The political atmosphere in Egypt today closely resembles that experienced in
Germany 1933 after the accession to power of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party in
an equally narrow democratic electoral victory.
Both Hitler and ex-inmate
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi show the same desire for revenge against the
established social order and intolerance toward adversaries. During the past six
months Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood have taken all necessary measures to
consolidate his grasp on power, matching similar measures taken by Hitler in
1933 including controlling all media, the army, local municipalities, police
force and jurisdictional institutions, appointing allies to key positions while
viciously removing technocrats and bureaucratic employees who do not show
complete obedience.
Accusations of corruption and loyalty to the old
regime (of Honsi Mubarak) are readily used whenever the Brotherhood wishes to
assert control, in an intense purging campaign. Most of these public employees
accept the new reality silently to avoid public humiliation.
EVERY TREE
is known by its fruit, and no matter how much the Muslim Brotherhood portrays
itself as benevolent and compassionate, the actions taken by its leaders and
members parallel those of the Nazis. These include disrespect for political
opponents; discrimination against minority groups; immediate subjection of vocal
opponents to vicious defamation campaigns (in the modern era, via an Internet
army of holy warriors) to publicly humiliate the unfortunate victim in every
possible way, including accusations of betrayal, atheism, dishonesty, espionage,
allegations of corruption and defamation of family members.
Prominent
leaders of society such as Amr Mussa (former diplomat), Hamdin Sadahi (left
wing) and Mohamed el-Baradi (liberal) have been constantly targeted by these
holy e-warriors. Additionally, on the ground mosque Imams are instructed to
engage in propaganda campaigns favoring the new regime, in a battle between the
Holy and the Evil.
Mass rallies and assemblies organized by paramilitary
groups in green shirts linked to the Islamists take over the streets whenever
there is any political debate, stretching the political muscle of the
Brotherhood and intimidating adversaries, a tactic very well known in Nazi
Germany, widely used first by the SA and later by the SS.
The leader and
sponsor of these paramilitary wings is Khairat al-Shater, a businessman who
spent 20 years in prison on terrorism-related charges. These groups have the
additional duty to sabotage any demonstrations organized by political opponents,
to accomplish which they resort to all possible means, including firebombs and
sexual harassment of female opponents.
Since the Islamists are motivated
by a holy ideology and are ready for personal sacrifice, while their opponents
lack such motivation, the streets belong to Islamists and their paramilitary
wings.
During the current political turmoil the president gave himself
complete power, decreeing judicial immunity for his “holy” decisions and
ordering the unilateral drafting of a new constitution.
Many intellectual
Egyptians think that the content of the proposed document is not the main cause
of concern, but rather the complete indifference and disregard for all other
political movements and aspirations demonstrated by claims this unilateral
declaration represents 90% of the Egyptian people. Opponents, meanwhile, are
portrayed as “a bunch of morally dishonest traitors,” an expression coined by
Safwat Hegazi, the Brotherhood’s fanatic propaganda mastermind, whose speeches
and tactics show an astonishing similarity to those of Joseph
Goebbels.
Unfortunately, a narrow majority of the impoverished and
deprived Egyptian people still hope that this new regime will change their
fortunes, and the Muslim Brotherhood is taking advantage of this fact by
promising them a better life on Earth and a prominent place in
Heaven.
History has shown that fascist and fanatic ideologies flourish in
times of chaos and depression, and after securing complete internal authority,
their savage hunger for power leads them to engage in disastrous military
adventures, which finally cause their downfall and collapse.
In fact,
Safwat Hegazi has publicly declared in an emotional speech that the ultimate
goal of the Brotherhood is to establish the “United Muslim State” with Jerusalem
as its capital. The astonishing silence of the US administration and Western
democracies regarding these critical developments painfully reminds us of
Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement.
I can only hope that the
modest and ordinary Egyptian people read more and learn from the lessons of
history, and take a shortcut to avoid this catastrophe, but unfortunately this
is not likely, and our nation is heading for the abyss.
The writer is an
Egyptian citizen. His name has been changed to protect his identity.
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