Egypt’s official media lacked basic professionalism in reporting recent events in Gaza. By using a provocative language devoid of objectivity and credibility, it limited its intervention to reproducing dictated slogans. The events in Gaza as reported by the Egyptian press do not reflect a policy disagreement between moderates and extremists, as it happens in other countries of the world, but the utter failure of Egypt’s attempts to hold a moderate discourse. The basic ingredients of democratic governance, whether through professionalism, transparency or the careful avoidance of generalisations, were absent. Many Arab and Egyptian analysts and writers believe that the current political situation in Egypt is the outcome of its moderate policies and strategic alliance with the United States, and what is required is a confrontational policy towards Israel (what no Arab country does, except through the use of slogans). The true failure of the Egyptian government is to have failed to take advantage of its peace agreement with Israel to build a moderate position, whose success could be measured by the country’s progress towards democracy, stability and economic prosperity. Egypt ultimately fails to provide a successful example of Arab moderation that other countries in the region could emulate.
The views represented in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arab Reform Initiative, its staff, or its board.