NY Times published a op-ed about how 5 countries in the Arab world can be divided in to 14 countries by Robin Wright. The graphic representation of the op-ed as a map became a viral in the Arab social media especially in Egypt.
It spread like fire as if that map was a reality , not the visualization of some analyst’s views that may happen and may not. It spread like a fire as if that that was going to happen for real. As Big Pharaoh said on twitter this map in the New York Times would fuel debate and conspiracy theories in the region especially in Egypt for the upcoming 825 years.
This is not the first map of its kind where American Middle East analyst says something similar, if you remember some American Magazine published another similar map during the invasion of Iraq about possible divisions and unlike Wright’s map Egypt was among those unlucky countries that were going to spilt.
I know that what I am going to say now won’t appeal to many people now as fascism is the fashion nowadays along with waiting for the strong just dictator Messiah to bring order and stability to the country that suffers from foreign plots from here and there. We will not have those maps and those predictions if there are true democracy and equality that does not differentiate between any citizen in those countries.
All those countries mentioned in that map scaring the people in their dream do not and did not enjoy freedom or democracy or justice except may be for short times from long time ago.
“The Divide conquer” policy will not vanish by dictatorships in fact it becomes a true reality through dictatorships that spread hate and fear as well racism through religious nationalism , ideological nationalism and ethnic nationalism.
This map can turn in to a reality if the people in the Arab world do not wake up and admit that they got huge problems when it comes to religious sect and ethnic minorities. Of course I do know how many alarms the Arab world has to hear to wake up since the first spilt of Yemen and the first civil war in Lebanon in 1950s !!
Interestingly at least for me that Sudan is being neglected from Wright’s map when actually both Darfur and Kordofan have their own woes thanks to El Bashir regime considering the fact that like South Sudan they were independent from Khartoum and had their own rulers.
The Pro-Military supporters think that Egypt was saved from that theoretical map and won't be divided thanks to the 30 June and the army , well I have to say that it is more complicated than that.
When it comes to Egypt , unlike other countries in the region including those mentioned in the map I would like to hint out that for 3000 years our borders have not changed and we do not have this extreme mix of ethnic and religious minorities like in Syria or in Iraq “for example Shiite and Kurds” or violent tribal nature thanks to Qaddafi in Libya as He used to favor tribes over others” or in Yemen where the South feels that is being discriminated by the North.
Still I can not ignore that we will be always live in fear as usual if we do not face our problems as we should. We should stop hiding our problems and claim that Egypt does not suffer from sectarian or ethnic problems that truly threat our national security and our future as a nation.
We got a Nubian problem that can be solved so easily if the Egyptian Nubians restore their land and compensated equally and fairly as well treated like other Egyptians.
We got a problem in Sinai that can be solved so easily if you start to develop this desert and change its demographics in the the right way at the same time , treat its locals the Bedouins as true Egyptian citizens not third class citizens you disrespect coz you know they are untrusted Bedouins !!
We got a Hala’ib triangle problem that we think we are going to hide by banning all the maps showing it as disputed region in Egypt when the whole world shows it as a disputed region. Hell we do not even try to improve the horrible conditions there to make those people really feel that they are Egyptians.
Of course I do not need to speak about the Christians and how they suffer in Egypt and before anyone tells me that this is over and it was the Islamists problem , I hate to tell you that it is beyond the Islamists.
We should not rely on the intelligence and military intelligence when it comes to deal with the religious and ethnic minorities files. As a society we have even bigger and more important role. We should stop those stupid useless reconciliation media stunts.
With my all due respect not 100 revolutions or military intervention can save a nation from doom if its people do not recognize their problems and try to solve them for once and for all in the correct way.
Again “Divide conquer” does not happen in a healthy society but rather weak society and God knows how many weak societies we have from the ocean to the gulf.
With my all due respect not 100 revolutions or military intervention can save a nation from doom if its people do not recognize their problems and try to solve them for once and for all in the correct way.
Again “Divide conquer” does not happen in a healthy society but rather weak society and God knows how many weak societies we have from the ocean to the gulf.
Robin Wright is a nobody but what she is really saying implicitly is that the only true nation/states in the Middle East are Egypt and Iran and that is it
ReplyDeleteIt is time to remind Egyptians that Egypt had the same borders for the past 7,000 years and that the Copts and Muslims are one people divided by silly Semitic religions and to remind el-ikhwan el-mugrimeen and the nutty salafis that Egypt to them might be sakan and not watan but to other Egyptians from time immemorial Egypt is a watan
Luke Theone, your are so full of shit. Do you really think your anti-muslim rethoric will convince people that islamist groups are like aliens in egypt??
