The saying goes “better to suffer misfortune than to wait for it", and the situation in Egypt on the background of its crushing political crisis and inflamed street seems like one in which people are always waiting for misfortune to befall them – if we were to consider the situation they are in already not to be misfortune in the first place. What happened in Tunisia yesterday has made Egyptians certain that it would undoubtedly be their turn next if their crisis were to remain without a solution, or even a prelude to a solution! Egypt's state or private media may have been more interested in the Islamic Summit and what took place there – not because of the nature of the topics addressed there or the prominence of the leaders present. Indeed, many are the Islamic and Arab conferences that have been held in Cairo or in any other capital, and many are the speeches and the addresses that have been given over the decades, without ever stirring anyone to action, modifying any facts on the ground or improving anybody's future. Nevertheless, interest in them was shown out of tradition or force of habit, or possibly because the summit was being held on the background of unprecedented circumstances in terms of security and “logistical" difficulties. Yet the Egyptian street seemed interested in a different issue, one that exceeded even the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Egypt and its repercussions, starting from the official welcome, or the criticism from Al-Azhar, or the popular attacks against him, even if at an individual level. The hearts and minds of Egyptians were in Tunisia. Egyptians have been saying, ever since the start of their Revolution on the 25th of January of the year 2011, that Tunisia is one step ahead of Egypt, and in fact believe this by virtue of what has happened there and then here! The meaning of this is evident: because the Egyptian Revolution toppled Hosni Mubarak's regime after the Tunisian Revolution had toppled Ben Ali's rule; because every election and referendum in Egypt after the Revolution was won by Islamists, as had been the case in Tunisia; because confusion, chaos and political crises struck Egypt after Tunisia had suffered them first; and because the performance of the Islamists in power in Egypt did not differ much from that of their “brethren" in Tunisia. Now Egyptians ask themselves: when will we enter the phase of political assassinations? Yes, the assassination of Tunisian leftist opposition leader Chokri Belaïd, the General Coordinator of the Democratic Patriots Movement (MOUPAD – Mouvement des Patriotes Démocrates), yesterday of course represented a tragedy for the Tunisian people, raising fears of developments of the political crisis there, now that the phase of physical eliminations has begun. And it is true that the event was met with media and political interest in every corner of the world. Yet it also represented a tremendous shock for Egyptians – as the “premiere" always takes place in Tunisia before the act “opens" in Egypt! The interest of Egyptians in the event did not stop with the news that Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki was cancelling his participation in the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held yesterday in Cairo, suddenly deciding to return to his country after the murder of Belaïd. Indeed, the issue for Egyptians exceeded official interest in a conference being held in their capital, and in which leaders attended and which did not, just as it exceeded sympathy towards the Tunisian people and the situation in Tunisia, as well as feelings of compassion over the fate of this Arab country – extending to strike at their hearts and turn their heads, and to make them wait not for salvation but for misfortune! It is true that some members of the Egyptian opposition consider the death of political activists with clear and frank stances against the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood by sniper fire while participating in protests to represent a systematic process of physical elimination targeting them, after such incidents turned into a phenomenon over the past few weeks. But these are crimes that remain under investigation until their results come to light, and the ambiguous circumstances surrounding the “martyrdom" of these activists are connected to their presence among crowds in different places, and are mixed up with the clashes that have taken place between protesters and police forces. Yet what Egyptians fear the most and believe would inevitably drive the country into a civil war is the targeting of activists from the opposition, or even loyalists, with systematic assassinations and terrorist attacks, and for the assassination of Belaïd in Tunisia to represent the prototype of what will be done in Cairo soon enough, as long as the situation continues to get heated, incitement to be on the rise and tensions to prevail – and as long as the distance continues to increase between those in power (the President, his party and the group he is affiliated to) on the one hand and all members of the opposition across the political spectrum on the other. Indeed, the violence that took place near the Heliopolis (Ittihadiya) Palace and on the periphery of Tahrir Square has increased with increased obstinacy on the part of those in power, and martyrs have been falling one after the other after political solutions reached a dead end, and those in power decided to adopt security-based solutions alone. One cannot ignore the fact that among the main reasons for the heated climate in Egypt are demands of punishment that have not been met, in addition to dozens of other reasons known to everyone. And if things were to go out of control and misfortune to strike, then there will be no more demands of punishment, but rather actions to achieve it.
