Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-02-02-Speech-3-119-000"
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"en.20110202.15.3-119-000"2
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"Mr President, there are indeed times when one has to know which side to choose. I have been told this many times within the European Union. Today, the side to choose is quite clear: as my colleagues have said, it is the side of freedom, it is the voice of the people.
Here as I speak, the museum in Cairo is in flames, fighting is breaking out in the streets, and I believe that, in the case of Egypt at least, we have not been clear enough. President Mubarak has to leave, that has to be made clear. President Mubarak, as he is today – and I respect his long struggle – is incapable of leading the political transition; it is madness to ask that of him and to let the Mubarak clan square up to the ElBaradei clan today on the streets of Cairo. We must shoulder our responsibilities in this matter.
I should also like to say to you that, over the last few days and nights, I have not stopped thinking about the mistake we made. We made a spectacular mistake: we supported corrupt regimes in the name of stability, with no thought for social justice or the peoples’ aspirations for freedom.
This is a mistake that we must rectify, and now is the time to do so.
The second mistake, I am afraid to say, ladies and gentlemen, is that we have failed to understand political Islam. I did not say ‘we have failed to accept political Islam’! There is a difference between terrorists, fundamentalists, and some Muslim brothers. It is up to us to see the difference, to enter into dialogue, to set aside those who we do not want, but today we have paved the way for these fundamentalists. We have paved the way for certain terrorists!
It is time to review these positions and, lastly, we must hold on to the past achievements of these countries, of Tunisia, Egypt and so on. I am talking here about the countries’ secular structures and about women’s rights, of which there were many in these countries, in secular structures and constitutions unrelated to Sharia law. Democracies can be built with extremely diverse parties. Let us not throw the baby out with the bath water. Let us hold on to this idea of a secular state and of respect for different religions and beliefs and for political diversity."@en1
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