Mehul Srivastava
By Mehul Srivastava, Ola Galal and Caroline Alexander
In the last two weeks, Egypt’s military-backed government has killed almost a thousand Egyptians, placed Cairo under curfew, and lined roads with soldiers, bridges with tanks, and some roofs with snipers.
If all that bothered anybody in this crisis-weary city, they made little fuss about it.
“The Egyptian army works for the interest of the nation,” said Amany Hassan, 45, a government employee whose father was in the military. “They got rid of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egyptians love anyone who protects them.”
Two years ago, Egyptians were clamouring for democracy. Today, the city’s embrace of the armed forces appears boundless, secured by assurances of a rapid transition back to democracy. Streets are lined with posters of Abdelfatah Al Sisi, 58, the general who leads the current government. Television news anchors have not just applauded the military’s heavy hand; last Monday one broke out into song to praise the soldiers.
Dozens of interviews on the streets of Cairo showed that faith in the military stems from a desire for stability after months of street protests and the army’s deep presence in civilian life — from building roads and bridges to running social clubs and hospitals and providing an income to a significant portion of the population.
“The military has considerable prestige and is widely seen as a pillar of independence and pride,” said Benjamin Geer, a sociologist and research fellow with the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.
For decades, the armed forces have used school books, movies and songs to hammer in a sense that it is the nation’s guardian, he said.
“People who criticise the military now seem very marginalised, and there’s probably a lot of self-censorship,” Geer said. “This wouldn’t be possible if the military hadn’t managed to give itself a starring role in notions of Egyptian nationalism.”
In Cairo, where the military’s presence is the strongest, and where the majority of the deaths have taken place, roadside stalls are festooned with posters of Al Sisi. On the Corniche, the wide thoroughfare that runs along the Nile, a giant photo of Al Sisi hangs outside a mechanic’s workshop.
“Al Sisi is the lion of Egypt, the protector against groups of blood, terrorism and ignorance,” the poster reads. “He’s the one we trust.”
On El Merghany street, near the presidential palace and the site of major protests against ousted President Mohammed Mursi, a street vendor runs between cars waiting at a traffic signal, selling photos of Al Sisi. He found two willing buyers during one red light.
“There is a love for the military that I didn’t see coming,” said Amro Ali, an Egypt-born Middle-East analyst at the University of Sydney. “A lot of liberals have backed the military and whitewashed the deaths of the opposition. There is a national hysteria ripping through Egypt.”
Al Sisi’s star has risen as that of the Muslim Brotherhood has fallen. The Brotherhood, an 85-year-old group that backed Mursi in the first democratic elections in Egypt, has seen its leadership culled in the last few weeks, either from arrests or killing, and faced mass rejection by Egyptians. That was aided by a media campaign waged both by state-run television channels and independent media dismayed by the violence caused by a few Brotherhood members.
Yesterday morning, state-run Middle East News Agency reported the arrests of Muslim Brotherhood member Osama Yaseen, the former youth minister, and the secretary to the Brotherhood’s deputy head, Khairat El Shater.
Prosecutors will go to the prison where Yaseen is being held to question him about allegations of inciting and participating in the killing of protesters by a main Cairo presidential palace and the Republican Guard compound, the state-run Ahram Gate website reported, citing Mustafa Khater with the prosecutor’s office in the Cairo district of Heliopolis.
He will also be questioned about the alleged torture and killing of four people near the sit-in site where Brotherhood protesters had held a weeks-long protest before being forcibly dispersed by security forces.
Al Sisi was placed in charge of the ministry of defence and military production in August, 2012, by Mursi himself. Less than a year later, he was the man who deposed him. More than 90 percent of people said they had confidence in the army, more than any other institution, in a poll by Zogby Research Services released in June. No more recent polling is available. The general’s promotion came after a storied career that included prestigious overseas assignments such as military attaché in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which now backs his government with billions of dollars in aid, and a stint at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvani, in 2006 as part of an exchange programme, according to his online biography.
“He’s no fool. This is someone who is extremely clever at hiding his ambition,” said Robert Springborg, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, who travels regularly to Egypt. “He’s got the military under control, he’s got the street behind him, he’s got the Brothers on the run, he’s got the Saudis writing the checks.”
