Egypt: The return of the King?
Exiled royal proposes 'Spanish model' to restore balance in crisis-ridden country.
Tanya Goudsouzian
Last Modified: 08 Jul 2013 21:32 [Al jazeera]
In Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany's bestselling 2002 novel The Yacoubian Building,
an aging aristocrat declares: "It was a different age. Cairo was like
Europe. It was clean and smart and the people were well mannered and
respectable and everyone knew his place exactly…"
Fewer and fewer people remember Egypt as it once was, a glittering
romantic metropolis and a genuine regional hub for culture and the
arts - it is an Egypt that now only lives in the collective memory of
some exiles, the result of dictatorships both republican and Islamic.
Prince Osman Rifaat Ibrahim was barely two years old when his family
was forced to leave his native Egypt, after the 1952 Free Officers'
revolution. As members of the dynasty of Mohamed Ali, founder of modern
Egypt, they had become persona non grata. His father,
Prince Amr Ibrahim, was blacklisted as a potential threat to the new
order. He had been a high commander of the Special Police during World
War II, and enjoyed a great deal of support among certain circles. As a
grandson of Mohamed Ali's eldest son, he was viewed as a contender for
the throne.
Overnight, their family lost everything, as the state confiscated
extensive properties and all of their personal belongings, including
priceless antiques and artworks, by order of the Revolutionary Command
Council. There were three palatial homes in Cairo, three buildings in
coastal Alexandria, and vast swaths of agricultural land on which they
grew cotton, then a highly profitable crop. With nothing left in Egypt,
they went into exile, first to Italy and later to Switzerland, where
Prince Osman grew up among other Egyptian aristocrats.
Today, like the rest of the world, the 63-year-old prince watches
from afar as chaos unfolds in Egypt, wondering whether there will ever
be a happy ending to the story that began six decades ago.
"When this latest revolution started a little over two years ago, I
was hopeful that it might be the end of nearly 60 years of military
dictatorship," he told Al Jazeera. "Unfortunately it was not, and where
we are headed is gloomy."
|
Egypt is ruined and whatever regime comes in, nepotism and corruption
will prevail. The people have been cheated and, as usual, they will be
cheated again. |
On the coup d'état that
ousted President Mohamed Morsi on July 3, he reflects: "Egypt is happy,
but I wonder what for? No more Morsi, even though he was elected by a
majority. And now the army that brought him to power will find another
Morsi or Torsi. Nobody seems to understand that the army removed Hosni
Mubarak, and now they've removed Morsi. Tomorrow they will remove
someone else."
Comparing the army cadre to the Mamluks, a ruling
class of soldiers who governed Egypt from 1210-1517, and continued to
hold sway as landowners until 1811, he added: "Egypt is ruined and
whatever regime comes in, nepotism and corruption will prevail. The
people have been cheated and, as usual, they will be cheated again."
Paradise lost
Since 2001, Prince Osman has resided in Madrid, working as a
consultant for financial firms dealing with Turkey, Russia and Central
Asia. Over the years, he has attempted to take legal steps to reclaim
the property that had once belonged to his family, but he has faced
hurdles every step of the way.
"[Saudi Arabia's] King Khaled and King Fahd had intervened on our
behalf on numerous occasions, asking the Egyptians that some of the
property ought to be returned to the families. They promised but never
did anything about it," he recounted. "Whatever government comes next,
thieves do not give back what they steal.
"My mother's house was turned into a police station, and later some
Arab League office," he said, mournfully. His mother was Ottoman
Princess Nedjla Hibetullah, granddaughter of both the last Caliph Abdül
Medjid II (1922-1924) and the last Sultan Mehmet VI (1918-1922)
Today, the magnificent neo-Islamic palace that once belonged to
Prince Osman's father in Cairo's district of Gezirah has become a museum
for ceramic tiles. Known as the Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace, it was built
in 1921 by the last of the Balians, the illustrious family of Armenian
architects in the Ottoman court. By some estimates, the property may be
worth more than 200 million euros ($257m).
The Spanish model
In 1985, a few years after President Sadat reinstated their
passports, Prince Osman travelled to Egypt for the first time since his
forcible exile.
"The atmosphere had been described to me so well that it felt like I
had never left," he recalled. "But certainly the country had changed.
The city was falling apart. And you could see the onset of what has
happened in most Middle Eastern cities today… The unruly constructions,
which destroy everything of what used to be a very nice city."
Asked what he thought would be the solution to Egypt's malaise,
Prince Osman cited the example of Spain, which successfully reinstated
its monarchy following a devastating civil war and an era of fascist
dictatorial rule. It now enjoys a viable democratic system.
