In Egypt, the economic situation is deteriorating, unemployment is widespread, poverty rates are on the rise, political consensual solutions are random, the security situation is ambiguous, and anarchy is moving from one province to another. In the meantime, the clashes and demonstrations are continuing, in parallel to the government's ongoing efforts to muzzle the journalists. Many have been observing the situation in Egypt ever since President Mohammad Morsi came to power, and have remained silent to avoid rushing into emotional conclusions. But as he is about to celebrate his first year as president, I wanted to go over some positions exposing the extent of the contradiction between what he and his group were promising, and what they are doing now, while stressing that the opposition has many flaws and is committing mistakes which do not go in line with the spirit of the democratic game. Egypt during Morsi's term is sending back relief and solidarity convoys to the Gaza population and working on the destruction of the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, a process which has so far affected 280 of them. And until now, it has not yet issued a final decision to lift the blockade imposed on the Palestinians, as opposed to what Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood group had been calling for. On the other hand, Egypt is allowing the passage of Iranian ships loaded with arms across the Canal of Suez, to dock in Syria and help the criminal regime in Damascus. In the meantime, the doors of the Syrian regime's embassy in Cairo are still open and a team of Bashar al-Assad's men is still working in it, not to help the Syrians, but to follow the oppositionists and write reports. This is happening despite the repeated calls to close the embassy, support the opposition, and stand alongside the Syrian people in their predicament, and not just recognize the Coalition. This points to confusion and contradiction in the official Egyptian stand towards the Syrian crisis, in a way undermining the status of Egypt and the hope placed by the Arab populations in its roles. The attempts to develop the relations with Tehran, the launching of a PR campaign between the two countries, the exchange of official, touristic, and cultural delegations, and the deepening of the negotiations made it appear as though Cairo was rewarding Iran's shameful positions towards the Syrian revolution, knowing that it would have been better for Cairo to develop its ties with its rich Libyan neighbor. And despite the divergence over Egypt's rapprochement with Iran, I believe it is its right to carry out such as step because it is a sovereign country. In addition, I disagree with some Gulf countries which – before criticizing the Egyptian move – should have criticized their own governments, after Iran pulled out its ambassadors from some of them and publically threatened them, but are still maintaining their ambassadors in Tehran and humoring it on every occasion. In light of the development of the shape of the new relations between Cairo and Tehran, I do not think that the Gulf states will wait until they are caught between the a Shiite guide and a Sunni guide, at the expense of their countries' and peoples' interests. On the other hand, Egypt is trying to develop its relations with Washington and Tel Aviv, which is identical to what was done by previous Egyptian governments, although it probably exceeded them in terms of the friendliness shown towards these capitals in its speeches and protocol communication. And during Morsi's first year, the threats to freedom of expression became more acute, along with the harassment of the media through the pursuit of journalists and anchors. The Al-Azhar Sheikhdom was also not spared by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) attacks, as though it was not wanted to remain distant from the political dispute. This consequently pushed the Egyptian Mufti to intervene to keep Al-Azhar away from politics and warn against any tampering with it to protect its status and that of its scholars. As for the persistence of the Prosecutor (who is close to the MB) in his position despite the issuance of a judicial sentence in this regard, it widened the scope of the turmoil, demonstrations and confusion on the street. Still, some are continuing to wonder about the limits of the MB guide's authority over the president, and whether or not the MB's interferences had any role in the weakening of the president's authority and status. Colleague Amina Khairi wrote a feature story in this paper under the headline “The slide of the political scene in Egypt towards a threatening authority and an unsurprised opposition," in which she stated: “The political situation in Egypt, between an opposition, an authority and neutral sides, has reached a stage where one must ask philosophical questions about the fate of the monkey-owner if the monkey were to die, about the economic assurances saying that whoever talks about Egypt's bankruptcy is bankrupt himself, and political analyses tackling the opposition by saying: “The magician's pouch is full. He can reach inside of it at times and take out a pigeon, or reach in at other times and pull out a snake." There was also talk about the role of “fingers" in tampering with Egypt, while accusing of treason whoever decides to organize a demonstration, arrange for a million-man march or plan an alternative solution to the troubled situation. In the meantime, the people have become divided between standing in line to get diesel fuel, trying to ensure their and their children's safety in light of the prevailing mayhem and rushing towards a neutral position to avoid losing the remaining balance." What is certain is that the situation in Egypt is deteriorating, that the political, economic, security and social situation is obstructed, and that the instigation of the people is ongoing by all the sides day and night, and is about to result in a great explosion. [email protected] twitter | @JameelTheyabi
