The day after Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy was sentenced to three years in prison, his lawyer and Canada’s ambassador in Cairo met with senior Egyptian cabinet members in an effort to secure his freedom, according to one of Mr. Fahmy’s brothers.
Adel Fahmy told The Globe that Ambassador Troy Lulashnyk informed the Fahmy family that he met on Sunday with Justice Minister Ahmed el-Zend and with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab to officially request that Mohamed Fahmy be pardoned or deported. The ambassador said Amal Clooney, Mr. Fahmy’s lawyer, also met with the two Egyptian ministers, Adel Fahmy added.
“What the ambassador told us was that the meetings were positive – not positive in the sense that they got an answer on a solution, but positive in the sense that they got good feedback,” he said. “But I don’t want to jump to conclusions; nothing is certain.”
A spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs in Ottawa said the government is focused on the Fahmy case but declined to be more specific. “Canadian government officials have raised this case with Egyptian officials at the highest level and will continue to do so,” Amy Mills said in an e-mail response. “Canadian officials will continue to provide consular assistance to Mr. Fahmy.”
Mr. Fahmy was the Cairo bureau chief for the English-language affiliate of the Qatar-owned station Al Jazeera. He was convicted of broadcasting false information damaging to Egypt, after the military ousted president Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Also convicted were producer Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian citizen, and reporter Peter Greste. Mr. Greste was deported earlier this year and is free in his native Australia.
While family and lawyers have said they remain hopeful of a resolution, Mr. Fahmy’s fate is uncertain. Without political intervention, the timeline for appeals and other legal proceedings that could free him is long.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi could pardon him, using Egyptian law as a guide. It provides, however, that a pardon can only come after a verdict in a case is final. Because Mr. Fahmy’s conviction can still be appealed to Egypt’s highest court, legal experts say the verdict is not considered final.
Lawyers for Mr. Fahmy and his colleagues have 60 days to file an appeal, but they cannot do so until a written judgment in the case has been issued, which the judge must do within 30 days. Appeals in Egypt can take months to be processed because the legal system is backed up.
Another avenue could be through a presidential decree issued last year by Mr. el-Sissi that allows the deportation of foreign nationals accused or convicted of a crime to be tried or serve out their sentences in their home countries “when such transfer is in the best interest of the [Egyptian] state.”
The decree does not specify that the judicial process must be exhausted before the President can step in and deport the foreign national. However, Egyptian government officials have said in the past that they will not intervene in ongoing judicial processes.
Mr. Greste was deported shortly after an Egyptian appeals court threw out the original verdict in the case of the three journalists and ordered a retrial, but before a trial date had been set.
Apart from Mr. Greste, Mr. el-Sissi has invoked the decree in one other instance. In May, Egyptian-American Mohamed Soltan, the son of a prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader, was deported after he had been sentenced to life in prison on charges of financing an anti-government sit-in and spreading “false news.” Mr. Soltan’s deportation came before an appeal had been filed.
An aerial view of the Tamar gas-processing rig 24 kilometers off the southern coastal city of Ashkelon, June 23, 2014 (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
The large natural gas field found offshore from Egypt should be a wake-up call for Israel to finalize an agreement on its own sizable reserves in the Mediterranean Sea, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Sunday.
“The discovery of the massive gas field in Egypt is a painful reminder that while Israel sleepwalks and dallies with the final approval for the gas road map, and delays further prospecting, the world is changing in front of us, including ramifications for [Israeli] export options,” Steinitz said, referring to the ongoing regulatory dispute that has stalled the signing of the deal.
The American Noble Energy and the locally based Delek Group have faced opposition to their proposed deal with the government to develop a number of natural gas reserves discovered offshore Israel in recent years.
The deal has been controversial in Israel, with critics, including outgoing antitrust commissioner David Gilo, fearing the deal’s regulations would overly favor the companies involved.
The high-stakes deal was thrown into the spotlight when Gilo said last year that the Noble-Delek partnership resembled a monopoly, and called for opening Israel’s natural gas market to increased competition.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has maintained that the deal would pump billions of shekels into the economy. He pushed the disputed deal between the government and the US-Israeli energy consortium through the cabinet earlier this month.
Italian energy group Eni announced earlier Sundya that it has discovered a “super-giant” natural gas field off Egypt, describing it as the “largest ever” found in the Mediterranean Sea.
