Lessons of the Arab Spring

Alaa Al-Aswani is one of Egypt's leading public
 intellectuals. I transcribe his weekly columns
 at Deutsche Welle for future reference.

Nine years have passed since the January revolution, which, according to historians ’testimony, is the greatest revolution in modern Egyptian history after the 1919 revolution

The January Revolution took place for bread, freedom, and human dignity, and despite the many attempts to distort the revolution, it remained alive in the hearts of the millions of Egyptians who made it, and in return, you will find those who hate and curse the January Revolution. The haters of the January revolution in Egypt are divided into the following types:

1. The sovereign citizen

This citizen is an officer in a sovereign authority (the army, police or intelligence) and he has grown up and knows that his position is much higher than that of civilian citizens. The sovereign has become accustomed to being above the law and has overwhelming influence over him at any moment. As soon as he enters anywhere and announces his personality, everyone will compete in his favor, even if it is at the expense of justice and law. With a phone call, he can harm anyone he does not like, and his mediation ensures that his children and relatives are appointed to the most important jobs even if they are not qualified for them. His high standing exempts him from the obligations that apply to the rest of the citizens. For example, he never pays traffic violations, and with his influence he can obtain loans from banks, lands at cheap prices, and facilities for payment.
He considers himself to be a master of the people and consequently he hates the revolution because it will take away his influence and make him just a state employee who is subject to the law like others.

2- The simplified citizen

This citizen has made a huge fortune that made him enjoy a delicious lavish life as he lives in a villa in an upscale neighborhood like Al-Tajmuah or Sheikh Zayed and he spends summer in a villa on the northern coast, and he may send his children to learn in the best western universities, and he, despite his wealth, has contracted with a skilled accountant who makes him pay taxes Few don't match his fortune. This citizen hates the revolution because it will lead to change, and he knows that any change in Egypt will harm him. The revolution will subject him to the law and compel him to pay the taxes due on him in full, and may hold him accountable for the sources of his wealth.

3- The corrupt citizen

With the spread of the corruption system in all parts of Egypt, the corrupt citizen who made his fortune from bribery and plundering public money appeared. This citizen naturally hates the revolution because it will definitely lead to his trial and the confiscation of his wealth and his imprisonment on charges of corruption.

4- The beneficiary citizen

This citizen is not directly corrupt, but he is a beneficiary of corruption. For example, he is a professor in the College of Medicine who uses his influence to appoint his children to return to college, despite their poor level of education. He is the businessman who uses his influence to obtain massive loans from banks with few guarantees and he is the influential person who can appoint his children in the best positions even if their qualifications are weak. He is an unemployed journalist for talent, but his cooperation with the intelligence granted him the position of editor-in-chief, who is the journalist who earns millions from his television program, which implements intelligence instructions, insults opponents of the regime and accuses them of treachery, while striving in the hypocrisy of President Sisi and praising his greatness and genius. The beneficiary citizen hates the revolution because it will seriously harm him and prevent him from the benefits he enjoys

5- The settled citizen

This citizen has long believed that it is useless to reform this country, and therefore his world is limited to his work and family. He does not read newspapers and does not follow the news on television, and he is often religious, but he is condemned as a procedural form that never pushes him to fight injustice and defend the truth while he is fond of football because - in addition to its enjoyment - he saturates his feeling of belonging in a safe way and also makes him enjoy justice while watching a match during which all players are subject to Transparent rules. Citizen, a stable citizen, does not see anything in the world except to eat his livelihood and the purpose of his life is to obtain a rewarding work contract in the Gulf in order to create a wealth in which he raises his children and teaches them the best education, then he gets to his son a work contract as well and gets his daughter a good groom to cover and make him happy. A stable citizen hates the revolution because it confuses his personal project and disrupts him. He considers the youth of the revolution a group of fools because he really does not understand why any person sacrifices his eating and endures imprisonment for vague, gelatinous meanings such as freedom, justice and dignity.

6 - The terrified citizen

This citizen possesses a real panic from the fall of Egypt in chaos or in the hands of Islamic extremists. He believes in the saying of jurists: "Sultan Ghoshum is better than sedition that lasts"
He repeats every day that Egypt has been protected by God because we have not become like Syria and Iraq. He hates the revolution and is terrified of the possibility of it occurring as if it were a natural disaster.
This assortment of revolution haters will be found around you everywhere as they accuse the revolution of all the accusations made by the intelligence media. There is absolutely no point in discussing with them because they hate the revolution with fanaticism and from within them not because of a wrong idea that can be corrected but rather they hate it as much as they love their interests and privileges.
The haters of the revolution are all supporters of Sisi, for nothing but because they believe that he will destroy the revolution and prevent its recurrence. They ignore torture, arrests, and all violations of the system, justify and applaud everything that Sisi says or does, that history teaches us that haters of the revolution are just like Sisi standing on the losing side of life because the revolution is not defeated and does not die and one day it will triumph because it belongs to the future and no one will ever be able to It prevents the future. .

Democracy is the solution

~~~

The self-immolation of a street vendor in 2011 set that January Revolution in motion. Ignited in part by social media it spread to Egypt and beyond, taking various forms along with a resurgence of Al Qaeda and the formation of ISIS and hitting serious resistance in Syria. A renewed outbreak of war in the region overshadowed the small gains of the revolution which included an end to the Mubarak era, followed by a brief exercise in Egyptian democracy. Since then the "revolution" has been undermined by yet another military dictatorship.