Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian filmmaker Magdi Ahmad, which aired on ON TV on August 16, 2011.
Magdi Ahmad: "I don't think that the Salafis played any role in the revolution. They are merely hijacking the revolution. We have a very short memory. They staged demonstrations demanding to stop the revolution, claiming that the ruler must be obeyed. They deem democracy to be heresy to begin with. […]
"What they are saying is a form of deceit, and an attempt to gain power. It is no coincidence that one of them recently threatened the Military Council, saying that they should bear in mind what happened in Algeria. When Abbas Madani thought that he was about to win the elections, he said: Starting tomorrow, democracy will be abolished. The idea is to take power through a revolution, like in the case of Iran, and then abolish democracy, or take power democratically, like in the case of Egypt, and then abolish democracy as soon as you are in power. This is because they purport to speak in the name of Allah personally. […]
"The ICU organization in Somalia was as extremist as could be, but once it reached power, along came even more extremist groups, which fought it and drove the country to famine. They are dragging us to interpretations of the sacred religion – which we want to keep sacred, away from political struggles.
"What does this have to do with the revolution?! The revolution was waged for the sake of bread, freedom, and social justice. It was waged by the Egyptian middle class, which wants democracy, and which resorted to the virtual world – the highest form of progress – in order to usher Egypt into the modern world. Can there be any comparison between this middle class and the forces that want to return Egypt to the centuries of the past?" […]