Eni said the discovery — made in its Zohr prospect “in the deep waters of Egypt” — could hold a potential 30 trillion cubic feet of gas over an area of 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles).
Israel’s Leviathan gas field, which is estimated at 16 trillion cubic feet, has so far been thought to be the largest in the Mediterranean.
The Noble-Delek group has been producing gas from the Tamar field off the Israeli coast since 2013, and has also teamed up to develop Leviathan by 2019.
Tamar’s stakeholders signed a contract earlier this year with a private Egyptian concern to sell as much as five billion cubic meters of gas to Egyptian companies over the next three years. This gas will be flowing through an old pipeline that once transported gas in the opposite direction, from Egypt to Israel.
In March, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Egypt government may import natural gas from Israel if its price were low enough and if one of the drilling companies dropped a legal action against the Egyptian government.
When I first bought my ticket to Egypt, my mother was not thrilled. This was my first time traveling to Africa and I was full of excitement for the adventure to come. A female friend previously had traveled there alone and said safety was not a concern. With her assurance, I bought my ticket and went on my way to the Pyramids and the far eastern province of Sinai.
My first morning in Cairo I woke up and realized that the outlets did not match my phone charger. Out and about I went, trying to figure out directions from my receptionist to the nearest store to purchase an adapter. The directions were less than favorable so I ventured out on the streets to try my luck.
I didn't walk two blocks before a local man approached me and said: “You must be Egyptian. You walk very slow like us.” With a smile he introduced himself and asked where I was going. I explained about the phone adapter and he offered to walk me to a nearby store to help me find one. I semi-reluctantly obliged with a smile and a thanks.
Ahmed is a young tour guide who owns a family-operated travel business in the heart of Cairo. After helping me at the store, he invited me to his shop for tea and to help me book my travels through the country.
The first thing he did was hand me a large notebook with handwritten messages and letters from previous clients throughout the region, all highly recommending his agency.
Ahmed brought me lunch, then proceeded to tailor for me a guided tour. Egyptians have a silver tongue like no other. They are truly gifted conversationalists. He organized for me a private driver to the Pyramids and around Cairo for the week. My driver, an older Egyptian, 65ish, spoke little English. But he was very kind and helpful my entire stay.
After a week in Cairo, I headed east to Sharm El Sheikh, the Middle East's top beach destination. I took a bus from Cairo there, about seven hours total. Sharm El Sheikh, in the Sinai province, currently is the hub of terrorist activity in Egypt.
The route to Sharm El Sheikh avoided the more dangerous roads. Several checkpoints to the coast were full of armed guards checking all passengers and belongings. Upon reaching the coast, my first goal was to find a diving shop so I could explore the Red Sea, a must experience for all divers.
The first shop I went into had two 40-something Egyptian men working inside. Just like in the beach towns of California, these beach towns on the other side of the world were no different. These two guys had dreadlocks and wore sunglasses and flip-flops. They were the first Egyptian beach bums I ever had seen.
They offered trips to Jerusalem, Mt. Sinai and even Petra in Jordan, across the Red Sea. I immediately inquired about Petra, it being on my top list of places to see. They had a trip the next morning that I could join. But because I was American, they had to check how many Americans were on the trip. If there are so many Americans traveling farther on in these regions, they must be escorted by armed police.
That pretty much broke the deal for me; I decided to stay at the beach, diving for the remainder of the trip.
Once back in Cairo, I met up with Ahmed again. He held on to my souvenirs for my family and helped me arrange my airport transportation.
My driver from the previous week took me around the city to the famous Cairo museum before I left. This is an absolute must. Being in this museum is like being in an Indiana Jones movie for a day.
On the last ride with my driver, he asked me to tell other Westerners that Cairo is safe and it's OK to come here. He was disappointed at news agencies — even Al Jazeera, which he felt portrayed an untruthful account of Egypt's safety.
All in all, I had a fantastic time in Egypt and surely will return. I'm often in contact with Ahmed, still. He had this to say about Egypt: “Egyptians love the Egyptian president and now Egypt is on the right road.”
Anywhere in the world can be dangerous; I felt safer in Cairo at night than in most American cities. I highly recommend would-be visitors not be deterred by media and to see the wonders that Egypt has to offer.
