Morsi in Hiding, Massive Celebrations in Cairo

Mike L.



Morsi rejects takeover; whereabouts unknown

By Abigail Hauslohner, William Booth and Sharaf al-Hourani in the Washington Post.

CAIRO — The Egyptian military removed President Mohamed Morsi from power Wednesday and suspended the constitution in moves it said were aimed at resolving the country’s debilitating political crisis. 

 In a televised address to the nation after a meeting with a group of civilian political and religious leaders, the head of the powerful armed forces, Gen. Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, said the chief of Egypt’s constitutional court “will assume the presidency” on an interim basis until a new presidential election is held. Sissi said the interim president — Adly Mansour, Egypt’s top judicial authority — will have the right to declare laws during the transitional period. 

The announcement came as huge crowds of pro- and anti-government protesters massed in the streets of Cairo and the army deployed armored vehicles. In the afternoon, a top adviser to the embattled Morsi had declared that a military coup was underway and warned that “considerable bloodshed” could ensue.

I think those of us who were rather skeptical of the "Arab Spring" can probably rest assured that our skepticism was well-founded.

Who knows what will happen in the future viz-a-viz Egypt, but one thing is certain, the anti-Islamist liberals - that Obama snubbed - are perhaps considerably more powerful than most of us imagined and they are, for the moment, aligned with the Egyptian military.

Sissi said “peaceful protests” could continue, but he warned that the military would respond with “strength and determination” to any outbreaks of violence.

The announcement sparked cheers and celebration among Morsi opponents packed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square...

But in eastern Cairo, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, an entrenched Islamist movement that backs Morsi, erupted in angry chants following Sissi’s speech, and stones started flying. The Brotherhood’s two main political channels immediately vanished from the airwaves.

Fearing a further security breakdown, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Wednesday ordered the mandatory evacuation of all personnel deemed nonessential.

I don't want to make too much of this because it seems to me that it is a reset to the status quo ante, but the status quo ante in Egypt is superior to an Egypt with an Islamist government.

As people who care about Israel we are allowed to take sides in democratic elections.  It's hard to know just how democratic the Egyptian elections were a year ago, given the fact that reputable media reported that Copts were sometimes prevented from voting at the point of a rifle.

And while I would not put much faith in the good will of either the Egyptian people or the Egyptian military toward either the Jewish people or the Jewish State, I think that it is hugely important that political Islam be confronted and stopped wherever it can be.

How it came to be that we have an American president that supports political Islam within such a short time after 9/11 is a question that scholars will engage themselves in untangling for decades.  In the mean time, I find it heartening that Egyptian society seems to have rejected the movement that Obama supported.

This is an exceedingly important moment if it does, in fact, lead to the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Egypt is probably the single most significant country - aside from Israel - in that part of the world.  The fact that they have fought off political Islam is a terrible blow to that movement and says good things about the Egyptians.

Let's hope for a liberal Egyptian democracy in the future, but let us never accept a radical Jihadi Egyptian "democracy."

Hopefully we've seen the last of Morsi.