Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said on Saturday that the movement rejects Palestinian blood as fuel for election campaigns in Israel, accusing all Israeli parties of participating in the killing of Palestinians.
Al-Hayya said: “My message to the world is: We will never accept that Palestinian blood is the fuel for the Israeli elections.” He added: “Everyone, as they say, has traded (participated) in our blood. What concerns us is that our Palestinian people achieve their goals, desires and legitimate rights,” according to what was reported by “Agence France-Presse.”
Al-Hayya pointed out that the Israeli elections “are repeated from time to time, and our Palestinian people are searching for what will achieve their rights, regardless of who comes from the Israeli parties... our Palestinian people have suffered from all the Israeli parties throughout history and for decades.”
He said, “Israeli propaganda and electoral propaganda are fueled by Palestinian blood and Palestinian rights, and they are fighting over who will digest the Palestinian right, not who will coexist and present himself to the world as a human being.”
Israel will witness legislative elections on October 27.
According to opinion polls, the results are expected to be close between the camp led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the camp led by his main centrist opponent, Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar (Mustaqim) party.
The death of Chancellor Ahmed Al-Zend, the former Egyptian Minister of Justice, came on Saturday, recalling chapters of the confrontation that the deceased waged with the banned “Muslim Brotherhood” group, during the rule of former President Mohamed Morsi, when (Al-Zind) was president of the Judges Club, and the positions that followed after the fall of the “Brotherhood” rule in 2013, amid a sharp contrast in the reactions on social networking sites, between his obituary as one of the symbols of the Egyptian judiciary, and publications reiterating his controversial statements and positions, all the way to Comments, some of which carried a degree of “schadenfreude.”
Al-Zend (born in 1946) died at the age of 80, after a health problem, after which he was taken to the hospital, according to what his family announced, and his body was buried at the “Mosque of the Field Marshal Tantawi” (east of Cairo).
In a statement on Saturday, the Egyptian Judges Club mourned El-Zend, describing him as “the deceased of the Egyptian judiciary and one of its symbols,” recalling what he described as “roles and positions in the service of the judiciary and its issues.” A number of judges and public figures also mourned him, including Counselor Hamdi Abdel Tawab, the former representative of the Judges Club, who described him as the “godfather” and “lion of judges,” while others shared pictures and clips from his periods as president of the club, praising what they considered to be positions supportive of the independence of the judiciary.
On the other hand, social publications republished clips of Al-Zend that were linked to his sharp positions on the Muslim Brotherhood and its leaders, in addition to other statements that sparked widespread criticism at the time. Some comments shifted from recalling the political dispute to “gloating” over his death.
Al-Zind was elected president of the “Egyptian Judges Club” in 2009, then was re-elected in 2012, becoming one of the most prominent faces of the judicial confrontation with the “Brotherhood” regime, especially after the “Constitutional Declaration” issued by Morsi, and the subsequent movements to suspend the work of the courts and refuse to supervise the referendum.
Al-Zind assumed the Ministry of Justice in May 2015, before he was relieved of his position in March 2016, following a crisis sparked by his statement that he would punish the wrongdoer “even if he was a prophet,” despite his correcting the statement and apologizing for it.
Egyptian researcher in the affairs of Islamic movements, Maher Farghali, believes that the recirculation of Al-Zend’s controversial passages with the announcement of his death is “expected,” given the association of his presence with a highly polarized phase in Egypt’s modern history.
Farghali told Asharq Al-Awsat, “Gloating over the death of opponents is not new to the Brotherhood, and recalling these clips comes as a reminder of Al-Zand’s positions on it, and his role in the clash between the Judges Club and the group, and what followed the events of June 30.”
He added that Al-Zend “was a prominent player in the judicial scene, and he made strong statements in his attacks on the Brotherhood,” explaining that “the group and its supporters hold him, according to their perception, partly responsible for the rulings and prosecutions they were subjected to during that period.” But Farghaly pointed out, at the same time, that “Al-Zand himself was sharp in his statements,” and that “some of his statements aroused broad segments of public opinion, including the passage that was known in the media as the (masters and slaves) talk, in addition to his statement that he would punish the wrongdoer (even if he was the Prophet), a crisis that ended with him being removed from the position of Minister of Justice despite his apology.”