Ian Campbell, a Pittsburgh native, has been living in Southeast Asia and Japan for the past seven years.
The Italian energy company Eni SpA announced Sunday it has discovered a "supergiant" natural gas field off Egypt, describing it as the "largest-ever" found in the Mediterranean Sea.
The news came a day after Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi met in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the Egyptian leader's office said.
Eni said the discovery — made in its Zohr prospect "in the deep waters of Egypt" — could hold a potential 30 trillion cubic feet of gas over an area of 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles).
"Zohr is the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and in the Mediterranean Sea and could become one of the world's largest natural gas finds," Eni said in a statement. "The discovery, after its full development, will be able to ensure satisfying Egypt's natural gas demand for decades."
Descalzi was quoted by Eni as saying that the discovery reconfirms that "Egypt still has great potential" energy-wise. He said "important synergies with the existing infrastructures can be exploited, allowing us a fast production startup."
Eni has been in Egypt since 1954 through its subsidiary IEOC. It's the main hydrocarbon producer in Egypt, with a daily equity production of 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent, the company said.
Though I am Egyptian by birth and schooling, I have lived much of my adult life elsewhere. And yet, in spite of the distances and the miles, Egypt is in my heart, and I carry much love and allegiance towards it. Furthermore, I gained more respect for and affection towards my home country in the last few years. Egypt was to always be there, but when I realized that it was about to disintegrate into nothingness, I began to appreciate it more and to worry about it even further.
Millions are in the same position as I am. Egyptians began to emigrate in the sixties. First you had the dual citizens: the Greeks, Italians, Syrians, Jews, and Armenians seek refuge and better lives elsewhere; then in the seventies, the educated Egyptians left, and soon afterwards, everyone tried to find work elsewhere. It was a shift in paradigm that the regime then caused by its stifling and limited scope. (Watch this video of a Greek woman returning to Egypt after 49 years here).
But millions of Egyptians, and many non-Egyptians, too, remain loyal to Egypt even after decades of living elsewhere. I personally am surrounded by Egyptian diaspora who still care, very much. Our friends in Victoria, BC, have lived in Canada for half a century, and yet their early morning calls ask for news about Egypt. My Twitter friend who hasn’t set foot on Egyptian soil in forty years is willing to go back to Egypt today though I warned her that it may prove to be quite difficult. Others have resorted to Live ON TV or Live El Kahera Wal Nas to remain abreast of the happenings and day-to-day news. They chat about Ibrahim Eissa’s and Yousef El Hussainy's outbursts as though they never left Egypt. When I tried to reach my Jewish classmate in Paris, her uncle, my only connection, spoke to me like an Egyptian who had never left Egypt: both had left Egypt in the sixties. And my Los Angeles friend breaks into tears with every fallen Egyptian soldier.
These millions are a wealth that should never be overlooked, a strength that should be recognized for what it’s worth. So today I ask how Egypt can utilize this powerful force to its benefit. It has always been up to the Egyptian diaspora to return and serve. The Sir-Magdi-Yacoub and the Professor-Ahmed-Zeweil examples are many and deserve our appreciation, but Egypt has rarely gone after the support of outbound Egyptians. And it should.
In my over 40 years living away from Egypt, I remained an Egyptian in the minds of those who met me. This is something that I could not change. At Kuwait University I was the Egyptian professor. At the three Canadian academic institutions where I taught, I was first and foremost the Egyptian teacher/instructor/professor. Sometimes it infuriated me since I wanted to be recognized for my merit, which I was, too, rather than my colour, slight accent, or demeanour, but today I take pride in my origin and would like to utilize it for Egypt.
How can I and the other diaspora help Egypt? First and foremost, Egyptians with dual citizenship must show allegiance to their new country. By being the best Canadians, Brits, or Australians, they exemplify what an Egyptian is all about. By being law-abiding citizens, hard working ones, when their fellow Canadians or Australians regard them by their origin, Egyptian, they would be exhibiting how wonderful Egyptians are.
I find those who migrate but refuse to assimilate in their new societies quite puzzling. Why immigrate if they can’t become full-fledged citizens in their new countries? And most inviting countries cherish these new citizens for what they are: a gained wealth of ideas and cultures.
