Al-Qaida’s Flag in Cairo

It’s shocking what happened in Egypt: the attack on Washington’s embassy in Cairo, the burning of the American flag and the raising of al-Qaida’s flag. The protests were reportedly over a film that insults the Prophet (peace be on him). Participating in the demonstrations were the so-called “Ultras,” a group of soccer fans, as well as Christians and Islamist groups.

When we say that what happened in Egypt is shocking it is for a simple reason: No one has yet seen the film that reportedly insults the Prophet. Even Reuters, which broke the news of the attack on the American embassy, reported that “[i]t was not clear which film prompted the protests.” This a truly embarrassing incident. When no one has heard of the film or even knows its name, is it reasonable to burn the world every time some nobody disrespects Islam or one of its symbols? The truth that must be stated, especially with regards to the Egypt story, is that the issue is more complex than one insulting film. Some Egyptians’ reactions to allegations of contraband being smuggled into Saudi Arabia, for example, were similar to their current reactions to the American embassy. The one difference is that there was no al-Qaida flag before, and the Saudi Arabian flag wasn’t burned. This indicates that the problem in Egypt is much more complicated than just fervor for Islam.

Since the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak, the real dilemma in Egypt is concealed by pandering to the street, which has gone without any public opinion leadership, which behaves according to the principle of statesmanship and does not simply obey the calls for vengeance from the squares, social media or even the news media. The Egyptian people have been deceived into a trap, where the accused become the condemned and the innocent are deemed guilty without a trial. This is Egypt’s disease now, and it will hold them back as they try to move into the future. Nations are not built on screaming, chaos or revenge; they’re built on wisdom, prudence, laws and compromise. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Egypt, and the proof is that the protesters at the American embassy included Islamists, Christians and even a gang of soccer fans.

The baffling and shocking part of the incident is that no one knows anything about the film they’re talking about. Even if they’d seen the film, it’s clear that it’s an insignificant act by an individual or group on the fringes. In the Egyptian situation, what’s incomprehensible is that they reacted like this. Even if it was out of religious zeal, the reaction is something you’d see in Pakistan or Afghanistan, where they burn the U.S. flag and raise al-Qaida’s. How can they demand that America apologize for a film produced by a nobody, not by the U.S. government? Is it reasonable, for example, for the Obama administration to demand that Egyptians, the government or the people, apologize for the existence of Ayman al-Zawahiri, current head of al-Qaida and an Egyptian? It’s illogical and unacceptable.

Thus, and we say this as Egypt’s friends, these events have one meaning: It’s the responsibility of the leaders of Egyptian popular opinion to oppose chaos in public opinion. It’s the responsibility of the intellectual and the politician to respect their knowledge and their consciousness. The same applies to the media, which should stop deceiving the people and avoid burning down Egypt as a whole.