Egypt before and after the coup

Global regard for Egypt has changed. Once known as the “Mother of the World”, the label is now used more in mockery than respect. This symbolises the extent to which our beloved country has changed since the brutal military coup at the beginning of July. After just one year of President Mohamed Morsi trying to re-establish the nation as a source of pride amongst its Arab neighbours, and in the wider world, the coup has rooted out everything and anything standing in its way.

Starting with the Minister of Information as he bargained outrageously with Al-Jazeera for the release of their Egyptian correspondents in exchange for withdrawing their demands for financial compensation in respect of the authorities’ theft of its broadcasting rights, it is painful to see Egyptian dignity being violated before the entire world. Our freedom is being sold like a commodity.

As far as the Palestinians of Gaza are concerned, Egypt has gone from being a safe haven to a nightmare. By closing the Rafah border crossing and destroying the tunnels, which have been a lifeline for the people of Gaza, the coup government has re-established the Gaza Strip as an open prison. For a full year Rafah was the Palestinians’ only gateway to the outside world and now it has been sealed again as part of the effort to intensify the Israeli-led blockade of the territory.

As if that wasn’t enough, Gaza and its people have been the focus of an intensive media campaign blaming them for Egypt’s economic, security and fuel crises. Our country has become an oppressor of the Palestinians instead of a friend in a time of great need.

My heart grieves as I turn to Syria. It was natural for President Mohamed Morsi to back the rebels in Syria given that he was elected democratically after a popular revolution to overthrow a tyrannical regime just like Assad’s. Morsi cut all ties to the Syrian regime, closed down its embassy in Cairo, recalled the Egyptian ambassador from Damascus and opened the door to welcome those fleeing from Assad’s oppression. The coup has reversed these decisions and replaced the rope of support with a noose to hang the revolutionaries. We have witnessed planes full of Syrian refugees being turned away while women and children seeking a safe haven have been detained, with their persecution and humiliation turned into public displays of the coup’s inhumanity.

Prior to the coup, President Morsi toured the world to drum up support and investment for Egypt, and widen its sphere of influence. The coup has turned Egypt into a beggar-state reliant on handouts from the Gulf States. The president appointed by the army, Adli Mansour, has only toured those countries which support the military ousting of our democratically-elected government. He has to rely on emissaries to try to promote his government in the rest of the world.

We who care about Egypt must ask ourselves some questions: who benefits from these changes? Who refuses to allow Egypt to regain its prestigious position among the nations? Whose interests have been served by the destruction of Egypt’s fledgling democracy?

The answers to these questions will reveal the scale of the plot against our beloved Egypt and who the masterminds behind it are.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.