Some almost prefer to go deaf or blind lest they hear
or see any sign or hint of resistance… whether resistance against the British
occupation or against the Zionist aggression and occupying Sinai.
Those some have historical roots or are descendants of
those who called themselves long time ago “people who have the real benefit”…
meaning the benefit from the existence of the British occupation… those who
refused any act of resistance against the occupation because it had benefits
according to their opinion… as to the grandsons, they are those who adore the
Israeli model and believe that not only must we co-exist with it and give a
blind eye about its crimes no matter what it does, but also they believe we should
go the extra mile in benefiting from it!
And so writing about resistance again and reviving the
national memory with those glorious days when Egypt’s sons fought bravely for
its freedom, especially those great resistance figures and fighters inhabiting
the Suez Canal cities and Sinai… such writing may seem to those deaf and blind
as outdated gibberish or meaningless populist talk in our preset time empty of
any ideas or beliefs that were always described as the nation’s pillar concepts…
as pride and dignity.
Today I write about one of the resistance figures;
Captain Ghazali… and about Suez; this brave city I wrote about weeks ago asking
the president to give it extra care.
Days ago, Captain Ghazali left our world after long suffering
with illness, through which he did not have the due care he deserved as a
citizen… that man did not hesitate for a moment to do his best for his country…
Muhammed Ahmed Ghazali, known as Captain Ghazali, was not only gifted with
composing awareness poems that influence our conscience and strengthen
resilience… and was not just a founder of a folklore-art band that plays
As-Semsemiya musical instrument and sings folklore songs that encourage
resistance and resilience… before and after all this, he is part of a
phenomenon known by any living nation when such nation goes through the
experience of testing its ability to respond to great challenges… atop of these
challenges is facing the foreign aggression against it… that aggression aiming
at breaking its wills, occupying its conscience after invading its land and destroying
its potentials.
It is the phenomenon where national will gets united
and symptoms of selfishness, defeatism and acceptance to live under the rule of
the aggressor vanish… then all inherent potentials of the national conscience
become clear and stronger; words… music… paints… dance… serving families whose
supporters and young men go to fight on the battle front… unconventional ways
of resistance come to existence… then holding arms and insistence to stay in
your land… its dust, asphalt, buildings, streets, allies, lanes, churches and
mosques… sticking to the resistance act like the song saying “we collect the
bones of our dead children… whet them… and use them as weapons to defend our
country and achieve victory for Egypt”!
It is the phenomenon that any respectful nation does
not deny and even considers it sacred in its history to recall it when
necessary… necessary here means not only when fighting against the aggression and
resisting the occupation but also when rebuilding the country on all levels… as
it is more required to ignite the spirit of giving, altruism and volunteering
during the process of rebuilding the nation both materialistically and
morally.
Here we come to the point I find important… that is
the essence of the crime committed by those who mock and refuse the whole thing
of national resistance as they deprive the country from the resisting part of
its conscience composition that goes from the least level of denying improper behavior
in the street like throwing rubbish, not abiding by traffic rules and other
acts… to rebuking the one who commits such violation and informing the
authorities about him… and goes to the highest level of domains unlimited to
count since all fields of daily life include negativities worth of resisting.
We all lived times, especially those who witnessed the
wars of 1956, 1967, attrition and 1973, when talking and atmosphere of
resistance was part of our pubic national conscience… we also lived times when
there was a political and media discourse that aimed at ignoring all phases of
resistance and its spirit… then this discourse moved to mocking resistance… then
feeling no shame, it attributed all the problems inflicted on our country to
the resistance… in the same time, this discourse meant to speak in favor of all
that is against all this… until treason became a point of view and a human
right!
Captain Ghazali was a figure of the resistance act
supporting the fighting act… and Suez stayed a symbol of resilience and resistance…
but it paid the price for this… it is time now, as I said before in this very
same space weeks ago, we should pay this great city back what it sacrificed for
our country as part of acknowledging the role of the great national movement of
resistance that started in the modern era by resisting the French Campaign at
the end of the eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth one.
Let all names of resistance figures and fighters
against aggression, occupation and terrorism be inscribed in the book of
immortality.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in
Al Ahram newspaper on April 6, 2017.
To see the original article,
go to:
#alahram #ahmed_elgammal
#Egypt #Suez #resistance #fighting #captain_Ghazali
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