22 May 2014
Fahmi Huwaidi
Source: Middle East Monitor
If the effort spent on demonization (of the Muslim Brotherhood) was
put towards finding a solution and the development of Egypt, the country
would have greatly benefitted from this. Last Sunday, May 18,
Al-Ahram
newspaper featured a "Brotherhood leader removed from U.S terrorist
list" story on its front page. The article's source was the WND website
and reports that Senator Chuck Grassley ordered an investigation into a
report that the American Department of Homeland Security had removed
records from the terrorist list, including records of the Muslim
Brotherhood leader Jamal Badawi, also known for his close ties to Hamas,
Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad. He lives in Canada and is a member of the
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and founder of the Muslim
American Society (MAS).
Wikipedia portrays the same man in a completely different
light. It says that he is an Egyptian man who is a professor of
religious studies and administration in Saint Mary's University in
Halifax, Nova Scotia who earned his PhD from the University of Indiana.
He has authored several books and articles on Islam, and produces
several television programmes aired in Canada and the US. Audio and
video copies of these programmes are available worldwide.
He is a great speaker and has a deep understanding of
fiqh
(Islamic jurisprudence) and the history of religions. He spreads
authentic information about Islam and Muslims in the West and has almost
350 30-minute lectures on Islam that are popular amongst those studying
and following religions worldwide.
The image portrayed by the article in
Al-Ahram depicts him to
be the leader of a terrorist group closely tied to anti-Israel
organisations, while the Wikipedia passage suggests he is a preacher who
has dedicated himself to defending Islam and Muslims and is popular and
respected in the West.
This matter calls for two comments. Firstly, the article's source
(the WND website) is considered to be a platform for conservatives in
the US and pro-Israeli, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim views. The
aforementioned senator was angered by the Department of Homeland
Security's clearing of Dr Jamal Badawi's name and removed him from the
terrorist list. The only charges made against Badawi were that he is a
member of a "terrorist" group according to Egypt's classification and
that he has strong ties with anti-Israel organisations.
Secondly, it suggests that
Al-Ahram turned a blind eye to the
nature of the website and Senator Grassley's position in exchange for
the news being utilised to demonise the man in an attempt to settle
internal affairs.
This was the same 'bump in the road' faced by the Egyptian media
last May when it reported a story about the Free Egyptian Army in Libya
and claimed that it was backed by Obama in America, Turkey and Qatar.
The story was published by the online newspaper World Tribune.
On April 23
Al Masry Al Youm reported that Dr Manar Shorbaji
exposed the newspaper when she investigated them and discovered it was a
right-wing newspaper with ties to mafia newspapers. Dr Shorbaji also
noted that it had played a suspicious role in representing the views of
right-wing American conservatives who opposed Obama purely because of
his race and accused him of hating America and secretly recruiting
Muslims to the State Department. The newspaper also did not hesitate to
describe Obama as a member of the Brotherhood, a communist, and a
socialist at the same time.
Although these events raise a number of questions, I am most
concerned at the moment by the effort made to demonise one side and a
willingness to cooperate with the 'devil' in order to achieve their
goal, even if the devil is against all Arabs and Muslims.
Dr Jamal Badawi is fortunate because he has been living in Canada
for over 30 years, where the law is respected and the dignity of the
people is preserved, but if he were in Egypt, he would be in Al-Aqrab
Prison charged with 15 crimes, each of which would warrant his
execution.
Yet the story raises the question of how many individuals, who have
never been involved in acts of violence or terrorism, have met the same
miserable fate that the great preacher has escaped?
According to the
Wikithawra
independent website, there are over 22,000 prisoners in Egypt.
Brotherhood sources have reported that about 4,000 of these prisoners
are facing charges and will be tried in criminal courts (most of whom
are from Upper Egypt), and that 10,000 will be tried in misdemeanour
courts, most of whom are accused of violating the demonstration law.
If these estimates are correct, this means that the news about the
trials will remain a part of the political scene until the end of the
year and could even continue until next year. This also means that 8,000
prisoners do not know their fates and their imprisonments are being
continuously renewed according to the needs of the current political
atmosphere.
As long as this continues, so too will the demonization as it
justifies the continuation of the trials and harsher sentences in
addition to the renewal of prison sentences. Independent human rights
organisations continue to publish reports and testimonies regarding the
suffering and misery of those imprisoned.
