On December 18, 1969

I apologize for all who blamed me for not writing for two weeks. It may not be a justifiable excuse if I said that the writer may need some time to rest and review his stance; in order to correct, change, or even to affirm it. On the other side, some may say “fine he did”. In the last two week I went to Dendera in Upper Egypt. It’s the second time for me in less than a year as the first was when I was invited to the second Dendera cultural forum titled “identity of the South”. I shall write about this in a separate article later.

In the last two weeks, a lot of incidents took place; some were good and benevolent while some others were ill-intentioned. However, all compelled me to engage; where exchanging thoughts is the battlefield, pen is the weapon, and accumulated linguistic and cultural knowledge is the ammunition. To be honest to the reader, what really pushed and disturbed me was what was written about the Egyptian army as an entity occupying Egypt. Although my colleague and friend Hamdi Rizq replied as it should be, I’d like to add more to this.

During fierce disputes running regarding Tiran and Sanafir islands, I was about to publish an important document that is not directly related to the matter. Actually, it has to do with the Egyptian-Saudi relations in the 60s. I hoped this document could be part of a wider much-needed debate that exceeds the two islands’ issue as some of those who enflamed the crisis echoed the poor relations’ history between the two countries during the 50s and 60s, and even cited such long-time history to call for current-time clash and dispute.

This document we have is a brief of the first session’s record of the negotiations that ran between president Gamal Abdel Nasser and King Faisal on December 18, 1969. The following are some paragraphs that are literally excerpted from the document:

Nasser:

This meeting is important to review some issues that are crucial for both of us. I’d like to mention that we, in Egypt, have been working hard since 1967 to have strong mutual relations between us. People here have welcomed this visit… since we feel there is some kind of tension that has to be resolved… for the Arabs’ benefit, our mutual relations have to be normal.

Throughout years, we had good relations tying us; Egypt and Saudi Arabia. I believe it would be beneficial if we should clear all disputes in this visit to prevent anyone from fishing in troubled water. We believe that a meeting between Egypt and Saudi Arabia would affect Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Arab nation, and the world.

It was Yemen that worsened the relations in the first place… and this is over now… once again, I’d like to welcome brother King Faisal and his fellows… and I hope this meeting is for the good of both our countries... I also hope it would help the conference of Rabat succeed.

Faisal:

All what your Excellency has said is right… disagreeing is not normal… what is normal is to act and cooperate like brothers. Relations have been strong and normal since King Abdul-Aziz. What happened afterwards was abnormal. I have already told you Mr. President; if any dispute occurred, that would always be due to a third party.

We hope mutual normal relations are restored… it’s our duty now that we both should work hard to achieve. Interests of our countries – either religious or national – require that we unite in one… those in charge should make all that is possible to make this happen… we seek God’s help in this and God do not accept but collective good deeds.

Nasser:

Actually, since Yemen war that started in 1962 and lasted for 5 years, there have been some incidents that affected our mutual relations… those incidents went in a way that we hadn’t planned for and neither did you.

We consider our meeting in 1967 in Khartoum a decisive point in our relation. I gave my orders to all our branches not to interfere in the domestic affairs of any Arab country whatever happens. Since 1967, we had nothing to do with this issue… our target is Israel.

Media outlets may think we have poor relations and they may act accordingly.

I sent Hussien Abbas twice to make all issues and policies clear regarding all aspects and I sent the invitation. Abbas talked to me and I told him: if any one did anything after 1967, we shall prosecute him before you do and even send him to you for prosecution because these were not my orders. There are always people who try to make use out of this and I wanted to declare this in the aired meeting.

Faisal:

After our meeting in Khartoum, some issues were left unsettled that some tried to worsen. For the benefits of both our countries, we should put an end to this now.

Some were arrested recently in Saudi Arabia who claimed they had connections with some individuals or entities in Egypt… it’s what they said. We didn’t know what to do to them? Should we prosecute them? If we do, they may give their statements during trial and this affects us… Should we issue verdicts without trial and just let them go? …We had to postpone our action.

