December 23rd, 2010 by Evan

In a recent interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm, Mohamed ElBaradei derided the Mubarak regime and countered criticism of his reluctance to personally lead the Egyptian opposition. Egyptians have increasingly turned to “radical” Islam as the state has failed them, ElBaradei said: “They’ve lost their identity as citizens because they have been treated as slaves. […] They feel a sense of marginalization. They feel a sense of hopelessness. They feel that there is no future. So you have a growing sense of frustration, and that leads to radicalism.” In response to critiques of his leadership, ElBaradei said “If I hit my head against the wall, my head will break. If all the Egyptians hit their heads against the wall, then the wall will break. […] So if I see 100,000 people in the streets, yes I will be with you. But I’m not going to go into a demonstration of 50 people. It’s a question of strategy, and it’s a question of tactics.”

Posted in Egypt, Freedom, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy |