Matthias Rathmer - Seeds of Wrath

And it’s obvious. All the troubles of the past do mean there’s a huge price to pay in economic terms. Investors beat a hasty retreat, others were never serious in the first place. The government continues to pay out far too many subsidies and unemployment and poverty are at unacceptable levels. But the Egyptians are at the ready. They want to work, and hard. Although not all of them are particularly qualified, the motivation’s there. In most. But more than any, it’s the millions of young Egyptians who are pushing to escape the downward spiral once and for all. And besides. There is a real fear of what all today’s troubles will bring in the future. Egyptian’s population is exploding. With population growth of almost two per cent, that’s one and a half million more people to be provided for each year.

As already said, an elitist clique, notably the military, stands in the way of change and all the much needed developments. They do not want to share, and are incapable of doing so. But it would be simplistic to ascribe every problem in the country to them. The biggest of all challenges is actually the individual. More than all of these deplorably managed economic and market affairs, the people have one basic problem and that’s with themselves and their identity. The average Egyptian thinks first only of his own advancement, and that means his own and that of his family. Me, myself and I. You do what you want, I’ll make my own way. The Egyptian people do not want to be a society, and are not able to be one, either. If a clinical condition could be ascribed to Egypt, it would social paralysis from the neck down.

What cuts across all strata of society is this frightening sense of individualism. There’s no such thing as self-reflection, readiness to take responsibility or contribute to a supportive society. The mere mention of social capability and social intelligence mostly brings only questioning looks. The narcissism in this place is quite unbearable. And yet at the same time it is a matter of indifference as to how much people own or have in the bank. The usual social norms buzz with nothing more than hearsay. And yet in many places an Egyptian behaves and thinks, if he does ever think at all, without any regard for the interests and needs of those around him. Observations like this are neither arrogant nor racist. They are the reality.

It was because of these shortcomings that their little rebellion, the Arab Spring, failed. And it is significant that it did not start with Egypt. Even if the individual has no idea what should be written in an agreement with the state, every communal protest remains a short-lived awakening but with no end-point, no strategy and no objective. There are millions over millions of wishes expecting to be fulfilled.

I want dignity and prosperity but have not understood that this means giving a little. To step back and not take oneself so seriously – anyone who lives purely for the here and now, as do Egyptians, has not learnt anything, will not learn anything and so can’t organise anything. Quite apart from the fact that regular tax contributions really are an exceptionally useful way of getting a supportive society off the mark. Plenty want it but nobody wants to cough up for it.

It is quite typical of the Egyptians to go in for something which is supposed to bring rapid improvement for the individual and yet to go about it with no clear perception of the realities, with no awareness, and a naïve national emotionalism that’s almost unbridled. I want what other people have got. I can do what other people can do. I want democracy. I want it tomorrow. And if it’s not here by the day after, then I don’t want it anymore. It was this same attitude and behaviour that flipped ex-President Morsi into power. Yes! Yalla! We want the Muslim Brotherhood, we want change, out with the old regime. But sharia law, any toughening of Islamic legal provision in public life, hey, we don’t want that.

That’s why it now suits the Egyptians, as their disappointing participation in the last elections has shown, to go all huffy and stick their heads in the desert sand. All because they didn’t get what they wanted and didn’t get it yesterday, whatever it was they’d been after. Quite apart from the fact that pretty much every candidate up for election came out only with slogans in line with the government. Now it’s back, that general sense of powerlessness, the paralysis of an unnamed civil cowardice which is, in many places, veiled in a religious lethargy of Islam, characterised by humility and obedience because man, directed by God – according to his strong faith – carries no guilt for his behaviour. If God doesn’t want all that, then I can’t do anything, anyway. Really anything.

Yet again the Egyptians are in the stranglehold of the rich and powerful. Yet again military top brass are in control. And yet again, they want no redistribution of anything. A small group of players keep the people in ignorance and poverty because if they were to change anything, then they themselves would become the oppressed. That’s how it is. That’s how Egyptian society has given President Sisi and his government such a reception. He makes sure there’s peace in his own ranks so that the withdrawal into private life, mostly into a patriarchy, can take place without disturbance.

Because I can’t change anything else anyhow. That’s how Egyptians like to be governed. But there’s also this emotion which so typifies the nation, and that’s the sense of wrath, the social impact of which has not been reckoned with.

At the end of October 2015, when the Russian Metrojet Airbus came down over Sinai, there were no survivors among the two hundred and twenty four mostly Russian passengers and crew. During the flight from Sharm al Sheikh to St Petersburg a bomb exploded on board. The savages belonging to so-called Islamic State admitted responsibility. As a direct consequence of the incident, numerous international airlines stopped all flights to the popular holiday spot.

For the victims and their relatives this tragedy had its own special significance but it had a yet further destructive element. Just as Egypt’s important tourist trade had started to recoup some of the heavy losses sustained over the years, with bookings buoyant and money being spent, now the holidaymakers stayed away in their droves after the plane crash. This new disaster and its consequences point up a key problem with Egypt. The place is desperately dependent on doing business with tourists. Cash subdues wrath.

Germans are not the only Europeans to prick up their ears when there are issues in this country. They are wondering whether they can still have a fancy holiday at prices that won’t push them back into overdraft. Instead of the Lakes and Mountains coach tour, surely it’ll be OK to go back to all the fun of the Nile once the Egyptians have calmed down again. But, according to European security sources, they haven’t. Light-heartedness doesn’t look like this. And those Arabs in North Africa, they’ve always been unpredictable, ever since that funny rebellion of theirs.

And besides. The centres of tourism between the pyramids and the Red Sea, between the Mediterranean coast and the Aswan Dam are quite safe. Well, as safe as anything can be. Even in deepest Bavaria, a falling roof-tile could land on your head. These Ali Baba types and their mates have got their eye on Majorca, too. The Egyptians do loads, really loads, to protect those areas. But entirely for their own purposes. That their tourist offering needs a thorough overhaul, that fresh ideas and independent thinking are not only useful but also bring valuable income, these are all things that Egyptians still have to learn.

It’s like this. Egypt and the Middle East have, like several other classic holiday destinations, become in recent years too complicated for any restful holiday in the ideal, sophisticated eastern style. If package holidays in a particular country are being warned against, then it means there’s something wrong with that destination and, for the average German, the average Egyptian is no longer worth running up credit for. This has fatal outcomes because now, more than ever, they desperately need every incoming flight to be full. Precisely because personal prosperity is balm to the soul of every Egyptian, the bikini-clad millions must come back, even if this means more money for the national and international business cliques.