OBAMA PUTS NETANYAHU IN HIS LIST OF DISAPPOINTMENTS

In an interview with the Atlantic's propagandist Jeffrey Goldberg, Obama predictably couldn't leave Netanyahu out of his list of disappointments in the middle east:

But over the next three years, as the Arab Spring gave up its early promise, and brutality and dysfunction overwhelmed the Middle East, the president grew disillusioned. Some of his deepest disappointments concern Middle Eastern leaders themselves. Benjamin Netanyahu is in his own category: Obama has long believed that Netanyahu could bring about a two-state solution that would protect Israel’s status as a Jewish-majority democracy, but is too fearful and politically paralyzed to do so. Obama has also not had much patience for Netanyahu and other Middle Eastern leaders who question his understanding of the region. In one of Netanyahu’s meetings with the president, the Israeli prime minister launched into something of a lecture about the dangers of the brutal region in which he lives, and Obama felt that Netanyahu was behaving in a condescending fashion, and was also avoiding the subject at hand: peace negotiations. Finally, the president interrupted the prime minister: “Bibi, you have to understand something,” he said. “I’m the African American son of a single mother, and I live here, in this house. I live in the White House. I managed to get elected president of the United States. You think I don’t understand what you’re talking about, but I do.” Other leaders also frustrate him immensely. Early on, Obama saw Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey, as the sort of moderate Muslim leader who would bridge the divide between East and West—but Obama now considers him a failure and an authoritarian, one who refuses to use his enormous army to bring stability to Syria. And on the sidelines of a nato summit in Wales in 2014, Obama pulled aside King Abdullah II of Jordan. Obama said he had heard that Abdullah had complained to friends in the U.S. Congress about his leadership, and told the king that if he had complaints, he should raise them directly. The king denied that he had spoken ill of him.

I'm sorry, but he doesn't understand anything, and it's incredibly ill-advised of him to act like he does. Without understanding of Islam, he will not realize why "peace" is impossible, nor why "two-state solutions" only condone segregation, something that goes against the values America usually upholds.

And his perception of Erdogan as a "moderate" is also laughable, because Erdogan's bunch was proving otherwise long before Obama was elected, and still are. Failing to make distinctions between Netanyahu and Erdogan, for example, is ludicrous and degrading.

2,500 YEAR OLD WOMEN'S SEAL FOUND

Archaeologists have unearthed a seal used by a woman, which shows how she had a prominent position and was able to own property:

Two 2,500-year-old seals — one belonging to an “exceptional” woman — were found outside of Jerusalem’s Old City, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday in what it termed a rare discovery.

The first First Temple-era find, made of semiprecious stone and bearing the name “Elihana bat Gael,” indicated the woman who owned the seal was affluent. The second seal, found in the same area, belonged to “Sa‘aryahu ben Shabenyahu.”

“Finding seals that bear names from the time of the First Temple is hardly a commonplace occurrence, and finding a seal that belonged to a woman is an even rarer phenomenon,” the IAA said in a statement.

The “owner of the seal was exceptional compared to other women of the First Temple period: she had legal status which allowed her to conduct business and possess property,” it said.

Now isn't that impressive? It proves that even in those days when there were monarchies, women could maintain a very prominent position in society. And that's why learning history like this is very important.

AMERICAN SERVICEMAN MURDERED IN JIHADIST ATTACK IN JAFFA

There was a stabbing spree 3 days ago in the Jaffa neighborhood around Tel Aviv. And this time, an American who'd served in Afghanistan and Iraq was murdered (H/T: The Jawa Report):

Taylor Force excelled at everything he did. As a Boy Scout, he attained the highest, most difficult rank: Eagle Scout. The descendent of generations of soldiers, Force was a National Honor Society member at New Mexico Military Institute, and then went on to West Point. He served in Afghanistan and Iraq, making it home from the war zones alive and with his positive outlook intact.

