READER COMMENTS

As far as I am concerned, the protests of the Egyptian university professors against the Egyptian government to urge the latter to alter the teaching staff which was appointed during the former regime, are really one of the most important acts that should have been thought about by every honest Egyptian citizen, university professor or even student. In fact, this is their own legitimate right, given that the teaching staff has become outdated, especially since there are a lot of competent university teachers and students who have not enjoyed as much importance as these people, yet. Egyptians do not want anything that was imposed by the former regime any more. Thus, the Egyptian government must respond to their demand. In fact, they have to respond to all their demands, so that Egyptians will be able to leave peacefully and safely, otherwise the situation may become seriously aggravated. Then, it would be too late.

I am totally in favor of the competent teachers who are demanding a change in the teaching staff. There has to be a change, and we hope that it happens fast, because the situation has worsened. We no longer want any problems; we only want peace. God Almighty is capable of bringing all good at the hands of the Arab nation and the Egyptian heroes. We wish them all success, and we hope that Egypt becomes stable as it was in the past and even better, God willing.

University professors represent the leading category of human societies everywhere, due to their great role in preparing students by giving them a helping hand in order to become leaders of the society in the future. However, we see that many of those professors have been deprived of this chance in the Egyptian society, as appointments were made according to the approval of the state-affiliated security apparatuses under the rule of the former regime of Hosni Mubarak. As such, any leading figures in universities were excluded if they opposed the regime, or if they had any other political affiliations that contradicted the interests and goals of the National Democratic Party, which ruled the country before. The allies of this party and its affiliates were the only ones to be appointed; this led to the deprivation of many university professors in Egypt of their legitimate rights, in addition to being prevented from playing their patriotic and humanitarian role in educating the people of the country and leading them to the shore of safety. This habit, which has been adopted by the former regime, had a psychological and material impact on many professors in Egyptian universities, as it led to developing a spirit of hatred and spite among the professors at the same university, because justice and fairness were not achieved among the country’s teaching figures. This, in its turn, weakened the feelings of loyalty and belonging to the country for many of them, as a result of these divisions that were created by the former Egyptian regime. The current government is asked to replace all the university leaders who were appointed by the former regime before the beginning of the new school year, to apply the principles of integrity, transparency and administrative independence in the university. It also has to work on selecting new university leaders through direct, free elections from among candidates who enjoy the conditions and criteria that qualify them to assume these positions, in addition to reconsidering salaries and increasing them in a way that suits the living conditions in the country, to stand in the face of the increase in prices, which is growing noticeably. This will be one of the fruits of the Egyptian revolution, and will be an important factor in the movement of comprehensive change to stand against the academic deterioration in universities, in case the old leaders continue in their positions.

The public committees and those who support the armed forces everywhere, from the east of Egypt to its west and from its north to its south and from Sinai to Farafra and from Alexandria to Aswan and from the Red Sea to the western desert and on every inch, the Egyptians will support the army, even if we will go with them to hell.

I call for the trial of the the April 6th movement and stripping them from their Egyptian nationality; in the name of God, I announce that I do not support the January 25th sinful revolution. Its legal name is the January 25th conspiracy. I acknowledge the legitimacy of the military council and I renew my allegiance to it in managing the country’s affairs. I announce that I do not support anything against the military council and I do not support those who tamper with the destiny of the country. I declare that the revolution coalitions and the conspiring parties and their movements do not represent me. They lost their legitimacy when they proved to have carried out repeated conspiracies so as to increase chaos and destabilize stability in the country. God, Country, and the great Army of Egypt.

You are calling on us to get to the square; what about you? Are you still in Copenhagen in Denmark, or in Egypt? And if you were in Egypt, what would you think? And if you worked in a factory that shut its doors and you became unemployed, what would you think of the revolution? And if you had a store that was burned on the 25th of January and was ruined, what would you think? And since you don’t acknowledge the legitimacy of the military council, what do you acknowledge?

Yes, for demonstrating in order to restore the revolution, and no to military rule. We did not have this revolution to replace one tyrant with another. The people are the ones who had this revolution and were supported by the Military Council for the convergence of interests of getting rid of Mubarak and his son. So the Military Council is a partner in ruling with the people; it is not the absolute ruler, but it wants to monopolize the power without referring to the people. As for the Muslim Brothers and Salafists, since when do they go out to protest for the revolution? They care only about their own interests. But as long as there are free young people, the revolution will not fall into the hands of militants or dark forces. The Marshal will use the card of the “silent majority” to be the president of Egypt, whatever the circumstances. He will also use the card of the “evil of the revolutionaries” with a Thailand Scenario: T-shirt wars. That’s what I think, hoping that I am wrong, God willing, and I pray to God Almighty to do the best for Egypt and to save it from all evil. Peace be upon you.

