There are basic principles that we as Egyptians have to agree upon; principles concerning deliberate murder like the attack on the French Charlie Hebdo magazine. One: Terrorism is terrorism anywhere and at any time. There is no difference between bombing the world trade center in New York and storming Charlie Hebdo, killing cartoonists and reporters in cold blood. There is no difference between the murder of Egyptian policemen at the hands of a terrorist organization and the killing of the innocent in Sinai, Palestine or Gaza. Two: No comparison should be made between acts of terrorism here or there. The first step to take is complete solidarity with the French people regarding this tragic ordeal; this is also an expression of our fury at such horrifying acts. We Egyptians side up with people all over the world at tragic moments like these. Three: There is absolutely no room for Schadenfreude here. Those who commit those atrocities have been completely stripped of human feelings. In Egypt we have gravely suffered from terrorism too. Even if some governments did not share in our grief at the time that does not necessarily mean that we should hold back on showing solidarity with the whole world right now. Four: Humanity's collective consciousness has become unified, and there is no advancement for humanity without it. If we continue to act savagely there will be absolutely no meaning to those civilizations that existed in Egypt, Greece, India, China and Europe. There has to be a shared human heritage. Five: We have to declare our solidarity with the Jews in their ordeal as well. They've succeeded in making the whole world sympathize with them; we cannot blame them for achieving this. On the contrary, we have to learn how to defend our case worldwide. Personally, I do not understand the reason behind the controversy on Netanyahu's speech in France's anti-terror rally. He may have allowed state terrorism against innocent Palestinians, but the stress here should be on that horrifying incident which is a direct aggression, through murder, on freedom of expression. Six: The confusion observed in social media pages concerning the French incident has a direct relation to the faulty religious speech that needs reformation. This, coupled with the inability of our elite political figures to steer the speech in the right direction, has stirred even more confusion. I am referring here to political parties and not the nation's solidarity clearly expressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs who attended the Paris rally.
