5 Responses to “Egypt’s royals exchange condolences”  

1. 1 Seneferu Oct 7th, 2006 at 5:22 pm

   Come on Hossam, that’s unfair. And this whole calling Sadat a dictator, the man who dismantled the totalitarian state, and yes, was putting it on the road to democracy…a logic I will never understand. Kol sana winta tayeb.

2. 2 Hossam el-Hamalawy Oct 8th, 2006 at 6:44 am

   Dear Senefru,
   Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak all come from the same brass, and they were all dictators. Their methods and mechanisms of public control might have changed in appearance, but it was more or less the same.
   One thing we can learn from history, rulers never “give” reforms, rather reforms are “taken” from them. Sadat was faced with a VERY STRONG student movement 1971-3, followed by a wave of mass workers strikes from 1974 onwards, that finally culminated in the 1977 “Bread Intifada.” Sadat had to respond to some of the pressure coming from the street, and allow for a margin of freedom of expression. No one can deny torture under Sadat was much less practiced compared to his predecessor and successor. However it still existed, and I know names of people who suffered from it.
   Sadat drove the much feared Mukhabarrat back into the shadows, but it was his reign that inaugurated this massive growth of the police force and the rise in the power of State Security police, which is ruling Egypt today.
   Sadat hardly dismantled the totalitarian state Nasser left him. He made sure he used the best out of it. His family’s corruption fame could only be matched the Mubaraks’, and by the time he was killed, political activists from all tendencies (literally all) were in prison, other respectable academics and professionals (including many I know from my dad’s friends) lost their jobs, part of his witchhunt against peaceful dissidents in the academic circles.

   One historical incident which 1970s Cairene residents will always remember is how Cairo was paralysed by a general strike by the public transporation workers in 1976, one day after a presidential referrendum’s results came out with a 99.9% Yes for Sadat.

   Last but not least, I can never forgive Sadat for cynically playing with the religion card, promoting the growth of Islamist extremists to counter the secular opposition… ultimately leading to some of the worst sectarian strifes in our modern history. He dug his own grave by his own hands… and hardly anyone showed up for his funeral (except for Presidents and Kings).

   Anyways, kol sana wenta tayyeb ya ostazi, and let’s hope next October will be celebrated in a truely free Egypt.

3. 3 Seneferu Oct 8th, 2006 at 12:33 pm

   I disagree with many assumptions made in your argument…

   “One thing we can learn from history, rulers never “give” reforms, rather reforms are “taken” from them. Sadat was faced with a VERY STRONG student movement 1971-3, followed by a wave of mass workers strikes from 1974 onwards, that finally culminated in the 1977 “Bread Intifada.” Sadat had to respond to some of the pressure coming from the street, and allow for a margin of freedom of expression.”

   Sadat started the ‘corrective revolution’ as soon as he consolidated his power in 1971, and it was in his own interest to open for the first time since 1954 the freedom of a repressed society’s expression of grievances against the former totalitarian state.

   The student movement between 1971 were primarily calling for the war…and it’s not like he was playing during this time, although that is what he had them believe. The movement essentially died after the war, because their premise was already achieved.

   The worker strikes and the “bread strikes” are another controversial issue, which I for obvious reasons believe were politically orchestrated.

   My only remark here though, is that instead of giving credit to Sadat for allowing these strikes instead of crushing them, and for letting go of the Islamic groups which were brutally repressed by his predecessor for almost two decades, Sadat’s opponents here call him a dictator for letting them go and not doing what Nasser did to them? Does that make any sense?

   There’s no denying that Sadat’s major economic policy shift caused reverberations in society as it would anywhere else in the world. But the country was bankrupt, and if it was not understood then, at looking back now we should give him credit for having the courage to take these major decisions. The mistakes from these riots were learned, and corrected soon after.

   “No one can deny torture under Sadat was much less practiced compared to his predecessor and successor. However it still existed, and I know names of people who suffered from it.”

   You are not accusing Sadat himself here, I have never heard any of his critics accusing him of this…if any individual incidents occured from state personnel who had been working in Nasser’s torture chambers for most of their careers, we shouldn’t be so surprised.

   “Sadat drove the much feared Mukhabarrat back into the shadows, but it was his reign that inaugurated this massive growth of the police force and the rise in the power of State Security police, which is ruling Egypt today.”

