by Mohamed Ibrahim
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
The death of the only democratically elected president of Egypt, Dr Mohamed Morsi in tragic but predictable circumstances under the strain and effects of sustained torture from the dictatorship regime of Abdulfatah El Sisi marks a watershed moment for the battle against violent global terrorism in the Muslim world. Morsi’s death means political Islam as a formal political movement that can participate in a peaceful democratic politics is not welcomed by regional dictators and by the West.
It is no longer whether Islam is compatible with democracy – is whether the West and their local cliental dictators/tyrants are comfortable with peaceful democratic political Islam taking hold in Muslim majority countries. The experience of 1990s Algeria’s peaceful elections that ushered in an Islamism party to power was cut short undemocratically by the French. In Palestine, Hamas’s political wing that has been democratically elected by the Gazan people is under constant sanctions, penalising the innocent (under inhumane conditions) people of Gaza for electing the wrong people. The only resilient and successful experiment of political Islam in Turkey is under constant international pressure, manipulation and ransom. It is only to the testament to the people of Turkey that it has survived this long having faced military coup in July 2015, while those coup plotters and instigators live large in the United States and Greece comfortably.
With the movement of President Morsi, Islamic Brotherhood facing international ban and sanctions requested by Egypt’s tyrants, and the United States Government complying with that dubious request, one wonders where their millions of members will go. It is obvious. They will be pushed underground, re-group and may well join local and international terrorist groups. With their wish and pursuit of peaceful political space and place suppressed internationally by local dictators with the tacit approval of the United States Government, only God knows where they will end up. However, the lessons of history tell us that the lure of violent political Islam is happy to welcome them with open arms - where-ever they are in the world.
With billions of dollars poured (in blood and treasure) to the global fight against terrorism in Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Libya, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, there is no end in sight to rise and attacks of violent global terrorism. It is now possible to begin to understand more clearly that the Western governments and their client/tyrant dictatorship in the region are also part and parcel of the problem that exists today in global security.
The billions of Muslim who aspire to peaceful democratic freedoms with dignity, justice and prosperity are intelligent and conscience of these political suppressions and daily injustices. The current Modus Aparendi of tacitly stating democracy for us, but not for them (Muslims) is no longer tenable. It has ramifications for global security and peace. If it’s not addressed in the right manner, it will continue to haunt global security.
Unfortunately, the cycle of terror will continue to persist globally. We will then continue to share the blame. The death of Morsi calls for new thinking in the Middle East. A plaster job to a gaping wound won’t wash anymore. We owe it to the security and prosperity of our next generations of global citizens. Beginning to embrace peaceful political Islam will be a good starting point for a new blue-print for global stability and security.