I smell a bunch of rats,
not only one… I say this as I can no longer ignore or deny the pain or anxiety I
feel… I have tens of questions wandering in my mind around what is actually
happening in Sinai because I have never imagined that what happened could have ever
been even in the most horrible nightmare.
The first tragic news
was slaughtering Sheikh Soliman Abu-Haraaz el-Swierki; a man of his social
status and age… an armed blind ascetic Sufi… the more tragic news was the
killing of army men in al-Gas ambush… once I heard the gloomy news, memories
came flooding back more and faster that words do over super computers’ screens.
I remember when we were
almost in the same time of the year… I was wearing a woolen pull-over, chemise
and trousers when I was accompanied by Shiekh Ali bin Hassan bin Khalaf
el-Swierki – may he rest in peace – then-member of Egyptian parliament… he was
driving a two-door small Wolks Wagen car when we were heading to Gaziret So’oud
village in the far east of Sharkia governorate where some settlers from north Sinai
used to stay… atop of them was Shiekh Eid Abu-Garir el-Swierki… they all come
from the same family root of grandmother al-Zorwa; she is the grand grandmother
who was known by her white tress… we arrived and we were served food; the
tastiest I have ever eaten since 1968 until now; poached lamb meat with rice
and Okra… after Asr prayers, Shiekh Eid stepped into his sitting place, next
to a humble-in-outlook great-in-effect mosque… he sat at the forefront of his
sitting place over a mattress while his back was leaning at the wall… with a
cloak draping around his shoulders and bridled agal over a white scarf over his
head, he called upon a man saying: “Salem… bring the Diwan”… Salem was a
dark-skinned young man from Sinai with a white scarf, but no agal, over his
head… as to Diwan, that was a register book, written in beautiful
hand-writing, where issues discussed by the Shiekh, were documented and
written.
At that place, you can
feel purity when you sit on the sands… you feel as if everything around you is
transparent because all are in one… this one is love, the beloved and lovers…
the Shiekh had a distinctive outlook; his long stature and outspoken features…
he had the face of a lion and a piercing insight.
In that place and among
those men, “Arab Sinai group” was born… this group that executed tens of operations
behind the Zionist enemy lines in Sinai… armed with their Egyptian patriotism
and their massive fighting ascetic Sufi spirit… I used to read with my late
friend; Shiekh Ali bin Hassan bin Khalaf el-Swierki, the messages sent to him
by his patriotic fighting son Hassan, who was finked on and so was arrested by
the enemy and sentenced to life prison after he got his mission done… he was
jailed in Asqalan prison… this man is now the current leader of el-Swierki
family and head of Sinai tribesmen; the same one who speaks in the instructing
lectures of the armed forces before the president and gets a standing ovation for
his speech loaded with meanings and delivered in quiet voice tone.
Here, I smell a rat… how
could Sinai people move from the serenity and beauty of Sufism, pure patriotism
and love into the harshness and cruelty that is far from proper religion?… how
could they replace their patriotism with another identity?... how could they
replace fighting against the Zionist enemy with another vicious fighting
against their country, families and fathers?... how could it happen? And when?...
who is responsible for this?... and who contributed to such thing by ignoring
it?
I saw the picture of the
blind Sufi ascetic Shiekh Soliman Abu Haraaz el-Swierki… he was standing over
his knees preparing to receive the hit from those damned while they were
standing in line with someone holding the sword in his hand… when, how and
where did all this take place and with such challenging outrageousness?
Again, I smelled a rat
when I heard about the bloody news; that is the killing of our army men sons in
an ambush after they were targeted by the terrorists fiercely and viciously…
the attack was also well-planned and executed to draw more questions… when,
how, when and why?
Why does that happening
in Sinai continue to happen?... how could the terrorists repeat their bloody
attacks?... and where is the contra-attack planning and strict preemptive
strike?... where do these terrorists come from?... it’s no longer about the
cross-borders tunnels… it looks like we have deep rifts in the social, cultural
and demographic composition of north Sinai… such rifts that need more than security
and development to assuage… actually, direct contact with the people there is much
needed to discover the map of such rifts and how deep and steep they are… also,
we need to revive the collective memory with the kindness, Sufism, patriotism
and amiability toward others in society and county.
All indicators confirm that
a breach of certain Fiqh doctrines, adopting ibn Hanbal, ibn Taymmieya and
others’ schools, took place… when you ask followers of such ultra-hard-line interpretations
about something, they immediately say: “al-Albani said”… or X, Y.. and they do
not mention Quran, Sunna or opinions of early Muslims… they – such followers –
do not use their minds anyway… as if sayings of those above-mentioned are more
sacred and wiser than Quran itself.
These indicators also confirm
– even by impression – that this orientation has succeeded in dismantling the
Sinai community vertically and horizontally until such dismantling reached the own
family members… and so it was said that it’s likely that some sons of the
martyred Shiekh Soliman Abu Haraaz participated to the heinous crime… you can
imagine that days ago… here in Cairo and in its parliament in 2016, a MP said
that if Naguib Mahfouz were alive, we would have prosecuted him… if this is
what is happening in Cairo and in parliament – not to mention the bull-shits of
Burhami and his likes – you can imagine how the case is like in the far
stretches in the east in Sinai or west in Matrouh.
I call upon all those in
charge of the Egyptian national security; meaning entities of general, military
intelligences and national security, to disclose in full transparency the real
situation in Sinai and how terrorism was able to breach the community and dig
such deep rifts in Sinai and other places… I also call upon every one
interested in this case to continue our endeavors to have a social and cultural
renaissance project… to regain some of Egypt’s cultural and civilization glory…
otherwise, rifts will deepen and reach everywhere.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This
article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on December 1, 2016.
To
see the original article, go to:
#alahram
#ahmed_elgammal #Sinai #national_security #terrorism #Egypt
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