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Split into two

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Yesterday I was watching the news (I spent the whole day glued to a screen, as nearly everybody sharing my love for Egypt) on a Belgian TV-channel and they happened to interview a pro-Morsi supporter from a tiny town in Southern Egypt who very clearly explained why he was ready to give up his life: for the sake of Egypt´s Islamic identity, the only identity the country has had and should have, nowadays courageously upheld by the Brotherhood. Even though one year ago Morsi pledged to be the President of all Egyptians. The surprisingly soapbox orator was bluntly revealing what is nowadays the most serious problem the historic country faces: a tale of two Egypts. My flatmate shocked me when he asked if I believed Egypt was on the verge of civil war. I instantly reacted (well, I indignantly jumped up) and pretentiously affirmed that Egypt was no Syria, that Egypt was a millennium-old country (not a country created out of the blue by former colonial powers) whose population is characterised, amongst other features, by its shared deep electrifying nationalism, the millions of flags waving in Tahrir being the most clear symbol of this. Egyptians are, above all, Egyptians rather than Arabs, Africans, Bedouins, Moors...  

Then I read this brilliant article by Nervana, casting light on the hurtful truth.

"Those Egyptians [moreover those naive foreigners like me] who were cool, balanced, and politically correct, and expected compromise from Morsi, have failed to grasp this simple fact. The Muslim brotherhood cannot compromise. This is not available in their program. How can they compromise with the other Egypt that they despise and want to abolish?".






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