First, it was a limited group of communists and then they went far in their testimonies and said they had connections and communications with Egypt and other entities and countries. I postponed the decision and hoped not to stir it once again.

Nasser:

We have no party offshoots in the Arab world and we haven’t agreed to such thing… like al-Baath party.

Faisal:

God damn el-Baath party!

Nasser:

We refused to have any offshoot, not even in resistance movements… like in Syria… so we formed the Special Forces. Our stance regarding communism is clear, the Arab nationalists have turned communists.

Faisal:

I have documents that say a top official working in the presidency is involved, it’s Sami Sharaf. He works as per your orders.

Nasser:

We are ready to take whatever necessary steps to make everything clear after the conference. Otherwise, we will keep doubting each other’s intentions and send someone here or there to investigate this or that issue.

Faisal:

Regarding behavior… Al Ahram for example, it’s said that it’s the official spokesman for President Nasser in person… All foreign radios, presidents and Prime Ministers know this.

Nasser:

What is written in Al Ahram does not represent me… it may sometimes state Zakaria Niel’s opinion.

Nawwaf:

Mr. President… beg your pardon but Al Ahram was the first to announce this visit.

Nasser:

Actually, the official newspaper is al-Gumhuriya. Riad Mahmoud could have been mistaken when he didn’t publish the news. Al Ahram is a professional newspaper that has a lot of resources and Heikal is an active journalist; he stays for 12 hours in the newspaper.

For example, it’s said that we support southern Yemen while we don’t have good relations with it. I believe there is still some letdown in the scene that we should work to tackle and I think visits help do such task.

Faisal:

I hope everything would go better and we live up to the expectations of the masses who met us today.

Nasser:

We talked about the Arab nation and agenda of Rabat conference. Tomorrow morning we shall continue. I told the king we are ready to sign a brotherhood and friendship treaty.

***

The document ended. However, I think it still has a significant political importance until this moment despite the fact that it dates back to 1969; meaning such conversation took place 47 years ago! The political significance in my opinion – as a student still studying history – lies in certain points, one of them is that a man like Nasser could assume another policy critical to the one he used to adopt before and then his endeavors to change such policy according to what he thought was self-correctness. Faisal had the same capacity to do the same thing as well. Two men like Nasser and Faisal were able to affirm that mutual relations are pivotal in any proper and normal Arab and international relations. They also pointed to third parties who always fish in troubled water between the two countries and here came the hint at el-Baath party.

Another significance is that it encourages those who take Egypt’s stances in the period extending from 1958 to 1967 as a standard to weigh many stances and political phenomena without paying attention to the updates mentioned in this document and others that are not yet published.

In my opinion, the Egyptian-Saudi relations right now and in the future have to rely on solid basis of continuity and institutions’ cooperation. In such way, they will not be subject to casual or limited disputes, or affected by moody officials here or there. In this regard, there are a lot of details that I will try to mention later.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on May 11, 2016.

To see the Arabic version, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2016/05/18-1969.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Nasser #king_faisal #Egypt #Saudi_Arabia

Regarding King Salman visit

This time terms will directly hit their meanings and contexts without over-interpreting and in avoiding any linguistic skills, ideological exaggerations, or politics’ tricks. Those terms I mean have to do with the visit of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to Egypt, since we; in Egypt, Kingdom of Saudi Arabic, Arab countries, and the whole region, have already shifted from the phase of “no-turning-back point”, “critical moments”, and “common interests” into the more threatening phase of “running down a real steep” and “moments of life or death”. We are now threatened in our own existence as a region, nations, and states, and when I say region I mean the territory that is targeted with partitioning, nations threatened with terrorism and blood-shedding, and states endangered with to-be-or-not-to-be choices that no one ever thought of.

In short, we all are threatened in our own human existence while enemies are awaiting and acting actively not hiding their malicious plans or intents; the latest were what the American president wrote and the reply he received from Turki bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz.

