Where is Egypt Going?

After spending more than five years in the United States, I traveled to Egypt this past summer to visit my family. I will share my experiences and describe what I saw without any embellishment . I will not be concerned about using my professional skills as a journalist. I will not focus on the details of my writing or my analysis. I will simply describe what I actually saw. Because of this, the picture that I will paint is quite abstract and rambling.

I am speaking about the living conditions of the Egyptian people. The government is quite another story, one that everybody writes about. This is not my focus for now.

I found that the telephones do not ring- like I am accustomed to now. There are no “normal” melodious phone sounds. What then? We hear instead of rings, the phones send forth the verses from the Koran. If we are talking with another, we must stop talking, be quiet, pay attention… this is an alert – and for safety, we must listen.

When I took public transportation such as taxis and buses, I noticed that the drivers played cassettes of the Koran. I saw this everywhere I went. The recitations were invasive and very offensive and intrusive coming in most cases from Saudi chieftains. I do not know—why they select the Saudis to recite these verses. Why Saudi’s in particular?

During my visit, I went with my family to a resort called Mersa Matrouh. This beautiful resort on the Mediterranean Sea brought forth other concerns. There I found more fundamentalist Muslim influence- on the entrance to the library, leading into the Resort was a statement ... The Muslim Brotherhood Association!

Employees in the government offices stop their work to perform noon prayers. These prayers consume at least an hour of work time that is paid through government funds, and, of course, these employees also believe they will also be paid in the afterlife!

During my stay, it was necessary for me to travel frequently to the National Cancer Institute to complete periodic medical examinations for my mother. One day a doctor arrived finding the usual long lines and difficulties that are now part of the normal picture. This medical facility was very concerning. This Doctor was very nervous and distraught. She was unable to keep up with the demands of her patients. Her patients were angry because of the long waits. Many doctors revealed that they are overwhelmed, busy and angry. It is impossible for them to respond to the overwhelming needs.

An unscrupulous person was accusing me of assault. He claimed that I had beaten him in my hometown. He insisted this was true- even though I had slept in a hotel room in Cairo that same time! He was clearly dishonest and without conscience.

Another person, again without conscience, made accusations about a friend’s wife. She was slapped on the face. Then struck his son twice. The person said that his own son had a congenital defect because of this assault, and that his face is now damaged. This person is going to charge the wife of my friend with this assault. None of this is true. These accusations are all just a way to retaliation. They are a cloak for the real situation. What is the real situation? This person making the accusation owes my friend some money!

Vendors and shop keepers have no restrictions. They charge any price they can- according their idea about the customer. They can raise or lower their prices without any reason or regulations.

Now, unlike any other time in the history of Egypt, the wealthy classes are complaining that their costs are problematic and unaffordable. Most difficult, is the fact that many families are falling apart. The structure of community has begun to disintegrate. Old customs and connections are being undermined because of the demands and stresses on middle class families and the poor!

Basic food staples which the Egyptians need have become costly. Other costs have risen by more than 200%. For instance, the price of gas has reached more than twenty five pounds per one hundred fifty kilometers. The price of bread was 25 piasters, and so on including everything from medicines, schooling/private lessons, land and clothing and living quarters/apartments. Even beans and falafel are no longer affordable!

Some families and their children never have meat. The Undersecretary of the Ministry felt this financial strain with his own family. To make a point, he did a simple analysis and found that it would take at least fifty pounds a day to feed a family of five - providing three modest meals a day!

Corruption and bribery. These have become pervasive. They are widespread and prevail in all areas of the country. Corruption and bribery are the system- one must know how to use this system to their advantage in order to achieve forward movement on anything particularly any legal decision, or getting a job. Of course, everything must have its price. This is unavoidable. However, this society of lawlessness has ruined Egypt. The chaos has become the norm!

I belong to a number of associations in Egypt. One of these is the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate. It has always been a place where freedom of the press was valued. Now, I can see that everything is influenced by Islam. I attended one of two Palestinian delegation presentations while in Egypt. The presenters were from the Organization of Hamas and one presenter was the daughter of a colleague who is was jailed, unfairly because he is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. The daughter spoke about the hardships of her life growing up without her father.

