On August 12, 2012, President Morsi of Egypt ended the military hegemony over Egypt which began with the Nasser coup of 60 years ago. The Nasser coup ended the monarchy in Egypt; the Morsi soft coup began the Second Egyptian Republic on a sound footing. The action by Morsi, by which he ousted Field Marshall Tantawi from his post as Defense Minister, and General Anan from his post as Chief of Staff, marked the real return of Egypt to civilian rule.
Since the Nasser coup, the armed forces have controlled the destiny of Egypt in every walk of national life. Decisions on war and peace, foreign policy and development, agricultural reform and industrial transformation, were dictated from above. Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak, in succession, held unchallenged sway over Egypt. Meaningful opposition, in any form, did not exist. The word of the President (El-Rais) was the final word, and the successive constitutions were no more than words on paper. Two of the great institutions of Egypt, the judiciary and Al-Azhar became mere government departments. A big chunk of the economy, perhaps 30% of the GDP, became the preserve of the armed forces. Accountability and oversight with regard to the armed forces were non-existing.
Since the fall of Mubarak on February 11, 2011, Field Marshall Tantawi, as head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), ruled Egypt. With the election of Mohamed Morsi in June, 2012, as President of Egypt, the SCAF, on June 30, nominally turned over its powers to the Morsi regime. However, prior to the election of Morsi, the SCAF dissolved Parliament, arrogated to itself powers which normally would have devolved upon the President, and insulated the military budget and the armed forces economic preserve from civilian oversight. Egypt's new President was expected to be largely a mere figure head.
But Morsi had other plans. He ordered the dissolved Parliament into a brief session for the purpose of bestowing upon him legislative powers, pending elections for a new Parliament. And he, in the manner of non-confrontational challenges, gave the Constituent Assembly brief deadlines for the completion of drafting Egypt's new constitution. His choice of a Prime Minister (Dr. Qandeel was so anointed) signaled his preference for a technocratic administration and for some distancing from the Muslim Brotherhood where he had his political upbringing. At the table of the Qandeel Cabinet, Tantawi sat as Defense Minister, but not for long.
Then came the tragic events of the Sinai massacre of August 5, in which 16 Egyptian soldiers lost their lives. But the massacre also gave Morsi the chance to cut the power of the military down to size.
The Sinai massacre was a huge embarrassment to the military and to the intelligence. Morsi wasted no time to rid Egypt of the last vestiges of the Nasser Coup of 1952 through those forced retirements. Even before the dismissal of Tantawi and Anan and other top military brass from their posts, the voices of the millions had arisen in Tahrir Square: "Down Down with the Military." Keen on affording the old military guard a soft landing, Morsi invited both Tantawi and Anan to serve in his Presidential Council, and gave them the highest decorations for services rendered to Egypt.
Reactions to the soft coup were immediate and positive. The replacements of the retired military top brass came from the ranks of a younger generation. The post of Defense Minister was given to General Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Huge crowds went to public squares to demonstrate in favor of having the military establishment accountable to civilian rule. To those masses supporting Morsi's decisions, the Sinai massacre was attributed to a military which was distracted by its undue involvement in political affairs.
The soft coup had other far reaching ramifications: the constitutional amendments which had been put into effect by SCAF were abolished. The Minister of Justice, Ahmed Makki provided a legal justification. He said: "The President's decision in this regard draws its legitimacy from the sovereignty of the people who chose him to be President. He shall exercise legislative powers until a new Parliament is elected. The Presidential executive decrees shall be subject to review by the new Parliament."
Minister Makki also declared another important measure to insure judicial independence. His declaration in that respect was to transfer Judicial Inspection from his own ministry to the Egyptian Supreme Judicial Council. The Egyptian judicial establishment was gleeful. The soft coup expressed itself in other various ways. The January 25 Revolution seemed to have found its true path which began in Tahrir Square, Cairo, which is bounded on one side by the great Egyptian Museum. From the windows of that historic Museum, the mummies of the great Pharaohs of Egypt seemed to look upon the youth of the New Egypt smiling.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
The Sinai Massacre and the World of the Underground
In the annals of the Egyptian Revolution, Sunday, August 5, 2012, shall remain a day of infamy. Jihadists, said to be Palestinians, attacked an Egyptian army garrison based in Rafah at the border between Egypt and Gaza. It was a sneak attack with assault weapons, at the time when those Egyptian military sat at sunset for the break of their fast during this month of Ramadan.
