God,
The facts known or the story straight. Above board or underhanded. In Egypt this week it is one or the other. God, let it be the former.
For there are many who doubt, many who accuse.
Egypt announced the ID of the Italian researcher tortured and murdered two months ago was found in a home connected to a criminal gang killed in a shootout with police.
A joint investigation is being conducted with Italy, but some on both sides of the Mediterranean consider it far too tidy a conclusion. These point figures at Egyptian police, who have made clear they had no role in his disappearance.
At the same time, dozens of civil society organizations have been named in the reopening of a file linking them to illegal foreign funding, sponsored to work against the regime.
Investigations are proceeding, and over the years the state has left a murky legal field for NGO operation. But some on both sides of the Atlantic consider this an assault against independent voices, though Egypt insists it simply wants compliance with the law.
God, provide the truth.
There are criminals somewhere, find them. Civil society needs funds, provide them.
If accusations against Egypt are true, her moral morass grows deeper with each new revelation. If Egypt is innocent, the force of the onslaught against her grows stronger.
Whether guilt is mixed or confined to one side, hold the responsible accountable, God. Sooner rather than later, let there be transparency.
Through it all, preserve Egypt and her people. Bless them, and may their story, with all its facts, one day be celebrated.
Amen.
Jayson Casper 