In a blatantly fierce assault, western media waged a war on Egypt and El Sisi’s regime during the fifth anniversary of the January 25th Revolution. According to every single article that crossed my path in the last week, Egypt is suffocating under an authoritarian rule out to suppress, crackdown on, and penalize dissent. Not one article spoke of positive changes or remained objective. Not one article presented a non-biased look.
With the January 25th fifth anniversary in mind, the world suddenly zoomed in on Egypt drawing on the shortcomings and overlooking the strengths. Let’s start by perusing some headlines. The Huffington Post read: “Egypt: President Sisi in a Crusader Fight with a Generation.” I don’t know what a “Crusader Fight” here means exactly. A religious one? Who knows. Foreign Affairs read “A Third Revolution Haunts President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi,” basically imagining a situation that isn’t evident on the streets of Cairo and would be nightmarish for most Egyptians. Middle East Eye read “Egyptians defy tightened security with scattered protests on uprising anniversary,” focusing on a minuscule number of simplistic protesting attempts instead of posting the true picture for what it’s worth: Egyptians enjoyed a quiet but cold statutory holiday that kept them inside.
The NY Times read “Police Presence mutes most protests” ignoring the gratitude Egyptians felt by that presence in an effort to curtail any terrorist attempts. Another NY Times headline read: “Online, Egypt’s Internet Activists Mourn Their Stifled Revolt,” turning a deaf ear to El Sisi congratulatory speech on January 25th. The Spectator's headline says, "For Egypt, a bitter winter has followed the Arab Spring." In case The Spectators’ journalists have a short memory, every single country, other than Egypt, that “enjoyed” an Arab Spring is in shambles today. And the Globe and Mail asks if “Another Egyptian Uprising is on its way.” And Egyptians would respond vehemently, thank you very much, but no.
Photos captured the same attitude: a dark, forlorn Tahrir instead of the clean and traffic moving square it was on January 25th, and the back of Mona Seif, the lone protester, wearing a T-shirt with the words “It is called January 25th,” insisting on reviving the revolution. Western media avoided presenting both sides of the coin as it continued to focus on the negative and ignore the positive, an attitude that is embarrassingly imprecise, naively misleading, and intentionally preset.
Someone reading these articles would conclude the following: Egypt is unstable and insecure. The country is facing more security threats and instability than it did in 2013. The crackdown Egypt is witnessing is penalizing peaceful dissent shutting down public places and imprisoning journalists and human rights defenders. The government has justified the crackdown by saying it is fighting terrorism. The regime has something to be scared of, with Cairo becoming an oppressive, suffocating environment. The articles also warn of the notion of revolt that led to the January 25th Revolution and how the 2016 generation can draw from this notion of revolt again.
Granted Egypt is still suffering from terrorist attacks even if they are dwindling in numbers, similar to the attacks the world agonizes over, but these attacks have not broken the perseverance and spirit of Egyptians, the army, or the police force. Quite the contrary, an unknown kind of resilience emerged bonding Egyptians to their security apparatus as never before.
Granted there is room for more work and more improvements, but baby steps in the right direction are in the making. The hundreds of roads that are making life easier for Egyptians, the many economic possibilities opening the doors for work potential, the concrete effort to overcome corruption and decay from charging an in-office minister to sentencing officers, the extensive focus on those in need either by building them homes or providing them with less expensive commodities such as bread and other rations, and the 2016 Parliament with its proud minorities and vigilant non-conforming majority.
Granted that there are repressions, but the world neglects to see the change that is currently occurring in Egypt. It neglects to see that Egyptians, the majority of them, would rather enjoy a peaceful anniversary, without protests. They would rather be free to head to their destinations void of blockades, protests, or danger. They also remain grateful that the anniversary took place without anyone being killed or maimed.
Granted that there are repressions, but western journalists should avoid being stuck in history. They are trying with all their might to revive a revolution that took place and went its way. They fail to move forward and see the Egypt that is today. A successful revolution it was, but does that mean that Egypt should remain in a perennial revolutionary state?
Nothing should be left to the words, whims and mood of western media especially while Egypt is at war with terrorists. If anything, Egyptians should fight tooth and nail to change the image that is projected by western media.
The world must know the truth.
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