Forcing Egypt into the ideology of the brotherhood is a mistake

After he made his first foreign visit to Saudi Arabia, President Mohamed Mursi will visit China on the 27th of August, followed by Iran on August 30, to take part in the Conference of Non-Aligned Countries, and the United States on August 23. The Egyptian president will find that a majority around the world welcomes the new government in Egypt, and wants to deal with it just like it had dealt with the previous regime. The president will also soon discover that his biggest problem lies with the United States, if not with the moderate and anti-war President Barack Obama, then with the evil war cabal made up of the neocons, the Israel lobby and the Likudniks in and around the corridors of power. These people are trying every day to provoke a clash between the Muslim Brotherhood regime and the U.S. administration and the American people, for reasons that are entirely Israeli. I read on one prolific pro-Likud website an editorial entitled “Death of Democracy in Egypt”, as though the former regime was an Athenian democracy. The editorial claimed that President Mursi precipitated a “palace coup”, sacking generals, whom he then replaced with pro-Brotherhood officers, while America stood idly by, ignoring “a monster of its own creation”. But I say that the only monster in our region is Israel, that racist criminal state that continues to occupy the lands of the Palestinians. Former peace envoy Dennis Ross, meanwhile, warned of an “alternate reality” being promoted by the Muslim Brotherhood, and gave examples to support his claim, inciting the administration against the group and called upon it to stand up to the Islamists. There are many exaggerations in the campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood-led regime, but many facts as well. For instance, I read that President Mursi gave himself executive and legislative powers, and is seeking to make changes in 50 major media posts, which he wants to give to the Muslim Brotherhood or its sympathizers. I continue where I left off yesterday, in my discussion of the ten points raised by Dr. Essam el-Erian in an email message he sent me. Having reviewed five points yesterday, I continue with the remaining five. In my commentary today, I chose to begin with some headlines of the ongoing daily campaign against the new Egyptian regime in the pro-Israel press in the United States. As far as this is concerned, I am on the Muslim Brotherhood’s side one thousand percent. One example involves as study authored by General Sedky Sobhi, the new chief of staff, while attending a training course in the U.S. Army War College. His sin is that he said that U.S. policy is biased in favor of Israel, fueling hatred against America and miring it in wars against the Islamists that it cannot win. In my opinion, this is true, and denying it is an Israeli lie or sheer arrogance. Dr. Essam el-Erian said: - After a great revolution, no ruler or political party can restrict the freedom of the media. This is a nice statement, but what has come to pass so far contradicts it. I regret to say that I agree with the American media here against the pro-Muslim Brotherhood media, as I find that the former has published facts that the Muslim Brotherhood must be aware of. He also said: - Only holdovers of the former regime are questioning the outcome of the elections. Instead, they should be urged to respect the will of the people, and history shall reveal the magnitude of real support for them, namely the same 30 percent that supported Mubarak’s party. But I recall that the Egyptian presidential elections had shown that the people is divided equally between Mohamed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq, which means that half of the Egyptians want another opinion that the Muslim Brotherhood must accommodate. Erian also said: - Your old friends have lied to you and are still practicing deception. Did Omar Suleiman not tell you that there will be a military coup? Today, Ahmed Shafiq is lying to you and to the people. I had sked Major General Omar Suleiman: Is it possible for a military coup to happen? He replied: Possibly, very possible – but he did not rule out a preemptive coup by the Muslim Brotherhood either. Two last points [raised by Erian] were: - Egypt is a homeland for all, and a true patriot would never leave it, and would seek instead to better the country, strengthen it and support democratic change. - We have never and we shall never accuse anyone of treason. We are aware of all conspiracies which we will confront through the law. I say that accusing citizens of treason is a mistake, but so is forcing Egypt into the ideology of the Brotherhood. Egypt is a homeland for all, as Dr. Essam says, and I agree with him. Now, what we need is for this to be implemented. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.