Whatever Happened to National Loyalty?

I almost started to believe that Egypt and the Arab world have forgotten about who their real enemy was. All of a sudden everybody was focusing on how dangerous Iran has become and was holding it responsible for all the violence in the region. The Arab media keeps illustrating howIran is fueling the conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon, and how Iran is seeking to have a nuclear weapon (at the time when Israel, for the first time, openly declares its possession of nuclear weapons). Iran was even held responsible for the kidnap and murder of the Egyptian Ambassador in Iraq, Ihab Al Sharif (Al Ahram newspaper 28/01/2007)! Meantime Israel was continuing its killings in Gaza, which were of course overshadowed by the bloodbath taking place between Fatteh and Hamas (25 killed in 24 hours). Ya hanaky ya sa3dek ya Israel!

I bet Israel was having its best time in the region. Nobody seemed to care anymore about what Israel is doing or planning to do. Everybody was afraid of Iran and talking about its evils. I am not implying that Iran is totally innocent, but I can't see that it is seeking anything more than any other powerful country would seek; that is, securing its sources of energy and expanding its region of influence. Yes, the strategy for its latter goal has led to violence, as it relies on strengthening the power of the Sheia, but violence, after all, is the choice of its users. These Sheia groups are already armed and have been (or believe they are) under suppression inside their own countries. For them, the situation is so desperate that they seek external help.

In short, if these groups actually understood what national loyalty is, they would never have been swayed to kill their fellow citizens and turn against each other. But a history of suppression, in the case of Iraq, has led the Sheia to lose faith in citizenship. While in Lebanon, the threat of political marginalizing, has led to a kind of struggle for existence. In both cases, the internal factors within a nation _ from the lack of tolerance for different religious groups, to the constant feeding of the idea that sectarian loyalty is more important than one's loyalty to his country _ have led to these conflicts. They whirl around in their pool of dogma, while the whole ship is sinking. This is the kind of situation you end up with when religious identity overlaps national identity and citizenship; a thing that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt calls for *. [*See my post Caliphate in the 21st Century where I comment on the Murshid talking about the irrelevance of the Caliph's nationality]

But, suddenly, Egypt officially accused 3 Israelis and an Egyptian of spying. Tab3an lazem yeb2a feeh Egyptian fel nos kedda. Mayenfa3shy ya3ni for these Israelis to work alone without internal help. La2 wmesh ay Egyptian, he is a student at the faculty of Science, Al Azhar University. Ya3ni he gets educated in Al Azhar to work as a spy for Israel. What an education!

Or maybe I was too hard on the guy. Yemken he got confused, who knows? Ya3ni, after all, he didn't spy for Iran, wl3yazo bellah. He merely helped our friendly neighbors in gathering information. Ya3ni by7'dem dawla shaqeeqa. But akeed he would never have done that with our Iranian enemies. Elragel ma3zoor sa7ee7. He sees Olmart raye7 gyy, while he never saw Ahmadi Nejad in Egypt even once.

What happened with the family of the Egyptian spy, however, was too painful. Publishing his national ID and questioning his parents publically is a very unneeded episode. The guy comes from a respectful lineage and his parents hold respectful positions in the Egyptian society (the father is a fighter pilot and the mother is a school principal). They certainly don't deserve this kind of treatment from the media. (Even when a journalist like Amr Khafagy shows sympathy, he keeps referring to the spy using his family name all through his article. [click here to read] ) Why do we need to expose the whole family, specially when it comes to the most shameful crime of all: spying. Isn't it enough for this family to deal with their own shamebrought about by their own son? Can anybody imagine the psychological agony they are passing through? Why can't the media just mind its own business and treat this spying case in a more professional manner. It is a serious issue that has to do with national security. Trying to link the case to the guy's family life and upbringing is just off-context. Many young men have lost faith in their country due to a lengthy list of factors which I don't find room to discuss here, but only very few were able to snatch away their loyalty and dignity as this guy has done. This is a personality issue. He didn't only choose to go after money, but he also chose to team up with the devil to get it.

Well, I certainly hope this spying case may act as a wakeup call and help turn tables. I hope we remember who our true enemies are and act more responsibly towards our countries.