Egypt's predicament

Egypt is not in any better condition today than it was one year ago. As long as the world plays the three monkeys [see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil] in the face of an increasingly brutal regime, things will get worse, not better.

Since the military coup on July 3, 2013, nearly 2,500 people have been killed by Egyptian security forces, 16,000 people have been imprisoned on phony charges, thousands have been injured and many have fled the country. The Muslim Brotherhood, which, unlike some other groups, rejects armed struggle, has been outlawed as a terrorist organization. Despite public promises made after the coup, members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been banned from running for office as independents. Media has been oppressed and dozens of newspapers and TV channels have been shut down. Naked dictatorship has reached new heights.

Now they added to this the sentencing of 529 people in late March and another 683 on April 28 to death in one of the most scandalous court decisions in history. The world called it a "mockery of justice." In fact, it is the death of justice.

Mohamed Elmessiry, a human rights researcher who attended the hearings in Cairo, said, "In each trial, the defense were not able to present their case, witnesses were not heard and many of the accused were not brought to the courtroom. This lacks any basic guarantees of a fair trial, not only under international law, but also Egyptian national law."

Still, it was not enough to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood. They have now banned the anti-coup, liberal April 6 Movement.

From now on it will get worse because the world does not care. The el-Sisi regime has the blessings of Western and Gulf countries because it is supposedly helping the world fight against extremist Muslims, which according to Tony Blair's preposterous claim, is the greatest danger facing the world today. The clear verdict on political Islam is death at all costs and by all means but what is being killed in Egypt, Syria and elsewhere is democracy, transparency, accountability and human rights in the name of fighting an imaginary enemy.

The failure of Western democracies was apparent when Egypt's first democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown by his then Minister of Defense Abdul Fattah el-Sisi. Morsi was accused of not sharing power but in fact he did share power.
Two thirds of the ministers in his cabinet were non-Muslim Brotherhood figures. He did not prosecute or kill hundreds of people. He did not shut down newspapers or TV stations,nor did he imprison journalists. Nevertheless, his short term has become a scapegoat for all the evils in Egypt.

The support which the el-Sisi regime gets through cash flow, loans, unabated military aid, diplomatic niceties and policies of inaction has now emboldened the coup regime to intensify its clampdown. The death sentences are just a result of the silence of the world over the coup in the first place. Yet despite the $20 billion cash from the Gulf and the continued American military aid, the Egyptian economy is facing bigger challenges. The country is on the verge of a major energy crisis.

Even though the U.S. and European countries condemned the illegality of the death sentences, the coup regime feels confident that those harsh words will have no serious consequences. To further comfort them, Tony Blair gave a talk in late April on "Why the Middle East Matters" where he openly supported the military coup in the name of protecting democracy and fighting Islamic extremism.

Blair claims that it is Islamic radicalism and extremism which is posing the greatest challenge in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Libya and other places. By extension, it is the most serious threat to Western countries about which they must be vigilant. Blair provides no proof or justification for any extremist, terrorist actions on the part of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Syria or elsewhere. But urges the world to take action against these imaginary enemies. What does it mean in practice?

In practice, this means supporting the coup in Egypt supposedly for a democratic and secular Egypt. The irony is that the el-Sisi regime is using both al-Azhar and the Coptic Church to back its policies of oppression.

And both institutions have thrown their support behind the regime. Religious authority is used to crush a political movement accused of using religion for political purposes. Who is abusing religious faith more here?

The Islamist bogeyman provides again a convenient pretext for state terrorism, dictatorship, misuse of judicial powers and oppression.

The call for destroying such political movements as the Muslim Brotherhood is killing not those movements or parties but justice, freedom, democracy and human dignity, the very principles Western democracies are supposed to stand for. It is also killing human beings.

Turkey, along with Qatar, Tunisia, Sweden and few other countries, has been the only voice of reason and hope in this dark period.

They called the coup a coup with courage and clarity and opposed the actions of the coup regime. Having seen what happened since last July, their position is justified both morally and politically.

It is a pity that Western governments do not realize that Egypt's predicament has become their own in the Muslim world.