Islam, democracy and soldiers: Egypt’s tragedy. Why the Western Media are Getting Egypt Wrong. Western media coverage of the massive waves of protests in Egypt over the past two days is revealing of a number of problems that plague knowledge production about the Arab world. As crowds across the country were just warming up for the historic protests, around midday on 30 June, reports from Cairo appearing on Western broadcast and online news outlets focused on projecting an image of “polarization.”
Rallies opposing the Muslim Brotherhood were represented as being balanced out, and in some cases even outnumbered, by the demonstration in favor of President Mohamed Morsi. The likelihood of violent clashes were carefully embedded within the news as a main characteristic of the current political situation in Egypt. As the day went by, the 30 June anti-Morsi demonstrations turned out to probably be the largest ever in Egyptian history, with Egyptians from all walks of life peacefully, yet audaciously, denouncing the Brotherhood’s rule.
[This article originally appeared on Mada Masr] Checkmate for Morsi. Egypt, Be Careful What You Wish For. The Honeymoon Is Over. “Let us savour the moment now, and we’ll worry about the future later,” some Egyptians said yesterday hours after Egypt’s military had ousted the country’s president Mohammed Morsi. Led by General Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the army – backed by the heads of Al Azhar, the Coptic Church and Mohamed ElBaradei - moved swiftly and confidently to suspend the country’s Constitution and create an interim government. Crowds erupted in cheers and screams. Some say the military was working on behalf of the people of Egypt and that the country’s first democratically elected president had to go. Others say the army’s decision was carefully orchestrated, and cannot be described as anything but a military coup. But as the jubilant atmosphere of Tahrir Square begins to fade, there is one certainty: Egypt’s economy must be made an absolute priority, or risk repeating this scenario in another 12 months.
This is really a mirage. In fact there are many more questions now lingering: Interview with Cairo-Based Journalist, Ahmad Shokr, about the Political Dynamics in Egypt. One year after his inauguration, Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammad Morsi is now being referred to as Egypt’s former president. A petition campaign called Tamarrod was instrumental in catalyzing the 30 June protests. Tamarrod's campaign was initiated on 28 April 2013 by a group of young people whose goal was to remove President Morsi because they believed that he had failed to fulfill the mandate given to him by the people.
On 30 June 2013, over fifteen million Egyptians took to the streets to call for President Mosi’s resignation. The anti-Morsi protests continue in several Egyptian cities, the protestor's demands developing as Egypt's Defence minister Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi announced the ousting of president Mohammad Morsi, the temporary suspension of Egypt's constitution, and the creation of a caretaker government headed by the Chief Justice of the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, who will set a date for early presidential elections.
Egypt's Revolution Enters a New Phase. Following four days of mass protests, Muhammad Morsi’s one-year presidency abruptly came to an end on Wednesday this week. The head of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, was sworn in as interm president on Thursday. According to footage aired live on Egyptian satellite channel ONTv, (via Cairo-based news agency Mada Masr,) The interim president asserted that he was looking forward to quickly holding another round of presidential and parliamentary elections that would reflect “the real will of the people, not a forged one.” Technically speaking, Morsi’s removal from office was a coup d’état: a forced seizure of power by the military from an elected president. But this was only made possible by the millions of Egyptians who took to the streets to protest what many see as the Muslim Brotherhood’s ineptitude at managing the transition to a more inclusive political and economic order.
As The Guardian Middle East editor Brian Whitaker notes Has democracy been sabotaged?