Asmaa Mahfouz

The now well-known Egyptian blogger Asmaa Mahfouz has allegedly been detained for making the following comments on her Facebook page about the Supreme Council of Armed Forces in Egypt: "If this judiciary doesn't give us our rights, nobody should be surprised if armed militant groups appear and conduct a series of assassinations because there is no law and no judiciary."

Now, for all those that don't know who Asmaa is, watch this. About a week before the Egyptian revolution in January Asmaa, aged 26, posted this video calling her fellow countrymen and women to protest against human rights abuses in the country and to demand a change in government. To me her language and persuasion is a bit excessive, especially the part where she says: "if you stay at home, you will deserve all that is being done to you". Errr, okayyyy. So, because Godfather 3 (my favourite by the way) was on the night of the revolutions, I deserve it if my family and neighbours are beaten, or worse?

Okay folks, by my own admission I am not so politically active; and I know it is easy for me to criticise sitting here in the 'Western World' where, hey, I have all the human rights I need, right? But, to me democracy is not just about shouting in the streets, or painting my face red and breaking a few car windows in protest (sorry, that's called 'rioting'), it's about choice. I feel mildly political about certain subjects, but have I ever donned my hat, made a twelve-foot banner saying 'Free Palestine' or 'Eggy-Cleggy' (referring to Nick Clegg, the somewhat haphazard deputy Prime Minister)? No. Why? Because that just ain't my thaing. And also because I think that if I want to see change in something, I have to do something about it, rather than just throw hand rockets in the street.

Now I am not averse to studying - even if minutely - the effectiveness of protests. I was apprehensive about the Egyptian Revolution as it was happening and I am thoroughly glad things seem to be moving in a good direction. No doubt, this is a credit to the Egyptians and couldn't have been done without people like Asmaa. However, while some people enjoy being active in politics and shouting out in the streets, sitting at home doesn't mean that you do not love your country, as Asmaa would have us believe. Yes, it was good old People Power that stormed Egyptians to victory in defeating the mighty monster Mubarak, but as I stated during the time, look at the demographics.

At most there were, what, 3 million of the Egyptian population protesting? Egypt's population is 80 million, Cairo 7 million alone. So clearly some people chose to not jump on the political bandwagon at that time; around 95% of the population in fact. For every one person protesting, I'd guess there were ten sitting in back-street markets (love them), smoking sheesha, drinking mint tea and discussing the events diplomatically, as they happened. Likewise, I am also sure there were equal numbers of people sitting watching the protests with interest in the comfort of their own homes.

Of course now Asmaa is a hero in the international media. People view her (and rightly so) as one of a group of people who chose to go out and demand their rights. That was nevertheless their choice. But on reflection, I do not appreciate her denigration of people who choose to stand by and do nothing. My point, in fact, is proven in the figures given. My guess (just speculating here) is that people who chose not to protest were either not physically able to, or just human and scared for their children and families in uncertain circumstances. Either way, I do not judge them for choosing not to participate in the riots, sorry, protests. Personally, if you told me there were police shooting at protesters in the street (especially given the Mubarak regime's history in human rights) and then asked if I would leave my family, possibly children, husband, etc to risk both my life and their lives without any guarantee of success I'd say the f-phrase to you. Family First. Now don't go misunderstanding me. I am not saying that those who did choose to protests didn't love their families enough. I am just merely saying that everyone has a reason for their choices, whether or not they know it.

In all, I find the girl a bit too hyper-political for my tastes and I think her latest post against the military was out of line. While Egypt is undergoing political reform, the military are about the only thing protecting the country from outside attackers and keeping some form of order in that region. I personally don't think it is healthy for the military to reign for too long without supervision in any country. We may not like them, but Asmaa and Co. should look to Israel or the UK, or any European country and ask whether they would accept open insults against their military? Perhaps the BBC (when reporting this story) should think how the British establishment would react if someone came out and said that they wouldn't be surprised if the PM or some other prominent member of the Cabinet was assassinated? MI5 would be on that like fat kid with cake.

Can the army be a long-term solution for democracy? Absolutely not. Can a fair judicial system be maintained with the military who spend their time plotting, defending? No. However, when there is no government ruling the country and no clear successor to the Mubarak system, people have to be patient. Democracy doesn't happen overnight and we all know what happened to the boy who wished he had everything at once? He lost it all.

Instead of posting silly little musings on her Facebook page that are likely to rub people up the wrong way, Asmaa should redirect her efforts to the coming elections in Egypt; join a political party, create one, start lobbying for support with other groups. Stop talking about rights, law etc and start building a manifesto of concrete goals for people to associate with and reach for. This is how a democracy works. My guess, however, is that she would be in the streets protesting even if Egypt was a fully-fledged clean democratic nation.

The drug of political recognition hit her most when she made that vlog and it all ended with the fall of a tyrant. But now she has to think before she posts; it will take many, many years for Egypt to fully reform (its economy, its judicial system, work ethic, etc) and threatening the one thing that is upholding any sense of stability in the country is the worst thing you can do.

NB: Please excuse if the paragraphing comes out skewed. This is an ongoing problem in my blog and I am currently trying to fix it. I promise you, it is not my bad paragraphing.