The actual situation in Egypt is related to important elements:
· Determining the nature of political bases on which the country is founded.
· Weak economic situation.
· We were hoping after the 25th of January that there will be a revolution in vital fields helping the citizen to live in dignity, like food, housing, education, employment, security and freedom.
· The launch of the revolution and abolishing the corrupted regime enabled many political trends to get out and impose their vision. There are actually in Egypt about 60 political parties. Each political trend owes the right, the honesty and the devotion!
· This context of a multitude of political parties gave the chance to some fundamentalist religious trends to appear in public, impose their vision and become the majority applying and imposing their policy.
· I see that there is a great amalgam between religion and politics, especially that these fundamentalist parties can attract the poor and illiterate majority. Unfortunately, about 30 % of the Egyptian people are illiterate and it is easy to attract them through religion!
· The economic situation in Egypt is fragile. The majority of people do not live in dignity. 3 % of the Egyptian population live with less than 1 dollar per day, 44 % of this population live with less than 2 dollars per day. In 2011, the Egyptian population is about 84 million people, 40 % are less than 18 years.
· Did the military supreme council preserve dignity of Egyptians? "This revolution was launched for dignity. We all dream that the most ordinary citizen in Egypt is treated as a human being having rights and dignity. The revolution claimed for abolishing state security authority which tortured Egyptians and harmed their dignity for many years. However, le military council insisted on maintaining this terrible authority after changing its name to national security authority. Nobody needs intelligence to know that state security authority is behind most of the crisis that occurred in Egypt, starting from confessional sedition to vandalism and security chaos. Officers of state security belong by thought and practically to the regime of Moubarak. They will do anything they can to avoid change that will certainly lead to their trial for many crimes they have committed against Egyptians. They possess complete tools of destruction, information, agents infiltrated everywhere and abundant money they receive from vestiges of Moubarak's regime. Not only the military council maintained state security, but it added to it a new oppressive authority which is military police… in few months, members of military police committed odious crimes against Egyptians without being sanctioned by anybody: beating citizens, torturing them, electrifying them, raping Egyptian girls and photographing them nude with the pretext of checking their virginity, and finally crushing protesters with a tank in the massacre of Maspero. After every crime, the military council announced opening investigations we didn't know what their results were. Don't we have the right to ask for a neutral investigation organization for the massacre of Maspero that made 30 Egyptian victims?" (Alaa al Aswani – Egyptian writer and thinker).
1) Being convinced of democracy and its implementation requires a cultural level. Actual trends in Egypt show that religious fundamentalist groups like Moslem Brotherhood and Salafists consider democracy and laic trend as a danger and degradation for human beings. Islamic reference and applying Islamic rules are, according to them, the solution for all our social problems.
· Liberal Egyptian parties whose number does not exceed 15 do not accept making amalgam between religion and politics, but the same parties suggest that in an article of the constitution which application is required attests Islamic reference, with respecting other confessions. Liberal parties also claim for a civil state and this is important for respecting various trends.
· The revolution will be accomplished when we will agree on an impartial non religious constitution, when all people will work in their vocational field with devotion, when the Ministry of Interior will ensure security and political groups become susceptible for change and free elections, like for the president of the republic, people's assembly and consultative council.
2) Unfortunately, minorities, like Christians and instructed people, feel insecure for their future. Great number of people left the country in official ways and some in illegal ways. For example, more than 150000 Christians immigrated to Europe, USA, Canada and Australia since January 2011 till nowadays.
· The revolution that has been launched in Egypt fused Christians and Moslems. The youth had a patriotic free vision. When fundamentalist trends intervened, they annoyed the pure initiatives of the youth. These trends try to pretend they are the motive of the revolution and its defender, but this is a wrong interpretation.
· Christian demonstrations were organized to claim for their rights. For example, since 1970 to January 2011, there were attacks against Christian churches, traders and individuals. There were more than 175 incidents of this type. Since the 25th of January 2011 till now, there were 40 attacks against churches, individuals and traders. The most terrible incident is that which occurred in Maspero area in front of radio and television building on the 9th of October 2011, killing more than 30 Christians and wounding many others.
· These situations I mentioned did not destroy the will of Christians to participate in the elections and giving their votes to liberal parties. Negativity and abstention are a great error which does not support democracy, participation, efficient and audacious dialogue which changes the environment in the Egyptian society.
3) Christian multiple confessions in Egypt, orthodox, catholic and protestant, celebrate Christmas. Please read what I wrote in my message on the occasion of the New Year and Christmas.
· Despite political changes since the 25th of January 2011 and Islamic and salafist's interventions, we confirm Christian celebrations and I notice in the streets, especially in big cities and hotels manifestations of Christmas celebration, like Christmas tree and Santa Claus with its beautiful forms.
· There are Christian elements in various occupations which have a great impact in the Egyptian economic field. I believe our commitment to credibility of freedom of beliefs and respect of every human being are the bases of Christian beliefs, and our orientations are committed to deal with every human being without any racial, generic or religious discrimination.
· Political life is simply a face of life. The most important is life itself, we want to live in a free environment, in a civilized manner, with conscience, this conscience is the essence of religion which is absent from thoughts, and not superficial forms that dominate with hysteria on nerves and brains of these religious fundamentalists, as it occurs in Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc. we want to live seriously not by lying, with our real civilized face, not with our Bedouin Wahhabi's imported mask.
Magdy Garas
December 2011
