It has also reflected the primitive political culture of the so-called pro-democracy movements in the largest Arab country. This is really problematic because political maturity is essential for a successful democracy and stable government..
Indeed, how could these so-called pro-democracy groups call themselves “democrats” when they defiantly reject the will of the people which brought Mursi to power in Egypt? How could they call themselves “democrats” and at the same time refuse to allow the people to vote in a referendum over a draft constitution?
I saw huge crowds, mobilized by the opposition, screaming rabidly outside the presidential palace shouting obscenities at the president, even calling for his murder. In fact, some of the more rabid and convulsive representatives of the opposition had the shamelessness to call Mursi “Nazi, thug, traitor and Mursilini” (a play on the name of the Italian fascist dictator Mussolini).
This is more than committing an act of lewdness with truth, honesty and even language. How could any honest person under the sun call a democratically-elected president, who only came to power a few moths ago, “Nazi and Hitler?” Hitler, for those ignoramuses who don’t know history, destroyed Europe, and killed or caused the death of more than 50 million people. The Hitler’s regime committed indescribably nefarious war crimes against humanity. Therefore, throwing such epithets at the President, just because he hailed from an Islamist party, is really beyond the pale of simple human decency.
It is really sad that instead of engaging the President in a constructive dialogue, the Egyptian opposition is indulging in a puerile spasmodic discourse, infinitely corrupt analogies and name-calling, which really reflect the primitive political culture and malicious intent of this opposition. Yes, President Mursi, like all mortals, is not infallible. But he is a democratically elected leader of the country. This means that the losing political parties have no right to mobilize its rabbles to close in on Presidential palaces, hurl Molotov cocktails and even open fire on the president’s supporters. killing eight of them.
I am not saying that everyone that demonstrated or is demonstrating against Mursi is guilty. However, the opposition parties should have made sure that “fifth columnists” didn’t infiltrate their ranks. In addition, democracy is about empowering the people to choose their leaders and decide the way they are ruled. It is about enabling the masses to determine the nature of their constitution. It is about the separation of powers. And above all, it is about law and order.
Hence, vulgarity, vandalism, terrorism and sowing anarchy and chaos have nothing to do with democracy. The same thing applies to attacking and torching public and private buildings as well as the offices of other political parties. I dare accuse the opposition to Mursi of political adolescence, ill-will, incivility and excessive narcissism. They are politically adolescent because they are yet to bring themselves to accepting the rules of the democratic game, namely that the people, not the rabble, have the right to decide. They are uncivilized because it is a sign of disgraceful incivility to express political opposition to government by torching building and spreading chaos, let alone calling for the ousting of a president who was only elected a few months ago. And as to calling the president “Nazi, thug, and Hitler,” this is actually tantamount to inciting to murderer because words can kill. Moreover, the opposition has malicious intents because it has become amply clear that its real aims exceed by far the mere realization of a consensus over the draft constitution.
Their real aim is to overthrow the president by way of spreading turbulence and chaos which would force the people to call on the military to carry out a coup. Of course, they don’t have the moral courage to reveal their real intents, but their actions and behaviors, especially their rejection of all the calls for dialogue by the President and their dark embrace of Mubarak’s thugs and Baltagiya, expose their political and moral bankruptcy.
President Mursi has argued rather correctly that when there are sharp political divisions within any country, the ultimate solution lies in the ballot boxes. Unfortunately, the opposition, including pseudo-democrats who lived in the west for several decades, is not willing to accept this simple axiomatic logic. Instead, they want the president to budge to the vociferous raving and ranting of a small minority of their supporters who insist on ignoring the millions of other Egyptians who have given him their votes.
There is another important point which the opposition and the anti-Mursi media keep ignoring. It is the malicious intention of Mubarak’s constitutional court to dissolve the Upper Chamber of Parliament, the constitutional assembly, leading up to declaring the presidential elections null and void. It is this looming conspiracy that forced the President to speed up the voting on the draft constitution lest these Mubarak judges once again rape the will of the Egyptian people and decapitate the revolution by way of deception and judicial chicanery.
This is not a mere speculation. The very same court previously unlawfully and illegitimately annulled the democratically elected parliament for frivolous and vapid reasons in order to rob the Islamists of the resounding victory they had scored in the parliamentary elections. Indeed, one of the judges, Tahani Jabali, who is also a self-described hater of the Muslim Brotherhood, told the New York Times that the Constitutional Court had to annul the elections for political not legal or judicial reasons, namely to prevent the Islamists from controlling parliament and taking over the country. Jabali denied the report, but the New York Times journalist who interviewed her challenged her to prove him wrong.
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Notes: cross posted from ‘The Palestinian Information Center’
The coming of Religion
Well, I guess the best is if we also start making a Cristian-State in Europe and finish with secularism and go back to the laws of the Middle Ages. So let them have their Islam in Arabia and we our Cristian-States in Europe.We only have to make a referendum for Cristianity-laws.
