One of the significant features of April 6, a chaotic day in Egypt, was the disappearance of all liberals from the public scene as if what was going on is irrelevant to what they preach.
Whether the call by "some activists" for a general strike, leading to civil disobedience, in the country to protest escalating economic hardships for the majority and political oppression was successful or not is not a matter of discussion.
The most important fact is that there was a move - even if the security apparatus of the Egyptian state managed to limit its impact. Such a move was expected to be an opportunity for the liberal forces to show that their deeds match their words, which did not happen.
The case in Egypt is an example of the rest of the Arab world, where liberals, or neo-liberals to be specific, assumed the role of change in recent years.
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With the rise of political Islam in the region more than three decades ago, neoliberals identified themselves as a secular force propagating modernisation against that trend.
The public associated them with Americanisation and Westernisation attitudes, strongly resisted as a means of subjugation and humiliation. The neoliberals are mostly ex-leftists who were already unpopular among the masses, and they alienated themselves more by turning 180 degrees from what they used to preach before.
Ordinary people question the genuine beliefs of those who switched overnight from anti-imperialism and the struggle against capitalism to defenders of American policies and pro-Israel.
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