By Hassan Elsawaf

The foundation of any liberal movement is a solid civil society. Many outsiders argue that Egypt does not have a solid civil society and, therefore, does not qualify for democracy as that would herald religious zealots in the political scene followed by certain anarchy.
By now, even the most conservative sceptics are aware that there is a strong movement to build a responsible civil society. They are also aware that the government is doing everything in its power to suppress it. There is no doubt that the Egyptian people yearn for freedom and, if not intimidated by the authorities, would build up a civil society worthy of the history and heritage of this great country. The ingredients are there: a sophisticated intelligentsia, a well-educated population and a high degree of frustration with the festering military regime that has been gutting this country for the last fifty three years.
Some countries have well-entrenched and indisputable democratic systems, others are clear dictatorships. Egypt appears to have contracted schizophrenia, desperately vying to be seen as a member of the former while plainly belonging to the latter.
Syria and Libya can hardly be described as liberal. At least they have not bothered investing too much time in promoting a democratic façade. In Egypt we seem to thrive on double standards. We sign a peace treaty with Israel to get our land back and a nice financial package to boot, but we continue to do everything in our power to tarnish the image of Israel and the Americans, blaming them for everything from the September 11 attacks to our problems with religious extremism. We relish touting our system as law-abiding and fair, yet everything emanating from the authorities indicates that the unspoken policy is to mercilessly persecute and harass dissidents.
Many westerners actually believe that Egypt espouses democratic values. After all, Egypt has been a strong advocate of peace and stability in the region and is generally seen as a ‘moderate’ country, whatever that means. Superficiality allows those westerners to overlook flagrant abuses of power and to ignore violations of human rights the U.S. embassy regularly reports. They even believe that supporting a corrupt regime can curb the threat of fundamentalism.
Based on the conspicuous tormenting of several institutions and individuals promoting the concept of a strong civil society, it is obvious the Egyptian government is doing everything in its power to spread intimidation and fear. Many Egyptians are grateful that the brutality of the regime is far less lethal than it was under Nasser, implying that we should not push for too much. Indeed, under Nasser, dissidents like Saadeddine Ibrahim or Abdel Haleem Kandeel would not be alive today. To the appeasers I say that today’s relative leniency is not because the authorities have suddenly experienced pangs of conscience rendering them more compassionate. It is because Egypt’s misbehaviour on the human rights front has placed it at the centre of the international spotlight of human rights organisations and, consequently, at the receiving end of much Western pressure to reform and be nicer to its people.
Civil society will only get stronger if we all join the ‘kifaya’ movement and demand to be treated like human beings for a change. Our regime is a bully, by definition a coward. They do not understand what a polite request means.

helsawaf@hotmail.com