The statements of FM Nabil Fahmy to NPR two days ago in the United States caused a huge controversy in Egypt. In fact I think any FM would cause such controversy with these statements.
Dr. Nabil Fahmy told NPR that the “Egyptian American relations are like a marriage relations , not a fling or one night stand” !!
This is a new thing in the international politics for sure Dr. Fahmy should teach to his students after leaving the ministry : Marriage between countries in international relations !!
Amazingly the ministry of Foreign ministry issued a statement claiming that there was a misunderstanding in the translation from Arabic to English.
Of course the MOFA forgot that we are in 21st century and we do not live anymore in 1960s. There is something called Internet and Guess what NPR published the audio interview with minister Fahmy.
So I wonder if the Egyptian American relationship was like a marriage then how do we describe the Egyptian Russian relationship in the past couple of months !? A fling or rebound or what exactly !?
May be it is an open marriage relation after all !!
One reads Fahmy’s statements as well El-Sisi statements to Fox News about the Egyptian American relations and wonder why the Pro-El-Sisi Pro-Military Media “most of the mainstream media” systematically speak about the global American conspiracy to bring down El-Sisi and the Egyptian armed forces !!
I can not forget also how Obama , the member of the international organization of Muslim Brotherhood and his brother are plotting along with ElBaradei , Germany , France, UK , Turkey, Israel and Qatar in that secret US base in Germany against the Presidential elections !!
Also I can not ignore on how the Pro-Revolutionary activists like Alaa Abdel Fatah and politicians like ElBaradei are being accused day and night of being US agents of chaos and soon on implementing US agenda to bring down Egypt like Iraq and Syria when our relations with the States are like marriage relation !!
Of course you can imagine the shock and anger of the Nationalist Pro-El-Sisi/Pro-Military camp after hearing these statement. They are angry and are demanding Fahmy to resign or to be dismissed because of his statements that insulted Egypt.
Needless to say many of those people believe that the Egyptian army made the Americans kneel down and how El-Sisi brought down the United States and helped the Russians in restoring their former Soviet glory. Do not be surprised or shocked but this is what has been fed in to the Egyptian public mind since 3 July through the media.
The mainstream media is fooling the people about how the regime since the days of Mubarak is standing against the United States where the regime since Sadat has been acting according to the famous assassinated president’s quote “The States got 90% of the game’s cards in the Middle East”, I do not need to speak about the Egyptian American relations since then.
Whether in time of Mubarak or SCAF or Muslim Brotherhood or El-Sisi , the game is well known , curse the States day and night in your media using cheap nationalist propaganda where as your envoys are nearly coming and going to D.C everyday asking the help lobbies above them AIPAC to get support from the decision makers there and to beg them not to cut the US aid.
Of course there is a change in the game now since 3 July as for the bad luck of both SCAF and El-Sisi that now officially and constitutionally the United States do not support publicly the military coups or shall I say “military backed unconstitutional political changes” in countries on the US aid pay roll.
According to my knowledge AIPAC and old Mubarak friends in D.C as well Gulf countries’ friends there are doing their best but the current old regime in Cairo does not help them. That lobby wants at least some cosmetic reform changes in Egypt so it won’t appear that the Americans are supporting military dictatorship. They are not helping them in Cairo , just one week we got death sentences for over 683 and banning of a political youth aiming for peaceful democratic change in the country !!
Back to Nabil Fahmy who is being grilled for real in the mainstream media , comparisons are being drawn between and late Amin Osman.
Late minister of finance Amin Osman was the head of the Egyptian-British Friendship association and during the years of resistance against the British occupation and control in the 1940s he said the following.
“The relationship between UK and Egypt is unbreakable like Catholic marriage without a divorce” said Osman who was amazingly a minister in Al Wafd Cabinet in 1944.
Weeks after that quote a group of young men shot him in one of the most famous assassinations in Pre-1952 that rocked the Egyptian society. Among those nationalist men a young officer called Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat.
There is a reason why the law against funding coup based destruction of democracy exists. Americans have seen too many cases where backing dictatorships that emerged from coups ultimately led to numerous atrocities and increased anti-Americanism in the long term. There was no consensus in the U.S. originally on whether July 3, 2013 constituted a coup, but now that viewpoint has gained enormous traction and the term coup is steadily be employed with growing frequency.
ReplyDeleteEach new atrocity, every new instance of additional opposition groups becoming illegal makes Americans less inclined to support aid for Egypt.
