Egypt: Lessons learnt

No doubt Egypt is going through a tumultuous time. The military deposed a president who was elected by the majority in his first year in office. The callous manner of his removal angered his supporters who staged peaceful demonstrations for weeks demanding his restoration. The military used brutal force to disperse the protestors and thousands were killed and maimed. The country is now on the brink of a civil war and the carnage is still ongoing. For those of us watching from far, there are countless lessons in the events in Egypt;

1. The events have debunked the falsehood that was peddled by the media regarding the so called Islamists. We were told "Islamists" are very violent and would not hesitate to chop off your head without any provocation. Faced with the most brutal force used by a military against the same people it was meant to protect, supporters of Morsi have remained exceptionally peaceful and restrained. In the din of gunfire, the choking smell of burning and smoldering protest camps and human flesh and in the stench of decomposing bodies of their loved ones, they have been proclaiming "Silmiyah" meaning peace. Although, he faced constant protests in his entire one year from elements who were not happy with his victory in the elections, Morsi never killed a single protestor. He never ordered media stations shut or press freedom curtailed. In contrast, the secularists, the liberals and the "democrats" have committed the most savage attacks on peaceful protestors and have shut all stations except their own mouth pieces. They are now exposed as they have been pretending to be the custodians of democracy and freedom.

2. Beneficiaries of status quo will do anything to maintain their status. The Military and a few others like billionaire Neguib Swaris who acquired their wealth illegally and plundered the country's wealth could not believe and stomach the fact that their buddy Mubarak is no more. They conspired from day one to reclaim their influence and held the country at ransom. They sabotaged the state by rationing electricity, water, wheat flour and other basic necessities. They conspired with the security apparatus to ensure crime levels soared. Morsi would have naturally found it difficult to correct over 30 years of misrule and corruption but the remnants of the previous regime made the country literally ungovernable. They then used the same youth who put their lives on the line to depose President Mubarak to bounce themselves back to power. This has rolled back all the gains made by the Egyptians in the last years and made the blood of those who were killed in January in vain. The military is back and will rule for more decades, the state of emergency is in full force and freedom is no more.

3. Democracy is in the eyes of Uncle Sam. Democracy is relative. It is what the powers that be decide. It is not the same in theory and practice. Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Bahrain are very democratic countries but the ballot means nothing in Egypt, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Palestine. Military coups are part of the democratic process when the victims are not praise singers of US, Israel and the West.

4. No one can defeat the will of the people. If you have been following the events in the last few weeks you must have seen the most unbridled determination by the Egyptians to reclaim their country in the face of military tanks, sniper shots and police brutality. They stayed camped out for weeks without being fatigued and without being violent. Theirs is a Gandhi style protest. Whenever they are going for protest, they bid their loved ones farewell because they may not return a live, they write their names on their arms so that they can be identified in case they are fell by bullets. They are ready to die for what they believe in. Unlike our politicians who order the masses to the streets and stay behind in their homes and hotels enjoying coffee with their families and friends, the anti-coup leaders have been in the forefront in confronting the army. The head of FJ party lost his 17 year old daughter during camps clearance on Wednesday.

5. The world we live in is a very hypocritical place. Duplicity of actions is very clear. The world watches as innocent civilians are massacred. All the photos of the dead bear gun shots to the head or chest. The military is shooting to kill in the most gruesome manner. Protestors who raised their hands to indicate their peacefulness were shot in their bare chests. There has been no response from the world only muted condemnations. Someone wondered on facebook how the response would have been had Morsi been the one killing the protestors. The world would have literally stood on its feet. Exaggerated and gory images would have been splashed on the headlines but now that the victims are the unwanted you can barely tell whether there is any turmoil in Egypt except from the social media. Thanks to social media, we no longer need the partisan and hypocritical western media.

6. Military always intervenes internally with disastrous consequences. Military should never be involved in the internal politics of a country. They are meant to protect a country from external enemies and they have no capacity whatsoever to deal with internal affairs. In most countries they are not even allowed to vote because once they are partisan the country will go down the drain. Kenyans were lucky in 2007 because the military was neutral but can you imagine the consequences if they had given Raila and Kibaki 48 hours to resolve their political differences or they would act. I shudder to imagine. The Egyptian military has ruled Egypt since Gamal Abdinasir overthrew the king and therefore power has gone in to their heads. They don’t believe in civilian rule and that is why they deposed Morsi. Not for the people.

I believe the Egyptian people will emerge  from this stronger.