   That whole bo3bo3 el Sadat is responsible for everthing that goes wrong 25 years after his death…no comment.

   “His family’s corruption fame could only be matched the Mubaraks’,”

   What family corruption fame? His serious disagreements with his brother are well known.

   “and by the time he was killed, political activists from all tendencies (literally all) were in prison, other respectable academics and professionals (including many I know from my dad’s friends) lost their jobs, part of his witchhunt against peaceful dissidents in the academic circles.”

   The September arrests, the only ones he carried out the month before his assassination. He ordered for them to be treated well until he would release them with the handing over of the rest of Sinai in April 82, the year he was planning to retire from office.

   Look, I can’t defend this, but try look at it from his shoes. He was under tremendous pressure; the country was in civil strife as you said, at least a dozen countries and organizations were out to kill him, and here he was not wanting to give Israel any pretext to halt its withdrawal from the Sinai…what would you expect?

   “…and hardly anyone showed up for his funeral (except for Presidents and Kings).”

   Naguib Mahfouz’s funeral debunked Heikal’s myth…

   ” The writer’s dedicated readers braved the scorching Cairo sun for hours, only to be told they would not be allowed to attend the procession.

   “He doesn’t want a state funeral…he wants the people to bear him on their shoulders,” shouted Mahfouz fan Amal.

   “Did he write for the flag? Did he write for the horses? He wrote for the poor. We should walk in his funeral.” ”

   Was the beloved Mahfouz hated by Egyptians? Now if the president’s security should do this to Mahfouz’s funeral, imagine what the security of dozens of presidents from around the world would do to Sadat’s military funeral, in special circumstances of martial law imposed on the whole country in fear of an imminent coup from the Islamic groups?

   Look, the man was not an angel. But all I can say is try to empathize with where he was was and where he came from, we7sibblo elli loh welli 3allei, and try to evaluate his presidency in that light.

4. 4 Seneferu Oct 8th, 2006 at 12:49 pm

   Hossam, read this newsweek interview with Carter please on Sadat and significance of Camp David.

5. 5 moe Oct 31st, 2006 at 5:04 pm

   i think what we tend to forget is that the late Anwar Sadat was a daring yet visionary leader in his approaches to remedying the situations around him when he first came to power. let’s not forget that here’s someone who had everything against him from day one, Nasser (the great fuhrer)had installed his gestappo to remain at the reigns of power even after he’d left the political scene in Egypt. the Soviets toying w/Egypt’s national interests @ the discretion of Nasser during the 60s, left no option for Sadat but to jail the remnants of Nasser’s gestappo and the reign of terror they directed @ the Egyptian ppl.

   then once Nasser’s gestappo were in jail he was the only leader in the world to break ranks w/a superpower and go about looking to restore Egypt’s wounded pride after losing the Sinai in 1967-his cunning, vision, and persistence w/the grace of God led Egypt to victory in 1973. making Egypt the only country to ever defeat Israel in a military confrontation.

   Sadat from day showed nothing but courage and intelligenece and history has shown that everything he had envisoned was on point. from the solution to the Palestinian crisis, dealing w/transforming Egypt’s stagnant economy, modernizing Egypt’s military, looking to Sudan to be the Mid East’s major food supplier, to the creation of a common Arab market. now 25 yrs after his death w/none of the above being accomplished the region that once vilified him now realizes he was right.

   the “bread intifada” wasn’t so much an excuse for him to follow in the footsteps of the “great fuhrer” but rather to have int’l organizations aid him in revoultionizing Egypt’s economy and infrastructure. and the biggest proof of that is the prices that were raised wnet back down and the officers who w/o justification acted like Nasser’s gestappo were removed from their posts and tried in a court of law.

   is Sadat an angel no he wasn’t, no one is but if we were to look @ Egypt since from the inception of the Wretched 1952 revoultion to now; all we can is that Sadat stands the tallest above the rest. He sacrificed a lot for Egypt-and the biggest proof of that is that Sheikh El-Shaarawy described Sadat on national TV as a freedom fighter, patriot, and a martyr.

   may God bless the soul of Mohammed Anwar Sadat and may he rest in peace.

   salam 3alaikoum wi kul sana wi intoum tayebeen

   May God bless Egypt and its ppl.