Ideological Profiling

Further to my previous notes/reflections on the Egyptian Revolution, I would be remiss if I do not touch on a phenomenon that is clearly unfolding as we witness the evolution of the Egyptian Revolution (apologies for the rhyme!). That phenomenon, which I refer to as "Ideological Profiling", will be addressed in the following analysis.

My analysis will hinge on the fact that I believe that in the past 60 years or so, the engagement of the majority of Egyptians in the political and ideological arena has been insignificant. To take the analysis further, it is imperative for me to mention that poverty, illiteracy, oppression and fear are major factors that led to the aforementioned submissive behavior. Needless to say, the rulers of Egypt and their agents (both national or foreign) in that time frame were a significant force in stumping any improvements in these major factors.

Moving on, come January 25, 2011, the frustrated and desperate masses declared that it is time for a change. It would, however, be fictitious to allude that all Egyptians believe that this uprisal was/is the path for the future betterment of life in Egypt. Be that as it may, the forces of change have occurred, and six months later they are continuing to press on towards a seemingly irreversible change in the way of life in Egypt. Rising from a deep slumber that lasted six decades, these forces of change are obviously numerous, and as such, they have different ideologies, beliefs, agendas, and, indeed, have different levels of radicalism or organizational structures. The one thing that these forces (whether they are individuals or parties) have in common, is that they are operating within an unprecedented vacuum in key aspects of the basic daily life needs such as order, security, visibility, transparency, productivity and accountability.

This brings me to the phenomenon of Ideological Profiling, a phenomenon that has been rapidly escalating over the past six months. The aforementioned forces of change, in their plight to gather support and momentum from the masses, have been using underhanded tactics, some of which are no different than the ones that were used in the past 60 years! Irresponsible scathing and incriminating articles and conspiracy theories are spreading like wild fire. In many of these articles the ideologies seem to have taken the stance "It is my way or the highway" or "If you don't belong to our ideology then you don't belong to the country"! If this is not a form of bullying or bigotry, what is?

History is replete of examples of diverse aspects of "profiling" (e.g. political, ideological, religious, ethnic) in different corners of the world. History has also shown that, profiling, in any shape or form, is a crime against humanity. Unfortunately, history also tells us that mistakes were committed and subsequently repeated, sadly sometimes in the same corners of the world.

Hopefully, in the evolution of the democratic process in Egypt, all forms of profiling will be controlled and treated as a crime for which the appropriate punishment(s) must be defined and implemented. Yet another price for democracy!

Hani Badawi
July 24, 2011