Delete" Egypt had the same borders for the past 7,000 years" and "for 3000 years our borders have not changed"?
ReplyDeleteDuring the 18th Dynasty Egypt included parts of Levant and what is now Sudan and Libya. Muhammad Ali Pasha also conquered Sudan and Egyptian rule continued until 1952.
I agree with most of your post Zeinab, but the same borders for 3,000 years? You are joking right? I didn't expect such myths from you.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous who needs to learn the history of his own country wrote
Delete>I agree with most of your post Zeinab, but the same borders for 3,000 years? You are joking right? I didn't expect such myths from you.
Zeinobia is only half right. The heart of Egypt as I explained to Omar the lawyer (who is not really well informed) which historically is the core of Egypt has always been the Nile valley and the buffer between Egypt and its neighbors has always been the deserts. This does not mean that Egypt developed in isolation as Egyptians as great civilizations always do they absorbed from others what they wanted and they rejected what they wanted but Egypt has always had a unique language (Egyptian/Coptic) and unique religions and therefore unique culture. I would even say that the spoken Egyptian Arabic (el-lugha el-3amiyya the real language of Egypt) is really a unique language with unique grammar and its peppered with many non Arabic word and many Egyptian/Coptic words (eg: aywa bikh bah outa aa kani wa mani and a long list of words).and its grammar reflects the grammar of the Egyptian/Coptic language
It is shameful that Egyptians do not know their own history and they do not seem to know that Egyptians started to settle in the Nile valley some 5500BE or 7500 years ago and that King Narmer (Menes) is the one who united the north and the south some 3150 years before Common Era or some 5150 years ago!
What is really not known to most Egyptians is that the importation of Arabs to Egypt was very limited which means that 92% of today's Egyptians as per Gason Weit can trace their ancestry to the Copts and can you even tell the likes of the terrorist Asem Abd el-Maged that his ancestors were more likely Copts and not Hijazi Arabs?
Did you ever check a photo of let us say Sayyid Qutb or even the terrorist Mohamed Atta they look like the characters that you see on Egyptian temples. because they are real Egyptians
It is about time that Egyptians like you start to know about their own history and be proud of it instead of learning about the history of an alien history alone called tarikh al-Arab
Egypt did exist for a long time and has a great history that pre-dates the Arabs and their imperialism and that the claim that the Arabs "opened" Egypt is ridiculous
And here is a good start
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt
Cool story. But Egypt's borders in 1813 were not the same as Egypt's borders now. Case in point, they have not been the same for 3,000 years.
DeleteAnonymous wrote
Delete>Cool story.
No it is not a story it is what historians call "what really happened" But I'm sad that you are not saying but this is what I was taught in history classes! Egyptians have to teach their children the history of Egypt not just the Islamic history of Egypt
> But Egypt's borders in 1813 were not the same as Egypt's borders now. Case in point,
Did you understand what I wrote? Let me repeat again: the core of Egypt the Nile valley and the deserts that separate Egypt from its neighbors have not changed in the past 7500 years
> they have not been the same for 3,000 years
How many times do you have to be told that yes there extensions and shrinkage at times of the borders of Egypt but the core of the country has stayed the same as proven by the fact that Egyptians developed their unique language and culture and monuments and calendar as well as literature .
Cool story. But if the borders "extend" or "shrink", then they don't remain the same
DeleteYou did not understand a word of what I wrote: Read with care: The core of Egypt the Nile valley and the deserts that separate Egypt from its neighbors have not changed since time immemorial so if Egypt was in let us say in charge of Sudan at one time which it did this does not mean that Sudan ever was part of Egypt from the language or culture points of view now do you get it?
DeleteAs much as I love your stories, the borders have changed over the last 3,000 years.
DeleteYou need to learn to read with care: The core of Egypt the Nile valley and the surrounding deserts have not changed from time immemorial and yes the borders of Egypt have expanded at times and shrunk at time but the core has stayed the same and Egyptians are therefore the most homogeneous people in the Middle East
ReplyDeleteYou need to stick to law Omar
Luke
“The Divide conquer” policy will not vanish by dictatorships in fact it becomes a true reality through dictatorships that spread hate and fear as well racism through religious nationalism , ideological nationalism and ethnic nationalism.
ReplyDeleteWhen you realize nobody wants to divide and conquer Egypt, and in fact nobody wants anything to do with Egypt, you'll be on the path to understanding, Grasshopper.
you are so arrogant you should give up writing
ReplyDelete