The Egyptian People's Second Revolution

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The June 30 revolution in Egypt reflected the gathering of more than 32 million people who gathered in more than 19 public squares all over Egypt.

The purpose behind such a popular mass protest was to call on President Morsi to resign. However, by the third day, the Egyptian army responded to the demands of people and forced President Morsi to leave his position.

The interesting response in western mass media and in particular the U.S. is that an army coup took place in Egypt, leading to Morsi’s removal. This political conclusion did not come as a surprise. The U.S. government has been pursuing the wrong foreign policy, especially in the Middle East in general and the Arab world in particular since the end of World War II.

It was the U.S. who supported the Muslim Brotherhood, stealing the January 25, 2011, revolution and excluding the young Egyptians from implementing their objectives (bread, freedom, and social justice).

Lobbyists and interest groups have shaped the U.S. foreign policy, which is in conflict with American national interest.

The Muslim Brotherhood is a violent terrorist organization operating under a religious umbrella to hide their political strategy. History reflects that they have assassinated two Egyptian prime ministers and a president, as well as have attempted to assassinate Presidents Nasser and Mubarak.

Despite their violent history, the Egyptian public gave them a chance by electing Morsi as a president with less than 20% of the eligible votes.

Since he assumed office, President Morsi totally ignored all the promises he made prior to his election. Instead, he violated the constitution and began a process of Islamization of all governmental institutions instead of focusing on the deteriorating economy, the increasing unemployment and poverty, the shortages of energy and the increasing cost of living. In the mean time, the American ambassador Anne Patterson was communicating on a regular basis with the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, especially K. Al-Shater and M. Badie and defending their policy.

For all of these reasons and others, the Egyptian people revolted against Morsi and his criminal Muslim Brotherhood gangs and pressured the Egyptian army to remove him from office.

Let me emphasize that what happened in Egypt was a people’s revolt and not a military coup.

Let the American government proceed with their wrong policy and hope they stop their foreign aid to Egypt. Egypt can do without it and at least they will regain their dignity, which is more important than U.S. aid to the majority of the Egyptian population.

The Egyptian Second Revolution of June 30, 2013

The massive protest movement of June 30, 2013 has been taking place in more than 19 public squares in cities all over Egypt, where people in the millions are calling on President Morsi to resign.

All these massive protests reflect the second stage of the stalled revolution of January 25, 2011. The Muslim Brotherhood were not the ones who started the revolution, but they ended up stealing it and ignoring its objectives, which were “Aish, freedom and social justice”.

From the beginning, the Muslim Brotherhood through their political arm “The Justice and Freedom Party” began to implement their secret political strategy, which was to take full control of governmental institutions.

Furthermore, they have excluded all secular political groups and even the young Egyptian groups from their political strategy. The political policy that was pursued by the dismissed parliament before it was dissolved, as well as by the lower House and President Morsi, was pursued to directly to benefit them and not society at large.

It has been reported that more than 13,000 member of the Muslim Brotherhood were appointed to important government positions. Even the majority of the governors appointed by Morsi in the 27 governates were affiliated with their group.

Also, members of the Muslim Brotherhood were appointed to head several important ministries, such as the Information and Communications, Culture and Arts (Al-Thakafah), Energy and Food, Interior, and Education ministries.

Such political actions reflect the strategy and priority of President Morsi’s objectives, instead of giving priority to the deteriorating national economy, the increasing unemployment and poverty, the absence of national security and safety, the increase in the cost of living and the shortages of energy.

In addition to that, Egypt as an important and leading Arab state has been humiliated by terrorist organizations in Sinai More than 23 members of the armed forces and the police have been killed and no arrests have been made. In addition to the number of security forces who have been kidnapped, the list of such negative acts under President Morsi’s rule reveals that he is an incompetent person to rule and needs to be removed.

The situation that has been going on for the last two years, as well as the protests (which have been ignored by Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood), led finally to the rise of the Tamarud (“rebellious”) movement. The Tamarud movement led by Mohamed Bader and his young Egyptian groups to initiate a petition campaign to remove President Morsi from office. They have set June 30, 3013, as the date for the second stage of the unfinished Egyptian revolution of January 25, 2011.

