According to Aljazeera, the Un condemns Egypt’s widening assault on free speech. It goes on, “UN human rights experts have raised ‘grave concern’ over a widening assault on freedom of expression in Egypt.”
In June of 2016, The Economist published an articles titled, “The muzzle grows tighter, freedom of speech is in retreat.” Here is another headline, “Egypt Expands Crackdown on Freedom of Speech, Advocates Say.” While Amnesty International’s 2016 report talks of nothing but total suppression and examples of how freedom of speech is silenced.
Today I will try to debunk this theory by providing living proof that those against the regime are as loud and as furious as ever, and yet living happily ever after on the land of Egypt.
Amidst the agony resulting from the gruesome El Wahat Battle, as Egyptians mourned their fallen men, out come some to question the circumstances, belittle from the effort exerted, and continue their premeditated disregard for Egypt and its fallen. Actually, it was a great opportunity for them to spew hatred.
You may wonder, but isn’t freedom of speech dead in Egypt? Wouldn’t such loud mouths be imprisoned immediately if they are voicing their disdain of the security apparatus in Egypt? All I can say is I wish they were.
And of course, I’m not talking of those who protest from beyond Egypt, those in Qatar, Turkey, and the States. We hardly mind these folks anymore. Ayat Orabi, the unofficial spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood could not hide her joy.
حقير جداً وسافل ومجرم من يترحم على فطائس #الواحات وبينهم ضباط أمن دولة (وهذا وحده يكفي للدعاء عليهم بجهنم ولأهلهم أن يحرق قلوبهم) ومنهم اصحاب سجلات اجرامية منحطة معروفة .. لهذا جعل الله الدرك الأسفل من النار للمنافقين
Translation: A filthy criminal is he who mourns the death of the national security guards who deserve to land in hell and their families deserve to be broken hearted…some of them have known criminal records…this is why God has saved the lowest pit in hell for these hypocrites.
I wouldn’t give Orabi the time of day. Let her croak as much as she wants.
But the real distress comes from those who live amongst other Egyptians. Dr. Hazim Abdelazim, who by the way retweeted Orabi’s tweet and hundreds like it, deplores President Sisi. That is his prerogative, but when the hatred spills over towards Egypt and its fallen men, in particular during a time of war, we must call it what it is: hate speech, and in other countries hate speech is considered a crime.
The Wahat Battle gave Dr. Abdelazim the opportunity to vent on everyone from top to bottom: from the president to parliament, from the army to the police force, from the embattled unit to the imbecile and ignorant Egyptians who know nothing.
Between tweeting and retweeting, Dr. Abdelazim calls the battle a suicide attempt since the officers are ill-trained and inefficient; he implies treason since he alleges the terrorists knew ahead the ETA of the unit; and he considers the supervisors incapable and ignorant. Then he turns to El Sisi and rages at him for not cancelling the ceremony that took place the next day in Alamein.
Dr. Hazim AbdelazimVerified @Hazem__Azim احد الاحتمالات الآتية:
1.هذا الكائن لم يسمع عن مجزرة #الواحات
2.هذا الكائن يعلم وبيستهبل للتقليل من الحدث
3.هذا الكائن يعلم ولا يحركه الدم
Translation:
One of the following three possibilities:
1. That being has not heard of the Wahat Massacre.
2. That being has heard but ignores it to belittle from it.
3. That being knows of the massacre but doesn’t care.
The worst tweet came when he ignored the pain of the families of the fallen and of all Egyptians and tweeted:
Translation: At six we will start the #hashtag, “Endure this, Sisi—there’s more to come.”
Dr. Abdelazim is not only inciting but also gleeful at what happened. The death of these men doesn’t amount to much for him except that it proves that President El Sisi is unworthy to be president.
I went back and looked at his tweets. In three hours, the man tweeted and retweeted 100 times, all filled with disdain and fury, but I won’t go into more tweets since the tone leaves me with a rancid and nauseating taste in my mouth.
Dr. Hazim Abdelazim has 680 thousand followers on Twitter, and yet he is free to say what he pleases. He is not behind bars and has never been forbidden from voicing his hatred. He continues to diminish from the capability of Egyptians at large and ridicules all what they consider worthy.
The haters are many. I can name quite a few; I follow them to keep abreast of their degree of hatred. I won’t name names, and Dr. Abdelazim is a mere example. My intention is to tell the world that those like Abdelazim speak out loud and furiously, and they have not been prohibited from voicing what they consider their right.
They all ignore that Egypt is at war hoping what they say will create doubt and fear, and ultimately cause another revolt, but you know, Dr. Abdelazim and those like him, Egyptians have wizened up. They are merely fed up of your attitude and ignore you unless they are like me, ready to fight back at least with their pens.
And to you, my reader, you still believe that freedom of speech is dead in Egypt?
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