لوبتحبها, سيبها
No, this isn’t the Arabic version of the age-old adage “if you love something, set it free.” It is actually a campaign launched a few months ago in the governorates by conservative elements warning against premarital relationships. Not premarital sex, not extramarital affairs, but any romantic relationships between unwed men and women.
This is one in a long line of shocking incidents that have taken Egypt by surprise – the overwhelming rise of Salafis, Hazem Abou Ismail’s soap opera saga, and parliamentary discussions of legalizing FGM and repealing the sexual harassment law. At the basis of all these examples is one undeniable truth – there is a noticeable trend of what most dub “extremism” in Egypt. However, it is important to place things in context and realize that this trend is not uniquely Egyptian. Rather, there is a noticeable shift towards the extreme left and extreme right in global politics – instances of political extremism in their own right.
While this has been a pressing issue in Egyptian politics (and the larger Middle East region) for some time now, the reason I am choosing to write this article now is because of two political issues that arose yesterday. Firstly, Francois Hollande was elected as the president of France. Formerly the First Secretary of the Socialist Party, Holland boldly declared in his acceptance speech “Je suis socialiste” – I am a socialist. While the Socialist party is a centre-left party, the cyberspace was set ablaze with outrage at this surprising turn of events in European politics as a leftist (oh mon Dieu!) was being sworn into office.
Meanwhile, across continental Europe, the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party won 22 seats in the Greek parliamentary elections. That’s right folks, you heard it right, neo-Nazis – complete with references to Aryan descent and “pure” Greek descent. While I can go into detail about my views of Hollande and the (quite honestly revolting) Golden Dawn, that is not what this article is about. It is about something much greater.
There is a noticeable shift in international politics. People are gravitating towards some sort extremism – socially, religiously and politically. This shift in global consciousness has many manifestations and varying results but one thing is for sure – there will be repercussions. In my opinion, this extremism is reactionary – a response to the current international order. We need to figure out what it is this is indicative of and how to remedy a clearly flawed system.
WE SAID THIS: neo-Nazis in Mykonos? Maybe the Mayans do know what they’re talking about after all!