US-Supported Tyranny in Egypt

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Following last April's rigged process, Trump congratulated Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's re-anointment as president.

Both leaders affirmed their strategic partnership. After meeting el-Sisi last year, Trump thanked him for "doing a terrific job," adding "we have a fantastic relationship with Egypt" - one regime partnering in the other's high crimes.

El-Sisi is Washington's man in Cairo, an illegitimate president after usurping power. He rules by iron-fisted brute force, eliminating opposition wanting democratic governance, not tyranny.

Human rights workers, truth-telling academics, union heads, independent journalists, and Muslim Brotherhood members are vulnerable to his viciousness.

In March, activist poet/lyricist Galal al-Behairy was illegally detained after collaborating with musician Ramy Essam on the song "Balaha" (a derogatory nickname for el-Sisi)."

Awaiting indictment and prosecution, he and Essam were held on fabricated high state security charges of terrorism, dissemination of false news, abuse of social media networks, blasphemy, contempt of religion, and insulting the military.

The el-Sisi regime blocked publication of his latest book of poetry, titled "The Finest Women on Earth.

Defending his book, he said "(e)ach one of us loves their country, and each one of us fears for their country. However, each one of us has a personal vision that does not contradict the country's interest." 

The book "does not refer in any way whatsoever to the Egyptian soldiers. It is rather a recognition of the value of women and of their good deeds in this world." 

"Every soldier, man, fighter, scientist, and inventor is the result of a mother's education, a wife's embrace and a daughter's innocence."

In February, he and Essam released their song "Balaha." It criticized dismal economic conditions for ordinary Egyptians, along with political corruption.

Essam is exiled in Sweden. Behairy was sentenced to three years in prison. From behind bars, he wrote "A Letter from Tora Prison," saying:

"We are not afraid.

We are not afraid.

We saw a country

rise from sleep

to trample a pharaoh

and cleanse the age

of the cane and cudgel.

We saw a country sing:

those were no slave songs,

no harbingers of doom, rather

songs fitting

for a new kind of steel."

Defending his right of free expression and dissent, a panel of UN human rights experts called for his immediate release, saying:

"(A)ll individuals have the right to participate in varied information exchanges, to contribute to artistic expression, and to take part in cultural life and in the development of their society, including through political debate and expression of opinion and dissent, without fear of sanction or reprisals."

Not in Egypt, Israel, and other totalitarian states. Speech, media and academic freedoms are increasingly threatened in America and other Western nations.

Separately in late July, the el-Sisi regime sentenced 75 Muslim Brotherhood members to death on fabricated charges of killing policemen and vandalizing property during the US-orchestrated August 2013 coup against President Mohamed Morsi.

His ouster elevated el-Sisi to power, first as head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), then as illegitimate president - serving as a US-installed puppet.

During the 2013 coup and aftermath, security forces killed hundreds. Tens of thousands were arrested. Many others disappeared - with full US support and encouragement.

Egypt is a fascist dictatorship. El-Sisi rules by intimidation and state terror - eliminating opposition by imprisonment or cold-blooded murder.

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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

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