Switching gear again, I want to talk about the recent coup in Egypt. If you’re just here for the sports, skip this post, I have several very nice sport-related ones [in our sister blog, Rabbit Punch: Sports]. If you’re here for the politics, here it is.
We here at Rabbit Punch feel that the recent military coup of 7/3/13 was a terrible thing for Egypt. So many people worked so hard for so long and lost so much in order to oust the Mubarik-led military regime. President Morsi then did what I had thought was impossible and wrenched real, functional power away from the hands of the military and put it, for the first time, in the hands of democratically elected institutions. The military had been looking for an opportunity to take back control, and the Tamarod-led protests gave them the opportunity they needed to undo all of that monumental progress. The Egyptian military has wasted no time in returning their brutal brand of repression to Egyptian streets; the military has already murdered and imprisoned hundreds of their political enemies. But what do you expect from the regime that the CIA used to send our prisoners to so that their torture would be nice and “legal?”
And how are the Muslim Brotherhood to respond? Abused for decades by the military regime, they worked just as long at establishing themselves as a legitimate political brand, finally culminating in victory in Egypt's first free and fair election. They played by the rules, they worked within the system, and what reward did they get? Their leaders thrown in jail, their legitimately elected President deposed at gunpoint, their HQ attacked by mobs, and their supporters murdered in the streets, denied the protection of the police and army, declared enemies once more in their own homes.
Islamist is not a dirty word. Our guy in Baghdad, Malaki, he’s an Islamist. As is our good friend Recep Tayyip aka Erdoğan in Turkey. Am I a fan of social and religious conservatives in government? Absolutely not. But a socially conservative government does not justify the abolition of democracy. The opposition should have waited for the next election cycle, or taken Morsi up on his offer of a coalition government.
The military’s attacks are going to push more and more members of this avowedly non-violent group into violence and extremism.
And what of all those Egyptians who cast a vote for Morsi, or for any candidate, really, honestly believing in democratic change? Egypt has spat in their face, given them concrete evidence that their vote is meaningless. The legitimacy of democracy it's self has been undermined by this coup.
And what about anyone else who has a problem with the government, or some other aspect of society? It teaches them that rather than go through the democratic process, one should take to the streets, or take up arms. Instead of bringing disparate groups into an open and collaborative democratic process, Egypt has proven to any potentially disaffected groups that peaceful, democratic methods of change will get you nowhere. In Egypt, you do not take to the ballot, you take to the street or you take up arms.
The other theory that I’ve heard tossed around is that the military thought that Morsi was not being tough enough on militants in the Sinai, thus threatening Egypt’s security cooperation with Israel and the US, undermining Egyptian national security. This cynical scenario does not read any better for the military or the protestors who unlocked the gates for them.
Morsi was ruling for all Egyptians. He was making unprecedented strides towards a democratic society. He was duly elected in free and fair elections. He offered compromise at every step of the way, including offers to form a coalition government in the days before his illegal ousting. The minority of Egyptians who opposed him asked too much. They couldn’t even wait for the next election, they called upon the guns of the military to destroy the legitimate government, and in doing so have the lost popular, democratic control that their own candidates may have enjoyed and put the military, their former oppressors, back in control.
I have yet to hear of any specific grievance against Morsi from his detractors (aside from the various BS charges the military is laying on him now). If you have any, please, share them, I haven’t found them yet.
Dark days are coming for Egypt, marked by repression and violent divisions. The most populous nation in Northern Africa may be a more fertile breeding ground for extremism than ever, thanks to the events of 7/3/13, Egypt’s Reverse-Independence Day. What they had gained was Herculean; what they lost may never be recovered.
Keep those hands up, Egypt, and most definitely protect yourselves at all times.
This has been the Rabbit Punch.
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