Egyptian state media attack BBC, Guardian for criticising Sisi

Egyptian media had a field day after feeling that British media responded "unfairly" to President Sisi's response to the mosque terror attacks.
3 min read
27 Nov, 2017
Egyptian presenter described the BBC as "lower than low"

Egyptian media have attacked the BBC and The Guardian following their covering of the mosque bomb attacks in Sinai on Friday morning.

Ahmed Moussa, Egyptian TV presenter, launched a tirade against the "vile terrorist Brotherhood" British Broadcasting Corporation, calling it "lower than low".

"The BBC justifies terrorism, it supports terrorism," Moussa shouts angrily, "It insists on calling Daesh the Islamic State, it refers to it as a state" - neglecting to mention that Daesh is an acronym of The Islamic State of the Levant.

"There is not a single incident of terrorism except we find the BBC there supporting it."

Citing the example of RT being closed in America, he threatened to get the MENA offices of the BBC closed down.

"What was in the past is gone, and what is coming is new. It’s time to show them the red eye."

Simon Tisdall’s column on Egypt in The Guardian titled, "The iron fist response to terror attacks in Egypt never works" similarly caused outrage among Egyptian regime propagandists.

"But like an alcoholic who takes a drink and hopes that somehow the outcome will be different this time, Sisi's addiction to violence is a kind of madness. Egyptian leaders before him, notably Hosni Mubarak, all tried to physically crush their opponents. They all failed. And Sisi will, too," wrote Tisdall.

In damning words, Tisdall highlights how the violence of non-state actors will only continue to grow as long as systematic violence continues to be policy.  

Tisdall’s article caused great outrage on state channels, and elicited an official response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ciaro.

Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid tweeted: "I was very shocked and angry to read the Guardian’s article today around the terrorist attack on the mosque. Very clear double standards and violation of decree 2354 which explicitly forbids praising or justifying or encouraging acts of terror". 

Egyptians were quick to react to the unsavoury claims of President Sisi being a 'strongman'…and found a likely culprit in Qatar, claiming Doha owned The Guardian.

Because the British Guardian is owned by Qatar, they bought it after they shared pictures of Tamim and his British lover

The Guardian has been writing articles against Egypt since 2011 because it is backed and owned by Qatar

Qatar pays journalists to defend terrorism, that’s normal

Egypt’s military and security forces have been waging a tough and costly campaign against militants in the towns, villages and desert mountains of northern Sinai. Across the country, thousands have been arrested in a crackdown on suspected Islamists and other dissenters and government critics.

The bloodshed at the al-Rawdah mosque was the first major militant attack on a Muslim congregation, and it eclipsed violence in the country dating back to an Islamic militant insurgency in the 1990s.

The deadliest attack by Muslim extremists in Egypt’s modern history killed 305 people, including 27 children, with 128 wounded, according to official figures.