The wrong moves
By
Salama A Salama
The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) is a recent addition to Egypt's political life. Over the past few years the Chamber has emerged as an arm of the US administration, speaking on its behalf and expressing its policies. US officials use the Chamber as a forum from which to criticise and influence Egypt's domestic and foreign policy, bypassing the usual official and diplomatic channels. The Chamber is becoming a sounding board, its purpose to prepare Egypt's business, political and ruling elite for the reforms Washington wants made.
Joint chambers of commerce are supposed to confine their role to bolstering trade and facilitating networking. AmCham, however, exceeds these limits, posing as a mouthpiece of the US Embassy, criticising domestic policy, urging amendment of legal, media, educational and social systems, and even calling for political reforms. The matter does not stop at bilateral relations, for the Chamber is turning its attention to Arab and international relations. This makes the meetings of AmCham more important than those of the People's Assembly or most of our civil society organisations. Thoughts and new trends brew inside the Chamber; these do not represent the opinion of the Egyptian members of the Chamber as much as they represent a US vision. And who would dare challenge or dispute a US vision?
This is what happened in the last meeting of the Chamber. A number of ministers and key Egyptian officials found themselves seated on the podium, listening patiently, and without comment, as a senior US diplomat criticised Egyptian policies, rebuked the Egyptian media and assessed the worth of Egyptian writers. The diplomat in question discussed political reform initiatives and pointed out our democratic shortcomings. He then defended Washington's right to tell us how to reform our education system. The diplomat also promised US assistance in the rehabilitation of our legal system.
I wish some of the Egyptian ministers, officials and AmCham members in attendance had had the courage to answer the US diplomat. But instead of disputing the diplomat's right to teach us democracy and freedom we are encouraging him. We are inviting him to debates over democracy and the way to implement it.
We all know that Egyptian- US relations are a keystone of our domestic and foreign policy. We know that efforts are being exerted by both sides and that an active dialogue addressing differences as they surface continues. But one-sided dialogue, and the dictation of opinions, has a sinister ring. Dialogue is a two-way street. Anything else brings back the sad memory of the British high commissioner in Egypt.
Many US policies are disagreeable, and we have the right to resist and criticise them, particularly with regard to the situation in the Middle East and Washington's bias towards Israel. We are critical of the methods of US justice, of the mistreatment of Arabs and Muslims, of their detention without trial. We are entitled to question the motives and justifications of US policy on Iraq and to recall the false claims made about weapons of mass destruction in that country.
US policy has changed, internationally and regionally. The US is trying to use its clout to introduce change without taking social and political implications into account. Any social change is doomed to fail unless it grows from existing social structures. The Chamber cannot be an engine of progress unless it works from within, remains part of local interests and visions, stays in touch with active political and economic elements, and operates through domestic -- not foreign -- channels.
