Egypt is in danger, and this means that the whole nation is in danger. If this nation is destined to recover and walk the path of justice and freedom, then the beginning must be in and from Egypt. Over the past week, I gathered information on the Egyptian economy, and I found all the information that I collected to be worrisome. This was further confirmed by the front page headline of Al-Ahram on Sunday, which read, “The Egyptian economy loses 70 billion pounds since January 25” (I started writing this article on Sunday evening). There has been a deep decline in the Egyptian U.S currency reserves, which fell to 28 billion dollars with the end of last month, or a 50 percent drop compared to last year's reserves. But before I could finish collecting material on the economic risks facing Egypt, I found out that the country is facing another threat; the front page headline of Al-Ahram yesterday said, “Flames of sectarian extremism a huge threat to Egypt”. I say quite frankly, and I do not fear anyone but God, that there is mutual religious backwardness in Egypt. What is the number of Copts in Egypt? Four million? Six million? Ten million? Is it possible at all that, among these millions, no dissenters will emerge? What does it matter if Camellia converts to Islam or not? Would that spell the end of the Copts in Egypt? Why does every Coptic woman who decides to renounce her religion disappear, before the church denies it had any knowledge of her in the first place? Is it acceptable, in any religion, and because of a rumor about Abir (who is she?), that 12 people are killed, 232 others are injured, and 190 are prosecuted? The Salafists who had gathered around the church said that the Copts assaulted them, even when they were the ones who went to the church because of a rumor and surrounded it. There are around 80 million Egyptian Sunnis; will they be affected in any way if one woman was added to or subtracted from their ranks? The Salafist group in Egypt, as I found it, has been attempting to hijack the revolution from its youths. After I wrote about them, I received a lot of angry mail, and also received a message from Dr. Essam el-Erian, the spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, in which he defended them and rectified some of what I wrote. With all due respect to Dr. Essam, I want to say to him: Do not defend them, because they do not deserve it. The further the Muslim Brotherhood gets from those extremists, the more trust it will gain among the public. These extremists refuse to deal with the Copts, and declare them infidels, as we have read in their statements and on their websites, and this means that they have renounced the tenets of citizenship. They belong to a different era, and perhaps a different world, and do not believe in Egypt. When I was in Cairo a month ago, their cause was the demolition of shrines, some of which belonging to the family and descendants of the prophet, and today, their cause is Abir. Tomorrow or thereafter, they will no doubt come up with another cause. The future of Egypt is more important than a thousand Camellias, Amirs, or the religiously and humanly backwards extremists. Once again, when many economic and sectarian crises beleaguer Egypt, then the whole nation is in danger. The Egyptian government brings together men who are known for their ability and integrity, from the prime minister to the ministers of foreign affairs, finance, economy, tourism and other ministers. However, the government decided from the beginning to wear silk gloves and deal with urgent issues with a leniency that I also found to be present in the approach of the military council. The latter's slogan as far as I can see is “we don't want to interfere”. The council thus leaves vital sectors to be shutdown as a result of strikes, and then interferes in other incidents such as the one at the church in Imbaba, but only after it is too late. If I feared anything, I would have chosen modern poetry as my profession, where I would understand no one and no one would understand me. However, I say once again that I fear no one but God. A democratic Egypt is best poised to receive preferential treatment from the European Union, which is what the government must pursue, and I add the following: To all Egyptians, Muslims, Copts and Jews alike, I have a Lebanese saying that says “Sarah has converted to Islam, but neither did the Muslims win nor did the Christians lose”. I can modify this to “Awaden [Egyptian name] has converted to Islam, but neither did the Christians win nor did the Muslims lose”. In other words, it is not acceptable that the religious inclinations of any one man or woman lead to sectarian strife. I say to the Egyptian government that it must govern, because this is its job. Delicate balances must not obstruct its efforts to find Egypt's looted wealth in international banks, or to summon local bankers for investigation, not indictment, in search of this wealth. I also call for the Egyptian judiciary to be left free to prosecute as it sees fit. To the military council, I say that we all demand democracy. But when the future of the country is in danger, I remember another Lebanese saying, which I believe is attributed to Emir Bashir al-Kabir after he subjugated his family, allies and enemies alike. The saying is “injustice is safer than lax governance”. But no one wants injustice, which has a bleak fate. All I ask from the military council is to exercise its power until it is handed over to civilians. [email protected]
