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Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian poet and journalist Abdul Rahman Yusuf, son of Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, which aired on Al-Nahar TV on August 26, 2013.
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: The state exercises violence, as we all know full well. There is an elephant in the room, but we are too ashamed to admit it.
Interviewer: The state was confronting the violence in the streets…
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: No.
Interviewer: How do you explain all the automatic weapons found…
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: I am trying to explain, but you are not giving me an opportunity.
Interviewer: Go ahead.
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: The state, represented by the Interior Minister, declared that after it had dispersed the two sit-in demonstrations, it found… what was it? 10 sub-machine guns and 29 rifles. In other words, the state killed over 700 people, according to the official figures, before the Health Ministry was silenced, right?
Interviewer: You're asking me?
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: Yes, you're a journalist, who followed the events, aren't you?
Interviewer: Yes, but you told me to shut up… You still haven't answered my question about the weapons in the streets.
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: I am not in an investigating position, and I cannot tell you who these people were. In a sit-in of 100,000 people, you kill 1,00 or 2,000, and then you tell me there were 10 people who infiltrated the crowd…
Interviewer: What about the 48 soldiers and officers who were killed?
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: That was throughout Egypt, but in Rabaa Square, there were only seven.
Interviewer: So seven soldiers were killed….
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: Yes, and I began by saying that I mourn all the dead. All blood is sacred. Nobody should think that I justify any form of attack on the police. Nevertheless, we are facing a systematic use of violence by the state.
[…]
There is no such thing as the June 30 Revolution.
Interviewer: So what do you call it?
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: There was the January 25 Revolution, and no nation in history has carried out two revolutions within two years.
Interviewer: We've seen it in Egypt.
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: No. Even the World Cup takes place every four years.
Interviewer: So you do not accept that this was a revolution?
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: Of course not. This was a revolutionary wave, extending from the "mother revolution" of January 25.
Interviewer: Fine. It was a revolutionary wave to correct the direction…
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: Right.
Interviewer: So it was not a coup…
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: It has turned into a military coup.
Interviewer: Because of the police violence?
Abdul Rahman Yusuf: Because of the numerous emergency measures, the use of excessive violence, and the exaggerated rejection of the others.
Why did I go to demonstrate on June 30? The slogan of the demonstration was "early presidential elections." That's it. Nobody told me that the State Security Agency would be resurrected.
[…]
The legitimacy of the deposed President Morsi was over before June 30, and people had the right to take to the streets and demand his removal, but I am talking about the direction that a group of people decided to take, and which runs counter to the will of the people. I, personally, went demonstrating for new legitimacy through new elections.
We went to demonstrate out of fear that there would be a civil war and that people would be killed in the streets, but ultimately, the result is the same.
[…]
Let me be perfectly clear, the legitimacy of President Morsi is gone, but this does not mean that the state of Mubarak can be restored.
[…]
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