Egypt's national dilemma

What are we to make of Egypt today, on the second anniversary of the people's uprising? Mubarak may be gone but the old, paternalistically authoritarian attitudes linger on under the country's new leaders.

The problem was neatly encapsulated yesterday in reports of a contretemps between Ahmed Fahmy, the Islamist speaker of the Shura Council, and the crew of an EgyptAir plane.

Returning from a trip to Khartoum, Fahmy objected to the in-flight movie's "indecent" content (or, in the words of EgyptAir's official statement, "expressed reservations about one of the scenes"). As a result, EgyptAir says it will be reviewing all the films shown on its flights and will withdraw any that "depart from Egyptian values and customs".

The film in question has been identified by Egyptian media as Arees Mama ("Mum's Suitor"), starring an actress known as Nelly. It was made decades ago – before Egypt started borrowing its "customs and traditions" from the Gulf states – and was approvedby government censors at the time. None of the other passengers appear to have complained.

According to EgyptAir, the issue was resolved during the flight by turning off the film in Business Class (henceforth to be known as Brotherhood Class?) while allowing Economy passengers in the rear to continue watching.

The dilemma posed by Fahmy is more than just a dilemma for EgyptAir. It is Egypt's national dilemma. Egyptians are all, so to speak, on the same plane but some of them want one thing and some want another. A few, like Fahmy, also think they know what's best for everyone else.

Translated into everyday politics, the question is how to deal with these fundamental – often irreconcilable – differences. The usual Arab way is that whoever holds power will make the decision and then seek to impose it, but in post-Mubarak Egypt that isn't going to work. There are simply too many conflicting voices and interests.

The only way forward in this situation is to let people make their own choices as far as possible, without interfering in the choices of others. If Mr Fahmy doesn't want to watch the film, fine, but others shouldn't be prevented from watching it if they want to.

That, of course, is a principle Islamists find difficult to accept: for them, it's not a really matter of personal choice but a matter of protecting others from "moral harm". 

This raises another crucial question for Egypt, about the role and priorities of government. A lot of political noise is generated, in Egypt and other Arab countries, about protecting people's morals and far too little about protecting their lives.

On Wednesday, the Egypt Independent took a much-needed lookat the dire (and deadly) state of the country's railways. Nineteen people were killed by a derailment earlier this month and, according to the Egypt Independent, the overall death rate is "at least six times above international best practices".

It's obvious that massive investment is needed to improve safety. The report describes one station where drivers have to collect a handwritten note from the controller allowing them to proceed, because the signals have been broken since October.

There's a need, too, to educate people about the dangers. The report talks of "a never-ending stream of people crossing the railway tracks at Bulaq al-Dakrur station:

"Train driver Gamal al-Sayed ran an obstacle course through ambulant dangers: people and animals crossing the tracks, and vehicles lingering at level crossings as the train bore down on them.

"As he drove, Sayed pointed out railway land that has been appropriated by local residents, disused train tracks still vaguely visible underneath parked cars, horses and makeshift buildings."

Meanwhile, railway staff "expressed frustration at the official response to accidents which, more often than not, ends at criminal prosecution of a junior employee ... and grand promises of investment and reform by a senior official that rarely see the light of day".

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 25 January 2013.