The Egyptian Revolution is heading towards further failure and its repercussions add further burdens to be borne by ordinary citizens – who had imagined when they took part in it that their country would be heading towards advancement, development and progress, only to see it descend into the abyss of backwardness, poverty and unrest. Meanwhile, all parties to the Egyptian crisis and their most prominent figures still consider themselves to be affiliated to the Revolution, and warn against losing or perverting it, without any one of them bothering to apologize for the mistakes they might have made, or to admit that their behavior, decisions or stances were among the reasons for what the Revolution has come to and for the situation it has resulted in. And if one were to ask them about facts on the ground, they would choose the easiest answer and always hold others responsible. It is no secret that the Egyptian Revolution has indeed turned into something else, that its goals were not achieved but in fact suffered a relapse, and that many of those who took part in it have come to regret the day they chanted for it in public squares, protested for it in the streets and saw martyrs fall for its sake. There are nonetheless others who still cling to hope, and consider that what is taking place are natural matters that occur after revolutions! Or they may believe that the people will rise again to salvage their Revolution. Meanwhile, those segments of society who have benefited from the Revolution and have reaped its fruits have been absent from the scene, either being busy with the Revolution's benefits and returns, or claiming that the situations is “the best it can be" and explaining away complaints as allegations, protests as conspiracies, and the prevailing anger, grievance and distress as a “counterrevolution". From the classics of Egyptian cinema with regard to revolutions comes the expression “long live the levolution [sic]". In short, the expression appeared in the 1957 film “Rudda Qalbi" (Back Alive), in which an old man named Abdel Wahed, father to army and police officers Ali and Hussein, finds his voice returning to him, after he had lost it in a scene that reflected the class oppression he was subjected to in confronting the tyrannical Pasha. Old man Abdel Wahed witnesses with his sons and the rest of his family from the balcony of their home crowds of protesters marching through the streets in support of the movement of the army in 1952. He thus feels that a revolution is being born in Egypt and speaks the words: “Long live the levolution... long live the levolution... long live the revolution". The whole family thus rejoices that the old man has regained his voice and the people their revolution! The situation in Egypt seems exactly like that of old man Abdel Wahed, but in reverse. Indeed, the old man regained his voice with the birth of the revolution, while the Egyptian people, or most of it, or let us say large parts of it, are now nearly losing their minds, because a revolution is being lost, dreams are dying, and the people who had had such dreams believe that what the Egyptian people are experiencing is the result not of a revolution, but rather a “levolution" – i.e. an incomplete revolution, or one that was completed but then relapsed, or turned into something else! They are surprised to see all parties of the political class and the elites praising the Revolution, claiming their affiliation to it, or in some cases boasting of the role they played in it, and of the sorrow, bitterness, corruption, oppression and tyranny which the Revolution has done away with. In reality, one sees those in power, the President, his party and the group they are affiliated to, always justifying their deeds, behavior, and policies with the defense and preservation of the Revolution, considering themselves to be achieving its goals and confronting its enemies. Meanwhile, a large part of the opposition, in the Salvation Front for example, sees its members lament the goals of the Revolution that were lost at the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood, the President who has broken his promises, the party that has taken over the country, and the Brotherhood that has transformed! As for the youth of the Revolution, from among those who continue to organize protests and gather in demonstrations, who had chanted “down down with the rule of the military", they reject all three aspects of the current rule: the President, the party and the Brotherhood. They also mock the Salvation Front and are convinced of their ability to topple the current regime as they toppled the former, without considering the circumstances that had surrounded and led to the fall of the Mubarak regime. Indeed, they believe that they were the ones who created these circumstances and that they have the ability to create them once again. The Egyptian scene bears no indication of this crushing crisis ending soon. Rather, it is the exact opposite, as it portends further deterioration at every level, whether for those in power, for the opposition or for the movement of the street, not to mention the security unrest, the economic crisis and the social breakdown. This is despite the fact that an extensive segment of the Egyptian population has begun to remember, perhaps after it is too late, some of the scenes of the Revolution and to realize facts that had been obscured at its start and during its occurrence as a result of revolutionary passion and of the desire to topple the Mubarak regime. They are also hearing of and witnessing the scandals of certain figures and parties, as a result of those party to the crisis going beyond slandering one another to exposing secrets and scandals. Yet there is a large segment of the population who are still united in the hope that the Revolution will reclaim its goals, even if they seem unable, as a result of the general deterioration in their own situation and that of their country, to chant “long live the revolution". They thus seem as if they are reenacting the scene of old man Abdel Wahed, as he chants “long live the levolution".