Without digging deep in the past, we can say that history lessons and maybe its rules as well guide the destiny of both nations; Egypt and Saudi Arabia, along with the Arab nation – a term some may not like to mention these days. Those lessons of history confirm the fact that there are main countries that represent the backbone of the Arab orient starting from Egypt in the west and extending eastward to the Levant, Iraq, and Arabian Peninsula. Any strife, conflict, or disagreement over point views or policies will increase the dangers threatening our nations’ existence. It would be useful to have the opportunity to publish the minutes of the meeting conducted by Egypt delegation then headed by president Gamal Abdel Nasser and that of the Saudi kingdom led by King Faisal bin Abdulaziz that took place in Cairo after the 1967 defeat. In that meeting, both sides openly exchanged views over the devastating consequences of the conflict between the two countries and how al-Ba’ath party[1] in specific took part in fueling that conflict. The meeting included a future strategic vision of President Nasser talking about Egypt’s role and strategy after 1967.

King Salman’s visit comes in context of giving due attention, both in Egypt and Saudi Arabic, to the national and pan-Arab security of the two countries together with the Arab nation and the utmost necessity to secure the Red Sea starting from the north in Suez and Aqaba Gulfs to the south at Mandab Strait going along with the Arabian Sea to Hormuz Strait and the Persian Gulf, since this area represents the backbone of our national, Arab, and regional security that one cannot imagine how such important issue is neglected compared to the great focus given to the Mediterranean Sea.

Those who studied history, geography, and politics of Egypt know well that the Red Sea has always been the main focus point of Egypt’s strong rulers throughout its ancient history. That’s why it is said that strategic security of Egypt at that time is guaranteed by securing the area extending from the north at the reversed river sources; meaning the Tigris and Euphrates rivers – since our ancestors considered every river that is not running from south to north, like the River Nile, is a reversed one – to the African horn in the south. Our ancestors have realized, for centuries, that threat always comes from the east and that some of Egypt’s necessary economic resources come from the Southeast as well. Not to mention that this highly-important strategic axis has been the route for the civilized and cultural interaction between Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula extending to the Levant and Iraq in the north and east. Moreover, some theologians have assumed that female sanctification in general has transferred from Egypt to Mecca and then to the rest of the Peninsula, and that Egypt’s Nut[2], Isis[3], and Nephthys[4] have changed into Allat[5], Manat[6], and al-‘Uzza[7] at the Arabian Peninsula.

In the same historical context, Egypt role has developed by the rise of Christianity and continued to affect its neighbors to the north in the Levant and to the south in the Arabian Peninsula, to the extent that some Arabs then residing at the peninsula believed in Christianity due to the profound theologian disputes running in Egypt at that time after the First Council of Nicaea[8] took place in AD 325; the incident that is rich in details too many to mention now. Afterwards came Islam and spread through the Arabian Peninsula and then to Iraq, Levant, Egypt, and North Africa when Egypt had an undeniable role in interpreting the new religion on many different aspects regarding Fiqh, philosophy, and Sufism and in spreading it making use of its civilized, cultural, and military contributions in doing so… space allocated to this article is not enough to go further in describing this side.

And so we find ourselves standing before geographic, historic, civilized, and cultural facts in addition to old and contemporary political reality that lead to only one result that cannot be ignored or disputed; Egypt’s security along with that of the Saudi kingdom and the whole Arab nation in general is at stake if strife and conflict were raged between the two countries.

It’s not only a current situation or an imminent danger imposed by muslim brotherhood, Daesh[9] terrorism groups, and all their religion-proclaimed likes; those who have a terrible misconception of religion and its role in society, but also a matter of principles set on solid ground long time ago by geography, history, and anthropological composition itself.

I agree with those saying that Egypt existence and that of the kingdom are guaranteed by the unity of territories of both countries, cohesion and domestic stability of their communities, and supporting their common battle against terrorism and their collective political stances. I here recall the Saudi political and diplomatic stance led by the late prince Saud bin Faisal in Paris openly warning and threatening against any measures taken to sanction or lay siege to Egypt after 30 June, 2013, and later his opposition to Barack Obama’s approaches.

