For many years, the Heart of Jesus abbey
in Heliopolis used to welcome a number of intellectuals interested in the
public work and national unity. The committee of justice and peace used to
promote a distinguished national activity and both late George Agaybi and Ahmed
Abdallah Rozza – May they rest in peace – were pioneers in such activity.
Year after year, the number increased
until guests became in tens. We used to meet around Iftar meal in
Ramadan cooked by the nuns themselves where the dignified Catholic abbess;
Mother Mary Georgette used to welcome us with her shining face, wonderful smile
and deep-in-meaning words. Bishop Hanna Qalta was also keen to attend every
year and late Patriarch Istafanos once came himself.
The gathering grew from a narrow discussion
group around tea and coffee cups and Kunafah and desserts plates, into a
big seminar with a stage, main speaker and commentators. I still remember these
meetings carved in my mind and I have not lost contact with the monastery through
the phone calls I receive from the respected abbess Alcer Bodoor.
I write this introduction about those
days because it happened once, about ten years ago, in a seminar that we sat as
usual after the main lecture in a sitting in the spacious terrace looking over
the monastery garden before we leave. The lecturer went in talking and receiving
questions. I was the last to ask him. I apologized in advance for what I was
going to say and then started asking the man about something that looked
personal at first glance as I said: aren’t you sick of all this? The man answered:
sick of what exactly? I said: of making yourself at use for every regime as a
known intellectual and prestigious scientist in your field. I went on and said:
you remember when you were a member in an Islamic political group then you joined
the July 23rd revolution regime. It is also said that you are one of
the founders of Young Cadres’ organization and that you were an important figure
in the ideology and thought secretariat of the Socialist Union. After this, you
became closer to Sadat’s regime and worked in the youth and media domain and
assumed the office as a minister.
You also remember when you supported
the youth of the Islamic movement in the Egyptian universities after Sadat
decided to augment their role to oppose the Nasserist ideology and Marxist
movement, and that one day you went with a group of Ain Shams University
students to meet President Sadat in Burg el-Arab on Thursday September
20th, 1973. I bet you also remember that you once said you feel
really sad because you do not know why they appointed you a minister and why you
were later dismissed…
And here you are now… working with
Mubarak’s regime, and so my question to you may seem to be more stating regarding
why you are not feeling sick, because these regimes take you, voluntarily, as a
model to disrespect intellectuals and ridicule scientists. I added: I would
like to tell you that most Egyptians know very well those faces that serve all
regimes, one after one, and so they do not trust any official sign those faces
work under its name; whether this sign was a ministry, organization or an
article in a newspaper. To be honest, the man immediately answered: you are
right. Then, priest Hanna Qalta ended the sitting session with utmost courtesy.
Yes… it is the eternal specimen of
those professional of getting close to any regime, no matter the orientations
of that regime are; socialist, capitalist, autocratic or corrupt… resisting or
in peace with Israel… opposing America and the West or serving them… what is
important for this specimen is to stay close to decision makers.
It is also OK for this specimen to
make up a task for themselves that no one assigned them to do, in order to stay
under the spotlights, pretending to be the wise people sought after by nations
in their historic moments and political hardships… despite they know very well
that all parties know they are making up this role to stay under the lights and
to protect themselves, their families and interests from any violent changes
that may affect their positions at the slightest degree.
Yes… it is the same specimen that do
not hesitate to appear these days for the 50th time after they felt
that our beloved Egypt is going to witness dramatic changes that will overthrow
both muslim brotherhood and manipulation of religions in serving political
targets. Here, I say that no one or no society has the capacity to get rid of
this specimen and that such specimen will stay as long as humans have instincts
and behaviors.
I believe the ruler may start to look
immuned against corruption and so he declares that shroud has no pockets to
keep the fortunes he might steal out of corruption… he may also seem immuned
against opportunists and declare that he is what he is and that he has no
ambition to be the X leader or Y president, to cut the road before all those
who want to make him believe he is greater than X and Y… however, by time, the
ruler starts to have a bit of disinclination towards those true to or advising
him, then this later develops into overt aversion when he ignores and not
invite or listen to them like he used to do before.
And so, according to the law of
communicating vessels, that specimen we mentioned starts to fill the gap and
knows exactly the right moment to step forward. It also knows the right type of
discourse to address the ruler, and so they start with flattering… after this, that
discourse turns into total support, praise and exaggeration in describing the
greatness of the ruler. However, such specimen cannot dare to remind the ruler
that two destinies await him… either death or revolution.
The country is in bad need of those
who enlighten the way before the coming president; the one I believe shall have
the ability to read the whole scene, including this specimen. Any coming president
is not asked to curse this specimen. He is not also required to work with those
attacking and opposing without having a plan to follow. In my opinion, he shall
just do his job. He shall let the state institutions do their roles, including
evaluating policies of the executive authority and the presidency as well, as
per stated by the constitution and laws.
The most dangerous that the coming
president may face is that this specimen would be able to distract him from his
mission. They will be like the weevils gnawing the ruling regime basis, and so
after it collapses – either by the ruler’s death or revolution against him –
they will be the first to curse the ousted regime, like we ourselves witnessed after
Nasser’s death, Sadat’s assassination, Mubarak’s toppling and Mursi’s oust. By the
way, this model I presented at the beginning of this article is still present and
accusing anyone disagreeing with him of being a snitch and that all written against
him is nothing but filing a report for security entities about him.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in Al Ahram
newspaper on January 30, 2014.
To see the original article, go to:
#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt
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