Simultaneously the diaspora must utilize every opportunity to promote the Egyptian image. It is hard enough as it is that western media continues to draw a grim picture of Egypt. That’s why Egyptians, from afar, should work on proving how wrong western media are. They can also comment on articles that speak ill of Egypt—most renowned papers allow commenting. In the last few years I must have commented on hundreds of biased articles linking readers to positive ones that explain the current situation in Egypt in a far better way. I also wrote my own articles that portray the change in a positive fashion, had my own blog Egypt, Om el Donia, and tweeted to Egyptian and non-Egyptian followers alike.
Now for the other face of the coin. Egypt must assist these Egyptians in their efforts to promote Egypt. First, this is done by stationing exemplary ambassadors and impeccable consulate officials all over the world, ones who are able to both support their fellow countrymen/women and speak to the citizens of the countries they are ambassadors to.
Efficient consulates must first support Egyptians abroad. The Egyptian Consulate in Canada seeks to help keep Egyptians abreast, via email, of events and visiting dignitaries. The consulate also brings over delegations from the Egyptian Civil Registry to facilitate paper work completion and passport and social insurance numbers renewal. It is vital for Egyptians to know that their embassies are there for them.
Simultaneously, Egyptian embassies must do their best to promote Egypt in the eyes of host countries. Currently, the Egyptian ambassadors to Canada and the US seek to have Canadians and US citizens see the new Egypt. The Egyptian ambassador to Canada takes trips around Canada to speak about Egypt. I’ve listened to the Egyptian ambassador speak at the University of British Columbia and was quite impressed. And I’ve read the articles that the Egyptian ambassador to the US writes to counteract what the western media says about Egypt, and again I was impressed.
And yet further changes must be implemented to bond these dual citizens to their homeland. By allowing Egyptians overseas to maintain valid passports and valid social insurance numbers, these Egyptians will remain Egyptians. By allowing their offsprings to easily get the same papers and documentation, they will remain Egyptians. By simplifying the bureaucracy, the allegiance will remain steadfast. While, by making it tougher to maintain the link, Egyptians will lose interest in Egypt, something nobody wants.
Egyptian officials must not only target tourists and foreign investors but also Egyptians abroad. Egyptians must be allowed to share in the building of Egypt, to invest in Egyptian projects, and to donate to charities. If I could have bought shares in the new Suez Canal Project, I would have, but alas, I couldn’t.
Dr. Michael Morgan’s program American Pulse is taped in New York and airs on the Egyptian channel El Kahera Wal Nas, and it is the first program of its kind. It links the diaspora to Egypt, and Egypt to the diaspora. It speaks from the US about Egyptians living in the US and about the United States in general. More similar programs should be established to connect the two worlds.
And in all fairness connecting immigrants to Egypt has never been easier. It has truly become a very small, reachable world. And the earlier version of “immigrant” who knows nothing about his/her old country doesn’t construe much in this day and age.
Today, modern media, standard and social, play an immense role in maintaining the connection between Egyptians and their homeland. It has become quite easy to access all the Egyptian TV channels, read all the Egyptian papers, and comment on both. As I sit and watch Osama Kamal’s @360alkahera, in my Canadian living room, I tweet my view, he reads my tweet on air, and then responds. With a click on my smart phone or laptop keyboard I can be in Egypt.
Update: September 16, 2015 I've just realized that Al Masriya, the Egyptian State TV channel, produces a program titled Wessal وصال i.e. Connections. It is produced from various locations where the Egyptian diaspora lives. From Melbourne, Australia, to Wales, Britain, it focuses on the needs of Egyptians abroad. Well done.
This is very interesting. The change is making heads turn, even the The Economist's. I say this is worth a post. Will write one in the coming days.
Not always welcome
NEARLY all women in Egypt, whose population is 90% Muslim, wear a veil. Some prefer a hijab, which covers the hair only; others a niqab, which leaves only a slit for the eyes; but few appear in public unveiled. So it would seem foolish for any Egyptian business to exclude covered women. Yet that is exactly what some fancy restaurants, pools and beach resorts are doing.
A manager at the Lemon Tree, a restaurant with three outlets, says the owners “do not think it is appropriate” for veiled women after 8pm. A Kempinski hotel in Cairo bans veils in the bar. The Steigenberger Golf Resort in Gouna, a beach town, makes veiled women swim in a separate pool.
