations call on President Obama to discuss Egypt’s future with President Mubarak. Mr. Obama’s invitation to the Egyptian President to participate in the peace talks on September 2, 2010 does not address the severely deteriorating situation in Egypt.  Since it cannot be ruled out that this may be the last visit of Mr. Mubarak to Washington, we believe that this visit offers a perfect opportunity for President Obama to address the democracy deficit in Egypt to maintain stability and peace in the Middle East. With President Mubarak’s ailing health and the mounting dissent against his regime, Egypt faces an immediate security challenge ahead of the upcoming elections.  If the Egyptian regime does not make the necessary reforms to ensure a credible and competitive election process, the organizations say it could unleash a tinderbox of unrest in Egypt and the surrounding region, which would further hinder prospects for a two state solution.

The organizations call on both President Obama and President Mubarak to implement the seven basic demands of democratic reforms, which have been presented by Dr. Mohamed Elbaradei.   Despite state repression, the civilian mandate for change has garnered more than seven hundred thousand signatures to date and has been adopted by most major opposition parties. The demands include ending the state of emergency, allowing independent candidates to run for president without arbitrary restrictions and ensuring judicial oversight of the electoral process with international and local monitoring.

The groups say it is in the interest of the United States to urge the Egyptian regime to implement basic reforms that will place Egypt on a path to genuine democratic practices.  It will drastically improve the lives of ordinary Egyptians, contribute to regional stability, and enhance the image and credibility of the United States in the Arab world.  The United States can regain its credibility in the Middle East by convincingly opposing the regime’s deliberate efforts to ignore the desire of its citizens for legitimate democracy and human rights. Supporting measures that enshrine these values is consistent they say with U.S. ideals and the stated objectives of the Obama administration. Supporting the status quo in Egypt only undermines these objectives and jeopardizes U.S. vital interests in the Middle East.

Rights group says ambassador involved in Shi’a crackdown        

Manama — According to the Bahrain Freedom Movement, the security situation in Bahrain is escalating rapidly as more news of detentions, torture and abuse are spread among the people. In the past 24 hours the group says, at least 11 more people were arrested as the Al Khalifa rulers continued their war against native Bahrainis.

In parallel with these arrests, death squads have kidnapped at least seven young men to secret places, beaten them viciously until they reach the brink of death before releasing them in different locations. The escalating crimes of these heavily-armed militias which are operated by the royal court have added new dimensions to the official violence against Bahrainis. It is an open torture intended to break the will of the youth to participate in the pro-democracy activities. Four of these victims were snatched from Arad town, blindfolded, bludgeoned on all parts of their bodies and then dumped near the Sitra Bridge. One of them was found unconscious near the town of Galali. This is part of the genocide being conducted by the ruler against the native Baharna. These cases are now being presented as evidence against him and his lieutenants of death at the relevant international bodies.

Three more Bahrainis were treated with brutality unheard of in recent years. Hussain Ali Dawood, Hakim Ali Hussain and Ahmad Ali Hussain were snatched two days ago from their homes in Dair Town. They were beaten mercilessly at first. Then pliers were used to pull out their hair. Hussain Ali Dawood suffered more torture. One of his teeth was pulled with the pliers. After this torture at the hands of the death squads, the three were dumped unconscious in Umm Al Hassam which is several kilometers away.

The group charges that these crimes are now being committed daily, following what amounted to a green light given by the American Ambassador in Manama to criminalize those who oppose the Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship inside or expose its crimes in exile. There is a deep sense of anger against the unconditional backing by Ambassador Adam Ereli.

Today, we renew our commitments

Last year The Arab American News quietly celebrated its 25th anniversary. We felt the usual hoopla would be inappropriate given the dire economic circumstances most of the country’s citizens found themselves in. But the issues of our publication during that period were still filled with heartfelt congratulatory messages. This showed us that this paper has become an important part of the life of the community. Our distributors often describe people lining up waiting for the delivery of each weekly edition. Loyal readers become disappointed when the paper arrives later than usual because they have to make more than one trip to pick it up. They need and want each issue, it is part of their Friday night dinner tables and their weekend leisure.

Perhaps most importantly, the youth of our community read and contribute to our newspaper. One of the most important recognitions the newspaper has received over the past year, aside from Wayne State University’s prestigious Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award and many others, was an award from the Arab Student Union at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. These students are the leaders of the future. They embrace a newspaper that supports them and their community’s views and that speaks out on issues of importance. It gives them the courage of their convictions, which they sorely deserve.

We now celebrate our 26th anniversary four days ahead of memorializing the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and the losses of thousands of innocent lives.  Abroad our country continues to engage in wars, some covert, some not. We apparently lost the war in Iraq and the prognosis in Afganistan is grim to say the least. Here at home the Arab American and American Muslim communities continue to face unprecedented challenges borne of both hate and ignorance. All across the country, unbelievable acts of discrimination and violence are taking place. In Florida, an extremist pastor is holding a “Burn the Qur’an day” to observe the anniversary of 9/11. In New York, the attempt to build an Islamic community center near Ground Zero has sparked national outrage despite its mission to bring interfaith understanding. A New York Muslim taxi driver was stabbed twice by a passenger after confirming he was a Muslim. Mosques all over the country are being vandalized. Many of these incidents arise from ignorance spread by irresponsible and shallow media sensationalism. We at this newspaper will continue to respond to all of these challenges by educating our fellow Americans about the peaceful teachings of Islam and the beauty and positive contributions of our great Arabic culture.

Islamophobes need to learn that we won’t take this anymore. Whether from politician or pundit, we intend to fight this hate that feeds the ignorance that leads to harm of our community and our country.

We will also continue to work to bring the Arab American and Muslim communities into the fold by encouraging them to continue using their talents for the betterment of our nation’s society.

As this newspaper turns twenty-six, we realize that it has been a difficult yet rewarding project to sustain. The lives of a few people have been entirely devoted to its development and continuation and the work of many more has been needed to pull it together every week. We pledge to you today that we will continue to work relentlessly to meet the economic challenges presented by publication and we will continue to stand up as we have done in the last quarter-century-plus for the people of our community, their legitimate causes, and the interests of this great nation of ours. We’ll continue to do that with a balanced, fair-minded inclusiveness. You can count on it.

Between our anniversary and the tenth anniversary of 9/11, American Muslims will join more than 1.5 billion Muslims around the world in celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan. We take this opportunity to condemn the attacks that were carried out falsely in the name of Islam. We wish   Muslims around the world a happy Eid while also reiterating that Islam is a peaceful religion that preaches tolerance and understanding.