Egypt's neglected questions

I have a number of questions regarding the current events in Egypt. The most notable of which are as follows:

1. On July 23, Al-Ahram newspaper published a headline noting that the Attorney General ordered the detainment of Dr. Mohammed Morsi for 15 days on charges of collaborating with Hamas. The article drew attention to the fact that the military spokesperson was quick to deny the news, “details and all,” and accused the newspaper of aiming to “provoke confusion and incite the public opinion to achieve suspicious purposes serving specific political trends.” The matter did not end here, as he publicly announced that the editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram, Abdel-Nasser Salama, was sent to questioning to investigate his actions, which caused a scandal and harmed Al-Ahram’s credibility. This drove some of the newspaper’s editors to express their anger over the matter and demand his resignation. Newspapers then reported that the editor-in-chief was questioned and released on a bail of EGP 5,000. However, barely 3 days passed before the Attorney General’s decision to detain Dr. Mohammed Morsi was announced and Al-Ahram reported the story, ending it with two words “no comment.” This opened the door to a flood of questions about which party leaked the news and the motives behind the armed forces’ denial of the news. Moreover, those who leaked and spread the story were accused of provoking confusion and inciting public opinion “to achieve suspicious goals.” This has put us in a mysterious situation charged with false facts, and has caused us to believe that the EGP 5,000 bail paid by the editor-in-chief was a punishment for publishing the story before the scheduled time. In short, we have continued to ask questions but we have not been able to understand what is going on.
2. On July 8, the Republican Guard massacre took place and over 50 Morsi supporters were killed. The massacre was followed by conflicting stories regarding who was responsible for the incident, as the official story pointed the finger at the protestors, while another story published by western media and the Human Rights Watch Organisation held the authorities responsible for the deaths. At that time, it was announced that the State President decided to form a special committee to investigate the matter, then we noticed that the announcement disappeared, as we heard nothing about the committee or its investigations, which caused us to doubt the seriousness of the story and view it as an attempt to cover our eyes, rather than uncover the truth. The matter that deepened our doubts and confirmed them was the fact that the presidency did not repeat the idea after the Rabaa Al-Adaweya massacre, in which 120 people, and in other stories 200 people, were killed in addition to 4,500 people wounded according to records from the field hospital.
3. Who should we believe? The words of the head of state about a unified country and national reconciliation, or the campaigns of demonization, isolation, and hatred broadcast day and night by the official and unofficial media outlets? Is it right for the real reconciliation currently taking place to be between the remnants of Mubarak’s regime and his former security men who were exiled during President Morsi’s reign?
4. One of the ironies and twists of fate is that former president, Hosni Mubarak, is not being held accountable for being a strategic treasure for Israel, while Dr. Morsi is being accused of collaborating with Hamas (an accusation only made in Israel.) While we do not oppose holding any official accountable for their actions, we wonder if this accountability will remain limited to Dr. Morsi, or if it will also include the charges made against the military council for killing protestors. Furthermore, will a blind eye be turned to Mubarak and his regime’s collaborations with other parties, as well as their responsibility for acts of fraud, torture and killing protestors, just a few from a long list of disasters that took place in Egypt during his reign?
5. How can we explain the media attacks and official measures taken against the Palestinians, the Gazans in particular, and against the Syrian refugees whose benefits and facilities provided to them were canceled, and against the Yemenis who are forced to obtain visas before entering Egypt? And while our conflicts with our Arab brothers are increasing, we notice a stillness, almost a stability, with Egypt and the Arab’s historical enemy Israel.
6. I may be able to understand the compliments paid by journalists to Colonel Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi, but what I cannot comprehend is why some resort to talking about his personality being a combination of the presidents Abdel Nasser and Sadat, while it is obvious that the two cannot be combined in one, considering the fact that Sadat’s project was a coup against Abdel Nasser’s. I do not think they wanted to criticise Al-Sisi and I do not object to him being complimented. Under the current situation, I no longer deny the spread of hypocrisy amongst politicians and journalists, but all I ask of them is that they do it right.

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