Foreign media .. Sisi fears him, but he pushes the Egyptians to follow him

Perhaps it is not possible to count the occasions and times in which Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi attacked the opposition media, as it threatened the stability of the country and underestimated the value of his national projects, as he described it.

The last of those criticisms was last Sunday when Sisi warned against listening to the opposition’s media and following it, criticizing this media’s skepticism about what it described as the great achievements made by the Egyptian regime, and threatening to complain to God on the Day of Resurrection.

The interesting thing is that Sisi’s repeated criticism of the media was not limited to the opposition’s media, but also extended to the regime’s own media, which is dominated by the security and intelligence services, as Sisi complains about his media’s inability to confront the opposition’s media, and to confront what he called rumors and lies, despite the huge spending on channels. Space.

Al-Sisi often repeats his criticism of the opposition channels for spreading rumors and questioning his achievements, and he also criticizes his regime’s media for not promoting those achievements, given that he imposed an iron fist that made the authority’s media the media of a single, repeated voice, which was considered by some of the most important reasons for Egyptians to turn towards opposition channels .

Al-Sisi: "By God, by God, I will perform Hajj in front of our Lord, on the Day of Resurrection, on what we do for our country." Pic.twitter.com/HopWmOhoxt

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) October 11, 2020

After the July 2013 coup led by Al-Sisi when he was Minister of Defense, the Egyptian authorities were able to subject all media and press to their control and control, after a violent campaign against the channels and press sites opposing the coup and closing them, followed by blocking hundreds of press websites, according to human rights organizations and institutions.

Despite the success of the Egyptian security and intelligence services in silencing any dissent at home, and prosecuting and arresting hundreds of media professionals, journalists and human rights defenders over the past years, media outlets and press websites abroad have succeeded in penetrating all these barriers, which has been a constant concern and headache for the Egyptian regime.

So did the outside media succeed in convincing millions of Egyptians that it is the real alternative to the inside media, and that it is like a mirror that reflects its bitter reality?

And if the achievements and reforms of Al-Sisi cannot be ignored or denied, then why do his citizens not see them or feel them, and why do they not listen to him and his media humming and singing about them day and night?

What scares Sisi the most

In response to these questions, former presidential candidate Ayman Nour said that what most frightens the Sisi regime is what is broadcasted by the opposition media abroad, which has become part of the culture and awareness of ordinary Egyptians, and they were the ones who went out despite the security grip in rare demonstrations from the heart of the countryside in September Last September, to demand the departure of Sisi.

Nour, who heads the board of directors of Al-Sharq satellite channel, said in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that Egypt ranks second on the list of Arab countries with the most satellite channels, by owning, directly and indirectly, about 98 TV channels run by them and some of them own the intelligence and security services, which have moved to practice this The role has been in public in recent years, as well as on Arab channels supporting the Sisi regime.

According to the Egyptian opposition politician, the Sisi regime "shudders from a few satellite channels that do not exceed the number of the fingers of one hand, although the volume of its spending may be less than the size of one of those channels supporting it, because honesty defeats billions pumped by the alliance of enemies of peoples, and defeats all Attempts to distort and undermine opinion-holders. "

Fragile system

For his part, Ahmed Abdel Aziz - the media advisor to the late President Mohamed Morsi - said that Sisi, like any tyrannical dictator, runs his country through constant intimidation and ignorance, and then he is very upset by the foreign media concerned with the Egyptian issue.

In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Abdel Aziz added that Egyptians see themselves in this media and hear the echo of their voice, and inspect their conditions and conditions, not the ones they hear about in the coup media, which seems to be talking about another people and another country.

And the former advisor to the late president added, "It was obvious that the Egyptian street went to follow that media that pulsed with its vitality and pain, which would bother Sisi and his regime most disturbing, and generate a feeling of failure to control the people and convince them of their endless lies, because it is a fragile regime."

Sisi and the outside media

The credit for the success of the foreign media in influencing the Egyptians goes back to the dictator Sisi, who withholds the facts, and tells the Egyptians, “I only show you what I see, and I only give you the way of Rashad,” this is what the opposition journalist Abu El-Maati Al-Sandoubi went to.

Al-Sandoubi, who lives outside Egypt, explained in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that no one inside Egypt can criticize the regime’s policies, whether economic, human rights, or political, adding, “The only thing that Sisi has succeeded in is making the media in Egypt be the media of one voice, which expresses Sisi's vision. Only, and he justifies all his mistakes and crimes. "

The Egyptian journalist revealed that Sisi not only follows the outside media, but also analyzes it, and realizes the extent of its influence and power through his personal follow-up, and the reports provided by the intelligence and security services, indicating that the more internal protests opposing him, the more his attack on the outside media and press.

Al-Sandoubi asserted that the deteriorating conditions of the Egyptians - economically, legally and politically - confirm the "falsehood of his allegations and lies regarding his accomplishments which he talks about, and if they had an effect, he would not have listed them on every occasion."

But Al-Sandoubi indicated that the opposition media abroad has not yet succeeded in moving from the stage of monitoring reality and reaction to the stage of action that should take place.