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| Africa North |
| After 16-year hiatus, 'Satanism' claims resurface in Egypt |
| 2012-09-04 |
| [Al Ahram] Controversy erupted in Egypt's cultural scene after Ismail El-Weshahy, a lawyer for the Moslem Brüderbund's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), filed a complaint Saturday to the interior ministry against El-Sawy Culturewheel, the prominent cultural centre in Cairo's upscale Zamalek district, accusing it of hosting "Satanist" rock bands and events. The allegations, observers say, are reminiscent of Egypt's infamous "Satan worshipers case" of the mid-1990s. According to El-Weshahy, one of his clients attended a recent event at El-Sawy Culturewheel at which he claims to have seen young people wearing t-shirts adorned with what he described as satanic shapes and symbols. The lawyer said that his client had also filmed a group of people who he said were performing satanic rituals in the centre. El-Weshahy insists that he does not represent the FJP in the case, but rather his two clients, both of whom are members of an independent anti-corruption NGO called 'We're Watching You." For its part, the Culturewheel issued a statement regarding the 31 August heavy metal concert in which it denied claims by El-Weshahy and his clients. "In our ten years of activity, the Culturewheel has not hosted any kind of practice that could be called Satanic," the statement asserted, going on to express doubt that Satanism in Egypt existed at all. The Culturewheel also stressed in its statement that the centre's administration did not allow any kind of violation during its concerts, be it smoking or any other kind of unacceptable behaviour. El-Sawy Culturewheel was founded in 2003 by Mohamed El-Sawy, an engineer and founder of Egypt's moderate-Islamist Hadara (Civilisation) Party. El-Sawy was appointed culture minister in the government of Ahmed Shafiq (ousted president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... 's last prime minister) over the objections of many intellectuals who considered him too conservative. On 30 and 31 August, the centre hosted several Egyptian heavy metal and rock bands. Nour Ayman Nour, the revolutionary activist and rock band member (and son of prominent reform activist Ayman Nour), slammed El-Weshahy on Twitter, demanding that the FJP declare that it was not responsible for the case against the culture centre. Nour told Ahram Online that the issue reminded him of the State Security campaigns of the 1990s, in which, he said, the authorities would contrive fake controversies in an effort to distract the public from more pressing issues. "Instead of filing complaints against metal bands and El-Sawy Culturewheel, why don't the FJP's lawyers focus on corruption cases that really matter?" Nour asked. He went on to call on the lawyers to refrain from judging young people based merely on their appearance. "Ismail El-Weshahy himself could have been the victim of such profiling in the past," Nour said, referring to the way Islamists -- or all bearded men -- were treated in Egypt during the Mubarak era. In late 1996, Egyptian security forces cooled for a few years Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! several young people on charges of promoting Satanism in Egypt through metal and black-metal music, possessing drugs and insulting the divine religions. The case, which came to be known in the media as "the Satan worshipers case," was handled largely by Egypt's State Security apparatus. After months of media controversy, the defendants were eventually released due to a lack of evidence. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 After watching Ossie Osburne, you gotta admit there could be some truth to their claims. |
| Posted by: tipper 2012-09-04 19:59 |
| #8 What the hell is Satanism? Rock & Roll, Nimb. Apparently, someone has been watching reruns of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2012-09-04 16:32 |
| #7 Of course calling someone a satanist in Egypt may be something you do when you are tired of calling them a zionist or apostate or heretic or infidel but you still want them arrested or killed Then it's not like further south, where Jooooos and satanists notoriously cause the male member to wither and fall off? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2012-09-04 16:07 |
| #6 John McCains heros! |
| Posted by: Knuckles Bumble4938 2012-09-04 15:30 |
| #5 satan (or shaytan) is a real presence in Islam (see verse chap 7 verse 11 and 12 of the Quran) Followers of the Yasdi religion are called satanists by some moslems because one of the angels who runs the world in the Yazdi cosmology has a secondary name of that is similar to satan. Of course calling someone a satanist in Egypt may be something you do when you are tired of calling them a zionist or apostate or heretic or infidel but you still want them arrested or killed |
| Posted by: lord garth 2012-09-04 11:25 |
| #4 What the hell is Satanism? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-09-04 10:55 |
| #3 This area of the world has a long history with 'Satanism'. Hitlers appeal and the Bath party reflect some of this. Those of you in this area of the world could add more I believe. Darth is very close to the mark, in my opinion. |
| Posted by: Dale 2012-09-04 09:31 |
| #2 Funny. I thought Islamization was Satanism. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2012-09-04 08:57 |
| #1 Death metal, apparently. |
| Posted by: Spot 2012-09-04 07:52 |