As if sleep-walking, Egypt plunged, at King Farouk's insistence in 1948, in a war for Palestine; lost the Sudan because of marginalization of the plebiscite of 1955 which united both countries; walked into the trap of union with chaotic Syria in 1958; and when the Baathists in Syria (the party of the Asad dynasty) destroyed that union, Nasser turned Egypt into a military ally of the Yemen republican revolution of 1962, thus alienating Saudi Arabia, and draining Egyptian resources. This charade, no parade, of events was capped by Nasser's support of Qaddafi of Libya in 1969.
From one interventionary debacle, to another interventionary debacle without heeding the great advice of "Raise Fences Around Egypt!!" That wisdom became concretized when smart Sadat sued for peace with Israel, signed a peace treaty with it in 1979 with US help. Of equal importance, Sadat began to dismantle the grandiose ideological and vain edifice of "Egypt is the great sister of all Arab States." Sadat was martyred basically for the principle of "Egypt First." His assassination at the hands of the so-called Islamists was due to the collision between the reality of Egypt's need for internal nation-building, and the fanciful need of the Islamists (the Muslim Brotherhood) for pan-Islamism.
Relegating the development needs of Egypt to a secondary place in terms of food production, industrialization, infra-structure advancement especially in regard to transportation and communication, descent reclamation, nuclear and solar energy, retraining of the huge workforce, reinventing the excellence of the educational system, advertising Egyptian tourism, luring back Egyptian and foreign experts to plan for Egypt of 2050, and women training -not doing much of that and more has put Egypt into a deep hole.
Egypt of today has lagged even behind the advances in Africa south of the Sahara. This most populous Arab country is today consumed by two retardant factors: (a) preoccupation with past glories; and (b) trying to solve today's problems with yesterday tools, especially in the challenging enterprise of reclamation of the Sahara, both the eastern and the western.
Decentralization has been a failure, because it does not effect devolution of decision-making from Cairo to the 27 provinces. There is a commitment to teach through lectures at the university level, instead of turning the colleges into training grounds in how to think. There is a predilection for pursuing Master's and doctoral degrees programs instead of deferring such lofty pursuits after investing into drafting graduates into public service at the village level.
Egypt's over preoccupation with the myriad of Arab problems is a poor investment into the future of Egypt. There is "no place like home" to begin the rejuvenation of Egypt. "Charity starts at home," and planning for Egypt of 2050 is basically planning for Egypt to be the South Korea of 2013.
Today's Egypt is incapable of running safe railways; today's South Korea is ready for outer space technology. The train-buses collision in Dahshour, south of Cairo on November 18, killing 27, and injuring 34, is the latest tragic chapter in the history of a railroad system of 5000 kilometers and 150 years of age. No upgrading, no proper maintenance. Only the cosmetics of firing transportation ministers and other personnel. But after the firings, the trains keep on running and colliding.
Here is but one example of the western culture of futuristic planning. In a mass circulation advertisement, Bloomberg Businesss placed a placard in all trains of the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) whose record of being on time in eleven branches is 99.2%. The ad correctly predicts the end in a few years of the US dependency on foreign oil. It reads as follows:
"Oil fields of the future may be anchored directly to the sea floor, rather than drilling and exploring from venture floating platforms. Are you exploring new frontiers for your next future venture?"There is also another facet of primordial importance for what I may call "the reinvention of Egypt." That is civic-mindedness. In essence, love of country should be manifested not merely in songs of "I love Egypt," but also in serving the public beyond the call of duty.
In 1938, I sat to a written exam in Arabic composition at the end of my second year of primary education at a private school in Zagazig, Sharkia, Egypt. The question read as follows: "What would you do for your country if you become a successful merchant?" I wrote lots of stuff which I have learnt from highly-educated teachers at the tender age of being 10 years old.
Now in America as a teacher who keeps on learning, I learnt last week that 27 super-rich Americans, including Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet are donating half a trillion US dollars for investing in education, health and innovation. That is 500 Billion U.S. dollars including 99% of the total worth of Buffet, and 95% of the total worth of Gates. What an example in serving the public at large through private individuals!!
In the New York Times of November 14, 2013, Kareem Fahim and Mayy El-Sheikh, reported from Cairo that "the public which harbors deep antipathy toward the Brotherhood...seems desperate to move on from the era of protest." Without moving on beyond the achievement of Egypt's Second Revolution of June 30, Egypt shall be doomed to be frozen in the present victory of the secularists over the Islamists. By itself, that is not enough!!
The Brotherhood lost because of many factors, the most important of which is espousal of pan-Islamism and little or no commitment to Egyptian nationalism. They even burnt the Egyptian flag. Next in importance in the list of factors is the Brotherhood's lack of realization that Islam is not only a faith. It is also a civilization. Thirdly: the gossipy Egyptian media which live on entertaining anecdotes, non-substantiated assumptions, unrealistic conjectures, and name-calling. Journalism, which is popularly called everywhere "the Fourth Authority" (after the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary authorities), today wields neither authority nor credibility. It hardly plays any role in public education and civic awareness.
In fairness to the slow march of history in revolutionary Egypt, there are glimmers of hope enticing foreign investment to return to Egypt. The Ministry of Electricity and Energy has recently announced that the Russian energy company, Russatom, has offered Egypt the construction of the first nuclear energy station for the production of electricity. The Russian contractor would pay 85% of the cost, production would begin in 2020, Egypt would repay its debt 5 years beginning in 2025, and Russatom would involve other non-Russian companies in the project.