But the smart and promising 28-year-old was struck down in his prime by a Palestinian terrorist’s blade on Tuesday, one of multiple stabbing attacks in Israel that resulted in a dozen police and civilian casualties. Force, in Israel to study entrepreneurship with his Vanderbilt business school classmates, was the only victim killed.

[...] Force was walking on a boardwalk in Jaffa Tuesday when a 22-year-old Palestinian terrorist stabbed him to death, part of a bloody, gruesome spree that saw Bashar Massalha stab 10 victims in three locations during a 20-minute attack. No one else from Vanderbilt was injured.

“Taylor embarked on this trip to expand his understanding of global entrepreneurship and also to share his insights and knowledge with start-ups in Israel,” Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos wrote in a statement. “He exemplified the spirit of discovery, learning and service that is a hallmark of our wonderful Owen [School of Business] community. This horrific act of violence has robbed our Vanderbilt family of a young hopeful life and all of the bright promise that he held for bettering our greater world.”

It's terrible that even an American army veteran now had to fall victim to what the US government's been putting up with.

The jihadist himself had been in Mecca prior to this incident:

Geographically pinned Facebook posts from February 26 through March 5 show that Massalha visited the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina days before carrying out his attack.

In his final Facebook post on March 7, apparently published from the West Bank a day before the attack, Massalha appears standing near the Kaaba in Mecca, giving a thumbs up.

It's clear what some of the monster's influences were, and where they came from.

THE DESTINY OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION RESTS UPON THE SHOULDERS OF ONE MAN: JAMES COMEY

The free world will not survive another 4 years of leftist domination of the USA.

If Hillary is indicted, then continued leftist domination becomes extremely unlikely.

Everyone following Hillary's three scandals  - Benghazi, the secret private server, and the foundation shakedowns -  knows there is already enough evidence to indict her on many counts... felonies.

The investigation is being run by the FBI; the FBI director is James Comey - a man who, while serving in the Dubya Bush DOJ, threatened to resign rather than follow a policy he felt was bad and wrong; as a result, Dubya canceled the policy and Comey remained on the job.

If Comey and the FBI recommend indicting Hillary, and if Lynch and Obama and Jarrett decline, then I expect Comey to threaten to resign.

I think that this will put the ball back in the court of the WH.

And either the WH allows the DOJ to indict or gets Hillary to cop a plea, or Comey and several other career DOJ employees and FBI agents resign and the Obama legacy goes up in flames.

I don't think the narcissistic Obama Will sacrifice his legacy on behalf of Hillary - not with Biden and Kerry and Bloomberg and Warren in the wings....

So, it all comes down to Comey.

If he threatens to resign - (if there is not indictment), then he saves the free world.

If there is no indictment and if Comey demurs and doesn't  resign, and if Cruz defeats the mendacious megalomaniac Trump and wins the GOP nomination, then he might be able to defeat Hillary and save the free world.

But those are two big ifs.

Comey's decision will be one of the most important moments in the history of Western Civilization.

Let's all pray he does the right thing.

MORE HERE.

TURKEY CONTINUES TO SMASH DISSENT, EVEN FROM FELLOW MUSLIMS

The latest news source in Turkey to be shut down by Erdogan's gang is a fellow Islamic press publication:

Turkish authorities have seized control of the Cihan news agency, according to a statement from Cihan, widening the crackdown against supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, an influential foe of President Tayyip Erdogan.

Cihan said on its website late on Monday an Istanbul court would appoint an administrator to run the agency on a request from a state prosecutor, days after authorities seized control of the leading Gulen-linked newspaper, Zaman.

So even a paper run by Muslims isn't enough for Erdogan, unless he's running it himself. This is another telling sign of his intent on eroding all freedom, much in the way the nazis did in Germany.

WHY NO CONSERVATIVE SHOULD SUPPORT TRUMP: HE'S AN INSIDER'S INSIDER WHO IS NEUTRAL ON THE ISRAELI-ARAB CONFLICT

Trump: I’ll be ‘neutral’ on Israel and Palestine 

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday refused to pick sides in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. “You know, I don’t want to get into it,” he told hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski during a MSNBC town hall in Charleston, S.C. “If I win, I don’t want to be in a position where I’m saying to you [my choice] and the other side now says, ‘We don’t want Trump involved,'" the real estate mogul said of potentially winning the presidency and then brokering a lasting peace deal. “Let me be sort of a neutral guy,” the billionaire added. "I have friends of mine that are tremendous business people, that are really great negotiators, [and] they say it’s not doable. 

