When the Egyptian revolution came, we stayed home.

[pelsar]

http://www.tabletmag.com/news-and-politics/85746/after-the-fall/

i realize this article doesn't exactly agree with the "consensus" that the egyptian spring is/was a liberal revolution, perhaps the writers, egyptian liberals know something ?
_______

Other than the fact that a few dozen human-rights activists were present in Tahrir, there was nothing remotely liberal about the uprising. But that didn’t stop Western journalists from applying the term: Every Egyptian male without a beard was a John Stuart Mill, every female without a veil a Mary Wollstonecraft. Suddenly, Trotskyites were liberals, and hooligans nonviolent protesters.

............

This is why, when we joined the Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth in 2009, we decided to focus our energy on a long-term program to build a genuine liberal movement from scratch. We realized early on that activism without serious, concrete ideas capable of winning the hearts and minds of our fellow Egyptians would be meaningless. Thus, we designed a platform of legal, economic, and social programs tackling all aspects of life in Egypt, from taxes to anti-Semitism. Our plan comprises research, lobbying, campaigning, and an effort to translate the great books of Western classical liberalism into Arabic. If Egypt was going to have any hope of becoming a liberal democracy, we had to face—and battle—the destructive totalitarian ideals that have taken hold of Egyptian society.

.........

To begin a serious discussion on what can be done in our country, Egyptians must acknowledge that the Tahrir uprising was no liberal revolution. Western observers must realize that this is not a stark morality play, but political decision-making between alternatives that are all bad. As the government borders on bankruptcy and the security situation deteriorates (the natural-gas pipe line to Israel and Jordan was bombed nine times since February), the first priority should be defending the very existence of the Egyptian state, now solely represented by the military. This is certainly an awkward position for advocates of limited government, as we are. But if the military falls, nothing will stand between the Egyptians and absolute anarchy.



Amr Bargisi is the Albert Einstein Fellow at the Einstein Forum in Potsdam, Germany. Samuel Tadros is a research fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom. Both are senior partners in the Egyptian Union of Liberal Youth.
______

On might notice that they understood that to develop a liberal society they understood that the citizens had to be educated in that direction first, before any regime change an that it would take time to get there, what they couldn't know, is that they wouldn't have that time....a few Palestinian liberals and their friends might take notice

[shira]

1. The anti-Israeli pro-Palestinian Right and Left couldn't care less...

...about genuinely liberal/progressive Arabs.

And that more than anything says more about their concept of one secular democratic state than anything else. It's just lip service, nothing more. If it turned out becoming yet another MB led theocracy, they'd just shrug it off and still maintain it's for the best.

I just wish these sociopaths would stop pretending their advocacy is all about human rights, liberal values, etc.

[LeftishBrit]

3. And neither could most people very much

Including pro-Israelis. And pro-everything-elses.

I don't think the Israel-Palestine issue (either side) is distracting people from the issues of liberal Arabs. If there were no I/P issue, then oppression would still be occurring in Arab states.

Partly, lack of action is due to what is essentially oil-bribery. Part of it is probably despair. Rid a country of one dictator, and often it's 'meet the new boss, same as the old boss'. Partly it is the pretty horrible example of Iraq; awful as Saddam was, the military intervention resulted in worse.

I certainly agree that the concept of 'one secular democratic state', while good in theory, is just as unrealistic as was the idea of 'liberation of Iraq', and at the present time, would lead just as surely to bloody civil war.

[shira]

5. You're right and that's sad...

What's scary is that the West is tossing Muslim and Arab liberals under the bus in order to make nice with the MB coming in. Oil definitely is a factor.

Just as oil is a factor for being sanctimonious WRT Israel. Wouldn't want to piss off the radicals in charge of the world's oil supply.

[shaayecanaan]

11. Exactly right..."liberals" are not very good at revolution...

The Occupy Wall Street movement, for example, was started by anarchists. Similarly in Britain, the Poll Tax protests that effectively broke the back of Margaret Thatcher's prime ministership were led largely by the essentially Trotskyist, hard-left Militant tendency.

The sentence in the OP that jumped out for me is this:-

"Suddenly, Trotskyites were liberals, and hooligans nonviolent protesters."

Sure, but you could say that about virtually any protest movement. Certainly here in Australia, it is almost always the Trotskyists at the forefront of any protest movement. 99 times of of 100 the protest fails to expand beyond their ranks. But occasionally it does.

Personally, I find anarchists frustrating. Certainly their decision-making model at Occupy Wall Street was unwieldy once the ranks of the protesters became large. On the other hand, I have the good taste not to denigrate the anarchists given that without them there never would have been an Occupy movement in the first place.

[azurnoir]

2. what an evocative article opinion piece

along with the title you chose to give it "When the Egyptian revolution came, we stayed home."

and I'm betting they did at that as neither of the authors Amr Bargisi and Samuel Tadros actually lives in Egypt one resides in Germany and the other works for the Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom in the US.

The Hudson Institutes Center for Religious Freedom boasts among its scholars Douglas Feith, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and Norman Podhoretz

http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=hudson_scholars

now on to the statement "To begin a serious discussion on what can be done in our country, Egyptians must acknowledge that the Tahrir uprising was no liberal revolution."

I would think the recent elections would have spoken quite loudly as to that however the revolution was about liberating Egypt from Mubarak wasn't it?

[shira]

4. The powers that be tried selling the Arab Spring as a liberal revolution...

But now that everyone sees the MB is turning out to be the big winners throughout the ME, the spin is now that the MB is actually quite moderate.

The same powers that be getting it all wrong, all the time, and deliberately so without regret.

[oberliner]

6. The new spin is that Muslim Brotherhood is moderate

Don't believe it.

[shira]

10. By the same spinmeisters who are wrong time after time...

...and never admit or apologize for it.

Go figure.

[pelsar]

7. actually thats the title of the article....not mine....

and if you did actually listen to many of the egyptians who where protesting you would have heard multiple voices about a new "democracy" a new govt based on shari law etc, If you listened to just the naive western reporters and their friends all you heard was an arab democratic spring

the recent elections spoke very loud and clear...replacing a secular dictator with what apparently is going to be a theocratic dictatorship.....

the authors were correct in their view point that just getting rid of mubarak while having worse choices is not a 'liberating" concept and the wrong way to go
___

[azurnoir]

8. No as your link clearly shows the title is "After the Fall "

don't be too concerned as old I/P rules have been rendered meaningless, it was just a case in point

[oberliner]

9. It is the first sentence of the article, not the title

I can see how one might be confused.