Cairo, Egypt-Although only brief in time, the Muslim Brotherhood reign in Egypt has caused a great rift in Egyptian society leaving a gaping wound difficult to heal. Beside the negative economic, political, security conditions in Egypt now, the most serious drawbacks resulted from the breakdown of social relationships.
Egyptian society now is deeply divided. This division is no longer limited to political parties or political rivals, but evident right down to the family level.
Divorce based along political lines is now common in Egypt where husbands defend the Brotherhood and women criticize them, or vice versa. A father expels his son because of their different opinions of the Brotherhood, or a Mother boycotts her daughter because of their constant arguments on politics or the army and the Brotherhood or ongoing verbal battles in defense of el Sisi or Morsi.
Just read the newspapers to see a brother assault his brother and almost kill him because their political discussion ended with a physical clash. People here are getting used to seeing fisticuffs and hearing passionate conversations between passengers on in public transport.
Heated discussions have also ventured into mosques and churches. We see moderate Muslim going to pray, casting suspicious looks at other Muslims who have long beards. Among Christians, there are supporters of the Army or of Morsi and opponents of both.
In the workplace, if the employer is a liberal or a supporter of the army, he expels the workers and employees who are suspected to belonging to, or even having sympathy for the Brotherhood. Employers with Brotherhood sympathies stop hiring supporters of el Sisi.
In schools, owned by members of the Brotherhood, they have cancelled the morning flag ceremony, a ritual in schools for decades. Books are now being reviewed by the Ministry of Education fearing that the Brotherhood may have inserted text that can be used to gain sympathy for the group or their ousted president.
Everywhere you find supporters of the army accusing supporters of the Brotherhood of treason and misusing religion and trading with the blood of Egyptians and working for foreign agendas.
Brotherhood sympathizers accuse others with lack of faith, infidelity and also working for foreign agendas!
Clergymen are divided between supporters and opponents, both accuse each others of heresy and ignorance and that they’re using religion for their own personal interests. Al-Azhar, which has been the source of Islamic teachings for a thousand years, is now accused of working for the authority and even against religion… with loud demands for the Brotherhood to arrest and even assassinate the Grand Imam.
On the Internet, we find that social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter and others are sharply divided into “with and against”. It is typical to find quarrels and insults between supporters and opponents on the social media. Hackers have begun attacking sites in order to silence them.
It seems that this situation will continue for many years, the genie of the Muslim Brotherhood is out of the bottle, which imprisoned it for decades. Their work is now on the surface and in public after 80 years of working underground in secret. The organization now boasts its numbers of supporters and its strength with having money and arms and branches in more than 60 countries around the world. It also believes that it has the right to rule Egypt and that it has the legitimacy that the current government lacks. The organization has the power and international relations that can lead to change in many countries in both the East and the West.
Adding to the discord, the current Prime Minister is an elderly man, who is quivering and weak-- fearing to implement the court's decision that puts the Brotherhood organization on the list of terrorist groups, and fearing to make a crucial decision to prevent further Brotherhood demonstrations, which always end with violence, burning buildings, cars, the killing police officers and vicious attacks on private citizens!
It seems that the government and the Brotherhood are playing a cat and mouse game. We hear talk from here or there hinting about reconciliation and the necessity of negotiating to end this political crisis and its danger to the country. The next day we find the Brotherhood denies their acceptance of reconciliation and that they’ll continue their protests until they regain power again and return Morsi to the presidency!
We find some Brotherhood members talking about the acceptance for reconciliation and forming a government mixed between the Brotherhood and other political forces until the parliamentary elections, but we find the government denies it will be a part of any negotiations with the terrorist Brotherhood, which is causing havoc and spilling blood in the streets!
This conflict will endure unless the government takes a decisive stand against the Brotherhood organization and declares it on the list of terrorist groups; confiscates its assets and prevents any public affiliation with the banned group.
I do not say that this will eliminate the group, because this group has been able to continue during 80 years of oppression, and it will not end soon or by similar procedures, but at least it will end its negative influence on the Egyptian street and the economy. The citizens will feel safe and tourists may return to Egypt as well as investors.
And then, people will know that the presence of this group was the reason for the massive economic damage, and that life without the Brotherhood is more secure and comfortable. It will be much easier then to finish the Brotherhood in Egypt with a knockout.