The devastating ambush resulted in the death of 16 army personnel, including officers and the wounding of 7 others. The ostensible purpose of the treacherous attack inside Sinai, Egypt, was to strike at Israeli positions through Gaza. The Jihadist endeavor was foiled, but it unleashed a host of consequences which shall surely redefine a series of relationships. It could be said that, in a domino-like style, the affected network of relationships includes those between: The Morsi regime and the Hamas authorities in Gaza; the Egyptian-Israeli collaboration under the terms of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of March 1979; the delicate balance of power between the civilian Morsi regime and the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF); and the outlook of the Egyptian masses upon the rule by their Islamist-oriented government.
The most immediate result of the Sinai massacre is the remilitarization of Sinai and the development of its infrastructure. Sinai is Asian Egypt and its security and Egyptian sovereignty over it trigger huge reaction by the Egyptian masses towards any perceived weakening thereof.
As typical of the Egyptian Revolution so far, the pendulum can swing abruptly from one extreme to the other. Until the Sinai massacre took place, the most important concerns for the new Egypt were the economy and security on the Egyptian street. But after August 5, security from external threats trumped concern for Egypt's present economic woes.
In that context, easing passage by the Gazans into Egypt was seen as a threat. President Morsi and the Qandeel cabinet were lambasted in the Egyptian street for being soft on the Gaza Palestinians. The shared Islamist orientation between Cairo and Gaza was blamed for the Sinai massacre. The masses yelled for closing the official entrance checkpoints between Sinai and Gaza. The armed forces were called upon to destroy all tunnels dug up clandestinely by the Palestinians to overcome the hardships imposed upon the Gaza inhabitants by the Israeli blockade. But the tunnels became new underground highways for smuggling weapons, jihadists, commercial items including cars from Egypt into Gaza.
Thus Egypt, following the Sinai massacre, began to look hard at its security from brother Arab terrorists and from any military intervention from the outside into the suddenly-constructed program to overcome lawlessness in Sinai. The calls for a cooperative review by both Egypt and Israel of the security protocols annexed to the 1979 Peace Treaty became vociferous. They made the strengthening of the might of the Egyptian army, security and police units, in order to effectively decimate the pockets of anarchy and terrorism, a primordial necessity. New areas of cooperation on the Israel/Gaza/Sinai borders may have been grudgingly opened up by the very events that caused all of Egypt to mourn its martyrs.
As the funerals for the massacred 16 Egyptian army personnel proceeded all over Egypt, most of the mourners showed hostility toward the new rulers of Egypt, excepting the military. Prime Minister Qandeel was booed as he finished praying for the dead; President Morsi cancelled his appearance at the main military/civilian funeral; flags were lowered at half mast all over Egypt for the 3-day period of official mourning; each Governerate which lost someone in the Sinai massacre had provincial funerals and counted their martyrs as victims of the treachery of Palestinian jihadists.
While the Gaza administration declared that "the liberation of Palestine cannot come at the expense of Egypt's security," the Egyptian airforce scrambled its fighter jets and gunship helicopters which took to the air to bomb and strike suspected pockets of terrorism and anarchy in Sinai. As they seethed with rage, the Egyptians applauded the show of force. The flow of Libyan arms to the Palestinians in the east became a focus of attention by the huge Egyptian military establishment.
Suspicion of the ultimate objectives of the Palestinian jihadists was fueled by all kinds of rumors: some said: Those elements were keen on destabilizing the new Egypt which they wanted to be dragged into an unwanted war with Israel. Others devined that the goal was to declare Sinai an Islamic Emirate.
The first page of Al-Ahram newspaper, the oldest Egyptian daily (first issue is dated August 5, 1876) of August 10, 2012, headlines: "Destruction of 150 tunnels. Liquidation of 60 Terrorists." The government bedouim informants estimate that there are 1200 tunnels. Welcome to the dark world of the Sinai underground, where the owner of each tunnel is called "the King," and the tunnel supervisor is called "the Prince." This is an Egypt which is largely unknown even to its people. Now the battle against "the underground" has begun, and the nation has risen up insisting on avenging the victims of the Sinai massacre.
The devastating ambush resulted in the death of 16 army personnel, including officers and the wounding of 7 others. The ostensible purpose of the treacherous attack inside Sinai, Egypt, was to strike at Israeli positions through Gaza. The Jihadist endeavor was foiled, but it unleashed a host of consequences which shall surely redefine a series of relationships. It could be said that, in a domino-like style, the affected network of relationships includes those between: The Morsi regime and the Hamas authorities in Gaza; the Egyptian-Israeli collaboration under the terms of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of March 1979; the delicate balance of power between the civilian Morsi regime and the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF); and the outlook of the Egyptian masses upon the rule by their Islamist-oriented government.
