Thursday, 9 January 2014

Egypt In Crisis

Egypt since its birth as a state has been a regional power. After the 2011 protests and the ousting of Hosni Mubarak, the dictator, Egypt has seen a lot of violence and bloodshed. The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist party, had a major part to play in the ousting of Mubarak, and was seen as the successor to lead Egypt out of the crisis. Muhammad Morsi, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood took power after democratically being elected by the Egyptian people. After taking over the office, Muhammad Morsi started to grant himself more power, and sink the military leadership, which was the main power of Hosni Mubarak. Morsi asked the top military generals to retire and appointed Abdul Fattah el-Sisi as the new defence minister. Muhammad Morsi continued to grant himself more power in the coming weeks and was met with a hostile reaction from the Egyptian people. Hundreds of thousands of people started to protest at the presidential palace against the new powers that Morsi granted himself. The military and police, who were against Muhammad Morsi for his Islamist views, allowed the protests to surge to the palace walls. The protests started to get bigger and bigger, and saw a return at the Tahrir Square, two years after the ousting of Mubarak. The people were protesting against Morsi on the two year anniversary of Mubarak`s ousting at Tahrir Square. As the protests gained media attention and publicity, the military threatened to intervene if Morsi did not take the right course of action. There was no change in the peoples say, and the protests continued. The military, under the leadership of Sisi, gave a 48-hour warning to Morsi, threatening to intervene in the issue if a political solution was not reached. Morsi replied with ``I will not let anyone to dispute my legitimacy. This is unacceptable. Unacceptable! ``. 

This caused a huge confrontation between the military and The Muslim Brotherhood. Muhammad Morsi`s supporters took to the streets to protest against the military for unjustly removing a democratically elected leader. The military replied with crushing the protests with violence and bloodshed. Recent protests were crushed with heavy armoury and tanks of the army. The military killed around 1000 people in one day of the protests, running over people with tanks and armoured vehicles to show a message to Morsi`s supporters. Morsi was removed from office by the military and put under house arrest. The military issued arrest warrants for over 300 Muslim brotherhood officials. Muhammad Morsi is currently under trial with many charges. The violence between Muhammad Morsi`s supporters and the military has been increasing. Morsi supporters demand an end to the military dictatorship, which they fought against Hosni Mubarak in 2011. It seems like the same situation is coming into play for Egypt. The military is ruling, while the majority of the country is in the support of a different party. The supporters of Muhammad Morsi have taken up arms against the military and there is heavy fighting going on inside Egypt, specifically Sinai Peninsula, near the border with Gaza, a region full of Islamist Morsi Supporters. The military has stepped up offensive against Islamist militants in Sinai, and since then, there has been heavy fighting between the militants loyal to Muhammad Morsi and the military.
Muhammad Morsi had a soft spot for Palestine and had made numerous remarks against the oppression of Israel. The military was against the Islamist militants loyal to Palestine and this was the main reason of confrontation against the Muslim Brotherhood and the military. The current situation looks as if it will only get worse. There is a split in Egypt as to the support for the military and the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt must work towards reaching a bilateral agreement; otherwise there is a danger of widespread violence and bloodshed within the civilian population. Egypt is currently on the course of a civil war.

The following video shows how the military and security forces of Egypt oppress the supporters of Muhammad Morsi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Tbxkz14yo


Abdulbasit Malik
World Issues

Mr. Blair

References

A possible return to the dictatorship days that Egypt saw during Mubarak. A lot of violence within the country against the military, as the generals overthrow Morsi and put him on trials for false accusations.

Profile of Muhammad Morsi, the former democratically elected leader of Egypt. An overview of how he came to power and how he was unjustly overthrown.

The Muslim brotherhood, the party of Muhammad Morsi speak about the crisis in Egypt and why it has gotten worse, and why it will continue to get worse. 

How countries in the region are responding to the growing violence and unrest in Egypt.

The political unrest and violence is damaging Egypt's economy and ruining the country as a whole.

There is no sense of democracy in Egypt. The military rulers who overthrew the democratically elected government, think that their dictatorship is the just way to rule.

6 comments:

  1. Wow, i didn't know the same dictatorship is occurring in Egypt. Looks like Egypt really needs to make a bilateral agreement, otherwise there is a huge chance of civil war, which can potentially spread into neighboring middle eastern countries. what do you think the possibility's are of it spreading to neighboring countries? I wish i had more in depth information on this Abdul but other then that amazing job!! Shane Cowman

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    1. Yes, can't stress on the importance for the two Egyptian sides to reach a bilateral agreement. There is definitely a chance of a huge civil war spreading, especially since the Morsi supporters have taken up arms against the Egyptian military. I think there is a big possibility of this issue spreading into neighbouring countries such as Israel, because most of the Morsi supporters are very anti-Israel and since the army is pro-Israel there is a chance the Morsi supporters will start striking Israel. A lot of people also believe that Israel is responsible for the ousting of Morsi. Time will tell the solution to the crisis, but lets all hope Egypt reaches an agreement between the 2 sides and avoids civil war.

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    2. Thats really interesting im just wondering how are you so well educated on this subject? and what side are you supporting in this conflict? --Shane Cowman

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    3. I have a lot of Egyptian friends, and a lot of my dad's friends are Egyptian, so they tell us. As well, I always watch the news and read articles and research about this. To me it is really interesting because Egypt is a regional power and is a leader in the region, so it is important for Egypt to get its act together if it wants to stay a leader. Also, Egypt is a Muslim country, and I am a Muslim. I like to stay educated on what is happening to my own people.

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  2. wow i never knew that the Egyptian government had oppressed there own Muslim citizens to the extent of killing thousands.Do you think it is possible that, with military support from a more economically developed country, that the killing and protests could come to an end?
    I also wish there was more information on who is supporting the dictator, Hosni Mubarak?

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    1. Yes I believe the neighbouring countries should pressure the Egyptian government to stop killing its own people. This is no different than what Saddam was doing, killing his own people. If the international community as a whole pressures Egypt, it will behave. Also, i believe United States should cut off the Egyptian military aid.

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