2010 Press Conference on Egypt

On September 1st, at the National Press Club, "a press conference was held to discuss the Mubarak government’s prominent role in the upcoming negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Hosted by The Coalition of Egyptian Organizations and the Egyptian Association for Change-USA and moderated by Tarek Khalil, the event featured a panel of Egyptian activists.

"The first to speak was Sheikh Ahmed Subhy Mansour, a Muslim scholar and human rights activist. Mansour is the founder of the Muslim Quranists, a group which has suffered arrests and torture under the Mubarak government...

"Next to speak was Ibrahim Hussein, an Egyptian born American citizen who served as Secretary General for the President’s Council, an initiative to promote trade and economic development between the U.S. and Egypt...

"Omar Afifi, a former Egyptian police officer, lawyer, and President of Hukuk El Nas, a human rights organization, made his statement in Arabic. (Translation was provided) “If Mubarak claims he is achieving ’stability’, well, it is a fake stability. Mubarak has not ruled for even one day without an emergency law…” The statement goes on to ask the United States to “honor its own principles and values…” by ceasing unconditional support for the Mubarak government and not extending support to Gamal Mubarak, the President’s son and likely presidential candidate. “It will be utterly fraudulent if Mr. Mubarak Junior wins the presidency under the guise of ‘competitive presidential election’…how can it be competitive if the candidate’s dad controls everything in the country?” Afifi concludes by reminding the Obama Administration that “…supporting a regime like Mubarak’s will feed feelings of antagonism on the part of the Egyptian people towards America.”

"Next to speak was Dina Darwish, a member of the Executive Board of the Egyptian Association for Change-USA...

"Maria Dayton is the founder of Voices for a Democratic Egypt..

"Sam Gerges, a PhD student and former Senior Programs Coordinator for the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, provided background on the current political situation in Egypt...

"At this point in the event, Khalil announced that Egyptian democracy advocate Saad Eddin Ibrahim, who had been hoping to attend the event, had been unable to make it due to his travel schedule.”