Since the West often deems upheavals elsewhere as a right, today we embark on a route of stark comparison and contrast.
The world stood still as it watched rioters breach Capitol Hill. The US was facing an insurrection, a violent uprising against its identity. In the process, everything it had preached to the world at large in the shape of freedom of speech, protesters’ rights, and people power was scrutinized differently and undermined before our eyes. Amidst the mayhem, the western script on human rights, promoted to the world as a must, disappeared into thin air.
Set aside President Trump’s role in all this; overlook the fact that almost 50 percent of voting Americans had chosen Trump yet again; and dismiss President Trump’s unpleasant exit course from the White house.
Now focus on the double standards of the event itself.
Memories do not fade quickly, and since it hasn’t been that long since the West deemed riots and upheavals elsewhere a right, today we embark on a route of stark comparison and contrast. Identical scuffles to the riots on Capitol Hill take place elsewhere and are usually welcomed by western media as a “good thing.”
Amidst turbulences, countries take to shutting down the Internet arguing that this action curbs the spread of misinformation. The West then objects proclaiming the action as a heavy-handed attack on fundamental human rights.
Furthermore, when the Egyptian government blocked certain inciting websites, western media considered the action an interference with Egyptians’ right to seek, receive, and impart information. In fact, none of the sites that call for violence or illegal activities in Egypt, such as Al Boursa or Al Shaab newspapers, have been designated as unlawful sites by Twitter or other platforms. And when Egypt filtered such sites, western media called it, “blocking opposition.”
And yet, in an identical move, President Trump’s Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump was permanently suspended as did his Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram accounts. After the ban on his Twitter account, President Trump scrambled to find another platform to air his disgruntlement only to resort to Parler, a right-wing social media network that was immediately removed from the App Store, Google, and Amazon. The App Store, the only way to distribute apps to iPhones, said, “Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats to people's safety. We have suspended Parler from the App Store until they resolve these issues."
President Trump tweeted, "… Twitter has gone further and further in banning free speech, and tonight, Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me." The tweet disappeared instantly.
The situations are similar, the reactions are alike, but, as far as western media are concerned, they are not the same. What’s good for the goose is not good for the gander.
When thousands violently stormed Capitol Hill, the police ordered a lockdown. Members of Congress pulled gasmasks over their heads and took shelter under desks while barricaded in their chambers. This while rioters smashed windows and deployed teargas inside the building. One woman was shot in the neck; she later died. Three died of “medical emergencies,” and several police officers were hospitalized.
The leader of the Proud Boys, the right-wing paramilitary group loyal to President Trump posted a quote on Parler, “When the people fear the government, there is tyranny… When the government fears the people… There is liberty.” He was later arrested, but when similar speeches fuel violence elsewhere, the West promotes them as rights.
From another perspective, Capital Hill is home to the US senate, the Houses of Representatives, both Republican and Democratic, and the Supreme Court. As far as Egypt is concerned, the Egyptian Cabinet Office Headquarters and other official buildings are equally important and should not be breached.
For several months in 2011, according to the Washington Post, “activists,” and “protesters,” not rioters, tried if not succeeded to break into Egyptian official buildings including the Cabinet Headquarters, the Ministry of Interior, and the Secret Security Agency. The Washington Post confirms, “Activists broke into several interior Ministry Building, seizing trove of documents…” The armed forces statement in response to the various breaches was, “[Do we not] have the right to defend the property of the Egyptian people, which we swore we would defend?”
Egypt’s Scientific Institute was torched during the same period. The Institute was home to 192,000 books, journals and writings. At some level it would be equivalent to the Smithsonian to US citizens. Imagine if Americans had seen one of the Smithsonian buildings set on fire.
Then, President Donald Trump had only a few days left in his administration when members of Congress demanded his removal from office. In their eyes, he had stirred up the crowds prompting them to breach Capitol Hill. The US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi stepped up the pressure on Vice-President Mike Pence to remove the president from office by declaring him unfit for office. The second option was to invoke the 25th amendment that removed an incapacitated president.
What ex-President Morsi committed was by far more damning and incriminating. Morsi escaped from prison, collaborated with those against Egypt, sided with his clan, the Muslim Brotherhood, against the majority of Egyptians, and placed himself above the law with a decree that granted him far-reaching powers, all actions that construe treason.
Morsi was unlikely to be removed through legal impeachment proceedings. This was not only due to the lack of an independent parliament, but also to the lack of a parliament altogether.
Since Article 152 of the 2012 Constitution allows impeachment of the president for felony and high treason, Egypt did what it could to rid itself of Morsi, not much different from what Trump is facing. However, in the eyes of the West, the removal of Morsi was a coup that deserved admonishment for years to come.
The similarities are crystal clear; the responses, starkly different.
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