WATANI International
13 March 2011
The question which begs an answer is why the political parties, rights groups, and civil society institutions appeared to have deserted the Sole scene and relinquished the ground to an Islamist figure—Sheikh Muhammad Hassan?
Fighting fire with fire
Strategic expert Emad Gad explains the matter off by claiming the ruling Military Council decided to answer the Salafis—who dominate Sole—with the same salafi extremist thought. “Sheikh Muhammad Hassaan’s fanatic thought,” Mr Gad told Watani, “is known to all, it is broadcast on satellite TV and propagated on the Internet. I believe that the Military Council was advised to resort to this long-established conventional technique of fighting fire with fire.”
Salafis had notoriously been State Security Intelligence protégés, which, according to Mr Gad, proves the old regime is still round and about. “To delegate one of the symbols of extremism in Egypt to deal with an extremist-bred predicament disturbs me,” he said. “We should all collaborate to seriously counter Salafis by the rule of law. Pro-25 January revolution movements have planned a million-person demonstration to march to Sole on Friday, and I hope this would strongly re-instate civil society on the scene.”
The million-person demonstration
For his part, writer and activist Nabil Sharafeddin told Watani that exploiting religious figures to fight religious violence was but one in a series of erroneous moves to treat the ailment, and is a replay of the scenarios adopted during the Mubarak era. It is like treating a cancer with painkillers, he said.
“The Sole incident has proved that, where the handling of sectarian violence is concerned, matters are going from bad to worse,” Mr Sharafeddin said. “How could a person who is notoriously against Copts and is a prominent leader of Salafi thought have been allowed to handle the Sole crisis?” he asked, in shock.
Civil society institutions, Mr Sharafeddin said, are engrossed with other agendas—admittedly important ones—such as state security and corruption, but overlook the vital issue of the national unity and solidarity. He stressed that the sectarian issue should be handled with transparency and candour, the only way that could lead to reconciliation.
This time, however, the Copts did not stand by helplessly. Mr Sharafeddin applauded their positive activism, even if it went against the wishes of the Church, he said. “Rights are not granted,” he said, “they are demanded, fought for, and grasped in the end.”
Just as Mr Gad did, Mr Sharafeddin had high hopes the million-person demonstration planned for Friday will prove civil society is well and alive, and can stand up to the Islamists.