Muhajabat, as women who wear the headscarf are called in Arabic, are now naming and shaming places on a Facebook page called “Hijab Racism”. Some restaurants have rushed to clarify their policies. The only time we would turn anyone away is if we were full, wrote the owners of Lilly’s, a café in Zamalek, a posh part of Cairo.
The veil was rare in the Middle East’s cities and towns in the 1970s, but mass migration from the countryside—where it was often worn for traditional rather than religious reasons—made it more common. Several countries have attempted to regulate Muslim attire. Turkey banned traditional dress—for men—in the 1930s; the veil was later banned in public institutions. France and Belgium ban the full face covering. At the other end of the spectrum, in Saudi Arabia and Iran Islamic garb is compulsory for women.
Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s president, is a devout Muslim. But, like other Arab strongmen, he portrays himself as the alternative to Islamists. He has regulated mosque sermons and is changing school textbooks. Earlier this month his education minister said he would prefer primary school girls not to wear the hijab. (Tunisia’s president, Beji Caid Essebsi, wants to ban it.)
Mr Sisi doubtless thinks he is doing something popular. By some reckonings (there are no trustworthy statistics) Egyptian women started shedding the veil as a sign of resistance to the deeply unpopular Muslim Brotherhood, which ruled for just over a year after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
Yet citizens generally don’t like being told, what to do. In 2013 Turkey’s ruling AKP party decided to loosen restrictions. In 2011 Syria reversed a year-old ban on the niqab in universities. Egypt’s government seems to be treading carefully. On August 3rd Khaled Abbas, the tourism minister, said the government will shut down establishments banning covered women. So far, though, he has done nothing.
Laws affecting funding, requiring registration and prohibiting protest are among controls that are making it difficult for NGOs and other campaign groups
Women hold a banner as they shout during a protest against the new law to regulate non-governmental organisations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in July. Photograph: Pring Samrang/Reuters
Human rights organisations and campaign groups are facing their biggest crackdown in a generation as a wave of countries pass restrictive laws and curtail activity. Almost half the world’s states have implemented controls that affect tens of thousands of organisations across the globe.
Over the past three years, more than 60 countries have passed or drafted laws that curtail the activity of non-governmental and civil society organisations. Ninety-six countries have taken steps to inhibit NGOs from operating at full capacity, in what the Carnegie Endowment calls a “viral-like spread of new laws” under which international aid groups and their local partners are vilified, harassed, closed down and sometimes expelled.
James Savage, of Amnesty International, says: “This global wave of restrictions has a rapidity and breadth to its spread we’ve not seen before, that arguably represents a seismic shift and closing down of human rights space not seen in a generation.
“There are new pieces of legislation almost every week – on foreign funding, restrictions in registration or association, anti-protest laws, gagging laws. And, unquestionably, this is going to intensify in the coming two to three years. You can visibly watch the space shrinking.”
Among countries that have recently cracked down on NGO and civil society activity are:
• India The government labelled the environmental NGO Greenpeace as “anti-national”, blocking its bank accounts, deporting foreign workers and preventing local staff from travelling abroad. Licences for more than 13,000 organisations have been revoked for alleged violations of a law on foreign funding.
• China Under a new law, NGOs will be required to register with the policeand obtain approval to carry out activities, and submit annual activity plans and budgets to a supervisory unit.
• Russia “Undesirable” international NGOs can be shut down. In July, the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy became the first organisation to be banned under the new law.
• Egypt Sweeping new legislation on “terrorist entities” could encompass human rights and civil society organisations. NGOs are already required to register with the government.
• Uganda A government-appointed board will have power to reject or dissolve NGOs and civil society organisations. Harsh penalties – including imprisonment – await individuals who violate a law enacted in April.
• Cambodia A new law requires registration and annual reports to be filed with the government. NGOs can be disbanded if their activities “jeopardise peace, stability and public order or harm the national security, national unity, culture and traditions of Cambodian society”.
Tom Carothers, of the Carnegie Endowment, says: “Big countries that have been the drivers of this [crackdown] have continued to lead the way – and smaller countries are following their lead.” Restrictive measures are both formal, in the form of legislation, and informal – harassment, intimidation, demonisation, bureaucratic burdens. “Just counting NGO laws doesn’t quite give you the full picture.”
