At the beginning of the seventies, a
PhD thesis discussing Egypt modern history was debated in the department of
history at the faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University… the thesis was presented
by researcher Abdel-Khaleq Lasheen who was later was promoted to the rank of
professor… he is also one of those who believes that the materialism discipline
is the most scientific and objective discipline… and that historical
materialism is the right philosophy to interpret history.
The discussion committee was presided
by my professor and dean of the historians of modern and contemporary Egypt,
Dr. Ahmed Ezzat Abdel-Karim… and with the membership of both professor Dr.
Ahmed Abdel-Rahim Mustafa; who is also my professor and a prestigious academic
figure, and Professor Dr. Ismail Sabri Abdallah, prominent professor of
planning and economy and a distinguished figure of the Egyptian communist
movement at that time… also, a man known for his decisive and vigilant stances.
Dr. Ismail was invited as a member
from outside the faculty because he adopts the same discipline of the
researcher… and so, definitely, he would take sides with the researcher and
would not embarrass him or hesitate to grant him the highest grade.
Discussion started and it was Dr.
Ismail’s turn to debate with the researcher and then came the surprise… after
he complemented the researcher’s work, he went directly into discussing his
discipline… he said, as I can remember since I was one of the attendees for the
friendship I had with the researcher and the professors who were once my professors
as well, that the researcher has misemployed the historical material.
The point of disagreement was that
the researcher built his thesis over his vision of Saad Zaghloul as a
revolutionary leader and so, he assessed him historically according to this
trait… however, the truth and reality that are known for everyone is that Saad Zaghloul
worked as a minister, Prime Minister and MP; once as a member and another as a
chief for the parliament… in such way, he accepted to work from inside the institutions
of the ruling regime at that time and also got appointed to the highest
positions in them… meaning he was a reformist leader and not a revolutionary one.
This fault in the vision led to the
fact that the researcher tried to misemploy the historical material to prove that
the historical materialism discipline is right… later, the result was declared
and the researcher was awarded the highest grade granted by the Egyptian
universities.
I remember this scene and its
context whenever I read what some write in newspapers or hear from others over
TV… those who try to analyze president Sisi’s orientations to evaluate him and
his regime according to very radical criteria… whether those looking for
socialism or others aspiring for liberalism.
They usually start by saying that
the current regime and its head came after two popular revolutions made by the
Egyptian people to record a rare case in the history of nations… however, this people
have already revolted two consecutive times in less than three years against
Bonaparte’s campaign known as the French Campaign on Egypt at the end of the 18th
century.
As per the last two revolutions, and
as per the criteria set by those people, they decided that the president
fulfilled nothing of the revolutionary demands of the masses… like social
equality, total democracy, revolutionary transparency nationwide leaving no
chance for corruption of any kind or level… he also didn’t cut Egypt’s ties
with Israel… and didn’t establish or backed an Arab revolutionary front in the
nations that witnessed revolutions like Egypt… in order for this front to stand
against the traditional conservative one, especially that in the Arabian
Peninsula.
Moreover, they believe there are
evidences that declare and affirm there is some kind of reconciliation with Mubarak’s
regime… one of these evidences is that most cases of the toppled regime’s corrupt
figures were closed after the trials resulted in acquittals claiming the trials
were pre-planned and evidences were insufficient… as if the public prosecutor at
that time meant to submit the cases while he was sure they will be proved false…
adding that Mehleb’s cabinet, close PM to the president, also include some
figures of Mubarak’s regime and National Democratic Party (NDP)… like the
minister of housing who some describe as one of ex-minister Muhammed Ibrahim
Soliman’s loyal students…etc.
Furthermore, some leftist figures;
Arab-nationalists, Nasserists, Marxists and communists, along with some rightist
people insist on evaluating or assessing Sisi and his regime as per the revolutionary
criteria set by the agendas of the two revolutions… adopting the most radical
criteria in this regard; meaning what is written in the Left’s books… and what
is stated in the Right’s references.
Now, we remember the logic and
discipline of Dr. Ismail Sabri Abdallah… and ask: how can we read phenomena?...
how to evaluate them?... and how to interact with them?... the answer is
extremely simple… just read them as they are… paying into attention two things…
first is never to misemploy them or overburden the reality to prove the
validity of our discipline and point of view… second is never to over impose your
criteria over phenomena disregarding its composition and mechanisms.
I believe the current regime is
adopting the discipline of reform from inside the established institutions to
reach the most common consent guaranteeing not to fall down and in the same
time not to jump to the unknown.
In my opinion – without misemploying
the phenomenon or over imposing my own understandings on it – president Sisi is
going forward adopting the tactic of regular reform and putting aside the
tactic of electrical shocks – like Sadat did when he visited the Zionist state –
and standing against corruption, bureaucracy and all that can hinder development and
modernization… like he always talks of renovating Dawaa discourse.
In my opinion, we represent a model
that cannot visualize our future unless we remedy all faults of the past… we
have to admit the defects of Nasser’s and Sadat’s eras… those defects that
later developed into crimes at Mubarak’s time… we have to remedy the defects and
bridge the gaps since these three eras represent part of Egypt’s history and we
have to take moral of them.
I invite everyone to read our current
Egyptian reality on all levels… starting from the presidency palace to the
slums… as per a clear discipline… to detect the facts and changes… realizing
that we stand before a complex case; that is not a calm reform or a violent
revolution… however, we aim at fulfilling the two revolutions’ goals using
pre-planned gradual reform steps… starting from the Macro level; meaning the
Suez Canal, North Coast, nuclear energy, renovating our armed forces and combating
terrorism… and reaching to the Micro level that is almost invisible.
We shall continue later.
This article
was published in Al Ahram newspaper on April 23, 2015.
To see the
original article, go to:
#alahram
#ahmed_elgammal #Sisi #Egypt
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