This is our position: The press is not a ‘disgrace’ nor is the Ministry of Interior ‘thugs’

I was appalled by what I saw and heard over the past week of rhetoric on social media pages between those who claim to be supporters of the police and the Egyptian state and those who claim to be supporters of freedom of opinion and expression and the Journalists Syndicate. The rhetoric has reached such an extent that we are unfortunately facing the “media of shame” on one side and the “Interior Ministry of thugs” on the other side.

It is unfortunate that the reputation of the Egyptian police, with all their sacrifices, heroes and symbols, has been made into thugs, and it is also unfortunate that the guardians of words, conscience and thought have been made into media professionals and journalists of shame and destroyers of the state.

It is a tragedy created by the entrenchment behind one opinion, stiffness, lack of patience, and slowness in containing the crisis.

I have placed before me the picture of my colleague Tamer Magdy, chief correspondent for the Mehwar channel, embracing Major General Nabil Farrag when the latter was martyred while performing his duty as commander of the Kerdasa storming mission. It is this picture that has accompanied me throughout the past week that gave me confidence and certainty that the crisis is fading away, as the nature of men never appears in moments of anger and convulsions, but it appears clearly in major situations.

Do you remember the plight of all of us, country, government and people, after the January 25, 2011 revolution? Do you remember how some tried to break the bones of the Egyptian police and break their will until they withdrew from the streets? How the media and journalists helped this national institution to rise again and stand in the face of the plans being hatched against this country? Do you remember the heroic martyr Mohamed Mabrouk and how the bullets of treachery penetrated his entire body because he did his duty to expose the communications of the spy Mohamed Morsi El-Ayyat and his companions? Do you remember the major media battles with the terrorist group and Abu Ismail’s supporters, their siege of the Media Production City, and their hanging of media figures and their models hanging on sticks in their conferences? Do you remember the martyred hero El-Husseini Abu Deif, who was martyred while trying to record with his lens the crimes of the terrorist group against the homeland and citizens? Is it possible, after all, to now label journalists and media professionals as “media of shame” or half the police heroes as thugs?

The blood of Mohamed Mabrouk and El-Husseini Abu Deif curses all those who continue to call the two great national parties such words that are not worthy of Egypt and its leader. The blood of all the martyrs, the days and nights of June 30, 2013 and beyond, and the land on both sides in the squares and streets calls us to unity and oneness in the face of danger. The wise should act today before tomorrow, for the homeland is in need of all of our efforts, as we have a lot to do for it in fulfillment of religion, in honor of our great ancestors, and as a modest gift for future generations.