The demonization campaign is happening on a wider scale than we
think, this is obvious if we think about the above matter, and add on
the ruling that prohibits the activity of the April 6 Movement, which
includes quite a few revolutionary youth groups, in addition to the
tension experienced by other revolutionary youth groups. Such tensions
include the implications and challenges overwhelming the popular
uprising that toppled Mubarak's regime in 2011, the attempts to blur the
facts about the so -called June 30 revolution and the law prohibiting
demonstrations, which aims to silence repressed voices.
People have also been made angrier by two other issues. Firstly, the
return of Mubarak's regimes' symbols and icons and their emergence in
public coinciding with the crackdown and oppression of the security
forces, suggesting a return to the former regime's policies. Secondly,
the media campaign which aims to distort the image of the revolutionary
youth and their icons through leaks by the security forces, relayed to
some of the counter-revolution platforms who have spread these leaks in
an effort to expose the revolution and morally assassinate them.
This picture paints an image of demonization characterized by
tension and haunted by fear and anger at the same time. This is because
the current clash is no longer between the authority and the
Brotherhood, along with its allied groups, but the circle has grown to
include the youth revolutionary groups and those who have declared their
solidarity with the prisoners and oppressed. The circle has also grown
to include the independent human rights organisations that have issued
several statements denouncing and condemning arbitrary arrest, torture,
and fabricated charges; such statements have been signed by 16 human
rights organisations and centres.
We must pay attention to the effort being made to demonise and
oppress one side, as there is hardly any effort made to pick up the
pieces and reunite the society. Such efforts have not been successful in
separating the national opposition forces from the violent groups by
distinguishing the radical and moderate forces. This distinction is
necessary for the rallying of the nation needed to move towards the
future with confidence.
The claims that people accept or reject this are no longer
convincing because it would suggest that the people are being taken for
fools, as are the security establishment who have actually made the
decision and turned the media into platforms from which they launch
missiles. These missiles poison the atmosphere and turn things upside
down. The people have been taken for fools in a manner that encourages
political eradication and welcomes gagging.
After the police and the security forces were acquitted of the
charges of killing demonstrators, the oppression doubled and
intellectual terrorism added to the civil and social terrorism, making
those with different opinions conspirators with the Brotherhood, spies,
and part of the fifth column funded from abroad. The mistakes, acts of
violence, and crimes committed in the past by several parties were
exploited and used to terrorize the community, which led to the closure
of the door of politics and the adoption of terrorism as the top
priority.
This situation is reminiscent of the events of the French Revolution
during which the Committee of Public Security took control of the
internal politics of the country and issued a statement in September
1793 declaring that "the time has come for justice to be a priority. It
is also time to terrorise and intimidate the conspirators, and therefore
it is natural to deal with terrorism as a top priority." The statement
ended with the following line, "Let us be in a permanent revolution
because the counter-revolution is being hatched everywhere by our
enemies. We must let the law hover over the heads of the guilty". This
declaration launched the campaign trail that led many to the gallows and
prisons.
At the moment, all attention has been focused on the economy, which
is certainly an important matter, even though the parameters of the
economic vision are unclear, and those that are clear are a topic of
controversy and criticism for experts.
In light of the preoccupation with the economy, the security
institution remains in control of the fate of mankind and the door of
politics remains closed to anyone who is not a fan or loyalist. It is
worth noting that the proficiency of a policy is measured by its
openness to the opposition, whilst counting solely on loyalists is the
first step towards tyranny.
When Field Marshal Al-Sisi was asked for his opinion about the
figures and businessmen of the former regime who are pushing their
network of interests onto politics his response was that he wanted to
pick out the best from each party and did not want to alienate anyone.
These are very rational and wise words, but the only problem is that he
limits this to economics and it is not applied to politics.
This logic makes for a very difficult equation that is trying to
combine economic prosperity and political isolation on the belief that
goodness is inherent in those affiliated to the economy and evil stems
from the political opposition. Presenting the equation in this formula
means that the revolution will continue for a long time and still has
many obstacles to face before it achieves its goals.
Link: www.
middleeastmonitor.com/articles/africa/11637-demonization-complicates-the-crisis-not-resolves-it.