To the Egyptian brothers, I hope you understand the reasons behind the failure of the revolution so far; it is the military ruling. Did you get rid of Mubarak to put Tantawy in his place? It is the same corruption; nothing has changed. The change should be radical and not positional; it should be done by laying off all the police and army elements in order to recruit young elements along with having severe sanctions, especially financial, for those who are corrupt; and the ministries should be distributed among the engineers, Ph.D. holders, lawyers and representatives.

Egyptian professors at Egyptian universities have the right to demand what they are demanding, because they really lived in the humiliation, degradation, lack of attention and the control exercised by the authorities, in addition to the spread of administrative and financial corruption and the spread of bribes on the university campuses. Of course, this is because of the bad conditions Egyptian professors are living through at the universities. Today, this is a legitimate and good demand. I think that they want to get rid of all the remnants of the old regime through this demand, in addition to getting rid of bribes and corruption. They want more recruitment opportunities to be provided to good professors. I support those professors in this demand to change the teaching staff, whether or not they are related to Mubarak, just because of the idea of change and renewal. It is good for change to take place everywhere, especially in the teaching staff. Egyptian universities need more development, and the teaching staff really needs to have an increase in their salaries. University professors in other countries of the world live very luxuriously, which is a great reason behind not allowing bribes and nepotism to spread. However, here in Egypt, professors live very miserable lives, and the government has to support university professors and to increase their salaries in a way that provides them with a good livelihood.

The university independence movement which sponsors these demands consists of thousands of teachers and students. In case they implement their threat, which aims at protesting and striking against teaching in the country, this matter will have great negative effects on the educational level in the country. It will result in the education being halted at most of the Egyptian universities, which will lead to disrupting the educational process in the country. The Egyptian Prime Minister has taken the required actions and measures to solve this crisis by working on containing it, by issuing a decree to change all the university leadership. But it is still in progress, and it also seeks to reach a consensual solution acceptable to everyone, and to achieve a balance between maintaining the status of the current university leadership and the demands for change in the future.

The university professors are one of the most important groups in society, whether in Egypt or other countries, because they are considered the educated category which works on graduating the generations that will lead the country in the future. Therefore, this category should be given great attention, and its opinions should be heard. This is what should happen in Egypt, especially after the success of the change revolution which should reach everything and the education sector in particular. This sector is considered one of the most important sectors. It was also suffering from the domination of the members of the ruling National Democratic Party, which was controlling everything in the Higher Education sector, through the leadership of its corrupt members who are loyal to the dictatorial ruling regime in Egypt for the Egyptian universities. Therefore, I agree with the protests which the university professors held in Egypt, for the sake of changing this situation and replacing the teaching staff, which was assigned during the time of the deposed president Hosni Mubarak. They were among the most loyal and faithful people to this regime, which has fallen at the hands of the heroic Egyptian youth. It is the right of the Egyptian university professors to submit their protests to the Egyptian government and to ask that the teaching staff be replaced, in addition to asking for an increase in their salaries. This important and active category in the Egyptian society has long suffered from a lot of injustice, as a result of the policies of the dominating people upon the education sector, as well as their being neglected by the former regime. The regime did not provide support for them, through which they could have lived a good life, which would have enhanced their financial status. I believe that the demands of this category in the Egyptian society are among the fair demands, which we absolutely support.

It is better for all people to cooperate and abandon protests in order to maintain stability in Egypt and witness a secure and peaceful situation. It is better than igniting the situation more than now. Therefore, we have to focus on more important matters, and leave secondary and trivial matters aside. All the people are the sons of Egypt. They have all witnessed the same situation and received the same treatment from the previous government. As for the salary increase, the government should work on it in order to create a balance between salaries and the market prices that are witnessing a significant increase in all food products and other things.

In order to achieve and implement integrity, transparency and administrative independence in universities, we asked the current government to replace all the university leaders who were appointed by the previous regime before the beginning of the new academic year. They have to choose new university leaders among candidates, according to direct and free elections. They should have special criteria in order to be qualified for these positions. In addition, they should reconsider salaries in order to increase them, to be commensurate with the living conditions in the country. Prices are increasing considerably. This work will be one of the benefits of the Egyptian revolution. It is also an important factor that will make a comprehensive change to face the scientific decline in the universities if the previous leaders remain in their positions.