By June 29, 2013, the Tamarud movement petition has collected 25 million signatures calling on President Morsi to resign. This figure is nearly more than twice the number of people who voted for him a year ago (2012).

The movement also coordinated with other groups, including the National Saluation Front, to start a national protest movement to force Morsi to resign and to form a national transitional government to prepare for a national election within six months.

It should also be noted that the Egyptian society is being sharply polarized between two major political groups. Those who support Morsi (one-third of the total population) claim that he was elected freely and should not resign. They accuse the opposition (who constitute more than two-third of the population) of being secular atheists and nonbelievers in Islam (“kafarah”).

The opposition group rests on the rationale that Morsi did not implement a single promise he made before his election. During the past year since his election (June 30, 2012), he did not do anything to save the country economically, socially or even in the areas of stability and safety.

In his latest speech to the Egyptian public (June 2013), President Morsi admitted that mistakes have been committed—even in the constitution—that need to be corrected. Such public statements came too late. Morsi and his superiors in the Muslim Brotherhood—who are the influential force behind all the blunders that have been committed during the past two years—are unfit to rule.

It is time for Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood to move out and open the door for others to assume the political responsibility and save Egypt from collapsing.

The irony of history is reflected in a statement that has been made by al-Murshid of the Muslim Brotherhood Mr. Badee in an interview with Mr. W. al-Ibrashi (Dream channel) two years ago. The interview was repeated on the same channel on June 28, 2013, during which al-Murshid stated publicly that he is totally against any Muslim Brotherhood member and even other Islamic groups running for political office, because he thinks it will be dangerous for Egypt.

Al-Murshid’s prophecy turned out to be true. Their political policy led to the largest protest movement in the history of Egypt. P

The Failed President

The recent kidnapping of 17 Egyptian soldiers in Sinai by terrorist Islamic criminals was an act of insult to the Egyptian government, the army and society at large. The kidnappers are demanding the release of 24 criminals who are in an Egyptian jail for crimes that they have committed.

The kidnapping of soldiers or civilians should be taken seriously and no negotiations should take place with those thugs that kidnapped them. This terrorist act was the third one within a year. The first was the kidnapping of four police officers in al-Arish, No information has been made available about the fates of those officers.

The second terrorist act was the killing of 17 Egyptian soldiers in cold blood. The killing also took place in al-Arish. The killers were not identified.

Such terrorist acts should have not been dismissed. This encourages others to act in a similar way due to the absence of security, no only in Sinai, but also all over Egypt.

The army should go after the kidnappers regardless of the cost. The young people who continue to protest, demanding the resignation of President Morsi, have a legitimate rationale. President Morsi has failed to perform his duties politically, economically, administratively and socially. The sooner he leaves office, the better Egypt will be.

The prosecution of George W. Bush for murder

On the tenth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq (March, 2003), numerous articles appears in the American mass media reflecting on the biggest blunders committed in the history of the U.S. by the Bush administration. The few people who were concerned about American national interest predicted this tragedy.

However, the major newspapers of the media began to dance to the tune of music set by the Bush administration and the lobbyists representing those who would benefit from the invasion of Iraq.

The American congress, which Harry Reid described as the most corrupt in the history of the U.S., supported the invasion without examining any evidence in support of the war.

The consequences of the invasion reflect some serious problems, such as:

1)   The cost of the war to American taxpayers has been estimated to exceed $2.5 trillion. All of this money was borrowed from foreign governments, especially China. It was a war that was fought on credit cards.

2)   More than 4,500 American soldiers were killed in vain and an additional 32,000 were injured. In addition to the negative psychological and emotional impact of the war on veterans is reflected in—among other things—high suicide rates, at almost one per day.

3)   The negative impact of the war in Iraq has been disastrous to humans, as well as environmentally, politically, and economically. Literally speaking, Iraq was destroyed. The U.S. government put it on a silver platter and turned it over to Iran.

The tragedy is that no one has been tried for these blunders, including Bush and his criminal gang. The U.S. political system is filled with loopholes, which encourages politicians to lie and mislead the public without consequences for this deception.

