Rising up against the Muslim Brotherhood The enlightened eyes here and around the world should turn

toward Cairo and cross their fingers in hope for those bravely fighting for their beloved country, and against the cynical exploitation of religion.
By Oudeh Basharat | Apr.07, 2013 | 5:19 AM | 2

Im confident that God was quite happy when he created Egypt, said Ahmed Fouad Negm, the Egyptian poet with the power to destroy the walls of fortresses, as French poet Louis Aragon once described him. And its not only God. Advocates of progress around the world were also thrilled that the Egyptian people succeeded not only in revealing the true face of the Muslim Brotherhood in their country, but actually stood up to them. Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is, of course, a member of the Brotherhood. The day after his election, he removed his flak jacket while walking among the masses in Tahrir Square. Yet only six months later, he had to flee his palace under the cover of the presidential guard when the masses encircled him, protesting the dictatorial decrees he had issued several days earlier. Later, following an armed attack by the Brotherhoods militia against demonstrators outside the presidential palace, unprecedented attacks took place on the Brotherhoods offices across Egypt. The Cairo home of the president was frequently surrounded by protesters. Thus, while for other nations it takes many years, Egypt only needed a few months in order to stand up to the opportunistic and dictatorial nature of this movement. Certain groups still support fascist regimes, like that of Syrian leader President Bashar Assad, under the pretext that fanatic forces will come into power if democracy prevails. These supporters of the Arab Spring believe that the bottleneck cannot be avoided, and, besides, it would be healthier not to avoid it because, as the Arab expression says, No one learns from others experience, just from their own. In contrast to what those who fear fanatic religious forces claim, it was actually during the era of Egypts supposedly secular Hosni Mubarak regime that show trials were conducted against secular thinkers on charges of contempt for religion. Today, however, when the Muslim Brotherhood must prove itself through its actions and cannot make do simply with propaganda, we see an unprecedented media campaign being waged against it, with the force and legitimacy it deserves. Alongside this an intellectual debate is being conducted, but not in the manner of MK Ruth Calderon (Yesh Atid), who wanted a dialogue with the religious that would lead to a sharing of the burden of the occupation for everyone. Instead, Egyptians are pursuing a dialogue that is releasing the spiritual wealth and magnificent history of Islam from the hegemony of darkness, and brings them into the democratic space where human dignity and equality reign in the presence of a humane and democratic constitution.

The most important phenomenon in recent decades is taking place today in Egypt, with a traditional people rising up against the cynical exploitation of religion. All of this is occurring while the army refuses to take orders from the president to enforce a curfew; while the legal establishment continues a wonderful tradition going back to the dark days of Mubarak and cancels elections declared by the Brotherhood and the illegal appointment of the attorney general; while the police almost mutinies against the failed attempts to Brotherize the force. All of this is occurring amid the deluge of criticism from journalists, thinkers, lawyers and artists (like TV satirist Bassem Youssef) against the Brotherhood. Even Cairos Al-Azhar University the most prestigious Sunni institution in the Islamic world, and characterized by its moderate view of Islam has risen up against the Brotherhood, refusing to rubber stamp a plan to issue Islamic bonds. Many people perceived this plan as some sort of public sale of Egyptian assets. And if that werent enough, even members of the more extreme Salafist stream of Sunni Islam are criticizing the Brotherhood. Every day that passes in Egypt is equivalent to a light year in the development of national consciousness. And yet amid this battle, which is impossible to comprehend in its speed and depth, there are those who continue to claim that the Arab world is tossing back and forth, and that everyone should safeguard themselves from it. Let it swing to and fro! What a welcome upheaval this is, separating the wheat from the chaff! The enlightened eyes here and around the world should turn toward Cairo and cross their fingers in hope, for those bravely fighting for their beloved country.