The Coalition of Egyptian-US Organizations sent a message last Tuesday to U.S. President Barack Obama asking him to raise the issues of political reform, emergency law, the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, and respect for human rights and minority rights, during President Mubarak's expected visit to Washington late this month. This coalition consists of six organizations: the World Center for the Koran, the Assembly of American Muslims, the US Copts Association, Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies, Voices for Democracy in Egypt, and the Alliance of Egyptian Americans, which includes Americans of Egyptian origin, Egyptians carrying the US nationality, migrants and Egyptian refugees to America. This coalition should have sent this letter to Mubarak because its demands relate to Egypt's internal affairs. It should have asked Obama to do things relating to the competencies of the U.S. administration and its policies, such as changing the aggressive policy of his predecessor, who was interfering in Egypt's internal affairs. It should also ask Obama not to threaten to cut the US aid or use it as a pressure tool to force Egypt to follow international and regional policies conflicting with its national interests and the Arab interests as well. The message should have asked Obama to put pressure on Israel to leave the occupied Arab territories and recognize the right of the Palestinian people to establish their own state, the main topic of the agenda of the two presidents!
If it is necessary to have some kind of "pressure" during the Mubarak-Obama meeting, fairness and objectivity should have it incumbent upon the coalition to combine between calling on "Obama" to put pressure on "Mubarak" to respect the rights of minorities and human rights in Egypt, and calling on "Mubarak" to put pressure on the "Obama Administration" to respect the rights of the Muslim minority in America and stop all forms of discrimination against it.
To the exception of the demand to put pressure on Mubarak, I have no objection to the coalition's demands, which do not differ very much from what I say and what is said by the other Egyptian reformists or what is published in the Egyptian press or broadcast in the Egyptian TV channels, including the state-owned channels, or even what is said during the Parliament's discussions and in public meetings. These demands are also like demands we call for in our daily protests, demonstrations and sit-ins to put "pressure" on the government and the President to achieve the same demands, including canceling the emergency state, ensuring the independence of the judiciary, and respecting human rights and the rights of minorities. Indeed, the Egyptians call for national and economic demands more than those of the coalition. Therefore, why not have the members of this coalition visit Egypt to participate in a demonstration or lead a sit-in or stand on the stairs of the Syndicate of Journalists or the State's Council to exercise some of the Egyptian "pressure" instead of importing "pressure" from the US in a country where 50% of population suffer from high blood pressure and the other 50% suffer from low blood pressure!
Obama should know well that the U.S. flagrant interventions in Egypt's internal affairs under the Bush administration, especially with regard to issues of political and constitutional reforms, have contributed to complicating and slowing the issue of reform. The Egyptians have excessive sensitivity to foreign pressure, even if they aimed to achieve their demands. They automatically take the side of the government that face or ignore these pressures. They are automatically against those who incite any foreign government to interfere in Egypt's internal affairs and against those who adopt the demand and slogans that are accompanied by foreign pressure even if they reject this incitement! To cut a long story short, the political and constitutional reform, minorities' rights, human rights, the abolition of emergency law, and the independence of the judiciary are Egyptian national and internal issues. They are a subject of conflict between two camps: the reformists, who seek to modernize the Egyptian political system to turn it into a modern democratic system of a civil state. This camp includes opposition parties and political trends and a wing of the ruling party. The other camp is the conservative camp, which seeks to maintain this regime with its current constitutional and political situation or a return to a more authoritarian regime. It includes the most powerful wing of the ruling party and opposition parties and trends.
This conflict started and will continue because it could only be settled if the reformists managed to push the silent majority to participate in it and to organize this majority in a way correcting this unbalanced political equation and the confused visions and getting us out of these worst conditions!
Oh, our masters in the Coalition of Egyptian-US Organizations: stop talking about US pressure, we already have enough pressure at home!