Georgetown University is taking some flak for inviting a speaker from the group Christians Against the Coup to a conference on the future of Egypt who, apparently unbeknownst to the organizers, is also a co-founder of the Egyptian Nazi Party. Given that Rep. Keith Ellison and a former White House adviser were also due to speak at the conference, this proved to be a bit controversial, and the speaker, Ramy Jan, has now been uninvited.
So what’s the deal with the Egyptian Nazi Party? Well, as the Lede explains, Egyptian Nazis are tired of people mischaracterizing them just because of their name:
One man, Sayyed Gamal, reassured viewers that the group had no plans to “carry out a Holocaust against the Jews,” while another, Ahmed Sayyed, told the interviewer: “Sir, we do not want a full-fledged Nazi party. All we want is a statement that our country’s race will rule.”
There is only one thing, according to Mr. Sayyed, that the Egyptian Nazi Party has adopted from its German namesake.
“We have nothing to do with Hitler,” he said. “The one and only thing we have adopted from Nazism is racial supremacy. That’s it.”
Yes, just that one little thing. I imagine it is something of a problem when people assume you’re Nazis just because you call yourselves Nazis.
