MaozNews Bulletin on Egypt
July 9 2013
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IN RESPONSE TO EVENTS IN EGYPT
Democracy is not merely a matter of elections, however free and fair; elections are a means to a far greater end. Despotic regimes are seldom deposed by democratic means. Democracy means justice, legal equality, freedom of expression, of organization, of religion and of political action; it means freedoms secured for minorities rather than the unilateral, interest-driven erosion of personal freedoms by an electoral majority. In the words of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, democracy means a goverment of the people, by the people, for the people. Western reservations with regard to the unfolding events in Egypt is the product of a spineless adherence to procedure instead of principle. Legality should serve the interests of morality, but Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, North Korea, China and Turkmenistan (to name but a few) all demonstrate how legality can but fundamentally opposed to moral and democratic values.
What has recently occured in Egypt is envigoratingly encouraging. A Goverment, legally and democratically elected, abused its powers and increasingly sought to consolidate its hold on the State and on society in ways that clearly eroded democracy, threatening to obviate any legal opposition.
True, if the Government had succeeded, as does the Turkish Government, to deliver on the economic plane, it would still be in power as is the Government of Turkey. True, if the Egyprian army did not have vested interests, including the preservation of its significant hold on the Egytian economy (30-50% by various estimates, including construction, hotels, mineral water bottling facilities, car and refridgerator factories, as well as extensive agricultural industries, making it the country's most important food supplier), it would have probably supported the Islamic regime.
But these and similar factors simply contributed to a trend in Egypt that runs contra to radicalized Islam. Let there be no mistake: the average Egyptian is devoutly Mulsim. But he is Sunni, not Shi'ite, and does not support El Quaida or similar radical Islamic forces.
The young men and women who spearheaded Egypt's ongoing revolution are proud Egyptians, cultural Muslims, secularized to a large extent and eager for freedoms taken for granted in the West. It remains to be seen whether they will acheive them.
Egypt's Interim Government has announced plans to hold parliamentary elections once amendments to its suspended Constitution are approved in a national referendum. Deposed President Morsi had declined to call parliamentary elections, and the new Constitution he rammed through was more radically Islamist than a majority of the population desired. The establishement of Parliament is to be followed by presidential elections.
The Interim Government has described events related to yesterday's outbreak of violence, in which 51 civilians were killed and over 430 wounded, as an intended provocation designed to lead to bloodshed. Two policemen and a soldier were killed as the mob stormed the compound, with the military responding.
The Muslim Brotherhood is organizing funerals today, Tuesday July 9, which are to serve as focal points of protest against the "murderous military regime." "(The Freedom and Justice Party) calls on the great Egyptian people to rise up against those who want to steal their revolution with tanks and armored vehicles, even over the dead bodies of the people," a statement on the party's Facebook page said. Meanwhile, military outposts in Sinai were attakced, resulting in the death of two soldiers. The pipeline delivering Egyptian gas to Jordan was damaged. Israel has conceded to a temporary escalation of military forces and weaponry in Sinai, requested by the Egyptian Army, as part of an effort to reassert Egyptian control over the peninsula, which has become a hotbed of radical Islamic terror.
Egyptian military sources told local media Sunday that the army had launched a massive operation against Islamic terror groups in Sinai, with a focus on the north. The sources say the army blew up 40 smuggling tunnels used by terrorist networks on the Gaza border. This followed a stormy weekend in which Bedouin from Islamic groups killed at least five Egyptian soldiers and policemen in a coordinated attack in and around El-Arish.
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