“You understand a lot of people have gone down in flames trying to make that deal. So I don’t want to say whose fault it is — I don’t think that helps.”

NO ONE WHO CLAIMS TO BE A ZIONIST CAN JUSTIFIABLY SUPPORT TRUMP.

5 DESCENDANTS OF KAIFENG COMMUNITY IMMIGRATE TO ISRAEL

Five Chinese women with Jewish ancestry of the Kaifeng community are coming to live in Israel:

In the first Aliyah from the ancient Chinese Jewish community of Kaifeng in the last seven years, five women from the community are scheduled to arrive in Israel next Monday, returning to the Jewish homeland after thousands of years of exile.

The women, Gao Yichen (“Weiwei”), Yue Ting, Li Jing, Li Yuan, and Li Chengjin (“Lulu”), have been intensively studying Hebrew and Judaism for the last several years in Kaifeng to reconnect to their Jewish roots, and are now being brought back home by the Jerusalem-based nonprofit Shavei Israel.

[...] "Kaifeng’s Jewish descendants are a living link between China and the Jewish people," said Freund, who after several years of struggling with Israeli bureaucracy managed to obtain the required permission to bring the five Chinese Jews on Aliyah.

I think it's great to have descendants from communities like theirs here. This is very impressive news.

THE KI TISA CHAPTER OF THE TORAH

Here's an article about this week's Torah chapter, Ki Tisa, which talks about the tragedy involving the Golden Calf, and the mistakes Aaron made when he dealt with this.

IDF DESTROYS TWO HOUSES OF TERRORISTS

Some justice has been served as two houses belonging to jihadists were leveled:

The West Bank home of Raid Khalil bin Mahmoud, 36, who murdered two Israelis and moderately wounded a third during a rampage in a southern Tel Aviv office building on November 19, was destroyed in the first operation of the evening.

Afterwards, the home of Muhammad al-Haroub, who killed three, including 18-year-old American student Ezra Schwartz, and wounded seven others, in a shooting attack in Gush Etzion, also on November 19, was torn down.

Also early Tuesday, security forces arrested 19 Palestinian suspects in West Bank raids, including seven who are suspected of taking part in disturbances and unorganized terrorism, the IDF said.

Everything right down to the very concrete floor foundation should be obliterated. And family members who refused to report/prevent their actions should be charged for failing to do so.

SWEDISH GIRL LUCKY TO BE RESCUED FROM CLUTCHES OF IS

A Swedish girl was saved by Kurdish Iraqi forces from Islamic State:

The statement said the girl is a 16-year-old from the town of Boras who "was misled" by an IS member in Sweden to travel to Syria and later to Mosul.

It said Swedish authorities and the teenager's family had contacted the Iraqi Kurdish government and asked for help in locating and rescuing the girl.

The young woman is in Iraqi Kurdish territory and is being "provided the care afforded to her under international law", the statement said, adding that she will be "transferred to Swedish authorities to return home once necessary arrangements" are made.

The statement provided no details on the rescue operation and did not say whether the teenager was mistreated by IS.

Actually, she was, in a way. She was basically indoctrinated, and not given any proper protection by her own parents from bad influence even among Sweden's own educational curriculum. I hope she's glad to be rescued from such repulsive excuses for human beings, and will never associate herself with Islamofascism ever again.

THE ZIONIST AUTHOR OF BAMBI

The Jewish Press has an interesting article all about Felix Salten, the children's author who wrote Bambi and Perri, both of which were turned into animated movies by Walt Disney, and how Salten was one of the early Zionists whom guys like Theodore Herzl got inspiration from.

