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Sundown: Violence in Cairo

Plus conflict among the neocons, and more

by
Marc Tracy
February 02, 2011
Protesters in Tahrir Square run from stones.(Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)
Protesters in Tahrir Square run from stones.(Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)

• Clashes between anti-government protesters and pro-Mubarak ones—some of whom may, y’know, be in President Hosni Mubarak’s employ—got violent today. [NYT]

• Prime Minister Netanyahu is pushing Western officials to ensure that whatever government emerges in Egypt honors the Israeli peace treaty. [WSJ]

• Some neoconservatives like democracy in Egypt because they like democracy. Others don’t like democracy in Egypt because Egyptian democrats may not like Israel. [Goldblog]

• As head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed ElBaradei was a leading critic of Egypt’s nascent nuclear program. In other words, prepare for an atomic-size flip-flop. [NYRB]

• Jordan’s Islamist opposition slammed the king’s brand-new prime minister; they want him out. [JPost]

• “Half the population is made up of Jews,” Isaac Babel wrote of Odessa, “and Jews are a people who have learned a few simple truths long the way. Jews get married so as not to be alone, love so as to live through the centuries, hoard money so that they can buy houses and give their wives astrakhan coats, love children because, let’s face it, it is good and important to love one’s children.” [The Book]

Oh please, what else?

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.