Mubarak's Reforms Rejected

Mubarak has been trying desperately to show the Revolutionaries in Tahrir that he understands their complaints and that he is willing to bring about the changes they demand. All of them, that is, except for the one that calls for him to step down immediately.

On the surface the reforms Mubarak is proposing are not insignificant and they are reforms the opposition has been demanding for years. They are:

1. Lifting the restrictions on presidential candidates
2. Liberalizing election controls (read: stop election rigging)
3. Presidential Term Limits
4. Increase press freedom

So why are these reforms now being rejected? Because the Revolutionaries see them as a stalling tactic. Even with all these reforms, Mubarak is still insisting on staying in power until the September elections. He has said he won't run for yet another term but that doesn't mean he isn't interested in hand-picking his successor.

The Egyptian People don't trust Mubarak and they have good reason. If they agree to the reforms and go home, they will lose the Revolution's momentum and when Mubarak reneges on his promises, it will be even harder to get people to come out and protest again.

Another issue is that Mubarak has made his new Vice President Omar Suleiman his main negotiator with the opposition. In addition to Suleiman being a life-long Mubarak loyalist, part and parcel to the government's repression of the people, WikiLeaks has released new papers detailing his close ties to the Israeli government. These documents are the perfect illustration of the problem with the Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty.

When two countries have peaceful relations, it should not be surprising that they cooperate, especially when dealing with groups considered to be an enemy by both states. The cables show the Egyptian government worked hand-in-hand with Israel in blockading Gaza. Hamas is a terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Israel and it is a direct offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which, though admittedly less violent (at the moment that is), wants to overthrow the Egyptian government (it has said it only wants to do so through non-violent means like elections, but I guess we'll have to wait and see). We can take some solace in the fact that unlike in the Palestinian Territories, the Muslim Brotherhood would most likely not come close to winning a democratic election. But it makes sense the Egyptian government, represented by Suleiman would want to do everything in its power to limited the Brotherhood's power and influence.

So why is Suleiman's "collusion" with Israel seen as such treachery? Because for the past 30 years Egypt has had peace with Israel on paper but been at with with Israel in its heart. Mubarak has not done anything to promote good relations, encourage tourism or even make minimal changes in the school curriculum that would teach Egyptian children that Israel is their friend and not their enemy. Israelis are still talked about as the enemy, Jews are represented in the State-run media as demons and child-killers and Zionist is probably the worst curse word you could call someone. 

But the biggest reason why these "revelations" about Egyptian-Israeli cooperation are so shocking, is that Egypt has been pretending to be the champion of Palestinian rights for more than 60 years now. The Egyptian government has been telling its people that it has been working on behalf of the Palestinians, fighting Israel for them and later lobbying Israel for them but never, ever working with them. Allah Forbid! When in fact the reality has been very different.

• Creation of the Palestinian State wasn't even on the agenda for Egypt in 1948, it invaded Israel in an attempt to conquer the Negev and create a landbridge between Arab North Africa and the rest of the Mashriq
• While occupying the Gaza Strip from 1947 to 1967, Egypt trained Palestinian Guerillas to attack Israel while keeping them under military occupation themselves. There were no moves towards Palestinian self-determination
• Again in 1967 and 1973 Palestinian self-determination was not a real goal
• For the past 30 years, Egypt has raised the Palestinian issue with Israel, but done very little to actually bring about a change in policy

Given the incredibly contradictory nature Egyptian rhetoric and actions, it is no surprise that the Egyptian people would be angry. Though to say that they are surprised their government doesn't practice what it preaches I think is a little much. They didn't trust the government to begin with, but it seems like the Palestinian issue is the one area that is held as sacrosanct. "Even Mubarak the oppressor wouldn't sell-out the Palestinians completely," was the thinking. But when the conversation is framed by the idea that having close relations with Israel is viewed as "selling out," then the cause of peace has already lost. 

Until major reforms are made in the minds of the Egyptian people, the peace will remain cold and shaky. It is possible that a peace treaty with the Palestinians could ease the tension, but it isn't guaranteed. Whoever comes to power in post-Revolutionary Egypt must reform the Egyptian attitude towards Israel and not just Egyptian government.