As Vincent Bugliosi, chief prosecutor, wrote in his book ‘The Prosecution of George W. Bush For Murder’, “the United States of America can return to the great nation it once was again. Bugliosi believes that the first step to achieving this goal is to bring those responsible for the war in

Spring or Winter Revolution

During the past two years, several Arab states—including Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen— experienced massive uprisings that led to the removal of their authoritarian regimes. The revolution is still going on in Syria, where more than 70,000 have been killed and over a million have become refugees in neighboring countries. The west and the east are using the Syrian tragedy to settle their own differences.

In the mean time, some Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar are fueling the revolution in Syria. Ironically both regimes are authoritarian.

A few days ago, the Arab newspapers reported the arrest of 167 peaceful demonstrators in Saudi Arabia. These protestors were demanding humane treatment for their arrested relatives. Also, it was reported that the Qatar court sentenced Mohammed Al-Ajami, a Qatar poet, for his poem attacking the Amir of Qatar. He was given a life sentence but the court commuted the sentence to 15 years. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are in no position to criticize the Syrian regime because they are in an even worse governmental position than Syria. Qatar has the highest Gross National Income (GNI) in the world—over 86,000 per person per year—with a population of less than two million people.

Qatar can afford to incorporate the one million Syrian refugees who are living in tents and are deprived of basic daily needs. I do not want to give the impression that I am a supporter of the Syrian regime, because I am not. For the benefit of readers, the Assad family has ruled over Syrian since the 1960s, the result of the American CIA’s military coup in 1948. That military coup removed the freely and democratically elected Syrian president, Mr. S. Al-Quatley. He refused to let American oil companies extend their oil pipelines from Iraq through Syria. Since the end of World War II, the U.S. government has been a major source of political instability in the Middle East region in general and the Arab world in particular, which is still occurring today.

I consider Saudi Arabia and the Qatari regimes as puppets for the U.S. Furthermore and regrettably to say, the Morsi government in Egypt is of the same type of government. Unfortunately, the younger Egyptian population that initiated the January 25^th Revolution to save their country from the corrupt regime of Hosni Mubarak (paying in blood to do so) has been marginalized by the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is spreading their political influence in every government institution at the expense of others. They are worse than the previous regime, are ignorant, and will end up paying a heavy price.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Iranian Model

The Iranian model of 1979 is emerging in Egypt.

Recently several high-ranking Iranian officials have visited Cairo under the pretext of improving relations between Iran and Egypt.

President Morsi’s political-religious acts and that of his party, al Hureyya wel Adala, as well as the Muslism Brotherhood’s organization, reflect similar trends to that of the 1979’s Iranian revolution. This similarity is reflected in the followings:

1.   Liberal-secular and Islamic political groups protesting the corruption of the Shah regime, Mohamed Reda Pahlavi, initiated the Iranian revolution. They succeeded in removing the Shah from power. He was overthrown, and the first head of the new revolutionary regime was a liberal and secular.

2.   The religious leader in exile in France, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran. He was received as a Mahdi. A year later, 1980-81, the Islamists stole the revolution and eliminated the secular political leaders who originally began the revolution.

3.   The Islamist political leaders under the leadership of Khamenei began the Islamization of all governmental institutions. The opposition was accused of being atheists, enemies of Islam who deserved to be killed!

4.   The Islamist government began to develop a military group known as the Iranian National Revolutionary guards. This step was taken to prevent any attempts from the regular army to interfere in the policy of the emerging Islamic regime.

5.   The opposition consisting of liberal groups began to vociferously oppose the Islamic regime. This opposition has been going on for more than three decades.

6.   The highest spiritual religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni, is the real power in Iran. His authority is higher than that of president Ahmad Najad. This political authority is shaped in a pyramidal form with the religious authority established at the top of the pyramid.

It is clear the emerging Egyptian political structure has many similarities with that of Iran. Is this intentional? Or, is this a typical model of any religious group interested in gaining political power?

1.   Young liberals sparked the Egyptian revolution of January 25, 2011. They were supported by millions of Egyptians. The Muslim Brothers were later joiners of the Revolution.

