That was in February,
1961… meaning almost 55 years and 9 months ago… I thought it would be objective
if I excerpted lengthy texts of what was written then… although I realize that
history does not repeat itself, and that time is like rivers; you cannot use
the same water twice because it runs continuously, the resemblance between the
two eras is clear… I also believe that the learned lesson from this historical
context is that the Americans do not learn or make use of their accumulated
experiences… because until this very moment they are still asking us the same
daft question; “why do you hate us?”... it seems they are bathing in a
waterless river.
I read, maybe for the third time,
texts of articles written by Mr. Muhammed Hassanien Heikal – may he rest in
peace. I keep revising what he wrote and which was then related to the events,
maybe due to my academic study of history and my profession as a journalist. I found
an article titled “The Ugly American and the actual American policy as we saw
it this week”. The article was written by Mr. Heikal on February 24th,
1961 and published in the second part of the series issued by Al Ahram centre
for publication.
Heikal starts his article saying: “as
if I am reading once again the story of “The Ugly American” that was the most
popular publication in the last three years… the story was written by two
American diplomats; William Lederer and Eugene Burdick, in which they depicted
some features of the American policy in Asia and Africa… they expressed through
the scenes and situations of their story that strange mix of “silliness” and “ribaldry”
in this policy… these are not my words; it is what the two authors of the story
said in narrating the experiences they lived serving in the American diplomacy”.
Heikal continues: “this week in
Cairo – February 1961 – I felt, like I said before, as if I am rereading the
story of The Ugly American… this time, it was not written on paper or portrayed
in a play scene or over movie screen… actually, it was a living picture in
reality that combines that strange mix in the American policy, like it was once
illustrated in the novel; a mix of “silliness” and “ribaldry”… I do not like
these descriptions implied by the two words, as they may indicate a sense of
offence, but I have to stick to the credibility of translating from “The Ugly
American”.
Afterwards, Heikal goes on in his
article talking about a question directed by an American official to one of the
Egyptian diplomats working in the embassy of the United Arab Republic – Egypt –
in Washington at that time. The question was about Egypt voting for 15 times in
the United Nations agreeing to the Soviet Union stances. Mr. Heikal mentioned
some of the situations when that voting of same opinions took place, including:
a motion for decolonization, voting over the membership of the People’s Republic
of China in the United Nations, a motion submitted by Ghana over the Congo
crisis, voting over a complaint submitted by Cuba against the USA, a motion to
release Lumumba and disarm Mobutu’s soldiers, voting over a motion to grant
Algeria its independence, a motion to convict Belgium of its attack over Congo…etc.
Then, Mr. Heikal goes into narrating
an experience he had when he found himself part of a discussion with a famous
American journalist whom he met in Casablanca. The American journalist stirred
many issues starting with Egypt being ungrateful to America’s favor of unveiling
Israel’s attempt to obtain an atomic bomb. Mr. Heikal answered: “do you want to
know the truth or you will get mad?”. The American answered: “I’m all ears”.
Heikal: “there was nothing secret to
us regarding Israel nuclear activities… we were following its attempts… and I want
you to know that Israel to us is a matter of life or death, and we are keeping
our eyes open on it all the time… moreover, I can even tell you that we have
photos and outlines in Cairo for that new atomic reactor Israel is trying to build
in Naqab… as to the attack over you, there is a simple explanation for that;
that is we believe, and this is actually the truth, that Israel capacity
depends mainly on your generosity… without this generosity, Israel cannot
survive”.
Heikal continues disclosing for the
American journalist the secret lying behind America revealing the Israeli
atomic activity, saying: “American secret services have arrested an American
atomic energy scientist of Jewish origins while he was handing secret documents
of the American atomic researches to one of the Israeli embassy men. This is
the reason behind all this fuss and public declaration…”. Mr. Heikal continues:
“surprisingly, two days ago – February, 1961 – I received a message sent to me from
Washington from that American journalist containing only one sentence: “I’m not
mad”.
Mr. Heikal ends his article – which he
wrote 55 years ago – writing: “as if I was reading the novel of “The Ugly
American” while I am listening to and keeping an eye on some conducts of the
American embassy men in Cairo. One of them is a minister plenipotentiary named
Francis Allan. He does not like this country; Egypt, or what is going on in it,
and he does not keep his opinions for himself, actually, he goes saying them
everywhere because he, according to his words, is an experienced expert of
Egypt and Egyptians since he was working as an archeologist in Harvard
University’ excavation trips near the pyramid in the pre-July 23rd
revolution era in Egypt.
In his opinion, Egypt witnessed no
revolution because the Egyptian peasant, according to his own estimation, does
not repel, and that actually, he succumbs to his fate, accepts poverty and humiliation
and does not seek to change his destiny, again, because he – the American
diplomat – believes the Egyptian is dull and incapable of taking actions… and
that all projects of industrialization in Egypt according to the American
diplomat’s opinion are merely fancy dreams… even the High Dam is nothing but a
modern-type pyramid built by the ruler to be a memorial to him… and that the
Egyptian people love America and adore Britain but only their rulers are the
ones opposing America and Britain’s policy due to feeling inferior to them…
nothing more or less.
“No one would have blamed the
American minister plenipotentiary Francis Allan if he wrote this opinion in his
reports for the American government. In any case, what he writes or read by his
government is incapable of changing history. However, he is definitely blamed
for forgetting that he is in Cairo right now, thinking he is still lost among
the excavations in the royal epoch, and not paying attention to the fact that
time has changed”, Heikal wrote.
Mr. Heikal then writes about another
American: “another one of them, the one who was caught distributing inciting
leaflets early in the morning at the cornice. He found nothing to defend himself
but to say that air blew and so the leaflets flew out of his car window to the
street… also, the military attaché in the American embassy in Cairo who went talking
in one of the parties this week – February, 1961 – about the protests that
surrounded the embassy and kept shouting against the American policies that
were involved in Patrice Lumumba’s death. The military attaché said that some
of his men were equipped with Tommy Guns inside the embassy, and that orders
for them to fire at the protesters were ready in case they stormed into the
embassy. I do not know what would have happened if a single shot was fired from
the American embassy. Most probably, the military attaché himself does not know
what would have happened… these are live depiction of “The Ugly American” novel
and true description of its characters… and then they become angry when we tell
them this”.
Excerption from Mr. Heikal’s article
ends… Now, we can only say, the more things change, the more they stay the
same.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article
was published in Al Ahram newspaper on October 13, 2016.
To see the
original article, go to:
#alahram
#ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #usa #Heikal #american_policies #the_ugly_american
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