The causes of increasing restrictions are complex, say organisations that monitor civil society activity, but broadly fall into three categories.
First is the shift in political power away from the west, the main source of funding for domestic civil society groups and the base for most big international NGOs. At the end of the cold war, the US and other western countries stepped in to assist newly democratising countries and burgeoning grassroots organisations.
But, more recently, many governments in the developing and post-communist world have pushed back against what they see as western interference. “This is the end of the post-cold war period in which [the west] felt that liberal democracy and western concepts of human rights were spreading around the world, to a period in which there’s a relativisation of political values and the questioning of a common narrative,” says Carothers.
Second, governments have woken up to the power of civil society – particularly after pro-democracy uprisings in former communist states and the revolutionary wave that swept through the Middle East.
“In most countries where leaders don’t allow a lot of pluralism or democracy, they’ve learned to tame opposition political parties,” Carothers says. “But the deepest fear of repressive governments is that they wake up in the morning, open the shutters of the presidential palace, and look out to find 100,000 citizens in the square saying ‘enough!’. That’s scary and uncontrollable,” particularly, Carothers adds, when coupled with technological skill in harnessing the power of social media to organise and spread messages.
The third cause of the NGO crackdown is the proliferation of counter-terrorism measures – often promoted by the west – that sweep civil society organisations into their embrace, either inadvertently or deliberately. Legitimate measures to curb funding of and money-laundering by terrorist organisations often have a debilitating effect on NGOs.
This is affecting civil society in the west itself, and has consequences around the world, say campaigners. Savage says states such as the UK and US that have been supportive of NGOs and been human rights defenders are, because of the practices they are introducing in their own states, undermining their ability to have positive influence and push back at restrictions that are “much graver” in places such as Russia and Egypt. “That’s a very worrying new trend,” he says.
Samit Aich, left, Greenpeace India’s executive director, and campaigner Priya Pillai give a press conference in May after bank accounts were frozen. Photograph: Rajat Gupta/EPA
The result, Carothers says, is an “asphyxiation of independent space – fewer voices, self-censorship, closing down of organisations”.
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High-profile global organisations with strong reputations, such as Amnesty International, have greater protection from the worst effects of the crackdown – although Greenpeace was targeted in India, and Save The Children was temporarily expelled from Pakistan.
But, according to Poonam Joshi of the Fund for Global Human Rights, the effect on domestic NGOs and civil society groups can be paralysing. “You see organisations go very quiet, no one wants to rock the boat. And many face a new bureaucratic burden that affects their operational capacity.”
These are hilariously true. Cairo Scene. To see the rest of the signs, go to Cairo Scene.
We mean, where else in the world do you suddenly go flying after hitting a geometrically incorrect speed bump or have to navigate around sheep in the street?
Omnipresent writer, reporter and researcher. Original author of War & Peace.
Travelling from point A to point B in Egypt is easier said than done. Poorly maintained roads, lack of traffic law enforcement, and a joke disguised as a driving exam all contribute to unacceptably high rate of fatal accidents. Aside from avoiding death, drivers can also find themselves easily lost as many of the street signs seem misleading, often requiring one to pull over to understand. In an effort to increase safety and clarity, we decided to compile a list of street signs that are desperately needed to forewarn drivers and even pedestrians of daily Egyptian encounters on their treacherous roads.
Who is responsible for the horrifying confrontations at Rabaa El-Adawiya square two years ago? Was it possible to avoid this clash or was it inevitable?
History is not written according to the whims of politicians, but narratives consistent with facts which embed themselves in the public's conscience.
The role of transitional justice has been neglected and the ministry that carries its name seems like a tombstone.
The Muslim Brotherhood's own narrative on its overthrow ignores the reasons behind the anger which culminated in the 30 June revolution. The group exonerates itself of any responsibility, describing the entire event as a coup against legitimacy.
In reality, legitimacy collapsed the minute its man in the presidential palace, the then President Mohamed Morsi, made a constitutional declaration in November 2012, which violated all democratic values and all links to the January revolution, the main goal of which was to establish a system of governance that would modernise Egypt.
He did not take the decision, but he paid the price and was undermined to prove the power of others. In all crises, Morsi deferred to the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and the the group's strongman Khairat Al-Shater.
Morsi was not a president for all Egyptians, nor was he able to keep a distance required by his mandate.
