Some Good News Out of Egypt

I've been pretty pessimistic about the situation in Egypt, but here is a bit of good news from Al Jazeera:

12:53pm: Prayers are over and the masses, hundred thousands of people, are chanting "We won't go until he leaves".

Yesterday, NevineZaki posted this picture on Twitter, saying it shows Christians protecting those praying in Tahrir Square amid violence between protesters and Mubarak supporters. She wrote "Bear in mind that this pic was taken a month after z Alexandria bombing where many Christians died in vain. Yet we all stood by each other"

Tahrir Square, Thursday

Here is a bit from a New York Times report about the bombing:

A bomb, possibly worn by a suicide attacker, ripped through a throng of worshipers outside of a Coptic Christian church in the port city of Alexandria, Egypt, early Saturday, killing at least 21 people in the worst attack against Egypt’s Christian minority in recent memory.

Egypt’s Health Ministry said that at least 96 people were wounded in the blast, which occurred shortly after midnight outside the Saints Church as the New Year’s Mass was ending and congregants headed to the doors.

The peaceful interaction of Egyptian Christians and Muslims shows how in a revolutionary situation everything is subject to change and new bonds can be forged. This kind of mutual respect shows that democracy can work if only you get the despots and their thuggish "police" out of the way.

On the other hand... The idiotic statements by Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are a reminder that bad news abounds. From the LA Times:

Iran's spiritual and political leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the popular uprisings against Western-backed autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt represent an "irreversible defeat" for the United States.

Speaking amid heightened security during the Friday sermon at Tehran University, Khamenei went on to draw comparisons between Iran's Islamic Revolution and the recent Arab protest movements, characterizing the protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and around the region as an "Islamic awakening."

This from the eminence grise who directed Ahmadinejad to bloodily suppress the Green Revolution in Iran. The hypocrisy of a guy like Khamenei to give opinions about a people's movement is astounding. He has no interest in people. He has his theocracy and talks directly to God and will kill anybody who goes against his version of what his "God" wants. He is the furthest thing from a democrat. For him to comment on the people in the streets of Egypt is an outrage.