Explosive times

We all agree terrorism can't breed freedom but does it work the other way around? Fatemah Farag gauges arguments conditioned by this week's Khan Al-Khalili bomb attack

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"Buy your freedom every Wednesday" reads the bright orange billboard looming over Ramses Street in downtown Cairo which advertises the weekly Al-Ghad newspaper and its editor- in-chief, Ayman Nour. A 15-minute drive away, a terrorist bomb, the first since 1997, went off last Thursday spewing nails not only into its human victims but into the debate on reform that has been raging in the press. After everyone had denounced the operation, it was time to face the ramifications: what kind of impact the incident would have on the process of reform.

In Akhbar Al-Yom on 9 April Amal Othman hastened to argue that the terrorist attack should make us "think a thousand times before requesting the removal of specific laws [read emergency law] -- which we all are against -- and invites us to re-evaluate our ability to stand against those who target Egypt's security."

Which is exactly what Abbas Tarabili was afraid of. In Al-Wafd on 10 April he says, "in the aftermath of the terrorist operation, we put our hands on our hearts in fear of finding those who claim that this [the operation] is a reason for the continuation of the emergency law." Tarabili adds that the only people who would advance such an argument must be either "someone from government or the National Democratic Party" and goes on to argue, "this incident should make us hasten comprehensive reform that begins with political reform and leads to economic reform."

But the stakes are high, Galal Dweidar, editor- in-chief of Al-Akhbar, reminds us on 10 April. In his front page editorial Dweidar confirms, "under no circumstances can the connection between this crime and a plan to destabilise Egyptian security be ignored." And he considers the incident a warning "to all legitimate political forces of the consequences of dealing with the problematics of social and political reform while turning a blind eye to those who will ride the wave on the one hand and those who aim to destabilise Egypt on the other."

As Adel Hamouda spells out in Sawt Al- Umma on 11 April, "what concerns and worries us is that this bombing might be the beginning of the chaos scenario that we expected and warned of previously. And I imagine that the targeting of Cairo means the possibility of repetition, a possibility that increases with the advent of the date of elections. The aim is to instigate worry, to create a general sense of lack of security and lack of trust in the ability of the government to control." Hamouda goes as far as to link the Al-Azhar bombing with the incidents of sectarian strife that took place recently in the governorate of Menoufia, creating from both events a "black scenario".

Arguing that the lesson learned from the Khan Al-Khalili bombing is to fear further advancement on the road to reform is opposed by Ahmed Abdallah in a special supplement published by Al-Ghad and distributed with the paper on 13 April. Abdallah points out, "dictatorship and terrorism are the two sides of the same coin. Both are against freedom and rights of people to determine their future and hence [they are both] a stumbling block in the way of development." He points out the obvious when he writes that years of emergency law did not succeed in bringing an end to terrorism or other bloody operations. On the contrary, such laws have provided a pretext for terrorists.

Many have made reference to the foreign factor in organising the bombing. Once again Ragab El-Banna, editor-in-chief of October magazine, takes issue with the Americans. "What does America want of us?" is El-Banna's question. Taking into consideration the havoc that is being wreaked by the Americans across the Arab world, it can't be good. But Abdel-Qader Shoheib in Al-Musawwar on 8 April laments that instead of confronting [US intervention] "be it escalating the pace towards reform from within -- a process which includes the political, economic and social -- we were surprised to find that some officials imagine that the process is a competition to gain US favour especially with regards to the economic sphere." Shoheib argues that the concern of some to win US approval can only create a climate detrimental to honest, homegrown national reform.

And Hazem El-Biblawi in Al-Ahram on 10 April seems to think it is time we moved the debate beyond what the Americans want. "They say that democracy a la American is not for us. OK, that's true. But what kind of democracy is good for us? Instead of complaining about imported democracy, we want to know what our programme to achieve our democracy is. We want a clear and specific programme with a timetable covering all its phases."

In a front-page column in Al-Arabi on 10 April, Diaaeddin Dawoud says, "If some warn against foreign intervention, [I say] it is more important that we concern ourselves with what is within. Opposing foreign intervention in our internal affairs should not mean that we should ignore our own deficiencies. We must strongly criticise our mistakes and take the initiative in being honest about our abilities."

And talking about criticism from within, many had a bone to pick with the Muslim Brotherhood after their endorsement of President Hosni Mubarak and their latest position regarding constitutional reform. "Oh God, may the Ikhwan (Brotherhood) enter hell" was the headline chosen by Hamdi Rizq in Al-Masry Al-Yom on 9 April to begin his tirade against the group. "Every time they [the Brotherhood] scream in the face of the regime, the regime comes down hard on us... We have become the victim of the Brotherhood and the regime." Rizq goes on to list the many contrary positions of the Brotherhood and he blames them for "denying us entry into a period of reform for 25 years".

Hussein Abdel-Razeq in Al-Wafd on 8 April highlights a US report that indicated that the US administration is considering opening a dialogue with the leadership of the Brotherhood regarding a joint understanding of reform in Egypt. He points out, however, that there is a wide political circle in Egypt that fears the use of religion in brainwashing the public. "Many fear the rise of the Brotherhood through the ballot boxes and their adoption of policies that cut off the possibility of further democratic reform."

But speaking of the public, just where do they stand in all this? In his column on the back page of Al-Masry Al-Yom on 9 April an exasperated Magdi Mehana wonders why is it "that the country is going through one of the most difficult times in its history... and yet the vast majority of Egyptians are not concerned with what is happening in front of them or with them, as if it concerns another people and not their future?"

Perhaps they know something the political elite does not