10-Year Anniversary of the June 30 Revolution
Al-Ahram, Egypt, June 27
Had the Egyptian people not risen in force on June 30, 2013, to overthrow the Brotherhood’s rule, it would have signaled a troubling lack of general awareness and the ability among the masses and elites to protect their country. Just months after their clandestine success in placing their representative in the presidential palace, the Brotherhood’s policies made it starkly evident that their aim was to undermine the January 2011 revolution, annihilate hopes for democracy, and combat corruption by entrenching their control over every facet of power in Egypt. This extended from parliamentary dominance to local councils and media control, characterized by an aggressive stance against all constitutional authorities, including the judiciary, and a threat to national unity with the insertion of obedient representatives in sovereign agencies. Their reign saw violence against peaceful demonstrators, even culminating in murder. In less than a year, the peril of their governance became clear—not only in the prospect of retaining power for centuries, as some feared, but in jeopardizing the nation’s independence by yielding to foreign powers and squandering the important gains made since Mubarak’s ouster. The Brotherhood’s actions rapidly dismantled the principles of the January Revolution, presenting a danger far worse than the regime the people had revolted against. Despite initially dismissing the revolution as “childish,” the Brotherhood opportunistically latched onto it as victory appeared imminent. They captured attention with chants, orchestrated photo opportunities on demonstrators’ shoulders, and flaunted their presence on makeshift platforms in public squares. Complicit satellite channels promoted them, broadcasting deceitful narratives that without the Brotherhood, the revolution would have failed, while they clandestinely plotted its downfall. The Brotherhood’s first ruse was the slogan “participation, not domination,” an attempt to create the illusion of cooperative intent to achieve the revolution’s goals. However, in reality, their actions betrayed a profound political folly marked by deception and an insatiable quest for control, executed with such haste that they incited a nationwide urgency to overthrow them. The collective intelligence of the tens of millions who protested against them culminated in a call for the military to intervene and save Egypt. The army heeded that call. —Ahmed Abdel-Tawwab (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
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