"I see tranquility in the eyes of the women before the men. ‘Soon will their multitude be put to flight, and they will show their back’”. It is 9:45 am: with what logic is Erian Facebooking as he uselessly continues to fool women and men? Is tranquility really showing in the eyes of the women, you instigator? What eyes are you talking about, you shameless eyes? You must mean the eyes of Umm Ayman (less known as Azza al-Garf, a female Muslim Brotherhood leader), who on learning that the sit-in will be dispersed said in her best macho attitude, “We will open our chests to your bullets”. She thinks herself at war against Quraish. May God guide you! People like you, if not arrested, should remain at home, repent for their many past bad deeds, and then continue to do so in prison.
Those misguided women and men are in great fear while Erian is not there for them. Too cold, he continues to address the “free world” on Facebook. Those women and men were startled with the first rays of the sun while Erian continues to Facebook. The people are at the heart of the inferno as death lingers above their heads and under their feet. Meanwhile, he smells the scent of paradise which only the Muslim Brotherhood seems to smell. This man is altogether oblivious to what is going on. He has decided to hang in there on Facebook until the last young man in the sit-in dies. Fighting in air-conditioned rooms is an obligation for leadership while the young men and women do better dying in the inferno.
The Supreme Guide gets around in his air-conditioned diplomatic car which belongs to a tiny state that is extremely happy with the havoc wreaked around the country. Erian does not abandon the comfort of his Facebook account. He only makes rare, grand appearances in Rabaa al-Adaweya. Where were you when the two parties clashed? He suffices with managing illusory, fierce battles on Facebook. How difficult and unbearable the dispersal of the sit-in must have been on Facebook! Erian is at the heart of that bloody mess of which the government has long warned. The government has been extremely patient, to an extent where it could be accused of collusion. After three hours of tear gas, tears, casualties, and deaths, Erian talks about tranquility as though he were in another world, a world of Tramadol. Or it must be the fresh breeze from the central air conditioning to blame for his oblivion.
Erian offers an ideal example of people who abandon reality. It seems the Brotherhood's leadership is not aware of what it means to defy a state. No matter how elevated their status is, how big their numbers are, and no matter what chaos they spread across the country and what fires they start, they will remain an illegitimate group. They will not be able to force anything on the people even if they solicit empowerment from foreign powers that do not sympathize with them but are after their own interests. The US is only sad about the Brotherhood's ousting from power because they achieve its interests better.
Much like the Supreme Guide, Erian too is oblivious to the political scene. He leads virtual Facebook battles. Even after the breakup of the sit-in, he insists on the reinstatement of ousted President Mohamed Morsy or dying as a martyr. But his is an electronic Facebook martyrdom. Erian thinks he has entered paradise and can smell its scent, but the truth is he will go to prison and smell the stink of his feet.
Even at the toughest times of the sit-in, he speaks coldly about tranquility. His attitude is reminiscent of serial killers Raya and Sekina. Like Raya who would say to Sekina after taking the life of her victim, “That damn lady bit my hands while I was strangling her as though I were her enemy!” Erian is no different. He calls for staging sit-ins, attacking ministries, and inciting violence against innocent people and then blames the government for dispersing the sit-ins.
Hamdy Rizq is the former editor-in-chief of Al-Mosawar magazine.