The most immediate result of the Sinai massacre is the remilitarization of Sinai and the development of its infrastructure. Sinai is Asian Egypt and its security and Egyptian sovereignty over it trigger huge reaction by the Egyptian masses towards any perceived weakening thereof.
As typical of the Egyptian Revolution so far, the pendulum can swing abruptly from one extreme to the other. Until the Sinai massacre took place, the most important concerns for the new Egypt were the economy and security on the Egyptian street. But after August 5, security from external threats trumped concern for Egypt's present economic woes.
In that context, easing passage by the Gazans into Egypt was seen as a threat. President Morsi and the Qandeel cabinet were lambasted in the Egyptian street for being soft on the Gaza Palestinians. The shared Islamist orientation between Cairo and Gaza was blamed for the Sinai massacre. The masses yelled for closing the official entrance checkpoints between Sinai and Gaza. The armed forces were called upon to destroy all tunnels dug up clandestinely by the Palestinians to overcome the hardships imposed upon the Gaza inhabitants by the Israeli blockade. But the tunnels became new underground highways for smuggling weapons, jihadists, commercial items including cars from Egypt into Gaza.
Thus Egypt, following the Sinai massacre, began to look hard at its security from brother Arab terrorists and from any military intervention from the outside into the suddenly-constructed program to overcome lawlessness in Sinai. The calls for a cooperative review by both Egypt and Israel of the security protocols annexed to the 1979 Peace Treaty became vociferous. They made the strengthening of the might of the Egyptian army, security and police units, in order to effectively decimate the pockets of anarchy and terrorism, a primordial necessity. New areas of cooperation on the Israel/Gaza/Sinai borders may have been grudgingly opened up by the very events that caused all of Egypt to mourn its martyrs.
As the funerals for the massacred 16 Egyptian army personnel proceeded all over Egypt, most of the mourners showed hostility toward the new rulers of Egypt, excepting the military. Prime Minister Qandeel was booed as he finished praying for the dead; President Morsi cancelled his appearance at the main military/civilian funeral; flags were lowered at half mast all over Egypt for the 3-day period of official mourning; each Governerate which lost someone in the Sinai massacre had provincial funerals and counted their martyrs as victims of the treachery of Palestinian jihadists.
While the Gaza administration declared that "the liberation of Palestine cannot come at the expense of Egypt's security," the Egyptian airforce scrambled its fighter jets and gunship helicopters which took to the air to bomb and strike suspected pockets of terrorism and anarchy in Sinai. As they seethed with rage, the Egyptians applauded the show of force. The flow of Libyan arms to the Palestinians in the east became a focus of attention by the huge Egyptian military establishment.
Suspicion of the ultimate objectives of the Palestinian jihadists was fueled by all kinds of rumors: some said: Those elements were keen on destabilizing the new Egypt which they wanted to be dragged into an unwanted war with Israel. Others devined that the goal was to declare Sinai an Islamic Emirate.
The first page of Al-Ahram newspaper, the oldest Egyptian daily (first issue is dated August 5, 1876) of August 10, 2012, headlines: "Destruction of 150 tunnels. Liquidation of 60 Terrorists." The government bedouim informants estimate that there are 1200 tunnels. Welcome to the dark world of the Sinai underground, where the owner of each tunnel is called "the King," and the tunnel supervisor is called "the Prince." This is an Egypt which is largely unknown even to its people. Now the battle against "the underground" has begun, and the nation has risen up insisting on avenging the victims of the Sinai massacre.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Dahshoor, Giza Governorate, Egypt, and the New Egypt
Dahshoor is south of Giza, which is west and south of Cairo. If the name of Giza stands for the greatness of ancient Egypt as symbolized by the great Pyramids, Dahshoor, one of the villages of that Governorate, shall always stand for the decline of modern Egypt as symbolized by the Muslim-Coptic clashes of recent days. Those clashes epitomize the civilizational wreckage bequeathed to the new Egypt by 60 years of military dictatorship.
Sameh and Wael Youssef are two Coptic brothers who own a cleaner shop in Dahshoor. Emad Ramadah Daher, a Muslim client brought a shirt to their shop for cleaning and ironing. Due to equipment malfunction, the shirt was damaged by burning. Soon, the Daher shirt accidental burning blossomed into a violent confrontation between the Muslims and Copts of Dahshoor. In turn, this led to the burning of the house and shop of the Youssef family at the hands of Muslim hooligans. Molotov cocktails were the weapon of choice.
Coptic families fled for dear life, and Dahshoor entered the annals of ignorance, bigotry and ethnic tensions, the wounds of which shall obviously take years to heal.