2.    The Mubarak regime fell on February 11, 2011. The Egyptian Higher Military Council and the Muslim Brothers united in order to prevent the realization of any further demands from young, liberal revolutionaries. However, the young revolutionaries continued to call for “Freedom, Social and Economic Justice.” They further insisted on the punishment of those behind the killings of many young protesters. Actually, they have not been brought to justice until now.

3.   The Muslim Brothers, as Egyptians maintain, stole the Revolution. Morsi was elected president in June 2012. He was able to abolish the original Higher Military Council and to nominate a new and young Defense Minister, El Sessi. There was more than one Prime Minister who consequently resigned. President Morsi finally nominated Hisham Kandeel as prime minister. The later is a young man who lacks experience and above all lacks presence and political savoir-faire.

4.   The different political groups were excluded from sharing in the new government. The Egyptian press is continually referring to the power behind the throne, which is that of the Murshid, leader of the Muslim Brothers, and his deputy Khayrat el Shater. Neither of the two men was elected!

5.   The Egyptian president, Morsi, issued in November 2012, a constitutional decree giving himself unlimited power. Such decree allowed him to neutralize the power of the Higher Egyptian Constitutional Court. He then dismissed 7 outspoken judges who have asked for dissolving the Egyptian Parliament on the basis that the election of its members was in violation of the Constitution.  Furthermore, those judges began to investigate the election of the new magliss el shoura as well as the Committee appointed by the dissolved Parliament to draft the new constitution. Morsi then removed the General Prosecutor, el guindi, replacing him by a sympathizer to his policy.

6.   The Morsi regime, similar to the Iranian religious regime, created its own militia. According to the Egyptian newspaper, al wafd (1/31,2013) the Minister of Interior, Mohamed Ibrahim, allowed this Militia to join the police in order to suppress any revolt by the demonstrators. They were violent in their tactics, many were killed. This   violates the new Constitution, article 109!!

7.   The unfortunate further strategy of president Morsi was his trial to destroy the freedom of press. He appointed a Minister of Information, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. It should be stressed however the fact that until now the Egyptian media is still quite defiant toward any government pressures.

Anyone familiar with the history of the Iranian revolution (1979) cannot but see the similar steps the new Egyptian regime is undertaken. Is this intentional? It remains to be seen.

The Muslim Brotherhood, for the past 80 years, has been dreaming of assuming power. It will be very hard to remove such regime!

However, I would like to stress here, during the past two years and since the election of president Morsi and his negative policies, the Muslim Brothers have lost credibility among a large number of Egyptians. 

It is an interesting time to be in Egypt and to follow the trend and development of events.

US Government and the Muslim Brotherhood

On January 28, 2013 the Egyptian newspaper ‘al watan’ reported ‘Khayrat el Shater, deputy director of the Muslim Brotherhood, met with the American ambassador, Ann Paterson.’ El Shater was seeking US support for president Morsi.

Since 2007, according to the Egyptian press, US government officials have been meeting with some members of the Muslim Brotherhood organization. The Muslim Brothers spokesman denied such meetings.

The puzzling question to Egyptians is why did the US ambassador meet with Khayrat el Shater who is not an elected figure?

Having thoroughly studied and followed US government’s policy toward the Arab Word such meeting does not surprise me.

US government officials will meet with anyone they see fit to help achieving their foreign policy in the Middle East in general and in the Arab World in particular.

Two major issues influence the US foreign policy toward the Arab World:

1.   The safety of Israel and its military superiority in the region.

2.   The preservation of the Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel. The Muslim Brother’s leaders have assured the US government of their support for the Peace Treaty.

3.   The control of the flow of oil to the West.  In reality, such concern is not triggered by the American national interest, but rather by American lobbyists.

The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and American oil company’s lobbyists are among the most influential group shaping American foreign policy irrespective of its impact on the American national interest. Hence, when American foreign policy makers publicly request the implementation of democracy in Egypt, it is simply for public consumption.

History reveals the fact that American officials, in general, have supported ruthless dictators, all over the world, as along as they implement their policy. Once those dictators fail to fulfill such policy, American support is withdrawn.

Is history going to repeat itself in the case of Egypt? It remains to be seen!