Egypt Decides Own Destiny

From the very beginning, President Mohamed Morsi was careful to build balanced relations with other countries, relations appropriate to Egypt’s place among nations and the expectations of the Egyptian Revolution, while forming the basis for an independent economy and food production.

It seems these balanced-relations policies disturbed the US, which had become used to seeing – from the previous regime – nothing but utter subservience and progress only along a path orbiting the White House, along with a systematic weakening and destruction of this great country’s abilities. And so in the coup the US found what it had long sought.

In this context comes Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Cairo before the farcical trial of the elected President Mohamed Morsi. And here, several facts must be affirmed:

–  During the past few months, the US was careful to keep its statements in a grey zone, although in reality it lent full support to the coup and its masterminds. It wanted to avoid the legal and international political problem of contradicting own laws that do not allow support for military coups. It was afraid of repeating the Venezuela experience, where the coup against Chavez failed after it was given US support. It was also careful not to appear as a direct enemy of anything related to Islamists around the world, including so-called political-Islam movements.

–  Then came the hearing in Congress, a few days ago, to show clearly that US policy is based purely on its own interests, even at the expense of its principles, slogans and laws. That hearing on Capitol Hill affirmed the US must continue to provide aid to the coup regime after the overthrow of President Morsi, described by Congress as a dictator, claimed that the power-grab in Egypt was not a coup against democracy, and further affirmed that military aid would not be interrupted so the army could continue its alleged war against terrorism. It urged full support for the generals’ roadmap in order to achieve stability for the new regime, and announced that US interests lie in the regime’s stability. It also criticized Obama’s decision to halt part of the aid intended for Egypt.

–  John Kerry’s visit comes only one day before the trial to move the US from the grey zone to clear support for the coup, in a flagrant aggression against the will of a whole people who had chosen their President democratically. It is a scene reminiscent of the Denshway massacre (Egypt 1906) in which the victim was tried with foreign sponsorship by Egyptian faces, the same as the trials of other heroic, patriotic symbols such as Libya’s Omar Al-Mukhtar.

Based on these facts, the Anti-Coup Pro-Legitimacy National Alliance affirms as follows:

–  The Egyptian people alone decide their destiny and plan their own future. They will not accept any form of foreign domination.

–  Egyptians reject US interference in their homeland’s domestic affairs, and condemn US bypassing of the people’s will in endorsing the coup.

–  The US government should not repeat the Venezuelan mistake. It has no choice but to respect the Egyptian people’s will, as happened during the January 25 Revolution. The US’s real interests in the area will be preserved by adhering to the principles of democracy and international law.

–  The Alliance condemns the US administration’s subscription to one-sided media accounts regarding alleged attacks on churches after it was proven that the attack on the Two-Saints Church during the Mubarak era was carried out by the regime itself so as to influence US decisions. Meanwhile, the US administration ignores Egyptian blood spilled before the very eyes of the whole world in excessive violence against peaceful popular movements.

–  The Alliance denounces the US administration’s double standard in halting military aid because of US laws preventing support for coups, then giving political cover for the coup by endorsing the roadmap.

–  Kerry’s visit and the Congressional hearing have exposed the lie of false heroism that the media tried to compose for El-Sisi, and their attempts to tarnish the image of honorable, patriotic symbols who refuse foreign domination, and who gain support only from the people, for the truth they represent.

–  The Alliance further affirms that this visit and other US support will ultimately fail to give a cover of legitimacy for the coup, or for the ludicrous political trial of the legitimate President Mohamed Morsi

 The only way to end this crisis is to accept and respect the people’s will and reinstate the elected President Mohamed Morsi.

The Anti-Coup Pro-Legitimacy National Alliance

Cairo: November 3, 2013