The Arab Spring’s crowd psychology
BY SAMI MAHROUM Abu Dhabi In 1896, the social psychologist Gustave Le Bon warned his contemporaries of the dangers of crowds, writing that, “It is necessary to arrive at a solution to the problems offered by [crowds’] psychology, or to resign ourselves to being devoured by them.” As spontaneous protest overtakes organized political movements across the Arab world, the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya’s nascent democracies should heed Le Bon’s warning. Since crowds took to the streets of Tunis, Cairo, Benghazi, and other Arab cities, toppling decades-old regimes, spectators and analysts have wondered where the Arab world is headed….
Op-ed: Egypt’s democratic dictator?
BY OMAR ASHOUR CAIRO Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first-ever elected civilian president, recently granted himself sweeping temporary powers in order, he claims, to attain the objectives of the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship. But the decrees incited strong opposition from many of the revolutionary forces that helped to overthrow Mubarak (as well as from forces loyal to him), with protests erupting anew in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Morsi has thus been put in the odd position of having to defend his decision against the protesters while simultaneously making common cause with them. “I share your dream of a constitution for all…
Op-ed: New faces, old lies, same denial
BY ASMAA EL GAMMAL The morning after Tuesday’s massive demonstrations against President Mohamed Morsi’s recent constitutional declaration, the Freedom and Justice Party’s message was loud and clear: Tahrir is not to be taken seriously. On the front page of the party’s newspaper, the headline read: “Revolutionaries, folol (former regime remnants) and peddlers in Tahrir Square. Disregarding the chants of tens of thousands of protesters outraged by the President’s declaration of invincible powers, the FJP’s mouthpiece chose to focus on a handful of corn-sellers to suggest that it was nothing more than a gathering of revolution-haters and petty salesmen. …
Op-ed: How to grow our economy
BY HISHAM EZZ EL-ARAB What can Egypt learn from Turkey? (Part II) Just a decade ago, Turkey was on the edge of state bankruptcy. The political system was paralyzed, and the Istanbul stock market had crashed. The prices of cars and computers rose 50 percent and hundreds of thousands lost their jobs. But since then, during a decade of rule by the Justice and Development Party, the Turkish economy has tripled. They weathered the global financial crisis of 2008 better than most of their peers. Now, they are looking ahead to 2023 — the hundredth anniversary of their republic —…
Op-ed: The role of religion in politics
BY HISHAM EZZ EL-ARAB What can Egypt learn from Turkey? (Part I) A common phrase in Turkey, where I have been living for the past three years, is ‘yavash, yavash.’ In English it means ‘slowly, slowly,’ and in Arabic ‘shwaye, shwaye’. It is often used in conversations about Turkey’s political transitions, which have been as massive and unexpected as those in Egypt over the past century. The popular election of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party to a parliamentary majority, along with the unexpected success of Salafi parties, then the success of Dr. Mohamed Morsy in the presidential elections,…
Op-ed: From Khaled Saeed to Malala Yousafzai
BY AMRO ALI While reading the horrific case of Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the face by the Taliban for championing girls’ education, I came across a photo of a young supporter of Malala that triggered memories of a similar image that has forever been engraved in my mind: in June 2010 an Egyptian youth protesting the tragic killing of Khaled Saeed, the 28-year-old Alexandrian who was beaten to death by policemen that would trigger the rapid countdown to the 2011 Egyptian revolution (See my detailed June piece Saeeds of Revolution: De-mythologizing Khaled Saeed.) The…
Op-ed: On pigtails and education
BY ASMAA EL GAMMAL Two days ago local media reported that a sixth grade school teacher in Luxor cut the hair of two of her students because they did not wear a headscarf. Accompanying the reports was a photo of a forlorn-looking little girl in pigtails and a pink backpack. At the corner of the photo, an unidentified hand points to her left pigtail, which is now clearly shorter than the right. My instinct told me that there was no need to physically point out everything that’s wrong with this picture. But it seems that sometimes, you need to point…
Op-ed: Hypocrisy or religion?
BY REHAM BARAKAT There seems to be a reverberating trend of conversation that I feel is dominating Egyptian society. This is the consistent questioning of people who display what is construed as religiosity in all its forms. It is also the questioning of individuals who are affiliated with religious parties of some sort. And here I am talking about Islam per se. The question that seems to be taking center stage is: are these people really religious or are they merely uninformed hypocrites? The reason why I am interested in this concept is because I have read, seen and heard…
Op-ed:Tahrir Square: Rent-a-thug culture
BY AMRO ALI It’s hard to imagine the above photos are two different events. Yet one took place at the turning point of the 18 day revolution, when pro-Mubarak thugs came out on Feb. 2, 2011 on horseback and camels to scare the protesters away, and the latter was on Friday, nowhere near the level of the Battle of the Camel, but disturbing enough. What they do have in common, besides the striking visual parallel, is citizen versus citizen, which has not happened at any time in between those two events. The backdrop to Friday’s case could not be any…
Op-ed: Hands off Syria?
BY HAROLD BROWN WASHINGTON, DC – More than any of the previous events in the Arab Spring, Syria’s turmoil has presented serious difficulties for Western policymakers. Just as Syria comprises a more complex society than the other Arab countries currently in the throes of political transition, so, too, are its external relations more complex. As a result, any attempt at decisive military intervention would be not only difficult, but also extremely risky. Syria’s leading role in Lebanon, even after withdrawing its occupying forces there, is only one complication. Another is Alawite-minority rule in a Sunni-majority country, which makes Syria a…