Egyptian officials repeating the words "terrorism" and "terrorists" 50,000 times an hour leaves most Americans unmoved. Americans are willing to acknowledge real problems from terrorism, yet have seen how the concept has been twisted beyond all recognition. More than a decade of wars premised upon a "war on terrorism," the condoning of torture in the name of fighting terrorism, and challenges to civil liberties/massive expansion of global surveillance have all soured Americans on the notion of a war against terrorism. Chanting the phrase as a way to destroy political opponents just doesn't have the same effect it used to. Egypt is not the only dictatorship that uses this tactic, and it is not unique to the Middle East. Political genocide cloaked in the guise of fighting terrorism remains political genocide.
Islamophobes don't normally support foreign aid except in one or two cases (Egypt is not one of them). Thus, trying to win them over or bank on them is foolish. They often like the idea of Egypt becoming a dictatorship, but they do not like Egypt, don't consider this an anti-religious government, and generally hate Arabs. They would rather remove the aid, not sustain it just to help Sisi.
Also, most Americans see through the irrationality of portraying the political conflict in Egypt as somehow being primarily a religious battle.
Many of the political action committees or pressure groups that have a vested interest in Egypt or the arms trade have faced declining fortunes in recent times and reduced support levels. Not all of them gain afford to expend capital defending a dictatorship that is increasingly unpopular in the U.S, as well as more hostile to the U.S. than the previous autocracies.
Claiming that Obama is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood will keep backfiring. To many Americans, this sounds much like when Obama was alleged by his opponents during both elections of being a Muslim. It also sounds suspiciously like birtherism. Birtherism held that Obama lacked a legitimate birth certificate and thus allegedly was ineligible to be president. This allegation was disproven, and claims that Obama was a Muslim alien/Manchurian candidate utterly failed to thwart his political career. Egyptians claiming conspiracy theories akin to these will not gain traction in most of the U.S, even among those who do not support Obama.
When Americans see Egyptian media outlets (or comments on websites) espouse the killing of every "man, woman, and child" (yes, that has been advocated) associated with an opposing political movement, it makes Egypt simply look psychotic; not as if it is fighting a "war on terrorism."
ReplyDeleteWhen Americans see delusional conspiracy theories weaved to justify outlawing the pro-democracy April 6 movement, they see a hostile dictatorship whining that the United States did not try to save the previous dictator in 2011. It makes Americans more inclined to favor April 6 over the military fascists. And no, April 6 does not receive money from the U.S., nor does it conduct espionage on its behalf.
When Americans see pro-Sisi Egyptians claim that the U.S. is a terrorist sponsoring country they note that pro-Sisi Egyptians tend to laud Putin's sponsorship of terrorists in Ukraine. They also note the laughable hypocrisy of Egyptians that denigrate the Ukrainian revolution while defending the failed Egyptian coup that has led to a serious diminution of freedom and stability. They also see the torture, rape, molestation, and murder carried out in Egyptian prisons as state terrorism.
Russia also cannot be a rising power while its economy is in horrendous shape and is fated to get worse with the Ukraine imbroglio/quagmire. It is struggling to retain a measure of influence after a huge setback in the form of the Ukrainian revolution. Even Russia isn't going to bet on the Sisi regime, given the recent history of revolts devouring governments in Egypt.
Finally, no matter what sort of brainwashing the Egyptian media tries to conduct in Egypt, it is not possible to erase the glories of the 2011 revolution from the American memory. It is a fact that most Americans viewed that revolution positively, lauded its mostly non-violent approach, and gained an improved view of Egypt and Egyptians a consequence. Vilification of the revolution as means of defending despotism is not really a popular point of view in the U.S.
Thoughtful. By the way, care to share what does "Orange Ketchup" signify?
DeleteThe name "Orange" Ketchup" was just something I came up with when creating a name for this account. I happened to be thinking about the two words at the time and decided to combine them together. It could perhaps be thought of as something common that has become unusual.
DeleteAlgier, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, ....
ReplyDeleteThere Is No Presidential Elections.
People Should Not Go To Vote.
Sadely, We Still Under Occupation.
This Is Why The Majority Are Poor And Not Free.
THE REVOLUTION SHOULD CONTINUE.
. FOR FREEDOM AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.
Israel plotting with the Brothers against Sissi? Come on, even for an Egyptian conspiracy theory this is going too far!
ReplyDeletelets hope the brotherhood youth start to reassemble their priorities and we get a more radical leadership in terms of ideas but remain commited to peaceful change. God forbid this terrible state leads to more silly salifiy types. Egypt needs an islamic revolution more than ever but one that embodies the truly inclusive, compassionate Islam that most egyptians want
ReplyDelete