There is no hiding the state of concern over the future of Egypt on the background of political alignment between an Islamist movement that won the first free elections since the July 1952 Revolution in a landslide and a street inflamed and showing signs of anger against both the Islamists and the military. Yet there are also in Egypt those who are reassured, who do not feel any kind of concern, and who consider that their country has the ability to overcome the current phase, that the Revolution is exerting pressure to achieve the greatest possible extent of its goals, that the military will leave so that it may rest and let others rest, that the Islamists will rule without controlling, and that the country will be able to move towards a brighter future thanks to the Revolution. One of them jokingly commented: we always have all the contradictions, and in spite of this Egypt never dies. It is enough to know that Cairo University is located in the Giza governorate, not in Cairo; that the overwhelmingly popular Ahly football club is located in the Zamalek area, while its rival, the Zamalek football club, is located in the popular Mit Okba street. Yet in spite of this, life goes on. This situation was also expressed when Wael Ghonim wrote on his Facebook page two days ago: on my flight from Dubai to Cairo, fate had it that a consulting engineer in his fifties was seated next to me, and at the mere sight of me, he looked at me and said “Isn't it enough already, what you're doing to the country? For shame, have some mercy!” This was followed by a lengthy conversation between us, in which he told me that he was from among those who attend the Abbasiyah protests (in support of the Military Council) and that he was fed up with what was happening in Tahrir [Square]. I concluded by the end of our conversation that he was a patriotic Egyptian who supported the Revolution, and was extremely happy the day Mubarak stepped down on February 11. His assessment of how things stand now is completely different from mine… And he is very upset with many of the figures connected to the Revolution because of the way they debate those who disagree with them… I think he benefited from our talk as much as I did, as neither of us has any interest for or against the Military Council or the government, and our assessment of things springs from our fear for the future of the country. Ghonim's words bring back to memory the scene of great agreement between the different parties that influenced or were influenced by the Revolution, as they all gathered in Tahrir Square and other public squares, when the mere fact of “the Palace” issuing a stance or a statement would be met with one response: “the people want to overthrow the regime”. Mubarak stepped down and all the parties spent an entire year disagreeing over whether the regime had fallen or not. They also disagreed on how to rebuild the state (the constitution or the elections first), how to deal with the Military Council, and even how to celebrate the anniversary of the Revolution! A year after the start of the Revolution, the contradiction in stances has reached its greatest extent, as a result of the disparity of views, goals and gains achieved by this or that faction due to Mubarak stepping down, some of the regime's prominent figures being imprisoned, and free elections being held, despite the violations committed by those participating in them. Yet strangest of all is the fact that contradiction in reactions now comes out of the same faction every now and then. For example: when presidential candidate Doctor Mohamed El-Baradei was attacked while voting in the referendum on constitutional amendments, this was met with broad condemnation, and that is only natural. Yet what is not natural is for some of Baradei's supporters to be happy about similar situations befalling some of his competitors in the presidential race, such as Amr Moussa, Ahmed Shafik and Hazem Salah Abu Ismail! The Salafists, some of whom have described democracy as “blasphemy” and elections as “heresy”, achieved amazing results when they took part in the race for parliament! And the judiciary, which ordered the release of blogger Alaa Abd El-Fattah and put a stop to virginity tests, was described as “noble” and praised for its integrity and independence. Yet this is the same judiciary that was fiercely attacked when it ruled the innocence of members of the security forces who had been accused of killing protesters in front of the Saida Zainab police station! And when the Islamists won the elections in a landslide, some considered the results not to be “expressive of the Revolution”, or not to “reflect the true will of the people”, and there was talk of “the rising rate of illiteracy among citizens”. And yet when prominent Salafist figures, like Abdel Moneim Al-Shahat, and some of those associated with the former regime, like Doctor Ali Moselhi and media personality Tawfik Okasha, lost the elections and prominent figures not from the Islamist movement, like Amr El-Shobaki, Mustafa Najjar and Amr Hamzawy, won, the level of awareness and the superior culture of voters were praised! On the whole, it comes as no surprise… Indeed, Ahly club is based in Zamalek, and Zamalek club in Mit Okba … and life goes on.