The complaints made by university teachers against the Egyptian government, in order to urge the latter to change the teaching staff which was appointed during the former regime, are an important act. In fact, every honorable citizen, university teacher or students must think about this act, because it is one of their legitimate rights. Besides, the teaching staff has become outdated, especially since there are a lot of competent university teachers and students who did not enjoy a great importance similar to that of the teaching staff. In addition to that, Egyptians no longer accept anything that was imposed by the former regime and still exists. Thus, the Egyptian government must yield to this demand. It must also respond to this demand so that Egyptians can live in peace and safety, otherwise the situation will deteriorate after it becomes too late. In fact, many university teachers and protesters from the different Egyptian provinces and from different ages and sects have come and sat-in, calling for the implementation of their demands, mainly the change of university leaders, and the call for free elections of teaching members. Yet, the most important demand was for health insurance coverage, the right to choose the Master’s and the Doctorate’s theses, as well as enjoying scholarships for delegations abroad. Most importantly, they asked for a salary increase, given that it is a legitimate right, especially since the latter cannot meet the daily expenses and the entire month cannot bear this poor budget either. In fact, they have asked the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research about the problems that could arise among university teachers, and he frankly denied the existence of such problems, of course. He claimed that he would help the esteemed teachers, respond to their demands and accept them. In addition, he said that they must be dealt with as soon as possible. The Minister added that teachers should not escalate the situation, but they must do the complete opposite, to put Egypt first and to restore its former position, or even to become better than it was the past, God willing. Thus, Egypt will be better only if there is a mutual respect among everyone, so that it will be the most important Arab country which has a significant effect, compared to other countries. In addition to that, the education sector must be the best in the Arab world.

The Egyptian people have the right to claim all their legitimate rights, especially after they got rid of an unjust regime that had tired them out. University teachers now are demanding that the Interim government of Egypt change the teaching staff that had been appointed by Mubarak. They came from all the Egyptian provinces and they are more than a hundred university professors. They sit in every day, and they are insisting that the government achieve their demands as quickly as possible. They are asking for real reforms. They are demanding that the heads of university departments be replaced, that members of the Faculty be appointed by elections, and that salaries be increased. Their salaries have never been enough and the huge price rise in Egypt has caused them to make such a demand. They have also demanded that they be given the right to enjoy health insurance coverage and the right to choose Master and PhD dissertations and to be sent on missions abroad. The Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Mu'taz Khurshid, declared that they have no problems with university professors, and that they are determined to achieve all their demands, which will be implemented as soon as possible. University professors are insisting on their demands, and they said that in the time of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, only the professors who were approved by the state security are appointed, and ordinary people cannot take their rights. We demand that the current Egyptian government and the Minister of Higher Education reform all the things that are not for the good of the Egyptian people. May God help them achieve their demands. He is the only source of strength to impose peace in Egypt and the Arab world as a whole.

I pray to God Almighty to save us from all the cowardly and extremist terrorists who want to damage the Muslims’ lives. In fact, the formation of these extremist groups in Sinai has constituted a dangerous phenomenon. Thus, we must not remain silent. I think that every Egyptian must try to get rid of this unacceptable phenomenon. And after getting rid of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, the Egyptians must get rid of the terrorist and extremist groups. This is in order to resume their activities and work. Thus, I ask all the Egyptians to take interest in their country. This is in order to save Egypt from the groups that don’t want the region’s stability and safety. In fact, extremists have tried to forbid what they want, and this can damage the Egyptian people. May God protect the Egyptians from any harm and from the hateful people who don’t want the wellbeing of the country. And we pray to God to let our country enjoy peace and security. This is in order to get rid of terrorism, sectarianism and extremism. Thus, Egyptians must know that their victory will be achieved very soon, thanks to their unity and cooperation, God willing.

Everyone should know that they are all sons of the Egyptian people and that their demands to sack all the university professors who were hired by the administration of Hosni Mubarak are wrong, because these people are experienced and their positions as university professors should be preserved. The Egyptians who protested against the government in order to call for the change of the faculty staff must put God in mind. In fact, they must not cut off the livelihood of people. The faculty teaching staff has nothing to do with the methods of the previous government. Everyone should contribute to the reconstruction of the State of Egypt and its development. Indeed, they should work on the removal of class and development differences. Enough protests! Excessive protests lead to the instability and fading of the state, which will be busied with secondary and superficial matters. They are all sons of the Egyptian people. They must not discriminate among people. Besides, it is wrong to take away the livelihood of people, because this hurts them too much, while these people are striving to educate and teach students. Indeed, university professors are part of the social fabric and have nothing to do with the silly methods of the governments. Protestors should not resort to the methods used during the rule of Hosni Mubarak, which were plagued by repression, uprooting, disparaging and offending people’s rights. In fact, the State of Egypt is witnessing a period of renewal, freedom and democracy. They are living a new era of a new and modern state. Therefore, it is essential to show good intentions and to be freed from hatred and hostility.

