Egyptian Brotherhood's two revolutions: 1954 will not be rep

[Winged Isis]

Ahram Online...

Egyptian Brotherhood's two revolutions: 1954 will not be repeated
History usually repeats itself, but circumstances now are very different from 1954 when Nasser decimated the Muslim Brotherhood as it sought after power. Still, there are lessons to learn
Sarah Mourad , Thursday 5 Apr 2012


In Saturday statement, Muslim Brotherhood's FJP slams govt
In response to a recent statement by the Muslim Brotherhood challenging the sincerity of Egyptian military rule, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a statement the next day, hitting back at its critics and defending its intentions.
The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) called for the dissolution of the incumbent government of Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri, asserting that the latter had "failed in fulfilling its duties." SCAF, however, has insisted on keeping the interim cabinet in place until the end of the current transitional period. The Brotherhood then questioned whether the reason why the government was being kept in place was to "abort the revolution or to orchestrate upcoming presidential elections."

In a veiled a threat, the SCAF statement included the following: "We ask everyone to be aware of the lessons of history, to avoid mistakes from a past we do not want to return to, and to look towards the future."

In 1954, a brief honeymoon between late President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Revolutionary Command Council and the Brotherhood ended in a widescale clampdown on the group, which was outlawed for decades until last year's Tahrir Square uprising.

The Free Officers, whose movement sparked the July 1952 Egyptian Revolution, was composed of young junior army officers committed to unseating the Egyptian monarchy and its British advisors. Gamal Abdel Nasser founded the group in the aftermath of Egypt's defeat in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, then becoming president from 1956 until his death on 28 September 1970. Nasser along with Muhammed Naguib, who was briefly Egypt's first post-monarchy president, led the revolution

A large number of Brotherhood leaders were jailed and some even faced the death penalty after being accused of involvement in an attempt to assassinate then-President Nasser.

Latifa Salem, author, and history professor at Benha University, explains that Gamal Abdel Nasser formed the Free Officers movement after he checked every other party that was present at the time "but couldn't find what he was looking for, since he had a different ideology. That’s why he formed the movement." She adds that the Free Officers included people of all social spectrums. "They were Wafdians, leftists, Islamists, etc,” Salem said.

Mohamed Faeq, vice-president of the National Council for Human Rights and a member of the Free Officers movement, and former foreign minister in Nasser’s era, said: "The claim that the Muslim Brotherhood was a huge part of the 23 July 1952 revolution is a myth. The truth is that there were two or three Brotherhood officers among us. Just like there were officers who represented various segments of society, and political ideologies." All accepted the ideology and rules of the Free Officers movement.

The revolution was supported by different sectors of society the day it happened. “The Muslim Brotherhood was amongst those supporters. Not as a majority,” Faeq said.

In 1954, in an effort to build a democratic state, the Revolutionary Command Council demanded that all parties be cleansed, especially of persons that had had connections with the previous ruling regime. Since it did not happen, the Revolutionary Command Council dissolved the parties. The council initially decided to not desolve the Muslim Brotherhood, however, as it was not a political party but rather a religious group.

After the revolution succeeded, Nasser elected Brotherhood members as ministers in the newly formed government: Ahmed Hosny as minister of justice, and Ahmed Hassan El-Bakoury as minister of Awqaf.

However, the Muslim Brotherhood Guidance Office insisted on selecting the ministers themselves, demanding having the right to withdraw and appoint whomever of the Brotherhood they find suitable. This was refused by the Revolutionary Command Council. Nasser also asked the Brotherhood to disband their secret armed wing, responsible of several murderous operations before the revolution, such as murdering Egyptian Prime Minister Mohamed Fahmy El-Nokrashy in 1948. The Brotherhood refused to acquiesce. This is when the major clash began between the Revolutionary Command Council and the Muslim Brotherhood began.

"Nasser was known for not trusting people easily. And he sensed that the Brotherhood would be a threat to the country. So he decided to dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood." Salem said. Nasser’s decision resulted in the Brotherhood’s failed attempt to assassinate Nasser while giving a speech. The Brotherhood was banned as a result, and this time thousands of its members were imprisoned, many of them held for years in concentration camps.

In response to assasination attempt on Nasser, the people were angry with the Brotherhood. Crowds gathered at the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo and set it on fire.

Muhammed Naguib agreed with the Brotherhood wielding more power. Saber Arab, historian and member of National Council for Women, explains that one of the main reasons why Naguib was overthrown was his alliance with the Brotherhood. “The Revolutionary Command Council had a more open vision regarding women, Copts and social justice, which was absolutely different than that of the Brotherhood, who was supported by Naguib,” Faeq said.

The Muslim Brotherhood even opposed the secularist constitution of 1954. Although it was never used, it remains highly respected.

Salem believes that the difference between the Muslim Brotherhood of the post-1952 revolution, and the Brotherhood now, after the January 25 Revolution, is that back in the 1950s, Nasser knew well how to put an end to their greed regarding power. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) failed in doing this.

Arab added that the fact that SCAF failed to manage the transitional period since February 2011 is of the main reasons why a dominant party is now emerging, like a mirror to the previous regime.

Salem and Arab both agree that the root of the current crisis is that the constitution should have been written prior to parliamentary elections and not after.

In addition, the Brotherhood has become more powerful and more widespread since becoming again active under former President Anwar El-Sadat in 1970s, with his tacit assent.

Indeed, the number of Brotherhood members have grown much in the past 40 years. Despite tough economic circumstances, and despite the very high poverty rate, Egypt became a capitalist country, moving away from socialism. "Most, if not all, the leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood are capitalists," Salem said.

Arab explains: “At the time of Nasser, and earlier than that, there were projects for developing education, and health systems, in addition to applying social justice, and Arab nationalism. And people were very attached to those ideologies, and to July 23 Revolution, supporting them by heart. It was almost impossible for the Muslim Brotherhood to penetrate that sense of stability and satisfaction towards the situation at the time.”

The situation is different now, which has helped the Brotherhood to attract new members to the group, since they financially and also morally support people. “Especially in the police state we were living in, under Mubarak’s rule,” Salem said.

The financial aspect of drawing in and directing members, Salem added, was also a factor during November's parliamentary elections, and could be a factor during the presidential elections as well.

Without doubt, after the January 25 Revolution many people — both those politically involved and those not — sympathised with the Brotherhood and how they have been oppressed for decades. Especially when the group promised that despite their large numbers and financial resources they would not be a dominating party on the political scene. However, this is not the case. The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), which the Brotherhood established after the revolution, holds around 48 per cent of seats in the People’s Assembly and almost 75 per cent (along with Al-Nour Party) of the Constituent Assembly tasked with writing Egypt’s new constitution. Now prominent Brotherhood member Khairat El-Shater will run for the presidency. The move has met heated debate both inside and outside the Brotherhood.

Arab also explained that the FJP connects with the Brotherhood and directly receives orders from the Brotherhood's supreme guide. In that case, Egypt is basically being ruled by the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, who believes he’s above the constitution and the law, and the different authorities ruled by the FJP — the People’s Assembly, the Shura Council, the Constituent Assembly, and maybe presidency as well.

"Such power that the Brotherhood currently wields makes it very hard for the 1954 scenario to be repeated," said Wahid Abdel Meguid, analyst at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. "If the Brotherhood and SCAF clashed, all sides would eventually lose."

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