cutting to the crux of the matter:
>>What I find very puzzling is that the government clamps down so very
hard on Islamists and Muslim Brothers, yet allows their constant
meddling in intellectual affairs. This is very strange, because it is
exactly this intellectual backwardness disguised as religious zeal,
which is the core challenge to Mubarak's ostensibly secular state. In
the Human Rights Watch report of 2005 it was noted: "The Egyptian
government must create an environment where academic freedom is
respected, i.e., restore autonomy to the universities and cease
violating the rights of individual members of the community. Such
steps would make it harder for those who challenge academic freedom to
achieve their goals. The state should also actively oppose intolerant
individuals or groups who carry out attacks against academic freedom.
For example, it should reject calls to censor books and allow students
to choose their own thesis topics. Rather than combating Islamists'
attempts to limit academic freedom, Egypt has allowed them to deprive
others of their rights.">>
Ahhhh....bourgeois academics--conformists without a cause. The issue
isn't really academic freedom but rather freedom of speech for all.
The government wants to control Islamists as well as bourgeois
academics, and has found one means in the rectorship of Al-Azhar. How
strange is that? Not very.
CJ