Dr. Aya Salah, professor of political sociology, believes that Al-Zend’s name “was associated with a thorny and turbulent stage in Egyptian history, and his presence was loud and was associated with statements and positions that sparked widespread controversy.”
She added to Asharq Al-Awsat: “Communication platforms have revived these statements, especially since the video clips are being recirculated selectively, and sometimes taken out of context, according to the position of each party and the purpose it seeks.”
According to Salah, announcing the death of controversial figures on social media does not only become an occasion for obituaries, but rather becomes “a moment to reactivate political memory and re-evaluate its owner.”
She added: “It was natural for sectors of the Brotherhood and their supporters to use the news of the death to recall the chapters of the group’s conflict with state institutions during Morsi’s rule and what followed June 30, considering Al-Zend as one of the most prominent faces of the judicial confrontation with it. The controversy that accompanied his passing is not only related to his person, but also to a political phase that is still present in the collective memory, despite his being away from the public sphere for years before his death.”
Shaima Mahmoud (35 years old), who lives in the Shubra El Kheima area (north of Cairo), prepares eggs for her son Younes, as an almost daily and indispensable part of the school meal (sandwiches). She told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Eggs are cheaper” and suitable for school, but she complained about the increase in the cost of the school meal with the jump in egg prices these days.
Like Shaima, millions of mothers depend on eggs as a main meal during school days, which was reflected in an increase in demand rates in the market, in contrast to the decline that the markets witnessed during the past months, and some attributed it to the influence of the “Al-Tayyibat Diet”, by the late Diaa Al-Awadi, which prohibits eating eggs, chicken, and many other types of food for the reason of “harm.”
The average price of a carton of eggs reached 140 pounds (the dollar is about 52 pounds) in the markets, up from about 90 pounds a few weeks ago, at a time when the head of the Poultry Wealth Division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, Abdel Aziz Al-Sayed, considers that the price increase does not amount to “compensating for losses” for the past period, but rather a “break-even point,” meaning covering the cost of production with a small profit margin, pointing out that part of the increase “is unjustified, and imposed by the intermediary circles (sellers). Farm owners sell a carton for 115 pounds.”
The significant decline in the price of eggs in the recent period had previously sparked widespread controversy and calls for help from farm owners, claiming that they had incurred losses. They then called on the government to intervene to control the system and establish a mechanism that would achieve fair prices for producers. The proposal did not find popular or official resonance, amid questions about the absence of such calls in times of high egg and chicken prices.
Al-Sayed explains the recent large increase in the price of eggs as a result of the lack of supply compared to the previous period with the increase in demand, which led to an increase in prices, according to the “supply and demand” policy. He added: “In the previous months, we had a large abundance of production, with a decline in demand, whether due to good deeds, or a decrease in the purchasing power of the citizen, which caused producers to suffer huge losses, which led to the exit of some of them from the market.”
Economist Wael Al-Nahhas told Asharq Al-Awsat that the poultry market witnessed major losses in the recent period, in which only the major producers survived, while many left, adding in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat that increases were expected, whether in the prices of poultry or eggs.
The head of the Poultry Wealth Division continued: “With the start of school, which is the season in which the demand for eggs increases, a family with three children consumes about a carton every ten days, and this led to an increase in the price.”
Egypt is witnessing high rates of inflation, as the annual inflation rate last August recorded 14.5 percent, compared to 14.9 percent last July.
The economist expected that the increase in the price of eggs would be just the beginning of a series of inflationary increases in poultry products in particular, whether in light of the increase in yellow corn feed by an average of 14 to 17 percent, and soybeans by about 14 percent, all of which are feed used in raising poultry, or an increase in the food basket in general, as a result of regional conditions.
He added: “The increases will be in basic goods that the citizen uses and cannot do without, and will put him and the government in a dilemma.”
