Egypt: President Mubarak and the Egyptian Dignity

In the aftermath of the Egypt-Algeria match in Sudan, Egyptian football fans demonstrated in Zamalek in front of the Algerian embassy in Cairo on Thursday night and on Friday afternoon. The President's eldest son, Alaa Mubarak, instigated the riots live on national TV. On the morning of Saturday November 21, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak gave a speech in a joint session of the parliament's two house (People’s Assembly and Shura Council) where, without directly mentioning Algeria, he said that the dignity of Egyptians is part of the dignity of Egypt and vowed that Egypt will not tolerate those who insult its citizens.

mubarak 1

Mubarak's Speech

Sarah Carr is skeptical about Mubarak's speech:

Sarah Carr

Mubarak: “The welfare of our citizens abroad is the responsibility of the country. We look after their rights and reject violations and transgressions against them.” – and he continued saying and they are violated under our auspices inside Egypt!

Jasmine Aladdin is keeping her fingers crossed

Jasmine Aladdin

I really wish Mr. President that this is not just cheap talk to let some steam out. I also hope that Egyptians stop giving Egypt a bad name abroad by allowing others to step all over their pride in the name of making a living! What have we got left other than our dignity?

Sharif Hafez is a political analyst who admires the President's wisdom when he asked Parliament Members to keep their calm and not act on impulse

Sharif Hafez

This is a true lesson in politics for everyone; politics is not about speaking your mind on impulse, it's rather the ability to stay in control and walk your talk – we do not need more defeats!

Perwin Ali is not happy with BBC News headlines!

Perwin Ali

Dr. As`ad AbuKhalil – The Angry Arab is angry at lawmakers in Egypt for “applauding”

What is the job of Egyptian lawmakers except to applaud the comments of the president. Some of the lawmakers were friends of my father, and they applauded for Nasser, and then applauded for Sadat, and then applauded for Mubarak. Do you know that the Mustafa Khalil, who led Egypt's peace with Israel process was a staunch Nasserist, under Nasser?

And Zeinobia wonders about Egyptian's dignity inside Egypt

Mubarak said in his speech in front of the people’s assembly and the Shura Council that the Egyptian citizens abroad are the responsibility of the state and that the dignity of Egyptians is from the dignity of Egypt !!

I do not know what to say except that Mr. President none of this could have happen if we are enjoying our dignity as Egyptian citizens inside  Egypt in the first place !!?? Please tell these words to the victims of police brutality  , please them again to thousands of Egyptians abroad who haven been humiliated enough around the globe because of your economic policies for 28 years. Mr. President please these words to the families who lost their members on the borders with Israel , on the board of flight 990 , on the board of Al Salam ferry and on the board of Badr I.

Start the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.