The last day of the year is as good as any to reflect on what has been and on what might yet be to come. There is first, a fine balance to be drawn between accurate reporting of events and creating sensational stories that do not reflect the bigger picture. One of our greatest problems this year has been getting accurate information as to what exactly has been going on. In saying this, a News Channel should surely report the news, not make the news. For whatever reason, and driven by whatever agenda, there has been reporting of news by foreign channels, and one channel in particular, that has given people outside Egypt a false impression of what things are really like. Take the tragic events at Maspero earlier in the year, for example. Viewers in Europe or America watching some of this TV coverage would have been left with the impression that the whole of Egypt is torn apart by inter-religious strife. This is clearly not true. With that in mind, then, as we reflect on the past year we need to take with a generous pinch of salt much of the reporting of recent events in Tahrir Square and the streets around it. There are always two sides to every story and we have repeatedly been asked by those in authority not to believe everything we are being told on the TV. But if only ten per cent of what we have been shown on our television screens is to be believed, there is much cause for us to be concerned. Live footage of protesters being pelted from government buildings with bottles, tiles and even furniture is most alarming. Images of young women being beaten with sticks and brutally kicked on the ground are an outrage that cannot be accepted. Such behaviour might be the norm for security forces in a totalitarian state, such as we experienced for decades, but it is not the behaviour of a civilised country or a democracy. The right to peaceful protest is at the very heart of a democracy. Knowing how to cope with such protest, though, is the sign of an experienced security apparatus. If foreign countries are so keen to help Egypt in the coming years, as they claim to be, they can do so by helping to create anew internal security apparatus, based on the rule of law for all the citizens. We have seen enormous changes this year. One that offers the greatest hope for the future is the shift to a true democracy. Democracy, though, is about far more than electing people to sit in a parliament. There are many countries in the world with parliaments, but many of them are still dictatorships. No, having a parliament is not enough. What is important in a democracy is not only that people have the right to speak, but also that they have the equally important right to be listened to. A dog barking in the street can be heard by everyone, but no one gives it much attention. Similarly, we mustn't be fooled into thinking that just because we are seeing protest on the streets of Egypt, this is a sign that anyone is taking note of what the protesters are saying. In a democracy, the government listens to what the people are saying. It does this, quite literally, by listening and speaking to protesters, but it is also held to account by a free and often quite aggressive press. In a democracy, the ballot box is the ultimate guide to what people are thinking. Inshallah, in Egypt's slow transition to becoming a fully functioning constitutional democracy, this will become more and more apparent. When the electorate is finally able to understand the choices put before it, we will see democracy in action. Many have been surprised at the high percentage of votes received in the first two rounds of voting so far by the Islamic parties. It shouldn't really be so surprising. Most voters have no experience of voting or of political parties. Most of them don't know what the many new parties stand for or what their platforms are. So it is only to be expected that Egyptians, who on the whole see themselves according to their own religious identity, should cast their votes for parties they understand, or at least feel some affinity with. Quite how these parties will perform in the new parliament, and how they acquit themselves in the process of writing a new Constitution, will determine how they fare in future years. By then, voters will be more politically aware and more able to bring their elected representatives to account. There is still a very long way to go. Education is poor. There can be no democracy without education. The country, to put it bluntly, is in a mess. But we should not underestimate the gains that have been made so far. Many of the foreign news channels were looking for bombs and violence during the voting process, but it didn't happen. Egyptians queued peacefully in line, many for hours on end, to cast their ballots for the first time. Not everyone was happy with the results we have so far seen, but this is precisely what happens in a democracy – you can't please everyone. In a democracy, too, the result is far more than just the rule of the majority. That would be replacing one kind of tyranny with another. In a real democracy, the majority are most careful to take care of the needs of the minority. This will indeed take time for everyone to understand. Egypt has seen a lot of change this year. Not all of it has been for the better, but much of it has been. Al-Azhar, for instance, set free from the shackles it was bound with for too long, is now beginning to speak out in an authoritative way on matters that affect all Muslims and all Egyptians. Elections have been held, the first real elections in many years, paving the way for a new Constitution and a new President. Corrupt officials, who abused the trust given to them by the people, are now either in prison or before the courts. These are all real gains. In all our reflecting, though, we must not ever forget the blood that has been shed this year to achieve the progress made so far. Young people may be passionate and, at times, impatient that change should come at a quicker pace, but we should never, ever forget the sacrifices our young people have made this year for the sake of Egypt. They didn't die in their hundreds for personal gain. They died because they wanted to see their country and their fellow citizens free and prosperous once more. If what we have seen on our television screens these last few weeks has any element of truth in it, and surely our own eyes can't deceive us, then all Egyptians need to reflect very carefully on the way forward and hold to account those whose job it is to prepare the way. There is no doubt that foreign hands are at work in fomenting trouble. But our own sons and daughters must never be blamed for the work of foreign hands. And now, a new year dawns. In thanking Allah Almighty for all that has been good in 2011, we give thanks for the sacrifices made by so many Egyptians. We pray for the souls of the martyrs who have fallen for Egypt's sake. And, in disregarding the mischief spread by others, either on our television screens or elsewhere, all Egyptians should resolve to be united in building a better country for our children in 2012 and beyond. To this, we can surely only say: “Ameen, ya Rab, Ameen.”
British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University. The author of eight books about Islam, he divides his time between Egypt and the UK as a speaker, writer and broadcaster. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com.