IF OTHER DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES CAN EXPEL CRIMINALS FROM PARLIAMENT, SO TOO CAN ISRAEL

State president Reuven Rivlin, of all people, made a fool of himself by opposing a bill that could allow expulsion of Knesset members who support terrorists. So now, the prime minister's had to defend the bill:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to criticism of the suspension bill during a Likud faction meeting on Monday, listing various democratic countries that allow for the expulsion of parliament members through a government vote.

The suspension process as described in the bill would begin with a request signed by 61 MKs, which would have to be approved by at least three-quarters of the Knesset House Committee’s members, and then brought to the plenum where at least 90 lawmakers would have to vote in its favor for it to take effect.

"In the United States, this issue is enshrined in the Constitution," explained Netanyahu. "Congress can impeach a member due to misconduct with a two-thirds majority vote."

"In England, a member of Parliament can be suspended for violating the rules of Parliament or for standing in contempt of Parliament with a simple majority vote," said Netanyahu.

"Additionally, a member of the lower house can be dismissed permanently from his position without the right to appeal with a simple majority if the majority of the members of the house believe him to be unfit for the job, and in Canada, the lower house can expel a member due to misconduct," he continued.

And if they can do so, then Israel can too. Those who only run for Knesset to disrespect the country have no business drawing monstrosities, if they intend to continue that way.

CANADA'S PARLIAMENT WILL OPPOSE BDS

The Canadian parliament looks like it'll do something right:

The Canadian parliament is set to pass a bipartisan bill that would condemn any efforts to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.

"We must fight anti-Semitism in all its forms," said Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion. "We must oppose the boycott, divest, sanctions campaign in our communities and continue to speak out forcefully against them."

The bill was introduced by two Conservative Party lawmakers, and the Liberal Party majority has indicated that it will support the motion. According to Canadian media reports, the vote will take place on Monday.

Given how questionable newly elected premier Justin Trudeau is, that's why this is good news.

MORE THAN JUST GOOD FOR ISRAEL, A BREAKUP OF THE EU WOULD BENEFIT EUROPE TOO

Manfred Gerstenfeld wrote about whether the EU's breaking up would be good for Israel:

A more integrated EU would not bode well for Israel. There is by now ample evidence to support the prediction that the more power Brussels has, the more it will abuse it against Israel. This may be seen, for example, from the discriminatory labeling of settlement products and the financial support for extremist so-called humanitarian Israeli NGOs – in reality humanitarian racist bodies – which remain silent about the genocidal intentions of Hamas, the largest Palestinian party. The EU also interferes in the in the Israel-controlled Area C in opposition to Israel’s declared wishes, including financing housing for Palestinians there.

Double standards are at the core of anti-Semitism through the centuries. The EU has frequently applied these against Israel. The requirement to label goods from Israeli settlements – something not demanded for areas elsewhere which are similarly in dispute – made the EU bias against Israel so explicit that the Simon Wiesenthal Center gave the EU pride of place in its annual 2015 list of major anti-Semitic slurs.

This is why a dissolution of the EU would honestly be better for Israel, but not just here: even for the rest of Europe, it would be better, because the EU's proven abusive to the rest of the continent too, and they're one of the reasons jihadists have been able to penetrate so badly into European countries. The subject does come up in the article too. So, that's why I don't think all Europeans would consider it a loss were the EU to dissolve, any more than Israelis would.

Besides, the EU's proven itself as corrupt and bad an example as the UN. That's why it's better if the EU goes.

ARAB-CHRISTIAN OWNER OF OHIO RESTAURANT REOPENS

The owner of the restaurant that was attacked by an Islamofascist says he won't be cowed by jihadists, and the guy, who's pro-Israel, had the following to say:

In an interview with the Tower magazine, a publication that reports on Israel and the Middle East, Baransi said he would not cower in the face of Islamic terrorism.

When asked whether he would consider removing the Israeli flag seen from his restaurant’s entryway as a precaution, Baransi did not hesitate to give an unequivocal answer.

