How many bags of money would it take to sell Egypt?

Egypt sold, Saudi Arabia bought, and the goods went to Israel with the full approval of the seller, Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi and the buyer, Mohammad Bin Salman. To sum up the Tiran and Sanafir islands deal, Israel wanted the islands outside of Egypt’s sovereignty, and Al-Sisi wanted to make the deal in exchange for him remaining in power, with political and economic support from Tel Aviv and Riyadh. Meanwhile, Mohammad Bin Salman wanted a payment for being in power. The result of this was the one who wasn’t the owner sold to someone undeserving, in order to gift it to those who do not show mercy and abandon the achievement of their historical ambitions, completely, without concession, at a time when the Arabs were completely crushed under the wheels of the deal of the century.

Read: Egypt approves Red Sea island transfer to Saudi Arabia

Sharm el-Sheikh & Tiran islands

Before the parliament put its mark on the land-selling scandal, Al-Sisi had announced his law regarding handing over the land, saying: “Those who want to legalise their position on the group should bring their bag of money and come.” Very early on, I had said that defending the land requires planting the land with resistance and watering it with anger in order to achieve national dignity. I also warned against the matter of defending the land turning into a case presented to the judiciary, in light of a government that does not know respect for the judiciary, knows very well how to promote treachery by describing it as national work, and promotes peddlery.

Yes, resorting to the judiciary regarding the issue of Tiran and Sanafir was an act meant to pacify the popular anger which presented itself in the form of an outburst of indignation and fury that reached the streets and was able to restore the public to the equation of confronting the government’s acts. The government didn’t cover up its acts and was not ashamed of gloating about the sale to whoever paid, and even sell the country itself and sell it in the market for those dreaming of leadership and sovereignty in the region and the world.

From the beginning, our pens were worn from reiterating that the issue of the Tiran and Sanafir islands was the issue of the people in general and therefore it was a deadly mistake to push it to the deserted tombs of the parties. This transformed the issue from a boiling public issue to a play of frozen parties who are in collusion with the government. It was a youthful issue, with vitality that could’ve been fought in the streets, headed by a young politician, Khaled Ali, but the old politicians pounced on the issue and dragged it into the dark headquarters of the political parties, and it was then handed over to the government. They then announced the death of the popular presence that broke out around the Syndicate of Journalists in April 2016. The issue was then transferred to the so-called parliament.

Read more: Muslim Brotherhood slams Egypt’s surrender of Red Sea islands

Some had expected a surprise from the MPs, that they would refuse to concede the land, and this is additional self-delusion and deception of the people. It is known in Egypt that the parliament was created by Al-Sisi and everyone knows that the seats were distributed based on very strict and accurate calculations. There was no room for coincidences or surprises (refer back to the case of the political researcher, Amr El-Shobaki, who stood at the doors of the parliament for months holding a ruling from the Court of Cassation recognising his right to membership. They did not allow him to enter, and he stood until his feet swelled and his clothes were worn from standing at their doors.)

Hence the reliance on the “conscious of the MPs” was a form of fraud and deceit, similar to the situation during the 2014 elections, when some imagined that Hamdeen Sabbahi could defeat Al-Sisi and become president. This situation is on the verge of recurrence, while some are scrambling to win the title of “Hamdeen 2018”.

Therefore, any attempt to claim shock or seem surprised at what happened in Al-Sisi’s parliament is a form of deceiving the masses. You know that this government is cheap, a sell-out and deceitful, and its parliament is a part of it. You should know, and be 1,000 per cent certain that the parliament is a result of an evil international and regional conspiracy that is completely exposing itself now in the form of what is known as the deal of the century. Hence, resorting to it to play the role of opposition makes you a part of it and labels you as “government opposition” no matter how many differences you claim to have with the government.

I reiterate that the government opposition turns into a group of fools when they limit their dispute with Al-Sisi to the issue of Tiran and Sanafir and ignore the blatant truth, i.e. that the two islands are merely one manifestation of the debilitating disease caused by a devastating virus. This has turned official Egypt into a rabid state, devouring maps, preying on the people, and gnawing at their revolution in retaliation against all those who once dreamt of a free country for the people, in which they are treated as human beings, not as sacrifices. Face yourselves once again and apologise to your revolution, which you handed over to Al-Sisi and the scoundrels of Hosni Mubarak’s era, just like Al-Sisi handed over the Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia and parts to Israel as well.

Translated from HuffPost Arabi, 14 June 2017.

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