He always acted as “the spare”. The Muslim Brotherhood nominated him in the presidential race after the Supreme Electoral Committee rejected the group’s original candidate Al-Shater.
The danger was not replacing one man with another, but transforming the “spare candidate” into the “spare president”. Since the start of his presidency, the Brotherhood put Morsi under immense pressure so that he would never forget that the group promoted him to a place he could never dream of, and that his fate depended on the group’s decision on what it wants him to do.
The first crisis began the very next day after he was declared president: where should he take the oath? As he left the Ministry of Defence after a routine courtesy visit, he asked Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi to quickly send him a representative to discuss an urgent matter he did not disclose.
At 5pm that day, he sat at a roundtable at Ittihidiya Palace with three military leaders: Air Force Commander Major General Abdel-Aziz Seif El-Din; the number three in the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) General Mamdouh Shaheen, assistant Defence Minister for legal affairs; and Chief of Military Intelligence General Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi who later was responsible for deposing the Muslim Brotherhood by undeniable popular demand.
The elected president had one exact and direct demand: “I want you to find a solution whereby parliament can return so I can take the oath in front of it.” It seemed an impossible request, since the Supreme Constitutional Court had annulled parliament.
At the meeting he was told: “If you want to be a respectable president of a respectable country, you must respect the constitutional declaration according to which you were elected.”
Morsi insisted on his demand and suggested that the three generals should check with the Field Marshal, but they said: “We don’t need to check with him, we are here representing him.”
The meeting was tense and the cups of teas and anise sat untouched on the table.
Although in the end Morsi was forced to take his oath in front of the Supreme Constitutional Court, the issue cast a long shadow over the entire political scene. Decision-making was not occurring at the presidential Ittihidiya Palace but in Moqattam, the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In other words, the first to overthrow Morsi
Morsi was the group he belonged to- it weakened his position, dealt with his post lightly, and took away his ability to act according to his presidential mandate. And he was unable and unwilling to take any independent action.
One week before his overthrow, the entire country was on edge waiting to see what he would say at the conference centre in Nasr City in front of a mass gathering of his supporters, who were urging him to take action against his political rivals and inciting against all values of democracy that brought them to power.
The Muslim Brotherhood thought their organisational skills and financial wealth would be enough for action and throwing any civil opposition in prison the day after 30 June fails. They even prepared arrest lists for their opponents. Morsi was excessive in his threats, intimidation and harassment of judges, media personalities and politicians, and entirely erased any possibility of defusing political tension.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s strongman was unwilling to reach a compromise and gambled with the future of the entire group. And thus Morsi backtracked in his last address. There were three demands by the civil opposition.
First, replacing Prosecutor General Talaat Abdullah with someone else appointed by the Supreme Judicial Council; second, sacking the government of Hisham Qandeel and replacing him by someone who has more approval; third, holding early presidential elections.
History is not written retroactively or by goodwill. Any degree of response to the three demands would have to be redirected to the crisis that was about to erupt.
When they took over power, the “victimised group” flexed its muscles, paraded its militias, and pushed boundaries in its alliances with radical groups which foretold civil war.
It did not honour any promises it made or alliances with civil forces that trusted the Muslim Brotherhood. Very quickly, it almost entirely lost the support of the civil middle class, intellectuals and the poorest class who for the first time saw the group’s true face. It was entirely incapable of seeing the hatred of the masses and on 30 June tens of millions took to the streets, but the group refused to admit the legitimacy of the anger directed towards them.
When you deny the facts in front of you, there is a very high price to pay. This applies perfectly to the Muslim Brotherhood, because it strongly believed the army would not intervene in the power struggle, no matter the size of angry demonstrations or the possibility of civil war based on promises by the US ambassador to Egypt Anne Paterson.
Even more seriously, it gambled that there would be a bloodbath at Rabaa Al-Adawiya sit-in which would splinter the army or return it to power through negotiations over the bodies of the dead. This was the biggest political mistake in the entire story. There are public testimonies by Muslim Brotherhood leaders who are not ashamed of revealing the gamble on blood spilling. There were guiltless victims and serious security mistakes during the dispersion of the Rabaa sit-in, according to the National Council for Human Rights.