“Actually I have another flag, and I am going to get a bigger flag, and I am going to get a Star of David necklace and put it on my chest, and I am going to get a tattoo,” said Baransi, a devout Catholic. “Honest to God, I am not kidding. They don’t scare me. We are Israelis. We are Israelis. We are resilient, we fight back.

“We are used to these bastards,” he added. “We are used to these kinds of attacks, that they hate us just for what we are. They don’t know us, they don’t know anything about us, and they do that. You know, I don’t care if I was an Arab or not, because I am an Israeli, and if you don’t like Israelis you don’t like me.”

He's got the right response, and I wish him well and safety continuing his business in running the restaurant.

CAR BOMBING IN ANKARA, TURKEY

Jihadism has struck in the middle of a regime that's been backing it:

Twenty-eight people were killed and dozens wounded in Turkey's capital Ankara on Wednesday when a car laden with explosives detonated next to military buses near the armed forces' headquarters, parliament and other government buildings.

The Turkish military condemned what it described as a terrorist attack on the buses as they waited at traffic lights in the administrative heart of the NATO member's capital.

The attack, the latest in a series of bombings in the past year mostly blamed on Islamic State, comes as Turkey gets dragged ever deeper into the war in neighboring Syria and tries to contain some of the fiercest violence in decades in its predominantly Kurdish southeast.

President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey's determination to fight those behind such acts would only get stronger and that it would not hesitate to exercise its right to self defense.

What Erdogan fails to understand is that the religion he follows is what brought this right back onto their own doorstep. And unless they abandon it, it'll obviously continue.

JESSE HUGHES SAYS ALL FRENCH SHOULD HAVE GUNS

The rocker Jesse Hughes, who survived the bloodbath in Paris, had a message for French lawmakers:

“Did your French gun control stop a single [expletive] person from dying at the Bataclan?” Hughes said. “And if anyone can answer yes, I’d like to hear it, because I don’t think so. I think the only thing that stopped it was some of the bravest men that I’ve ever seen in my life charging head-first into the face of death with their firearms.”

Hughes, who has vigorously advocated for unfettered gun ownership — even waving a gun at a friend in a documentary that was pulled from film festivals after the Nov. 13 attacks — told iTélé that, if anything, his experience had only strengthened his views.

“I know people will disagree with me, but it just seems like God made men and women, and that night guns made them equal,” he said. “I think the only way that my mind has been changed is that maybe that until nobody has guns everybody has to have them.”

He's spot on here. There's only so much France and other parts of Europe have to do to repair their legal systems, not just to allow self-defense properly, but also to ensure that proof burdens fall upon plaintiffs in a court case, and not the defendant. It's time his views were taken very seriously.

ARAB MK CONDEMNS THOSE WHO SUPPORTED FAMILIES OF TERRORISTS

An Arab MK who's part of the Labor party has shown some common sense:

Zionist Union MK Zoher Behalul leveled harsh criticism at fellow Israeli Arab MKs Hanin Zoabi, Basel Ghattas and Jamal Zahalka over their meeting two weeks ago with the families of Palestinian terrorists, calling their actions an "unnecessary provocation."

The three, members of the Balad faction (one of three factions making up the Joint Arab List), were suspended from the Knesset for meeting with the families and observing a moment of silence in honor of the terrorists during that meeting after 450 public complaints and dozens of grievances were filed by MKs from across the political spectrum.

And they fully deserve the suspension they got. They should be disqualified altogether for what they did, and the time has come that this be ensured. Terrorist sympathizers are not people we need in the Knesset.

OLMERT ENTERS PRISON, WHINING ON THE WAY

The former prime minister, one of the most disastrous ever in this country, has become the first premier to spend time in jail:

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert walked into Ma'asiyahu jail in Ramle on Monday to begin serving an 18-month sentence for graft-related offenses.

Olmert becomes the first former prime minister to be sent to prison for criminal offenses.

Just hours before his arrival to the prison, Olmert released a videotaped statement to the press on Monday professing his innocence of graft and bribery charges.

