BICOM

Having been admonished by the White House earlier this week for derogatory remarks that he had made about Jews and Zionists, Egypt’s president Mohammed Mursi yesterday stopped short of a retraction or apology and instead explained that his comments should be viewed in context.

On Tuesday, White House spokesman Jay Carney criticised “deeply offensive” comments that had been made by Mursi, saying, “This type of rhetoric is not acceptable or productive in a democratic Egypt.”

Carney was referring to interviews, which Mursi gave in 2010 that have recently been uncovered by the New York Times, in which he described Zionists as “these bloodsuckers who attack the Palestinians, these warmongers, the descendants of apes and pigs.” Another interview appeared to show Mursi urging Egyptians to “nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred” for Jews and Zionists. Mursi, who represents the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood faction, has cultivated a diplomatic image since his election in June and expressed commitment to Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

Mursi yesterday met with a delegation of US Senators visiting Cairo and addressed the controversial remarks without expressing regret for them. A spokesman for Mursi said that the comments must be seen “in the context in which they were said,” thought to be a reference to Operation Cast Lead, a conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which had taken place prior to Mursi’s remarks. The spokesman added that Mursi “pointed out the need to distinguish between the Jewish religion, and those who belong to it, and violent actions against defenceless Palestinians.”

US Senator Richard Blumenthal said that the visiting delegation had made its view clear “in no uncertain terms” and that Mursi’s comments “counter the goal of the friendship between our two peoples.”