Opinion: Crying over the Brotherhood

by Tariq Alhomayed


What we are witnessing in the crying over the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood, tells us that that it did not have a political program for all the Egyptians, but a program for a movement which wanted to control the Egyptian state according to its own agenda, not according to the Egyptian people and their aspirations.

As much as the fall of the Brotherhood, represented by the ousting of President Mursi, was a success for the Egyptian people and army, the fall of the Brotherhood also represents a spectacular political failure on the part of the organization, only rivaled by the Taliban’s political failure.

What happened in Egypt after the fall of Mubarak has exposed the Brotherhood as political failures, as they madeenemies of everyone: Al-Azhar, the judiciary, the media, businessmen and workers, minorities, political forces, and even the simple man on the street.

Former President Mohamed Mursi failed miserably to deal with Egyptian society in a politically effective way, with no compromise and no concessions, even when all indications said failure was inevitable, to the last moment of the Brotherhood’s rule. 

Failure has continued after Mursi’s fall, as we see the Brotherhood’s guide making speeches and threats, as if Egyptians had elected the Brotherhood and its guide, not Mursi, who had forgotten that he came to power with a very small majority in the presidential elections. 

The Brotherhood’s biggest failure today is in the violence shown by their supporters against Egyptians who went out into the street in unprecedented numbers, against the Brotherhood, who seem to have learnt nothing from all that they have been through.

Today we see a wave of tears over the Brotherhood amid a surge of distortion of facts, instead of a reflection on the lessons that Mursi’s downfall offers. Some say what happened in Egypt was a coup, when the reality is that the army, which stood by the Egyptians today, is the same army which stood by them against Mubarak yesterday.

The army did not even issue ‘statement number one’ against Mursi, did not use violence, and did not monopolize power, instead, Genenral El-Sisi, showed political nous which the Brotherhood did not understand, where the army stood by the people, supported by the Al-Azhar and the Coptic Pope, and with the participation of the Salafists and the opposition forces. These were the Egyptians who the Brotherhood tried to exclude.

To understand the Brotherhood’s mentality in running Egypt, the following story–which I heard from an Arab prime minister–must be told: “A senior Egyptian Brotherhood leader visited me and said a senior Turkish official visited Egypt after the fall of Mubarak and asked: We hope you did not suffer much until Mubarak’s fall? The Brotherhood official answered: We thank God, because we see this as a form of jihad. The Turkish official replied: This is a minor jihad, the major jihad is still to come [meaning the harder work of government lies ahead].”

This story and others, prove that the Brotherhood everywhere looked at Egypt as a trophy, not as a country for all, therefore, we can only say: God save Egypt, which is bigger than any single group.


Tariq Alhomayed is the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat. Mr. Alhomyed has been a guest analyst and commentator on numerous news and current affair programs, and during his distinguished career has held numerous positions at Asharq Al-Awsat, amongst other newspapers.

Source: http://www.aawsat.net/2013/07/article55308812

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