Yep, keeping telling us that. Also keep telling us you had no guilt to shoulder in the damage done to Gaza, or that you weren't associating with the PLO and setting such a bad example. Olmert is one of those kind of criminals who vehemently refuses to admit their guilt, all the way to the bitter end. There's more here about the conditions of his incarceration. He really doesn't deserve what he's gotten, and after he's out, he should probably leave the country for good.

MUSLIMS VANDALIZE SYNAGOGUE BUILT IN MEMORY OF 3 VICTIMS OF JIHAD

An arson attack on a synagogue built in memory of 3 yeshiva students took place:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the international community to condemn Friday night’s Palestinian arson attack on a synagogue in the West Bank outpost of Givat Sorek.

“I expect from everyone in the country and around the world who rightly condemn every desecration of a mosque or writing of graffiti on mosques, including the burning of mosques, I expect them to come out with the same cry against, and condemnation of, this abhorrent act,” Netanyahu said on Sunday at the weekly cabinet meeting.

The outpost, which is solely made up of a modular synagogue, is built outside the Karmei Tzur settlement in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank.

It was built in memory of the three teenagers, Naftali Fraenkel, 16, Gil-Ad Shaar, 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19, who were kidnapped and killed by Hamas terrorists in the summer of 2014. It is located near the spot where the bodies of the three teens were found.

Police suspect that late Friday night Palestinians from the nearby village of Halhoul entered the synagogue. They gathered the prayer books into a pile and lit them.

The blaze was discovered and extinguished by the settlement’s security team.

So the Islamists who committed arson are adding insult to injury, and proving they have no remorse. Truly disgusting.

TERROR ATTACK ON ARAB CHRISTIAN-OWNED RESTAURANT IN OHIO

Jihad occurred in Ohio, and it's possible that the assailant was attacking the restaurant because the owner came from Israel:

A man wielding a machete on Thursday stormed a restaurant owned by an Israeli in Columbus, Ohio, CNN reported.

The man attacked several people before he was killed by police, authorities said.

The suspect was the only one killed. Nobody inside the Nazareth restaurant and deli said they knew him, according to police.

The owner of the restaurant was identified as Hany Baransi, an Arab Christian originally from Haifa.

Sources told NBC News on Friday that investigators are looking into whether the attacker carried out his attack the eatery in the mistaken belief that the owner was Jewish.

Columbus police Sgt. Rich Weiner told CNN after the attack that the suspect "immediately began swinging a machete at customers and employees inside. There was no rhyme or reason as to who he was going after as soon as he walked in, according to some of the witnesses."

The attacker, identified to NBC News by law enforcement sources as Mohamed Barry, had asked a worker at the Nazareth Restaurant and Deli where the owner was from, investigators said.

Four people were in the attack injured and transported to the hospital, according to CNN. One victim who was in critical condition underwent surgery and is now "stable," Weiner said

While it's likely the jihadist targeted the owner and patrons because he thought they were Jewish, it's also possible he'd done it because he viewed them as pro-Israel. The FBI is investigating this incident as a lone wolf terrorist attack (Hat tip: Pajamas Media):

CBS News has identified the suspect as Mohamed Barry, however neither 10TV nor Columbus Police have confirmed the suspect’s name. CBS News also reports Barry has a Somali background and may have traveled to Dubai in 2012.

Law enforcement tells them the incident appears to be the type of “lone wolf terrorist attacks they’re trying to stop.”

The FBI is assisting in the investigation.

The scumbag was probably a Salafist too.

Update: here's more on Breitbart.

IN EGYPT, ANIME CONVENTIONS ARE RUN BY ISLAMIST MINDSETS

The Haaretz paper has a sugarcoated article on how participants in anime/manga conventions in Egypt go about:

EgyCon was the brainchild of Islam Risha, 27, the self-proclaimed “godfather of Egyptian anime events.” He is a big bear of a man with a charming baritone and zebibah (the marking on the forehead of devout Muslims).

