Almost every quarter, the terrorist group the Muslim Brotherhood renew their seasonal call upon Egyptians to rally for a massive revolution under recycled titles from January 2011, such as “Day of Anger”, “The Day of the Land” and “The Revolt of the Impoverished”. These presumed revolutions according to their inciters would aim to topple President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and establish a new regime for the country that has already witnessed three presidents and a military council in the past five years. The latest in the long line of hoaxes was the ill-fated revolution that was destined to take place on 11 November 2016, codenamed “11/11” or “The Revolt of the Impoverished”, to protest price hikes in foodstuffs, commodities and services as a result of recent harsh economic reform measures. The Muslim Brotherhood fabricated a new anonymous group to call for revolution on their behalf, called the “Ghalaba” movement, or the impoverished movement. The anonymous online group is the latest in a long line of one word named groups that are usually financed by the Muslim Brotherhood, such as the terrorist cell “Hasm” that carried out the assassinations of high-ranking military officers and judges. To distance themselves from the call that they orchestrated, the group declared through their spokesman online that they will only join the revolution if it is supported by a major sector of the Egyptian population. The decisive answer from the Egyptian nation came on 11 November when nearly none short of a few Muslim Brotherhood members showed up in the streets. The streets of Cairo as well as other major cities were nearly empty in most districts and traffic was flowing on that Friday morning like it always does on weekends. Social media users mocked calls for revolution in various Twitter hashtags. PROPAGANDA FOR HOAX REVOLUTIONS: As with similar calls that take place every few months, Muslim Brotherhood members propagated for the 11/11 hoax revolt on social media networks and a few Qatari-Turkish operated TV stations. They described a large scale revolt that is brewing to take Egypt by storm. They claimed that it would destroy the foundations of the regime, which they believe to be tyrannical. Furthermore, the Brotherhood used the tired old tactics of utilising manipulated videos and photos before and after the 11/11 hoax revolution in an attempt to stimulate the attention of Egyptians and persuade them to join. However, the effects of such techniques have worn off for the past three years as the public became more aware of these incitement techniques. In a desperate attempt to gain momentum for their hoax revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood used TV networks such as Al-Sharq, Rabaa, Misr Al-Aan to broadcast day and night old footage of protests that took place in the early days of the January 2011 Revolution against the Mubarak regime, claiming it was live footage. Dark comedy exists when the weather in the broadcast videos conflicts with current weather conditions. For example, much footage featured men and women in heavy winter clothes while temperate weather prevailed in Egypt. There are many reasons behind the group's persistence in calling for such uprisings, despite failing in each attempt. Among these reasons are the following: 1. Proving that the group still exists within the political scene and that it can still cause trouble to the Egyptian state by rallying thousands whenever it needs. However, that capability is now limited to a few hundred hardcore members. 2. Seeking support from regimes that endorsed Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt, namely the Turkish and Qatari regimes. 3. Desperate attempts to bring the Egyptian government to the negotiation table, a train the group missed three years ago when the Rabaa encampment and its aftermath closed that door indefinitely. 4. Attempting to attract younger recruits who may feel the brunt of current economic conditions. 5. Masking disintegration and the fierce power struggle within the ranks of the group with the incumbent General Guide behind bars. Another leader, Mahmoud Ezzat, who is orchestrating terrorist operations from abroad and is believed to reside in Gaza, is claiming the throne of the terrorist group. ECLIPSE OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD: For decades, the Muslim Brotherhood used to brag about its ability to amass large numbers of people in the streets whenever they felt like it and against any government. That is no longer the case. The group cannot amass even a few thousand Egyptians in a “revolution” that took over two months of preparations and in the midst of the worst economic crisis in decades. This proves that Egypt is witnessing the last remnants of one of the most notorious terrorist groups in history. Evidently, the Muslim Brotherhood has been miscalculating its steps and overestimating its strength since January 2011 — the more obvious post-30 June 2013. The group still neglects the elements that led to the January 2011 and June 2013 revolutions, both of which cannot be replicated or mimicked in 2016, especially under its leadership. Furthermore, the lacklustre performance of the government of Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, especially within its economic responsibilities, may be enticing for the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood and their affiliates to launch attacks on the government and attempt to stir up violence, which usually fails. The general public in Egypt is much more aware now than earlier of the dangers of political instability or any further waves of violence. The majority of Egyptians seems to be unwilling to be lured by a group that spilled the blood of thousands of innocent civilians as well as police and army personnel, regardless of the cause or pretext. The sacrifices that Egyptians had to endure since June 2013, to rid themselves of the theocratic rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, will not be easily forgotten, despite disappointments over an incompetent government. Regardless of economic hardships or future uncertainties, most Egyptians still believe that these hardships trump delving back into the years of chaos, violence, extremism and terrorism orchestrated by the Muslim Brotherhood. Some Egyptians may have been fooled once by the Islamist group's “holier than-thou” attitude and granted them a chance to deliver on their false promises of prosperity and peace. But few are now. It is taking a long time for the current members of the Muslim Brotherhood to grasp the fact that their once mighty group is now in tatters. Their glory days as an organised Islamist group that attracted hundreds of thousands are behind them. The group is now turning into what neo-Nazi groups and the Ku Klux Klan in Europe and the United States have become. They will attempt to surface whenever political or economic turmoil exist, but they will always remain part of a dark history that nations choose to move beyond. The Muslim Brotherhood may not be completely dead in Egypt, nor its branches in 80 countries, but the die is cast and their final journey into oblivion began in June 2013. They will attempt other hoax revolutions and will jump on the bandwagon of any calls for protests, reform or democracy. However, they will remain a source of oppression, terror, misery and destruction wherever they land. When it comes to the Muslim Brotherhood, the majority of Egyptians now apply the old proverb, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” The writer is a political analyst, writer and author of Egypt's Arab Spring and Winding Road for Democracy.
