Rhetoric Race and Religion
Which side in Egypt is currently on the side of the angels?
We like to imagine that in any conflict (particularly political ones) the good guys can be easily separated from the bad guys; good guys play by the rules of the game, bad guys don’t. Life is rarely that simple, of course, but the current situation in Egypt is especially complex. The cast of key characters keeps switching sides—villains have become heroes only to be rebranded as villains, and on and on.
Until the corpulent diva sings in the famous Cairo opera house, the political drama in Egypt is not over yet by a long shot.
The July military coup (for that is what it was) in Egypt has become one of the bloodiest military takeovers in recent history. Hundreds of civilians have been slain and thousands injured since the government led by Muhammad Morsi was overthrown by his former defense minister General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi.
Not too long ago, Morsi was elected to the presidency riding on the crest of popular support, reflecting massive relief on the part of the Egyptian people at Mubarak’s ouster. The people had spoken loudly and clearly. But then things began to go awry—Morsi began to overreach and adopt unpopular legal measures without proper judicial oversight. The economy began to decline, attacks on Christian minorities increased and accusations of religious authoritarianism and corruption began to surface.
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