A spectacular fall from grace for Egypt's Brotherhood

Just two years ago, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood won the country's first free elections, but now many in the country call its supporters "terrorists." It is a spectacular fall from grace for the Islamist movement, which saw its candidate Mohamed Morsi become the first president in Egypt's history with a non-military background. The victory was based on the support of a fragile and reluctant coalition, that splintered as the group alienated non-members in the alliance, paving the way for the July 3 coup against Morsi. Now it faces powerful anti-Brotherhood sentiment, fanned by comments from government and military officials, and state television. Even the deaths of nearly 600 people as police cleared two pro-Morsi protests on Wednesday has failed to sway public opinion, with many happy that security forces moved in. On Saturday, as police dragged Morsi loyalists from a Cairo mosque after an armed standoff, residents cheered and beat the Islamists with sticks and iron bars. "A small part of the population rejects the use of excessive force against the Brotherhood, but the majority supports it because some Brotherhood supporters are armed," said Ahmed Zahran, an activist. Zahran took part in the 2011 uprising against then-president Hosni Mubarak, and voted for Morsi when he ran for president in May 2012. He wasn't a Brotherhood supporter, but was willing to give the group a chance, and was eager to keep Morsi's opponent -- former regime member Ahmed Shafiq -- out of power. "Morsi's victory was achieved on the basis of an alliance in the second round of the elections between the Brotherhood and the revolutionary forces and supporters of the (2011) revolution," Zahran said. But that alliance quickly began to strain, and reached breaking point in December 2012, with a constitutional declaration that granted Morsi broad new powers. "The constitutional declaration totally changed the game," Zahran added. It was adopted in a referendum with 64 percent of the vote, but only 33 percent participation. It turned nervous Christians as well as liberal and political activists who had been willing to give the Brotherhood a chance against them. The broad coalition that had been expected to participate in drafting a final constitution gradually dwindled to an uniformly Islamist panel. "The middle class in particular became scared that their way of life would change because Egyptians are religious but certainly not radical and the Brotherhood seemed to be taking the path of radicalism," Zahran said. Wael Khalil, a leftwing activist, voted for Morsi to keep Shafiq out of power, but quickly became disillusioned. He "cried with joy when the results were announced because we avoided the disaster of electing a candidate from the old regime," he said. "But afterwards, we discovered the scale of the damage caused by the Brotherhood." For writer Fahmy Howeidy, the Brotherhood's downfall was of their own making, and partly a result of how quickly they came to power. "Leading a brotherhood means speaking to your supporters, but leading a nation requires that you speak to your opponents as well," he said. "And that was not the case." The army saw its reputation damaged by abuses during the 16 months it ruled Egypt after the ouster of president Mubarak. But now most Egyptians seem to have forgiven them, and insist Morsi's ouster was simply a response to popular demands, rather than a military coup. Ali Hassan, a doorman, freely acknowledges that he regrets having voted for Morsi, and now says he hopes "the Brothers will be wiped out and won't come back." Gamal Eid, director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said he saw anger against the Brotherhood growing by the day "because they refuse to admit their mistakes." "They are the best organised force in the country, but they still function like a clandestine organisation," he said. "They could end up worse off than in 1954," he added, referring to the year their leaders first went on trial before military courts. The group was allied with the Free Officers military group that overthrew the British-backed monarchy in 1952. But they quickly fell from grace then too, earning the wrath of president Gamal Abdul Nasser, who pursued them ruthlessly.