"The dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco chose the actual king
Juan Carlos de Borbon as his successor, to reestablish democracy in the
country and it worked. If this were done in Egypt - it might make people
smile, but I believe that, especially the youth, with whom I have
talked a lot, would receive it well," he said.
|
A neutral person above all parties concerned is a real factor of
stability. Restoring the monarchy would certainly do that. A king is
above parties, he unites the nation. |
While he conceded that the final days of King Farouk's reign may have
damaged the reputation of the Egyptian monarchy, he claimed that many
of the shocking reports that contributed to destroying the deposed
monarch were vastly exaggerated by British and US agents.
"The Spanish model is certainly an option, because it worked. A
neutral person above all parties concerned is a real factor of
stability. Restoring the monarchy would certainly do that. A king is
above parties, he unites the nation. The reputation of the royal family
is not tarnished in Egypt, suffice it to see the hundreds of blogs on
the net. Quite the contrary, the lies said against it for all these
years are now fully perceived," said Prince Osman, himself co-author of Mehemet Ali Le Grand ["The Great Mohamed Ali"], published in France and Egypt in 2005.
An implausible dream?
John Bell, a former Canadian diplomat in Egypt, dismisses this option as "not plausible".
"Monarchy… has no real and deep roots in Egypt - the pharaoh complex
is another matter altogether, and in this context of desire for freedoms
and end to any authoritarianism, Mubarak or Muslim Brothers, these
ideas are fanciful," he told Al Jazeera.
Ironically, in the view of many Egyptians today, that role of
impartial overseer proposed by Prince Osman is already taken. They
suggest that the army fulfills the function of impartial overseer of
Egyptian politics - notwithstanding the controversy over the July 3
coup.
"I don't think the monarchy is associated with neutrality in Egyptian
political culture today," said Pascale Ghazaleh, an Egyptian historian.
"The army was able to take that role after 1952, presenting itself as
the corporate institution most capable of representing society as a
whole, against the particular interests and corruption of the monarchy
and the Wafd, and that legacy still seems strong today."
In 2005, Ghazaleh's mother, Fayza Hassan, penned her memoirs, A Flight of Kites: Growing Out of the Nasser Years, chronicling life for Egypt's elites after the 1952 revolution.
"My family were certainly no supporters of [Gamal Abdel] Nasser, although my parents stayed on until 1967, though the nationaliations cost my father his job," recalled Ghazaleh, an associate professor of history at the American University in Cairo. "I recall my mother saying that they would meet their friends at the Gezirah Club and run their hands under the table to make sure that there were no microphones planted there. She also told me that intelligence personnel would come on the line while she was speaking on the telephone and shout 'stop speaking French!'
"My family were certainly no supporters of [Gamal Abdel] Nasser, although my parents stayed on until 1967, though the nationaliations cost my father his job," recalled Ghazaleh, an associate professor of history at the American University in Cairo. "I recall my mother saying that they would meet their friends at the Gezirah Club and run their hands under the table to make sure that there were no microphones planted there. She also told me that intelligence personnel would come on the line while she was speaking on the telephone and shout 'stop speaking French!'
"Was this class paranoia, or my mother's love of a good dramatic
story? There was probably some truth to it, even if reality was not
quite as vivid as she depicted it. But the 1967 war was what made up my
father's mind: the extent of the government's lies, and the magnitude of
the defeat, proved unbearable."
'More pain and hardship'
Whether or not the proposal to reinstate the monarchy catches on, for
the time being, Prince Osman is channelling his efforts into education
projects. He serves as president of the Lisbon-based Royal Institute of
Mohamed Ali, which facilitates scholarships at universities in Europe in
specialisations relevant to Egypt and other countries affiliated with
the institution.
The Royal Institute also sponsors exhibitions and publications on the
legacy of Mohammed Ali (1805-1848), and that of this dynasty, with
special emphasis on literature, art, and religious tolerance.
And what does he expect will come of all these revolutions and counter-revolutions rocking his native country?
"I see more pain and hardship, I am not optimistic at all.
Nevertheless, one has to put his trust in the youth of Egypt. They are
the ones who can influence its future," he said.
"I believe that when one starts an uprising or a revolution, one must
go to the end. The people trusted the army, and they were wrong."
Follow Tanya Goudsouzian on Twitter: @ummanais
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Egypt's Islamist divide
The coup against president Mohamad Morsi has exposed fissures in political Islam.
Dahlia Kholaif
Last Modified: 07 Jul 2013 17:19 [Al jazeera]
Cairo, Egypt - Stunning events
over the past few days have shown Egypt is sharply polarised between
conservative Muslims on one side, and young, secular liberals on the
other, but also exposed serious divisions among Islamists themselves.
Dozens have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in clashes after president Mohamed Morsi was overthrown by the military last week, a year after he came to power through the country's first democratic elections.
Morsi supporters have taken to the street chanting verses from
the holy Koran and praying for "martyrdom" in their quest to reinstate
the president, a long-time Muslim Brotherhood leader. Noticeably missing
from the demonstrations are the Brotherhood’s former Islamist allies
from the Al-Nour and Salafi Call parties.