Risha discovered anime 10 years ago, when he walked into a cyber café and became intrigued by a bunch of hirsute men watching cartoons. After peeking over their shoulders for a bit, he was hooked. He began connecting Egyptian anime-lovers through Facebook and organizing small get-togethers – the second of which took place one day after the Arab spring protests broke out at Tahrir Square on January 25, 2011.

“The country was having a revolution, but we were sitting somewhere else talking about anime,” Risha recalls. “We didn’t care.”

First, I wouldn't take that part about "not caring" about the "Arab spring" at face value. That could be taqqiya, and what if some of the local otakus took part in all those riots?

Now, here's an example of how Islam is not left at the door of anime fandom there:

Doha, 27, is dressed as Ahri, a voluptuous fox-lady with nine white tails and flowing blue hair from the video game “League of Legends.” But instead of showing cleavage and wearing a miniskirt, she is modestly wrapped in a long-sleeved dress over thick white leggings.

Gee, in that case, why be a fan at all? Surely the character's styling and what the creators stand for goes against her thinking?

It was only when Egyptians gained access to the natural habitat of the otaku – the Internet – that they learned about the broad subculture that surrounds manga. But in Egypt, access to the Internet is not widespread, so to be a manga fan usually requires being financially well-off.

“It’s a matter of social classes,” explains Noor, 18, who wears a hijab and a hoodie from “Avenger.” (Many of those interviewed for this article asked that only their first names be used for reasons of privacy.) “The majority of Egypt is poor,” she says, “and doesn’t have access to culture or the Internet.” So the otaku are middle class? “Upper-middle,” she laughs.

The reason internet access isn't so easy to get in Egypt is because of the religious/socialist structure - coupled with anti-western hostility - that's rendered the country poor. And it wouldn't surprise if there's mutawa (religious authorities) still prevalent around Egypt who'd persecute the attendants for taking up hobbies that represent democratic countries, or anything they consider anathema to Islam. Speaking of which:

Cosplay can be a costly hobby, especially without local specialty stores. Most costumes at EgyCon are handmade, with a few purchased from Amazon (reluctantly, admits one participant, because it represents the West). The attendees all enjoy a level of social comfort; one of them, Ziad, 17, says he travelled to Japan recently on a family vacation.

Content broadcast on state television is subject to censorship; parts of shows that might offend the country’s more pious Muslims are scrapped. “In Egypt, the government has to watch a show before airing it,” Noor explains. “When we watched ‘Detective Conan,’ there would often be missing scenes, and some episodes weren’t broadcast at all.” But the Internet has given Egyptians access to newer, edgier and, more importantly, uncensored shows.

When some early anime products were subject to editing in the USA, it was never anything as severe as this. I have no doubt, however, that what enraged the Islamic censors had to do with sexuality, whereas in the USA, it would be more along the lines of jarring violence, and even in the early phases, there were plenty of anime series full of that. Don't be surprised if a lot of those situations remain intact over in Egypt.

At EgyCon, there is no contradiction between faith and fantasy: the overwhelming majority of otaku are practicing Muslims. Men excuse themselves to pray during the salat (the five obligatory daily prayers) and women have skillfully incorporated the basic dress codes of Islam (covering their hair; not showing skin above the wrists or ankles) into their cosplays. Even women in full-body niqabs make it work, dressing up as masked characters, robed sages or ambiguous ninjas.

However, the competing forces of the precepts of Islam and the cultural trends of Japanese otaku – which can be sexually suggestive – do create some tensions.

Abdul, 17, who is dressed as the ninja Kakashi from “Naruto,” is clearly upset about how some women don’t wear a hijab for their cosplay because they want to look more like the Japanese.

“It’s just not right,” he says. “You can’t be a Muslim only on the days you feel like it ... I love anime and come here to show my love for it, but we also have our own culture. We should also celebrate and be proud of it.”

And there we have further proof how there's Islamists in Egypt who won't put their differences aside and recognize the legitimacy of sexuality. Who think the "culture" they go by is something to be proud of. And, who think beauty is bad. I'm sorry, but anybody that opposed to creativity and freedom is not a real otaku.