TheMillerCircle.org

Juan Cole has two exceptionally good posts from yesterday, each of a different character and tone. One has to do with the history and impact of the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” which not only had a big night at the Oscars on Sunday, but has had a global impact on the film industry.

But the more somber story is a more personal account of Juan’s knowledge and experience with the Khan al-khalil shopping center in Cairo and how the Israeli invasion of Gaza may have ignited a new round of terrorism in the region. On Sunday a small terrorist cell struck Khan al-Khalil shopping center of Cairo killing a French woman and wounding twenty others, mostly French, at a cafe facing the Husayn Mosque. The importance of this attack is that terrorist attacks on this market had virtually ceased as radical groups in Egypt had decided that killing tourists was harmful to the economy and their brothers, no matter if they supported their cause or not. But, the vivid images of the Israeli attacks in Gaza against a defenseless people, who do not want to leave their homes (or had few options for fleeing if they did), resonated very deeply with the Egyptians, just as they aroused many protests throughout the world. Cole suggests that the apparent genocide on the part of the Israelis against the Palestinians has aroused deep passions among Egyptians that may ignite new rounds of suicide bombings that had been dissipated over the years as a counterproductive terrorist tool. Terrorism in Cairo could begin all over again and represent the first visible “blowback” from Israel’s recent military actions in Gaza.