The Dahshoor events took place on July 25, eliciting formal statements from the Giza Coptic Diocese and from the Egyptian Government, from President Morsi down to top police officers of the Giza Governorate.
The Diocese, in its traditional efforts to foster normalcy between Muslims and Copts, stressed the efforts of the police and security forces at containing the crisis, and at apprehending the wrong-doers. Yet the Giza Diocese could not avoid measuring the depth of the Dahshoor crisis.
So its statement pointed to the burning and looting not only of the house and shop of the Youssef family. It went on to describe how other Coptic homes were torched, how the Coptic church in Dahshoor was vandalized, and how other shops owned by Copts, including a jewelry store and a soft drinks shops were also attacked.
Such acts were perpetrated following the burial of a Muslim victim of these riots who had died as a result of his being accidentally hit by a stray molotov cocktail.. The statement ended by appealing to the Government to bolster security in the area, to bring the outlaws to justice, and to apply the force of law equally to all. Property losses have been estimated in the millions of Egyptian pounds.
For his part, President Mohamed Morsi said, through his official spokesman, that the law shall be applied to all malfeasants. The goal, he stressed, was to maintain the customary harmony and amity between Egypt's Muslims (approximately 90% of the population) and Copts (10%).
And Mostafa Bakri, a former member of the Egyptian Parliament (now dissolved), described the Dahshoor sectarian upheaval as resulting from a vast conspiracy intended to destabilize the new Egypt. He estimated the number of Coptic families who fled Dahshoor and its environs, at 120 Coptic households. On his Twitter, Bakri posed a central question which must be on the minds of all fair minded Egyptians:
"There is a vast difference between freedom and anarchy. For how long must Egypt await the arrival of a savior? Anarchy must be arrested, otherwise Egypt might become a failed State. If anarchy, such as what happened in Dahshoor, persists, together with the present economic free fall, the door shall be wide open for a revolt by the hungry hordes which shall devour everything in Egypt."
Sameh and Wael Youssef are two Coptic brothers who own a cleaner shop in Dahshoor. Emad Ramadah Daher, a Muslim client brought a shirt to their shop for cleaning and ironing. Due to equipment malfunction, the shirt was damaged by burning. Soon, the Daher shirt accidental burning blossomed into a violent confrontation between the Muslims and Copts of Dahshoor. In turn, this led to the burning of the house and shop of the Youssef family at the hands of Muslim hooligans. Molotov cocktails were the weapon of choice.
Coptic families fled for dear life, and Dahshoor entered the annals of ignorance, bigotry and ethnic tensions, the wounds of which shall obviously take years to heal.
The Dahshoor events took place on July 25, eliciting formal statements from the Giza Coptic Diocese and from the Egyptian Government, from President Morsi down to top police officers of the Giza Governorate.
The Diocese, in its traditional efforts to foster normalcy between Muslims and Copts, stressed the efforts of the police and security forces at containing the crisis, and at apprehending the wrong-doers. Yet the Giza Diocese could not avoid measuring the depth of the Dahshoor crisis.
So its statement pointed to the burning and looting not only of the house and shop of the Youssef family. It went on to describe how other Coptic homes were torched, how the Coptic church in Dahshoor was vandalized, and how other shops owned by Copts, including a jewelry store and a soft drinks shops were also attacked.
Such acts were perpetrated following the burial of a Muslim victim of these riots who had died as a result of his being accidentally hit by a stray molotov cocktail.. The statement ended by appealing to the Government to bolster security in the area, to bring the outlaws to justice, and to apply the force of law equally to all. Property losses have been estimated in the millions of Egyptian pounds.
For his part, President Mohamed Morsi said, through his official spokesman, that the law shall be applied to all malfeasants. The goal, he stressed, was to maintain the customary harmony and amity between Egypt's Muslims (approximately 90% of the population) and Copts (10%).
And Mostafa Bakri, a former member of the Egyptian Parliament (now dissolved), described the Dahshoor sectarian upheaval as resulting from a vast conspiracy intended to destabilize the new Egypt. He estimated the number of Coptic families who fled Dahshoor and its environs, at 120 Coptic households. On his Twitter, Bakri posed a central question which must be on the minds of all fair minded Egyptians:
"There is a vast difference between freedom and anarchy. For how long must Egypt await the arrival of a savior? Anarchy must be arrested, otherwise Egypt might become a failed State. If anarchy, such as what happened in Dahshoor, persists, together with the present economic free fall, the door shall be wide open for a revolt by the hungry hordes which shall devour everything in Egypt."
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