“Muslim Brothers armed fascists”

25/08/2013
The narrative of the Egyptian secular left
by Amal Ramsis
Following letter we received from Amal Ramsis, a lauded Egyptian filmmaker and political activist of the Tahrir. She was invited to the Anti-imperialist Camp in Assisi, Italy, in 2012 to screen one of her films and to discuss the situation after the toppling of Mubarak. Her intervention is a reaction to an article written by a member of the editorial board of this website condemning the military’s coup d’état and denouncing the ensuing harsh repression against the Muslim Brotherhood. While we do not share her position, we feel that it is representative for a certain part of the Tahrir movement.
Amal Ramsis in Assisi 2012 introducing her film

I wonder what does "democracy" mean for the Anti Imperialist Movement, specially when we are facing an armed fascist groups supported by the biggest imperialist power which is USA? What does "democracy" mean for a revolutionary group in such a situation?

How come you neglect that Muslim Brothers was the new elites assembled around the generals since 2011? Or should we condemn only the old one but welcome the new faces of these elites?

I wonder why the Anti-Imperialist Movement kept silent when a Constitution was announced by Muslim Brothers in November 2012, which was considered the real coup d'etat declaring Mursi the new dictator of Egypt?1

It's really very strange when the Anti Imperialist Movement uses the terms of the imperialism in defining the "Democracy" neglecting the power, the struggle, the worker class strikes and the civil disobedience of the Egyptian peoples against the new fascism during a whole year. It is really strange when a revolutionary group only sees the Army as the only player in the political scene of Egypt neglecting millions of people which went on the streets asking for a real change of the system.

Dear collegues, finally the people are the main player of the political scene, making a radical changes in the global alliances. For the first time the demands of the Egyptian political movement for a transition period run by a civil government, for a democratic process in writing the Constitution are a reality. Talking only about a conflict between Muslim Brothers and the Army means simply that you neglect the demands and the voices of millions of Egyptians and their roles in all of these changes.

Being an Anti-Imperialist Movement needs a deep understanding of the regional imperialist alliances and not falling, like many liberals, in the mistake of defending the "bourgeois democracy".

I wonder how is it possible that the Anti Imperialist Movement supports the dirty hand of the imperialism in our zone? Or maybe you don't consider USA as an imperialist power any more?

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