The Salafis - who adhere to an ultraconservative interpretation
of Islam - had been Brotherhood backers since the 2011 revolt that
toppled autocratic president Honsi Mubarak, whose regime had oppressed
all Islamist factions during his hardline rule.
|
It's not an ideological nor a religious conflict, but a political
one. The Nour and Salafi Call parties feel betrayed. They have endorsed
Morsi ... but the Brotherhood would not share. |
After demonstrations against Morsi heated up late last month,
the Salafis bailed out on the Brotherhood, with the Nour Party - Egypt’s
second-largest religious force - even supporting the military coup
against him.
The two Salafist parties have upheld a "roadmap" imposed by the
army that replaced Morsi with an interim president, suspended the
Islamist-drafted constitution, and called for early elections.
Some observers see the split as payback by the Salafis for
perceived Muslim Brotherhood slights as they shared the reins of Egypt’s
government over the past year.
"It's not an ideological nor a religious conflict, but a
political one," explained Khalil al-Anani, a political analyst at Dunham
University.
"The Nour and Salafi Call parties feel betrayed. They have
endorsed Morsi as a presidential candidate, and in November supported
the constitution shaped by the Brotherhood, all in exchange for more
power. But the Brotherhood would not share," he told Al Jazeera.
Hundreds of thousands of Morsi supporters have taken to the streets
across the country in recent days, in defiance of a declaration made by
the army's chief General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi. Angry crowds have engaged in deadly confrontations with Morsi opponents, and the violence is showing no signs of abating.
'No rift'
While the Salafis supported the army’s move to remove Morsi,
one political insider denied to Al Jazeera that there was a split among
Islamists.
"There are no rifts, the Islamist bloc is solid and unified," said Mohamed Hassaan from the Salafi Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya party, a Morsi-ally. "Nour Party is not that influential anyway, and their defection isn't significant."
But the analyst Anani disagreed, highlighting the 2012
elections in which Nour won 25 percent of the seats and became the
second-biggest party in the legislature. "After the Brotherhood's fall,
Nour is currently the strongest Islamic political party in the country,"
he said.
The Muslim Brotherhood held about 50 percent of the seats in the now-dissolved assembly.
Gehad el-Haddad, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, said Nour had
lost much of its political base after siding with the military overthrow
of Morsi.
"The Nour Party has lost most of its supporters and members
over the past period," Haddad told Al Jazeera. "In statesmanship,
military coups are the highest levels of treason, and those who support
them are traitors."
But the Nour Party said Morsi left it with no choice, alleging
he declined moves aimed ending a months-long row that had festered
between the parties.
"Egypt was on the brink of a civil war and he was not accepting
any proposals or compromises that would save the situation," Ashraf
Thabet, a Nour member and former legislator, told Al Jazeera.
"We were always supporters of Morsi's legitimacy as an elected
president, but things kept getting worse and nothing was done about it,"
he said.
Morsi, 61, rapidly won the animosity of secular and liberal
movements shortly after he came to office in June 2012. He was accused
of marginalising them, breaking promises made in electoral speeches,
bolstering Islamists' authority in the country, and worsening an
already-deteriorating economy.
Foundations shaken
The unhappiness surrounding his rule culminated in massive
protests that overflowed Cairo's Tahrir Square and other parts of the
country starting June 30, until the army stepped in last Wednesday and
ousted Morsi.
"The ideological grounds which the Muslim Brotherhood had of
democracy being the correct way to rule is now shaking," the group’s
spokesman Haddad said. "We're now receiving comments of, ‘We've told you
so, democracy is not for Muslims,’" he said.
And the threat of violence continues throughout the country with spirited protests and counter demonstrations each day.
Islamist militias on the Sinai peninsula have vowed to
retaliate against the Egyptian army for Morsi’s removal. A Coptic priest
was shot and killed in the region on Saturday, and five security force
members died Friday after checkpoints came attack in Rafah, on the
Egyptian-Palestinian border.
|
The ideological grounds which the Muslim Brotherhood had of democracy
being the correct way to rule is now shaking. We're now receiving
comments of, 'We've told you so, democracy is not for Muslims.'" |
"The significant part of the Islamist youth have lost faith in
democracy," the analyst Anani said. "They've found themselves facing two
options: either to resort to violence, as was the case in Algeria, or
adopt a different ideology like in the Turkish scenario. I hope they’ll
be wise and realistic."
Anani said Morsi’s ouster will lead to further fissures among
Islamist groups. "More divisions are bound to happen among political
Islamists. We will see more fractures among Morsi supporters and more
members will split from the Nour Party. These developments have put
political Islam in Egypt at stake."
