The process of repression is outsourced to the citizenry who indirectly secure absolute power for the regime. It is a vicious cycle with the masses being both the victims as well as beneficiaries of repression.
Is the failure intentional or a result of general incompetence? Because of repression or Islamic ideology? This debate should be far from over.
The repression of the LGBT community in Egypt stems from the colonial legacy of imperialism and is driven by the middle class in its attempts to create its own version of “modernity.”
No one is keeping the Egyptian government from “fighting terrorism.” But Sisi’s rhetoric on the “right to combat” terrorism underlies his belief of an “Egyptian exceptionalism.”
There is a lack of preparedness in countering the insurgency and the wave of repression has not lead to an improved security situation, on the contrary, Cairo has now become more of a target.
Egyptians, Libyans, Tunisians, and other Arabs deserve better than to be told that they must choose between extremism and chaos or autocracy.
One can only wonder how the HRC can maintain its credibility while its member states are actively working against the council’s very raison d’être of protecting human rights.
Due to Egypt’s dire political and economic situation, pain and alienation are bound to be a feature of the lives of many for years to come.
The view that social struggle should be repressed is hindering the opposition. Unless the view of the state and its coercive apparatus changes, the chances of wide scale social transformation are limited.
The people of Egypt need to accept that they have to forge their own path to democracy, which at this point in history will most likely come at a bloody price.
في المرحلة المقبلة أمامنا طريق من اثنين، إما يبقى الفساد على ما هو عليه ويكمل في مساره ويستمر في الزيادة حتى نصل إلى مرحلة الانكسار أو يقرر المجتمع ككل بعقله الجمعي أنه هذا يكفي.
The Egyptian regime is moving decisively to close what remains of public space, dominating all aspects of political life for decades to come.