Noise pollution rose significantly since I was last in Egypt. Everyone yells loudly, even though there is little distance between the speakers. I found that just about everyone has an undercurrent of anger- they are all angry without any specific reason! !

Diseases caused by pollution are prevalent. These include such diseases as hepatitis, renal and abdominal diseases. These and more environmentally caused illnesses have risen markedly. Tens of thousands of Egyptians die annually because of these rising and absolutely avoidable health problems!

The proportion of displaced and homeless children has grown remarkably. There are now large numbers of elderly and younger persons living on the street. This has become a very widespread phenomenon in the streets of major cities, particularly Cairo and Alexandria.

On the other side, I noticed something I considered quite strange. There are daily weddings and funerals that surely bring with them a very high price tag. They are designed to showcase high spending and they are accompanied by very loud noise throughout the day. These are from the normal marriage ceremonies and funerals. People are spending for these events although they are very expensive, daily gatherings of people with all the attendant noise. There is also the normal noise of the cars sounding their horns until after midnight. No one regulates or raises a problem about this noise. No one takes into account the needs of the ill, or the needs of workers who need to rest or students who must rise early to go study. The noise is unbearable.

An even more bizarre phenomenon of these changes is the complete absence of a state government. There is no law at all on the street. Things are unnatural and the "caliber of the problem” is severe and the law can not control!

The birth rate continues to grow dramatically. On the one hand, you find that people are giving birth to large numbers of children, and on the other hand, people are dying of disease and illness at very high rates. There is no planning for pregnancy, or for the social, economic, educational or health care needs of children. Parents and government officials alike argue that they don’t need to do anything at a policy level. They do not need to take practical decisions to control the birth rate or reduce infant mortality. They do not plan for the welfare of their own children. Perhaps because they are essentially hopeless and lost in the practical world, they turn to their religion saying that God will take care of their children and the suffering people. I cannot understand how they do not reach to do more for the children, or rise against their government. They seem helpless to speak out. They are told/ and believe that "all the children are loved" and the Lord will not forget one of his own!

Television programs, especially program interviews, are trivial and insignificant. Even when political leaders are interviewed, the questions are not hard-hitting and the persons only half answer any of the questions. Then, rather than the newscaster probing further, it is left to the guest to further supplement or provide additional information. This apprears as if the interviewer and guest made an agreement prior to the interview.

Ugliness is all around us—homelessness, deteriorated buildings, garbage even on rooftops, on streets and in the manners, language and gestures used by the people. Their behavior represents the worst and basest of humanity. If you walk in the street with your sister or your mother you find yourself disturbed that they must hear and see these things that embarrass them and you also fear for their safety. The people push and shove themselves before us– challenging us to get out of their way- because they will not move even for an elderly woman!

There was the case of a young man named Mohammed Hijazi. He converted from Islam to Christianity- a decision of personal faith- and one that is his right. This decision of his caused an uproar throughout Egypt. He was stopped and threatened as he walked on Egyptian streets. Everyone seemed to forget the real problems facing their health, education, and human rights violations- instead focusing on his personal faith decision. Imagine the Banality! !

Religious mania prevails throughout the streets of Egypt. Everyone hurries to the mosques, especially on Fridays. They pray, repeating the words of religious leaders who ask God to kill and torture Christians, Jewish people and anyone who is not Muslim Sunni. (not Shiite). They pray for Allah to kill Americans and Israeli people. These Imam are ignorant but they are entrusted with these prayers and have been for centuries. They impose the belief that God wants Muslims reunited ... and that God intends for Jews and Christians to be underneath the Muslims. They plant rumors throughout the community that create fear and hate and these permeate into the daily life of the people who must face the realities of poverty and the cruelties of this hard life. These practices and guidance from the faith leadership reinforce the beliefs of the majority of people who are uneducated. There are no other influences from the outside world, so this circle continues because their world is closed.

These stories go on and on. There is more and more of this is all around me and everywhere in Egypt. In the end, this alone is not what bothers me. What I truly cannot fathom is that the people of Egypt have started to accept these conditions. They no longer consider that there can be another way. They have learned to live with this situation ... how long can this go on?

My question is .. Where is Egypt going?

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