Islamist parties have been the biggest winners since the Arab
Spring swept over the region in 2011. In Tunisia, the Muslim Brotherhood
linked Ennahda Party that holds power is also facing demands for
political change.
Nour's Thabet said like any political entity, his party will
continue participating in Egypt’s political scene "although our main
focus at the moment is to end the bloodshed".
Hassaan from the Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya party, meanwhile, ruled out the army's "roadmap", saying it would never work without the support of Islamists.
"It's impossible for such massive protests staged by Islamists to be ignored," he said.
Asked if the Brotherhood would reemerge as a political force,
Haddad replied, "We're the Muslim Brotherhood, there is no worst case
scenario for us. We press till our demands are met."
But Anani said he wasn’t so sure a comeback by any Islamist party was in the cards.
"The game is over for Islamists now. They will not be able to
come back to power at the moment, and they must learn from their
lessons, change their ideologies and look ahead," he said.
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Egypt: Is political Islam dead?
Double standards abound in post-coup Egypt, where the Islamists suffer from the very abuses secularists claim to revile.
Last Modified: 08 Jul 2013 10:16 [Al jazeera]
Yet, after the military coup in Egypt, so many commentators have jumped to the conclusion that political Islam has been dealt a deathblow from which such movements will never recover. This could have been the case if Morsi was defeated in the ballot box, or if he was forced to resign through a persistent and patient movement of civil disobedience. Now that the Egyptian army has upheld the long honoured tradition of authoritarian societies by overthrowing a civilian government the picture has changed dramatically. Now that the streets of Egypt have once again become drenched with the blood of civilians and the prisons have become full of political dissidents, the losers and winners must be assessed in a very different way.
The reality is that the Muslim Brotherhood believed in the political process and tried to practice it. Like the Salvation Front of Algeria before them, they believed that democracy and Islamism are reconcilable, and that it is possible to build an overlapping moral consensus with non-Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood were consistently accused of being exclusionary and of functioning with a tribal mentality. Ironically, their opponents adopted a no less exclusionary discourse of calling the Muslim Brotherhood fascists and Nazis - an accusation as bad as being called infidels or sinners. While the Muslim Brotherhood showed that they are no angels and are subject to all the flaws of political competitors, Egyptian secularists once again demonstrated that their commitment to human rights and civil values is fickle at best.
Egyptian secularists were outraged when the comedian Bassem Youssef was harassed by Morsi’s government, but were blissfully untroubled when the only television station owned by the Brotherhood was closed down without legal cause or process.
They were outraged when Morsi infringed upon the non-existing integrity and independence of the Egyptian Supreme Court, but the same secularists are blissfully untroubled when the military abrogates a constitution that was passed by a popular vote, and hands over executive, legislative, and judicial power to a judge who boasts a long career of service to Mubarak’s authoritarian regime. Worst of all, Egyptian secularists were outraged when an anti-Morsi demonstrator was injured or killed but are shockingly unperturbed when those killed are suspected of being Islamists or pro-Islamists.
What has been dealt a deathblow after the Egyptian coup is moderate Islamism. What has been dealt a deathblow and has become a stale joke is the idea of human rights in Egypt. The so-called liberal secularists have once again showed themselves to be more than willing to forget about lofty principles when it comes to checkmating their Islamist opponents.
The so-called liberal secularists of Egypt exploit the language of democracy and human rights in the same way that Islamists exploit the symbols of Islam and the values of Shariah. Both preach what they do not practice, and both behave in ways that completely undermine what they preach.
So who emerges as the winner in Egypt? The people? I don’t think so. After the coup, hundreds of people have been injured, killed and imprisoned and many, many more are yet to come. Force begets force and despotism has a remarkable way of perpetuating itself, like a lethal cancer. The military, as always, emerges with its traditional privileges and powers intact. The horrendously savage security forces of Egypt emerge as winners.
Sadly, it is the so-called liberal secularists who have sent a resounding message to these security forces by looking the other way as they kill, arrest, and torture the right people this time. Suddenly, the secularists of Egypt are no longer talking about the police atrocities that sparked this revolution in the first place. No one is talking about the rights of Khaled Said and others who have been tortured to death. Indeed during the anti-Morsi demonstrations the great revolutionaries carried officers from amn al-dawla on their shoulders and gleefully cheered the people and the police are one hand.
Perhaps some have noticed that one faction of Islamists refused to support Morsi. It is the same faction that is adored by Saudi Arabia, and the same faction that produced Bin Laden. Saudi Arabia did everything it could to undermine a government that believes Islam can be reconciled with democracy. But the Islamists that have emerged unscathed and that will continue thrive are Wahhabi Muslims who do not believe in democracy and do not believe in civil and human rights. They are the Islamists who will continue to work to root a Saudi style theocracy in Egypt.
Khaled Abou El Fadl is the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law and Chair of the Islamic Studies Interdepartmental Program at UCLA.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
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