In reporting on the Mubarak trial, many have inaccurately said that the former president was charged with selling natural gas to Israel.
Selling natural gas to Israel per se is no crime in Egypt.
What the prosecutor said when he read the charges against Mubarak aloud was that the gas sale had not been conducted according to the laws regulating such transactions. That is, Mubarak apparently issued a decree naming the buyer instead of auctioning off the gas to the highest bidder as the rules stipulate. The prosecutor said the seemingly corrupt transaction took place through a broker (Hussein Salem), and it ended up robbing Egypt treasury of over 700 million euros while enriching Mubarak and Salem.
Making sure this not-insignificant detail is conveyed accurately and clearly is important. That is because if the media keep parroting the inaccuracy (implying that it is Israel that is the criminal element in the charge against Mubarak), this may paint the Egyptian revolution and/or Egyptian code as anti-Israel. Neither is. The Egyptian awakening was/is overwhelmingly more for certain ideals and aspirations than anti anything. Chiefly for dignity, justice, and human rights.
What Mubarak is being charged with so far simply is killing peaceful protesters and corruption. Reporters who for whatever reason throw Israel into the mix are not helping anyone.
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