…EGYPT’S MUBARAK HAS THE LAST CRY

‘The Islamists’ Mubarak was referring to are the ones that just won the parliamentary and presidential elections in Egypt, in free and fair elections. The Freedom and Justice Party is the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood or, more formally, The Society of the Muslim Brothers (in Arabic: Ikhwan al Muslimun). It has come to […]

‘The Islamists’ Mubarak was referring to are the ones that just won the parliamentary and presidential elections in Egypt, in free and fair elections. The Freedom and Justice Party is the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood or, more formally, The Society of the Muslim Brothers (in Arabic: Ikhwan al Muslimun). It has come to pass that Mohamed Morsi, PhD, has been elected and sworn in as president of Egypt.

A good thing that Mubarak’s ‘technical death’ did not come to pass and he is alive, just, to ‘witness’ the momentous occasion. The Morsi Mubarak had jailed before is now in the presidential palace; the Mubarak who had jailed Morsi has taken the latter’s place in prison. Allahu Akbar!

We had discussed Imam Al Banna and the formation of the Ikhwan on this same page back in February 2009. The Ikwan’s credo, ringing loud and clear, is: “God is our objective; the Qur’an is our law, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations.”

To understand why Muslims are angry with the West; to understand why Al Qaeda had to evolve; to understand why the Clash of Civilisations between the West and Islam became (almost) inevitable; to understand why HAMAS and Hezbollah are steadfast in their struggles; to understand the Palestinian struggle itself; one has to understand the history and antecedents of the Ikhwan (www.ikhwanweb.com) and its founder, Imam Hasan Al Banna, the Egyptian social and political reformer who established the movement back in 1928. Al Banna was assassinated on the streets of Cairo more than sixty years ago when he was barely 43 years old.

US President John F. Kennedy is famously quoted to have said: “Those who make peaceful change impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” Those who prevented the people of Egypt, and the people of the oppressed world generally, to elect peacefully their leaders, made it possible for Al Qaeda and the Taliban to rise. But finally, the people of Egypt have triumphed and it has all come to pass. Sixty years after Imam Al Banna was assassinated, the Brothers have come to assume what has been rightly theirs all along.

President Morsi gave three important speeches around the time of his inauguration: the first at Tahrir Square, the second at the Inaugural, and the third at Cairo University. The Tahrir Square Speech, considered by many to be THE Inaugural, because Morsi was standing before the very people who made it possible for that day to come, is excerpted here:

“In the name of God, Most Merciful, Most Gracious. O great people of Egypt, dear citizens standing here in the Revolution square, in freedom square, in Tahrir Square, in martyrs’ square, and all citizens standing in all liberty squares across the homeland, Egypt, in villages, towns and cities, in all governorates of Egypt…

…When we mention the martyrs, we also look at history to know that the tree of liberty was planted by honorable men decades ago, since the beginning of last century, and after suffering the dark decades of injustice and repression for so long, on January 25, 2011 the martyrs of this revolution achieved a major victory. I salute all the injured of the revolution and their families and all those who generously gave their homeland all they could and sacrificed for the sake of rebuilding and advancing their country.

Let us remain steadfast, men of the revolution, boys and girls, men and women. I am one of you – that is how I was; I still am; and will always be. During the revolution, in this place, we used to say that the revolution is led by its own objectives. Well, the revolution continues to achieve its objectives. It is reshaping to reflect the free will the Egyptian people, with an elected president steering the ship home, leading this revolution, standing in front of patriotic revolutionaries, leading them on the path to full democracy, and doing all he can to achieve all the objectives of the great revolution. I came to talk to you today, because I believe that you are the source of power and legitimacy. There is no person, party, institution or authority over or above the will of the people. The nation is the source of all power; it grants and withdraws power.

…I come to you, today, my beloved Egyptian people, and I wear no bullet-proof vest, because I am confident, as I trust God and I trust you, and I fear only God. And I will always be fully accountable to you. I come today to Tahrir Square, after it placed this responsibility on my shoulders, to renew my pledge to you; to remind you that you alone are always, always the first station for me to call. I say to all the Egyptian people that, after God’s help, I seek their support and their assistance. Are you ready? Will you stand by me to fully regain our rights?

I pledge to God and I pledge to you, the honorable people of Egypt, to fulfill my promises. I pledge to work with you in order to bolster our unity and our strength. I stress my rejection of any attempt to blackmail the people’s power…

…I will endeavor to regain Egypt’s free will in its foreign relations. I will abolish all meanings of subordination to any power whatsoever. Egypt is free in all its actions and discourses. We will not commit any acts of aggression against anyone; but we are all able to prevent any aggression against us. Together we will introduce a new concept of international relations. And I warn everyone, no matter who they are, of attempting to undermine Egypt’s dignity or pride, or of even thinking of assaulting the dignity of its people or its president, whoever he may be.”

That was President Morsi at Tahrir Square. However, eighteen months earlier, then President Mubarak had said: “I will die on the soil of Egypt!” Of course! Mubarak stayed put on the soil of Egypt because he knew one simple fact: had he fled the country, he would have ended up like the Shah of Iran or Marcos of Philippines before him. In ignominy before the people he had served. He would not have been accepted for asylum and exile in the only two countries he had served so diligently all his official life: Israel and the United States.

Tahrir Square has done it! And now, over to Eagle!