WP-BLOOMBERG
By Mehul Srivastava, Ola Galal and Caroline Alexander
In the last two weeks, Egypt’s military-backed government has killed almost a thousand Egyptians, placed Cairo under curfew, and lined roads with soldiers, bridges with tanks, and some roofs with snipers.
If all that bothered anybody in this crisis-weary city, they made little fuss about it.
“The Egyptian army works for the interest of the nation,” said Amany Hassan, 45, a government employee whose father was in the military. “They got rid of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egyptians love anyone who protects them.”
Two years ago, Egyptians were clamouring for democracy. Today, the city’s embrace of the armed forces appears boundless, secured by assurances of a rapid transition back to democracy. Streets are lined with posters of Abdelfatah Al Sisi, 58, the general who leads the current government. Television news anchors have not just applauded the military’s heavy hand; last Monday one broke out into song to praise the soldiers.
Dozens of interviews on the streets of Cairo showed that faith in the military stems from a desire for stability after months of street protests and the army’s deep presence in civilian life — from building roads and bridges to running social clubs and hospitals and providing an income to a significant portion of the population.
“The military has considerable prestige and is widely seen as a pillar of independence and pride,” said Benjamin Geer, a sociologist and research fellow with the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.
For decades, the armed forces have used school books, movies and songs to hammer in a sense that it is the nation’s guardian, he said.
“People who criticise the military now seem very marginalised, and there’s probably a lot of self-censorship,” Geer said. “This wouldn’t be possible if the military hadn’t managed to give itself a starring role in notions of Egyptian nationalism.”
In Cairo, where the military’s presence is the strongest, and where the majority of the deaths have taken place, roadside stalls are festooned with posters of Al Sisi. On the Corniche, the wide thoroughfare that runs along the Nile, a giant photo of Al Sisi hangs outside a mechanic’s workshop.
“Al Sisi is the lion of Egypt, the protector against groups of blood, terrorism and ignorance,” the poster reads. “He’s the one we trust.”
On El Merghany street, near the presidential palace and the site of major protests against ousted President Mohammed Mursi, a street vendor runs between cars waiting at a traffic signal, selling photos of Al Sisi. He found two willing buyers during one red light.
“There is a love for the military that I didn’t see coming,” said Amro Ali, an Egypt-born Middle-East analyst at the University of Sydney. “A lot of liberals have backed the military and whitewashed the deaths of the opposition. There is a national hysteria ripping through Egypt.”
Al Sisi’s star has risen as that of the Muslim Brotherhood has fallen. The Brotherhood, an 85-year-old group that backed Mursi in the first democratic elections in Egypt, has seen its leadership culled in the last few weeks, either from arrests or killing, and faced mass rejection by Egyptians. That was aided by a media campaign waged both by state-run television channels and independent media dismayed by the violence caused by a few Brotherhood members.
Yesterday morning, state-run Middle East News Agency reported the arrests of Muslim Brotherhood member Osama Yaseen, the former youth minister, and the secretary to the Brotherhood’s deputy head, Khairat El Shater.
Prosecutors will go to the prison where Yaseen is being held to question him about allegations of inciting and participating in the killing of protesters by a main Cairo presidential palace and the Republican Guard compound, the state-run Ahram Gate website reported, citing Mustafa Khater with the prosecutor’s office in the Cairo district of Heliopolis.
He will also be questioned about the alleged torture and killing of four people near the sit-in site where Brotherhood protesters had held a weeks-long protest before being forcibly dispersed by security forces.
Al Sisi was placed in charge of the ministry of defence and military production in August, 2012, by Mursi himself. Less than a year later, he was the man who deposed him. More than 90 percent of people said they had confidence in the army, more than any other institution, in a poll by Zogby Research Services released in June. No more recent polling is available. The general’s promotion came after a storied career that included prestigious overseas assignments such as military attaché in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which now backs his government with billions of dollars in aid, and a stint at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvani, in 2006 as part of an exchange programme, according to his online biography.
“He’s no fool. This is someone who is extremely clever at hiding his ambition,” said Robert Springborg, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, who travels regularly to Egypt. “He’s got the military under control, he’s got the street behind him, he’s got the Brothers on the run, he’s got the Saudis writing the checks.”
WP-BLOOMBERG