All Egyptians have to get rid of this completely undesirable phenomenon for Egyptians. When they got rid of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, they didn’t only lead it out, they have to get rid of all the terrorist groups and radicals in Egypt, in order for Egypt to restore its activity once more, so that artists would work again on their art and teachers would work again on their teaching without attacking anyone or committing bad acts. We call on all Egyptians to pay more attention to their country and to be more alert in order to rid Egypt of any groups that don’t want stability and security for the region. Fundamentalists don’t allow for that, and neither this nor that should happen. This way the Egyptian people would be over in a matter of days. O God, protect Egypt’s people from all harm and don’t let haters be there, who don’t want its betterment at all. God willing, security and safety will prevail in the entire Arab nation, so it can be free of terrorism and terrorists, and the sectarianism and radicalism wouldn’t be repeated again there. God willing, Egyptians will realize that victory is near with their unity and solidarity.

Yes to the mutual cooperation between Egypt and Turkey. Turkey is a mighty regional power that is playing the game right. It is getting closer to Egypt. In the days to come people will know what they are doing. Egypt is back and will never kneel again except for God.

It is as if a revolution had not taken place in Egypt. I believe we went backwards to the era of restriction of freedoms. Emergency law is back to gag mouths and to send Egyptians backwards. Therefore, it is the duty of all Egyptian citizens to hide and disappear when they see or hear a police officer, and they have to get ready by putting tape in their pockets to gag their own mouths and shut up. But how long will silence remain?

Omar Suleiman said that the Egyptian people are not ready for democracy, and I say that all Arab peoples are not fit for democracy. Democracy for Arabs means chaos, violating other people’s rights and disrespecting the law. Democracy comes after backwardness is defeated and after some democratic education takes place. Democracy is a behavior, not an attempt at pretending. This behavior is formed with the society like an embryo is formed in the womb.

The reason behind this state of chaos everywhere in Egypt is that there is no security; and if security agents are present, they get beaten. There is ruin and theft everywhere. If you talked to a young Egyptian and he is mistaken, you will get yourself into an demeaning quarrel. There is bullying in every part of Egypt, and those who disagree with someone are considered traitors and are insulted and called names, as if Islam, the religion of mercy and respect, had been turned into not tolerating each other and into hatred among Muslims in Egypt everywhere and all the time. This kills tolerance in us in interacting with others and you don’t want any law to be applied to you. I support the emergency law and I believe that those who do something wrong are the only ones who are scared of it, because those who do wrong are scared of the punishment. There is a respected few in Egypt who aren’t scared of a thousand laws.

The Egyptian people have the right to call for their legitimate rights, especially after getting rid of the tyrannical regime. In fact, the university professors have asked the Egyptian interim government to change the teaching staff that has existed since the ruling period of Hosni Mubarak, who appointed them. Thus, the protestors have held demonstrations every day in order to solve this problem as quickly as possible. In fact, they have come from the different Egyptian provinces, and they have insisted on this demand. Besides, more than one hundred university professors who are among the biggest groups of the Egyptian universities have made three demands. The most important one is to change the university leadership through holding elections among the teaching staff. And they have called for increasing the salaries in order to achieve a real change. In fact, salaries cannot satisfy the university professors, especially with the significant increase in prices. They have also called for health insurance. This is in addition to their right to choose the Master’s and PhD’s dissertations. They have also called for their right to be sent abroad. The Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Mutaz Khurshid, has announced that there is no problem with the university professors, and that all their demands will be achieved as quickly as possible. In fact, we insist on that, and the university professors have insisted on their demands, saying that the teaching staff was appointed by state security. And the ordinary citizens cannot obtain their rights. Thus, we ask the current Egyptian government and the Minister of Higher Education to provide all the opportunities, in order to prevent bad actions that can harm the Egyptian people. We pray to God to achieve their demands. And may God help ensure the safety of Egypt and of all the Arabs.

We want to insist on establishing peace in all Arab countries. The Syrian regime has to step down and stop these daily massacres. Who will bear all these consequences? The entire Arab nation is going through exhausting conditions. There have to be solutions instead of these problems that affect citizens’ lives. I don’t support those who oppose each other; instead, I support those who take definitive stances and who understand that the situation in Syria will greatly affect everyone. I wish with all my heart for the situation to be calmed in Syria. Lebanon is the best proof that assisting and supporting the Syrian people will resolve this difficult problem. In my personal opinion, relations between countries and their support for each other stop those who want to interfere in their internal affairs. I support the wishes and demands of the Syrian people, in order for Syria to live in peace. No matter how kind Bashar al-Assad used to be toward the Syrian people, the violence taking place now is something we hate intensely, because he didn’t take a heroic and definite stance to establish peace in Syria. Lebanese politicians have to be patient. The internal division evident in the situation in Syria won’t bring advantages and will bring harm instead. As such, a consensus has to be reached for the sake of Syria and Lebanon.