The revolution was assassinated by its own people

We are about to commemorate the eleventh anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. If the coup which brought Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to power was not staged in 2013, I believe that the Syrian revolution would have succeeded; who knows what the fate of the killer Bashar Al-Assad would then have been? The revolutions in Yemen and Libya would have also succeeded, I think, and neither country would have witnessed war and destruction on a massive scale.

The 25 January Revolution was the greatest in modern Egyptian history. On that day in 2011, the masses came out spontaneously against injustice, tyranny and corruption; they broke the barrier of fear passed down through generations and fascist regimes to demand freedom, human dignity and social justice.

It was a wonderful human struggle which brought people together from across the political spectrum connected by the affiliation with Egypt above all other ties. They were united. Their chants for freedom resonated across the Arab world. This was a drama about which Egyptians had dreamed, and it became a reality.

Although they overthrew a dictator and his corrupt government, they did not overthrow the regime completely. This was the revolution’s biggest mistake; it left the door open for the remnants to creep back in and conspire with imperialist and regional powers, which still fear that the revolutionary winds will reach their countries and topple their thrones.

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I mean specifically the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the state of Zionist conspiracies, the UAE, home of the counterrevolutions from which all of the plots against the Arab and Muslim nations are hatched. These two counties in particular turned the Egyptian dream into a nightmare, as they did with the other Arab revolutions, out of fear that their own people would also want change and democracy. Egypt is usually at the front and others follow, so hundreds of billions of dollars were spent in order to overthrow a president democratically-elected in the country’s first ever free elections.

The Egyptian revolution did not appeal to the Zionist leaders either. Apart from the fact that they want Israel to remain the only “democratic” oasis in the region, they are also afraid of the awakening of the Arab people and coups against their rulers, who are Israel’s agents in the region and the guardians of its usurper state.

We cannot forgive the Egyptian elite, especially those who participated in the 25 January Revolution and were among its icons, for conspiring against the revolution and placing themselves in the hands of its enemies just because their political opponents came to power. They turned their backs on the democracy that they boasted about and allowed themselves to be the back on which the military rode, along with its tanks, on 30 June 2013, giving the coup a civilian facade in front of the world.

This corrupt elite had lost hope in gaining any government positions so played the heroes as 30 June unfolded. When they had served their purpose, they were imprisoned by the oppressors. Despite their screams, they are stubborn and too proud to admit their mistake; they hate to see Islamists in power, and want to exclude them permanently from the political arena. Perversely, at the same time they demand that they should stand in the face of the regime and restore the January revolution.

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The 30 January Revolution was pure in intent and implementation; it cannot in any way be compared with the coup, which was tarnished with dollars and riyals, and drenched in the blood of innocents. What we have in Egypt now is a corrupt and opportunist elite which conspired to overthrow the revolution, leaving us in the mess we see today.

Eleven years on from the revolution, the revolutionaries have broken into sects and parties, each going their own way and directing accusations at the others. Sharp divisions and polarisation have become a feature of the Egyptians, even within the same family. The song “We are one people, and you are another people” came out after the coup, and was true. We denounced it at the time, but it was an expression of a reality that had been planned well and with great malice, in order to divide the people of Egypt and make them into sects, each with their own martyrs and detainees who they defend. They do not ask about the martyrs and detainees of the other side, but curse them instead, sadly. Fellow citizens and brothers in religion become the “other”; this is the language in which Egyptians now speak.

The truth of the matter is that this plan was put in place by the regime once it was obvious that the revolution would succeed and former President Hosni Mubarak would be ousted, but it was put on hold until the flame of the revolution cooled among the people. This made it easier for them to support the coup that was also prepared from that day. Sedition was fuelled throughout the two years prior to the coup, and the seeds of hatred were sown.

Immediately after Mubarak’s ouster, the young people in the squares were corralled into dozens of coalitions and parties, and duly tamed. Major General Sameh Seif Al-Yazal admitted in one of his television interviews after the coup that the armed forces funded youth parties to challenge the Muslim Brotherhood.

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Given all that has happened, is it possible to restore harmony between the Egyptians, as there was in 2011? Or will we continue to witness a vicious cycle of accusations and counteraccusations? Not for nothing do we keep crying over spilt milk and mark every anniversary of the 25 January Revolution with weeping and grievances.

We forget Egypt, though. Millions of its people participated in its revolution, and today they are required to cast aside their differences and come out to save it. Everyone is a contributor in one way or another to the awful situation that Egypt is now in, but we continue to operate without a vision. One of the weaknesses of the revolution was the absence of a leader, and this is still the case. Its illegitimate “fathers” surfaced only in the aftermath; woe to them who have wasted the blood of the martyrs.

The revolution was truly the revolution of a people against injustice and tyranny. It was a gift from The Almighty, but we did not protect it and preserve it. It was a revolution assassinated by its own people. We deserve what we are facing now.

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