“They are not Egyptians. I swear they are agents who want to destroy Egypt," a member of the public told a TV talk show, referring to the protesters in Tahrir Square, supporting of Mohammed Morsi prior to the announcement of the presidential elections result. People have been saying such things since the early days of the revolution and continue to do so, even today, when Egypt finally has a democratically elected president. From the very beginning of the revolution, people took to streets calling for the ousting of Hosni Mubarak and his regime as they wanted a democratic society, but other people have begun to distrust them, calling them traitors who don't love their country. Omar Suleiman, Mubarak's intelligence chief and vice-president in his last days in power, told US journalists that foreign agencies and plots were behind the revolution. Meanwhile, the revolutionaries described anyone who didn't take the revolution's side as feloul (remnants of Mubarak's regime), claiming they were paid to support the ex-regime. This highlights the great paradox between what the Egyptian revolution called for and what is really happening on the ground. "I have lost many friends, because they were against the revolution," said Ahmed Abdel-Fatah, a 17-year-old secondary school pupil. "How can they deny that it is a great event that has changed many things in Egypt?" he asked in an interview with the Egyptian Mail. In some cases, the media have tried to persuade the public to turn against the revolution; an example of this is when some military men made a statement against some revolutionary movements. General Hamdi Badeen, the chief of the Military Police, clearly accused the April 6 Movement of being trained overseas and getting financial support from overseas. Unlike Abdel-Fatah, Doha Samir has done her best to avoid falling out with anyone over the revolution. Doha was one of those who took to streets on the first day of the revolution. In fact, she was there in Tahrir throughout the ‘somehow safe' days of the revolt. “We are seeking a democratic society, which means that we must accept each other with all our differences and live under the umbrella of freedom of expression with our full rights," says Doha, a 30-year-old assistant lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Political Science. “It doesn't make any sense when people call for democracy, but at the same time refuse to listen to what anyone else has to say," she adds. For nearly 18 months, such hot disputes have been raging in Egyptian society. But not all the debates have focused on the revolution itself, as there has also been intense discussion about the incidents following it. The first big post-revolution debate to flare up happened when the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) ran a referendum over the constitutional amendments in March 2011; Egyptians were divided, for and against the amendments. Each party distrusted the other. “We are right and the others aren't" and “It's better for the country to follow this path, not another one" were the kind of thing we kept on hearing. And then, when the parliamentary elections came along, they were marked by the same atmosphere of distrust, with, in some incidences, extremists using religion to control and direct people's minds. “We shouldn't forget that we Egyptians are still learning the alphabet of democracy, after spending 30 years under a dictatorship without any political participation," says Hamdi Nabil, a 32-year-old IT engineer. “So what's going on now is really quite normal. Over time, everything will gradually change for the better." The distrust reached its climax in the anxious days before the naming of Egypt's first president since the January 25 Revolution. The election run-off pitted the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi against the last premier in Mubarak's regime, Air Marshal Ahmed Shafiq, with the supporters of each candidate complaining vociferously about the other candidate. The supporters of Morsi described Shafiq's supporters as feloul, while the supporters of Shafiq think that the other party are naive people who will turn Egypt into an Islamist country like Iran. Prior to the naming of Egypt's new president, Morsi's supporters suspected that the military council would forge the election results in favour of Shafiq, whom they considered to be the SCAF's candidate. However, after the Higher Presidential Election Committee named Morsi as the winning candidate, Shafiq's supporters accused the SCAF of forging the results in favour of Morsi, to prevent the violence expected if the Muslim Brotherhood candidate were defeated. On taking office, Morsi himself stressed that there is no reason for distrust and that he will treat all Egyptians the same, whether they voted for him or not. The public concern over the new constitution, the formation of the new government, the naming of the presidential assistants and much else seems to suggest that the distrust will continue for quite some time.
