[FrontPage Mag, via RaymondIbrahim.com]
Of all the recent calls for reform made by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, perhaps most adamant has been his insistence that all Egyptians—Muslims and Christians—see themselves first and foremost as Egyptians.
This came out very clearly when he visited the St. Mark Coptic Cathedral during Christmas Eve mass. Then, he passionately (see video) declared:
Listen, it is very important that the world should see us… that the world should see us, Egyptians… and you’ll note that I never use a word other than “Egyptians”…. It’s not right to call each other by any other name…. We are Egyptians. Let no one ask “what kind of Egyptian are you?” [Copt or Muslim]… As I said, Egypt has brought a humanistic and civilizing message to the world for millennia and we’re here today to confirm that we are capable of doing so again… This is why we mustn’t call ourselves anything other than “Egyptians.” This is what we must be — Egyptians, just Egyptians, Egyptians indeed!
Ironically, back on February 14, 2011, when the first Egyptian revolution broke out (then called “Arab Spring”), I wrote an article making the exact same point, arguing that “Egypt’s future begins when Egyptians see themselves as Egyptians.”
Titled “Egypt’s Identity Crisis,” the article explored how the Egyptian identity was lost in stages. (It also predicted the seduction/threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood—well over a year before the group came to power under Morsi’s presidency. For more on this latter theme, on February 2, 2011, when Hosni Mubarak was still in power, I predicted in this article that “the Muslim Brotherhood will take over Egypt by default. And if that happens, the Middle East will rock like never before in the modern era”—which proved true after the largest revolution in human history ousted the Brotherhood in June 2013.)
Due to its exploration of the importance for Egyptians to see themselves as Egyptians—which Sisi is now adamantly calling for—“Egypt’s Identity Crisis” (first published February 14, 2011) is reproduced below… Continue to article