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A Joyless Celebration in Tahrir Square

(Jerusalem Post) Zvi Mazel - In Tahrir square, a year after the Egyptian uprising, division and mistrust were clearly visible: there were no less than seven so-called festive stages, each with supporters and slogans. There were brawls between Sixth of April bloggers and Muslim Brotherhood militants as well as between revolutionary youth and supporters of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Friends and families of the 850 victims of the revolution were demanding the death penalty for Mubarak; friends and families of the victims of the brutal repression by the army and the police after the fall of Mubarak demanded the immediate removal of the SCAF as well as the execution of its leader, Marshal Tantawi. The Egyptians are still coming to terms with the results of the first free elections in decades. With 72% of the seats - 47% for the Brotherhood, 25% for the Salafists - Islamist parties have a clear monopoly on the conduct of affairs; it is doubtful that this was what the people wanted. The Brotherhood and the Salafists are pledging to act with pragmatism, not dogmatism, and not to impose Islam on the country. Few believe them. The Brothers campaigned as an Islamist party with a radical platform; for the past 80 years they had been working towards their goal. Why should they suddenly change course? The Brotherhood supreme leader said it in so many words: we are close to achieving our objective, "a just and right government" in Egypt prior to restoring the Caliphate the world over. The writer, a Fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, is a former ambassador to Romania, Egypt and Sweden.
2012-01-31 00:00:00
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