And from the west, General Electric of the US signed on November 18 a contract with Carbon, an Egyptian holding company in the amount of $500 million. The contract calls for the construction in Ain Al-Sukhnah (Red Sea area) of a petro-chemical consortium. Signed in Cairo, in the presence of Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Noor, Egypt's Minister for Trade and Industry, the petro-chemical complex, once in production, is expected to provide 3000 jobs and an annual return of $6 Billion. Funding will come from the Korean Import-Export Bank.
In addition, the tax system is being reformed in various ways including the imposition of a Value Added Tax (VAT). This is the difference between production cost and the sale price, and it replaces the sales tax which is difficult to account and collect.
Above all, a new Constitution is being readied for a plebiscite later this year, with parliamentary elections followed by presidential elections slated for 2014. And from various indicators, the Egyptian military does not evince an appetite for returning Egypt to military rule. Sixty years of that rule which occasioned the rise of the masses in Tahrir were enough.
What about the Nile water? It never ceases to surprise me that we seem to forget that there are two niles feeding the main Nile: The Blue Nile from Ethiopia, with which Egypt and the Sudan are trying to negotiate an amicable division of water intake, and the White Nile from the Great Lakes in Uganda which feeds the main Nile from August to March, but at a lower quantity and slower water flow.
Prior to the Sudan civil war between North and South, the Sudan (my first appointment in 1948 as a teacher was in Jabal Awliya, south of Khartoum), Egypt and France were actively removing the obstructions (the Sudd) from the White Nile in what is now South Sudan. The goal was to dramatically increase the water flow for the riparian States and even feed Saudi Arabia with fresh water pumped through a pipeline under the Red Sea. That great project called "the Jonglei Canal" has been halted by that tragic Sudanese civil war.
The three countries, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt should go back to it. Like the ad in the LIRR says: "Are you exploring new frontiers for your next future venture?" If so, just look at your feet. Water wealth lies under them. Its longevity is greater and more durable and more environmental friendly than fossil wealth. The great deserts are cultivable, the human resources are plentiful, and Nile irrigation has been perfected for thousands of years.
So, Egypt, look to the future. The fences advocated by Lolfi El-Sayed Pasha did not mean isolation. He, in his wisdom as an educator, meant prioritization and well-targeted interaction with Egypt's neighbors. Mere ideology and sloganeering have never built bridges, schools, bakeries or hospitals. They built fantasies and acrimony. Egypt's next venture should have a workable motto: "Building Egypt!!" It is the most important priority for the New Egypt. It is the authentic jihad!!
Have I just mentioned Jihad? Yes!! Having done that, let me in conclusion turn to the question of Islamic jurisprudence in the context of "Building Egypt." Dealing with those two intertwined matters, Islamic Law and rebuilding the new Egypt, we need to revise certain terms in our dictionary. Using the question and answer method, I put the following terms under the microscope of realities.
- Is it an act of jihad to assassinate 12 Egyptian soldiers in Sinai on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 by suicidal attackers as the victims were on their way to rest and recreation? No!! Jihad is self-internalization for the purpose of purification. Only in cases of external aggression against national territory does jihad turn to self-defense.
- Can the perpetrators and their co-conspirators be called Muslims? No!! Islam is a faith which recognizes every kind of belief, especially Judaism and Christianity. The term means the submission by the individual to the will of the Creator.
- If that is the case, then why, with the Muslim Brotherhood being implicated in acts of terror, is it entitled to be called "Muslim"? The Brotherhood has used the term "Muslim" as a "burka" (a veil) to legitimate its anti-Islamic acts. A real term for them is "The Anti-Muslim Brotherhood."
- Isn't depicting them as Anti-Muslim an extreme measure? No. Their actions leave us no option but to call a spade a spade. They have made of Islam a State. Islam is a community, not a State. They have resorted to TAKFIRISM whereby they deny the faith and the existence of their opponents of all stripes whether, Muslims, Copts, Shiis, Hindus, Jews and many others. They don't believe in the nation-State. They believe in pan-Islamism, which limits its protective shield to Sunnis who espouse the crazy notion of paradise as the reward for killing the innocent as happened in 9/11.
- Is Hamas in Gaza implicated in TAKFIRISM as an ideology which justifies terrorism? Absolutely. The Anti-Muslim Brotherhood is the womb from which Hamas was born. The proof of Hamas' idiocy is their denial that the Jews have any right over even one inch of Palestinian territory.
- In view of these perceptions, ideologies and actions is Egypt's engagement in the destruction of the tunnels linking Gaza to Sinai justifiable? Of course. The Hamas Gaza tunnels represent an underground invasion of Egypt which grossly infringe upon Egyptian sovereignty in Sinai through smuggling terrorists, goods including fuel, drugs, and even items of luxury.
- But what can the Gazans do when they are at present besieged by Israel from all sides? This is not Egypt's problem. It is a Palestinian problem which can be mitigated, if not resolved, by the following measures:
- Hamas renunciation of terror; acceptance of the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people; recognition of Israel's right to peaceful existence with a future sovereign State of Palestine; and ceasing to interfere in Egyptian internal affairs. Hamas has the key to liberate Gaza from its present misery. But Hamas does not believe in reason. As an organization, it believes in the non-Islamic concept of endless conflict.
Due to my travels in Egypt, please expect the next blog at the 2nd half of December.
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