It is not accepted under
any circumstances that any obstacles or misunderstanding be put or take place between
Egypt and Palestine… the two peoples… geography… history… pain and hope… add to
this all what you want of human life aspects… not because there are people who
believe by heart – including me – that Egypt involvement in the Palestinian
case comes at the top of its national security and Arab-national existence…
also, it represents Egypt’s preliminary stance in its fight against
colonialism; old and modern… and also against Zionism as considered a racist
settler-colonial movement…
Despite all those
concepts, as compared to the Arab deterioration in general and the cultural and
political decline that hit Egypt in specific, may look old-fashion terms and
may also be regarded as an inciting populist discourse by those who consider
collaborating with the Zionist enemy a point of view and not a major issue…
however, those terms and concepts represent a whole integrated system of ideas,
stances and historical contexts… also, there are tens of evidences those
concepts are still valid and persisting to stand.
Last week, I wrote about
the “worst people”… those who happened to be at the front of some of the
Palestinian authority institutions and some organizations of the Palestinian
affairs… and how some of them deliberately mean to insult Egypt and its
leaders… then happened the coincidence that some history philosophers believe
has a role to do with history movement; I received a valuable gift from a
respectable man who did a lot of favors to me; that is Dr. Adel Hassan Ghoniem,
professor of contemporary and modern Arab history and ex-chief of the Egyptian
society for historical studies… Dr. Ghoniem was a pioneer in the scientific
research concerning Palestine’s history and its case… he also was very kind to
me as he stood by me and my family when I was imprisoned in 1977 even if we do
not adopt the same points of view.
The gift is the second
part of the fourth volume of Egypt and the Palestinian case encyclopedia… Dr.
Ghoniem; the encyclopedia’s general editor, narrates part of its description in
his introduction for the first part of the fourth volume. He says: “the
encyclopedia of Egypt and the Palestinian case was documented by a group of the
most prestigious Egyptian historians and issued by the Supreme Council of
Culture as per the directions of the Egyptian cabinet who decided in its
session that took place on January 14th, 2009 that the ministry of
culture shall present a worksheet about the best way to document the history of
the Egyptian-Israeli wars and showing their connection to the Palestinian case
and the sacrifices exerted by the Egyptian people”…
And so Dr. Emad
Abu-Ghazi; then- secretary general of the Supreme Council of Culture, assigned
Dr. Ghoniem to make a brief study to be submitted to the ministerial cabinet…
Dr. Abu-Ghazi suggested forming a committee with Dr. Ghoniem at its head to
make a detailed study about Egypt and the Palestinian case… the committee mission
developed – as told by the encyclopedia editor – to be this encyclopedia… the
first volume of it was issued prior to the second half of 2012, in which the
history of Egypt and the Palestinian case since Balfour Declaration in 1917
until 1952 revolution was documented… then came the second volume which tackles
1948 war… after this came the third volume that tackles the tri-partite aggression
on Egypt in 1956… then the fourth volume that tackles in its first part the preliminary
signs of 1967 war… as to the second part of the fourth volume, it was issued
this year 2017 and titled “From the tri-partite aggression to 1967 war”.
The encyclopedia committee
comprised of 17 members… I beg your pardon to mention their names so that
everyone knows that science and scientific research, which are an integral part
of the national work, have their own fighters who work in silence away from
politics and media lights and they do produce valuable work in very difficult circumstances…
Atop of this committee
is Dr. Ghoniem with a bunch of elite professors; Dr. Ahmed Zaki esh-Shalq, Eman
Amer, Gamal Hagar, Gamal Shaqra, es-Sayed Folayfel, Assem ed-Dessouki,
Abdel-Moniem el-Gemei’e, Abdel-Wahab Bakr, Essam Eisawi, Emad Abu-Ghazi, Emad
Gad, Latifa Salem, Muhammed Saber Arab, Muhammed Ali Halla, Muhammed Afifi and
Sabah Mahmoud, the secretary of the committee.
In the first part of the
fourth volume, Professor Dr. Assem ed-Dessouki – most prominent contemporary
Egyptian historian – wrote about two issues… the first is Egypt’s political,
social and economic circumstances between two wars… the second is about the
role of the political organization in enriching the awareness about the
Palestinian case… Dr. Abdel-Wahab Bakr wrote about Egypt’s military circumstances…
then general Abdel-Moniem Kato wrote about the prevailing military and
political changes as a main factor affecting the war course… general Sameh
Abu-Hashima wrote about the armed forces’ educating and awareness programs
concerning the Palestinian case… Dr. Zaki el-Behiri wrote about the Palestinian
case in tertiary education programs… Essam el-Gharib wrote about the nation’s
council and Palestine case… Islam Abdel-Haq wrote about the role of the
Egyptian diplomacy towards the Palestinian Case… after this wrote Abdel-Qader
Yassin about Egypt adopting the Palestinian national work… Abdel-Moniem
el-Gemie’e wrote about Egypt fostering the Palestinian refugees… Muhammed Ali
Halla wrote about Egypt’s role in the economic boycott against Israel…
Then we come to the last
point; that is the role of media, literature and art towards the Palestinian
case… in such regard wrote Dr. Awatef Abdel-Rahman about the Egyptian press and
the Palestinian case… Sami Soliman wrote about the depiction of the Palestinian
case in the Egyptian novel… Abdel-Nasser Hassan wrote about the role of poetry
in enriching the awareness about the Palestinian case… Muhammed Afifi wrote
about the Egyptian cinema and the Palestinian case.
In the second part of
the fourth volume, we find two main issues… the first is the role of Egypt, the
Arabs and Africa in the Palestinian case… the second is about the Egyptian and
international stances towards Israel… Muhammed Abdel-Mo’men wrote about Egypt
and the Palestinian case in the Arab League… and the Arab countries and the Palestinian
case… es-Sayed Folayfel and Wesam Taha wrote about the Organization of the
African Unity and the Palestinian case… Dr. Gamal Shaqra wrote about Egypt,
America and Israel… Fateen Ahmed Farid wrote about Egypt stance towards Britain’s
support for Israel… Elham Zehni wrote about Egypt stance towards France’s
support for Israel… Wageeh Ateeq wrote about Egypt’s stance towards the military
support of the Unified Germany for Israel… Muhammed Kamal Yahia wrote about the
Soviet Union’s stance towards the Palestinian case… finally, Wesam Taha wrote
about the United Nations’ stance towards the Arab-Israeli conflict.
These were just
headlines that I read some of their details and still am reading the rest… but I
can say the integrated and analytical scientific efforts exerted in such hard
word is an honor for all who took part in it… especially the man who dedicated
his life for the scientific research over the Palestinian case; Dr. Adel Hassan
Ghoniem.
I hope all Egyptians can
read this valuable piece of work… I also wish that those, who happened to take
part and occupy leading positions in the political work in occupied Palestine
and how keep attacking Egypt, can read this.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This
article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on March 9, 2017.
To
see the original article, go to:
#alahram
#ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #Palestine
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