Haji
Ikhwan al Muslimeen has suffered for a long time under the so-called secularists, Syed Qutub and many others having been hanged in their own vountry. However, Ikhwan, has on the other hand, worked with communities, doing the community services that even the secularist governments failed to offer their own people… alllowing Gazans and Palestinians to be persecuted and massacred by the Zionists. The finest hour of Mursi was when Egypt’s policy forced Netanyahoo to vacate his fresh massacre of Gazans. At that very hour I heard these enemies of Egyptians calling Mursi Islamo-fascist, Hitler, and all those names that everyone heard them doing, wanting to destroy any relationship of Egypt with Islam. The fact is that, besides these enemies of Shariah, the rest of the people are Muslims. Why would they tolerte anybody calling them Islamofascists and Hitlers. Looking back at the history of nations, Muslim rulers have always been tolerant and compassionate to minorities. Copts and Jews have had the best places in government, public, and private places. In short, all the violence is coming from the enemies of the people of Egypt. God bless the writer of the article who has had courage to put the anti-Islam fascist Islamophobes in their proper place. God bless him!
Brilliant article!!
MashaAllah,
May Allah bless the author! This is the most accurate account of the situation I have read.
Abu D
I agree with Naveed and Ali. Egyptians are a mixed lot from secularists to various shades of Islamists. My concern is that by taking such actions Mursi has polarised the nation between secularists vs Islamists where once all were anti Mubarak. Such polarisation however is ultimately damaging. There was an opportunity to form a fully Islamic constitution. However a constitution based on the ‘principles of shariah’ rather than ‘the shariah’ is being pushed through. Because of the turmoil, those salafis and other religious groups who are calling for a constitution purely based on shariah have been sidelined- support this or risk the secularists. I fear that a constitution based on the principles of shariah is just too loose and no real changes will arise.
I don’t envy Mursi at all. Coming to power without having a constitution is a bit like a plumber coming to your house to unblock a drain without his tools. He doesn’t have what he needs to do the job!
My view
Being in Egypt and having met some ikhwani’s there aim and goal is clear, they want Shariah and khilafa, they are working towards khilafa as there main goal, thats why there in Tunisia, libya, Syria, soon to be Jordan and Algeria, it’s because of there ideology they have been murdered and imprisoned over a decade this purification has made them stronger, now ikhwani, salafi, jamaat islam of Egypt are all united, and the oposition is every group other than islam, its now islam vs Enemies of islam
To assume this is secularism vs shariah is incredibly niave at best this is different shades of secularism fighting it out to increase their political power post Mubarak.
When did the salafis start adopting democracy, calling for it and defending it? Seems strange to me.
Morsi has explained that he believes the shariah is not a set of laws but a small set of principles that give a wide scope of interpretation. As such cutting the hand of the thief is not, according to him a shariah rule, nor is imposing the obligation of khimaar. He believes that a woman should be able to wear whatever she likes.
As for Israel he has reiterated his commitment to international treaties signed with Israel and maintains an Israeli ambassador in Cairo.
Until we realise that the shariah rules are not an obstacle but a cure to societal problems we will see continual problems in Egypt and throughout he Middle East. It wouldn’t surprise me that Egypt will end up another turkey, being Americas fix it man for the Middle East, making boisterous claims but implementing none. And when pressed on shariah they will claim we are a secular state that allows all religions to operate giving no preference to one in state or law.
The sad fact is many Muslims will welcome such a state.
Well said
Well said. The article throws light on whats happening in Egypt and the reality behind the opposition and any kid who has a proper idea of the current affairs can understand why the oppostion wants Mursi and his party to come down. Only then can israel continue with its plan and only then can the US go forward with its plans.People like Mursi have no interest in these positions and wealth. Its an elected government. Not like the Mubarak reign. And actually they have full right to arrest the protestants who is disrupting the life and the implementation of law and order in Egypt. Speaking with lot of egyptians, the people who have vision and are true to their beliefs are all with Mursi. The enemies of Mursi are either the rich or people with vested interests.
The opening paragraph gave the impression of a politically dichotomous Egypt. If the author does believe it to be so, then surely that is simply is not true. There are many ‘religious’ and essentially ‘Islamist’ Egyptians fearful of what Mursi is doing. Egyptian political culture as a whole – Islamists, secularists, and otherwise – is immature. Sloganeering, name-calling, violence, and setting things is behaviour common to both some Islamists and Secularists. Whatever Mursi has done, his methods have alienated a lot of the Egyptian people and if it was just the Secularists/Copts who were making all the fuss one could present this as black and white; but it isn’t. Religious Muslims too are concerned. In the end i hope Mursi and his political party weather this storm, come through it and create an ‘Islamic’ nation that all Muslims can once again be proud of.
Agree
very good and intelligent piece! the battle in Egypt is between darkness and light, Secularism and Shariah!