In order to uphold justice and do right by the victims, a broad investigation must be launched and not for the matter to be shelved. The responsibility of the Muslim Brotherhood is greater and more serious towards their supporters and the country which was brought to the edge of civil war. The armed attacks against public buildings, police stations, churches and killing many army and police officers, which coincided with the dispersion of the sit-ins at Rabaa and Al-Nahda, was irrevocable proof of the group’s violent tactics and it refuted their claims of only using peaceful methods.
We should not forget that the majority of public opinion accused the post-Morsi authorities of procrastinating in the dispersal of the two sit-ins, with the same enthusiasm that they demanded the army intervene on 30 June to save the country from a tragic fate.
In conclusion, the Muslim Brotherhood – before anyone else – deposed its man in the presidential palace, before forcing its supporters into tragic confrontations at Rabaa.
Kwasi Kwarteng is MP for Spelthorne, and is PPS to Baroness Stowell, the Leader of the House of Lords.
A couple of weeks ago I was privileged to attend, with a number of parliamentary colleagues, the opening of the new Suez canal in Ismailiyah.
The event was striking in its confidence, and the strident way in which General el-Sisi’s regime projected Egyptian nationhood. In a six hour-long celebration, no reference was made to Islam or any religious symbolism. The commentary, provided by women in Western dinner dress, stressed the ancient civilisation of Egypt and its incredible accomplishments, such as the pyramids, that we all know so well.
Many foreign leaders were in attendance, including President Hollande of France, and several leaders from the Arab world. They would have been impressed by Egypt’s new-found confidence and the regime’s commitment to face down terrorism from wherever it arises.
The last few years have been some of the most turbulent in Egypt’s long history. The country has had four heads of state in the past five years. For those counting, Egyptians have lived under the rule of Mubarak, Tantawi, Morsi and el-Sisi since 2010. Mubarak’s political demise in 2011 led to a period in which many people had high hopes for the establishment of a secular democracy in Egypt.
These ambitious expectations were belied by subsequent events. The Muslim Brotherhood, far better organised than their more secular rivals, won a decisive victory in the Parliamentary elections. Even though they said they would not contest the presidential election, their candidate, Mohammad Morsi, won a close election for the presidency in June 2012. The Brotherhood’s rule in Egypt led to a rapid deterioration in the security situation, and Morsi’s rule ended with tens of thousands of people across Egypt calling for his resignation in mass demonstrations.
Perhaps
controversially, the Army took over in the summer of 2013, and immediately made its presence felt. The Army’s tactics were rough and uncompromising, yet many people are right to think that the security situation has improved, and that Egypt remains a relatively stable country in a region which is particularly unsettled.
For geographical, cultural and demographic reasons, Egypt is a key country in the Middle East. When you consider the state of Syria, Libya, Iraq and Yemen it is not difficult to see that Egypt’s continuing stability is essential if we are ever going to reach a resolution to the turmoil in the region.
Supporting Egypt’s current government does not mean condoning everything it does. As friends of Egypt, we should not be reluctant to point out failings of the Egyptian government. We should not be shy about defending human rights and the rule of law in this important country. Yet the alternative to the current regime scarcely bears thinking about. An Egypt run by Islamists offering a safe haven to any jihadist in the region would be worse than a nightmare. The case of Egypt shows how difficult many of the choices are in the Middle East – there are no clear options.
Egypt’s gravest problem is arguably its demographic explosion. From a population of roughly 20 million in 1952, there are now over 90 million Egyptians, making Egypt by far the most populous country in the Arab world. Expanding the economy to accommodate the needs of a greatly increasing population is its greatest challenge. A growing economy is absolutely essential to providing employment, food and a tolerable standard of living for its people. One of the tragedies of the past few years has been the flight of capital, which has meant that business and employment levels have suffered, coupled with the almost total collapse of the tourist sector in Egypt, which accounted for nearly 20 per cent of the country’s GDP, in the aftermath of the Brotherhood’s election.
A stable political environment is necessary for economic success. Business people need to feel they can invest in the county. Tourists need to feel safe enough to visit the treasures of Egypt’s heritage. We can regret the lack of democratic elections, and we can encourage wider political participation. Yet, at the same time, we must also support the very pressing need for the Government to maintain stability and order.
For those of us who have visit Egypt and met officials there in the past five years the pace of events can often seem bewildering. Egypt needs our support – even though we should not be afraid to speak frankly to its government.
