Egypt's revolution must support Syria and Palestine

Egypt's special connection with Palestinians and Syrians, which was sabotaged under the previous regime, must remain at the heart of revolutionary Egypt's revised Arab policies

There is a historic agenda after the momentous second wave of Egypt's revolution that rose up against the rule of corruption and tyranny in January 2011, and once again in June/July 2013 against the so-called Islamist right when Egyptians called on the Armed Forces to be their defender and backer.
The rule of so-called Islamists was just another phase of corrupt authoritarian that was concealed behind a veil of superficial Islam to deceive simple Egyptians and seduce them with religion. Meanwhile the apparatus of backwardness, oppression and corruption continued to gnaw at Egypt's esteem, the prosperity of its people, and plummeting regional and international standing. This meant a continued strategy of borrowing and begging from overseas.
Egypt's world standing plummeted, so much so that Egypt's president was habitually met by junior officials during failed overseas trips. They had insisted on these trips for reasons that had nothing to do with the interests of Egyptians or Egypt. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, one might think they “lost their quest in life in the belief they were doing good” (Al-Kahf; 104), but the truth is their deeds showed much more sinister intentions.
I believe the main objective of the second transitional phase is to reverse domestic and foreign policies by the so-called Islamist right that were almost identical to the essence of policies by the rule of tyranny and corruption that the great people's revolution rose up against – and has yet to succeed.
The roadmap announced to the people by the Armed Forces on 3 July is sufficient to rectify the path of democratic transformation, after so-called Islamist right wing currents had veered off by allowing religious parties to establish a religious state and subjected society to an Islam of hardship and extremism.
I am primarily concerned with Arab policies by the so-called Islamist regime that was evidently dominated by the international Brotherhood organisation and its directives. Egypt's dignity, the prosperity of Egyptians or independence of the Arab nation and raising its stature, were never a priority.
I am mostly interested in Egypt's Arab policies because I strongly believe the only chance for Arab revival is through effective Arab integration. Egypt, despite its human resources and heritage of soft power, can never rise on its own; neither can Saudi Arabia, despite its wealth that will not last forever, achieve this historic goal by itself. And thus, one cannot talk about any possibility of ascent alone.
Accordingly, Syria and Palestine have always held a special place in Egypt's Arab policies for reasons pertaining to Egypt's national security and because the Palestinian cause is central to Arabs, and Israel is the most serious threat to the national security of Arabs in general, and especially Egypt. The special bond between Egyptians and Palestinians fuelled many wars by Egypt against Israel; every home in Egypt has lost a martyr in the conflict with Israel.
Meanwhile, throughout history, guaranteeing Arab national security, Egypt's especially, required a level of unity or at least coordination between Egypt and Syria – the first Eastern Gate of Egypt's national security. Mohamed Ali understood this and annexed Syria to Greater Egypt; even Napoleon understood his rule in Egypt would be unstable if he did not annex Syria – but he failed to conquer Acre and returned from the Levant crestfallen and defeated. Neither should we forget the peoples of Egypt and Syria were once briefly united in one international entity not too long ago.
These special bonds give Palestinians and Syrians a unique position in Egyptian conscience. Therefore, the special connection with the Palestinians and Syrians must remain at the heart of revolutionary Egypt's revised Arab policies.
But the rule of the so-called Islamist right in Egypt has sabotaged most ties with Syria and Palestine; it declared good intentions but its actions were sinister, adopting the outlook of the Brotherhood's international organisation and its forever shady relations with dominant powers on the Arab and international stages.
The Palestinian cause was diminished to cooperating with Hamas as a member of the Brotherhood's international organisation, but under the umbrella of friendship with Israel and serving US interests. One need only recall the letter by the ousted president to his Israeli counterpart.
Sabotaging Egypt's ties with Arab countries was shocking when dealing with Syria. While public declarations by that regime focused on support for the Syrian people and forming committees for Syrian conciliation, the ousted president rashly, and infatuated by the enthusiasm of his mob supporters in the so-called Islamist right without consulting those responsible for Egypt's foreign relations, decided to sever ties between Egypt and Syria. He allowed his mob supporters to brazenly send weapons and volunteers for what they described as a jihad, which further fuelled the civil war in Syria.
Thus, the president of the so-called Islamist right forced Egypt to sever eternal close ties between the southern and northern regions of the United Arab Republic, and fanned the civil war among our Syrian brothers. This is an unforgivable political and historic crime. This hostile position against the Syrian people was another reason behind the position of the Egyptian people's Armed Forces against the so-called Islamist right before the momentous second wave of the great people's revolution. Senior military officials described it as a threat to Egypt's national security.
Individual incidents, such as arresting a Syrian national for shooting demonstrators in Egypt and his confession that he was paid by the wayward Brotherhood group to commit this heinous crime, poisoned the outlook of Egyptians towards Syrians. This is a terrible mistake; it is a crime committed by one individual and not all his kin. It is an even bigger crime by those who exploited the wretch's desperation and instructed him to commit such a crime, instead of helping him and being kind to him like true Muslims.
There were also rumours that Hamas, or jihadists cells under its umbrella, were brazenly interfering in Egypt's domestic affairs to prop up the so-called Islamist right before it reached power and unleashed its unjust reign of tyranny. Some of these issues are still being litigated in court and we should wait and see what the courts have to say. If these accusations are true, it is the fault of those who hired rogue individuals and those who compromised Egypt's national security by facilitating a non-Egyptian group to carry out acts that threaten the security of the country, its people and intervene in Egypt's domestic affairs.
One must never forget that Hamas is not the Palestinian resistance, nor is it our beloved Palestine or the Palestinian cause – the banner of the Arabs.
Revolutionary Egypt must rectify relations with all Arab people, especially the Palestinians and Syrians. This requires support for the Palestinian resistance in general, and promoting the will of Syrians to decide their fate freely.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/79026.aspx