Such existence incurred more threats and dangers as what was spoiled was not only a fancy journey of a power nation but rather a well-contemplated elaborate plan to dismantle and partition the region in order to reshape it as per what we have read about regarding the 21^st century’s Sykes–Picot Agreement.

In this context, I believe that leaders of the two countries should realize the imminent dangers and threats facing their nations in order to be able to develop mechanisms needed to maintain our existence as nations and states. Those aware of our meantime challenges are of pursuit of the hope that bridging the cultural and economic gaps between the two countries and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council states may lead to building what I call the civilized, cultural, and economic bulwarks. Those bulwarks that, in turn, constitute a great support for the military and security ones that proved to be not enough at times of facing existence-threatening dangers. Grave breaches in the security and defensive aspects can be dealt with by institutions’ efficiency and vigilance. However, the more dangerous breaches are those targeting our soft power, hitting our communities directly in the heart, aiming at destroying our identity, and thwarting our strong will to go forward. 

  Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on April 7, 2016.

 #alahram#ahmed_elgammal#Egypt#Saudi_Arabia#Arab_nation#gamal_abdel_nasser#king_Salman#king_faisal#prince_turki#arab_peninsula#security#Barack_Obama#Red_Sea#prince_faisal#gulf_cooperation_council#arab_nation

To see the original Arabic article, go to:

http://www.ahram.org.eg/NewsQ/493636.aspx

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[1] The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party: (Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي‎) was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism (from Arabic: البعث‎ Al-Ba'ath or Ba'ath meaning "renaissance" or "resurrection"), which is an ideology mixing Arab nationalist, pan-Arabism, Arab socialist and anti-imperialist interests. Ba'athism calls for unification of the Arab world into a single state. Its motto, "Unity, Liberty, Socialism", refers to Arab unity, and freedom from non-Arab control and interference. (Source: Wikipedia)

[2] Nut: (Arabic: نوت) is the goddess of the sky in the Ennead of ancient Egyptian religion. She was seen as a star-covered nude woman arching over the earth, or as a cow. (Source: Wikipedia)

[3] Isis: (Arabic: إيزيس) is a goddess from the polytheistic pantheon of Egypt. She was first worshiped in Ancient Egyptian religion, and later her worship spread throughout the Roman Empire and the greater Greco-Roman world. Isis was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the patroness of nature and magic. Isis is often depicted as the mother of Horus, the falcon-headed deity associated with king and kingship (although in some traditions Horus's mother was Hathor). Isis is also known as protector of the dead and goddess of children. (Source: Wikipedia)

[4] Nephthys: (Arabic: نفتيس) was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion. A member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, she was a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis in funerary rites because of their role as protectors of the mummy and the god Osiris and as the sister-wife of Set. (Source: Wikipedia)

[5] Allat: (Arabic: اللات‎) was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca along with Manat and al-‘Uzza. (Source: Wikipedia)

[6] Manat: (Arabic: مناة‎) was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. (Source: Wikipedia)

[7] Al-‘Uzza: (Arabic: العزى) was one of the three chief goddesses of Arabian religion in pre-Islamic times and was worshiped by the pre-Islamic Arabs along with Allat and Manat. (Source: Wikipedia)

[8] The First Council of Nicaea: (Arabic: مجمع نيقية المسكوني) was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This first ecumenical council was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, although previous councils, including the first Church council, the Council of Jerusalem, had met before to settle matters of dispute. It was presided over by Hosius of Corduba, a bishop from the West who followed the Pope who was the bishop of Rome and the Patriarch of the West. Its main accomplishments were settlement of the Christological issue of the nature of the Son of God and his relationship to God the Father, the construction of the first part of the Creed of Nicaea, establishing uniform observance of the date of Easter, and promulgation of early canon law. (Source: Wikipedia)

[9] Daesh: (Arabic: داعش) the Arabic acronym for the terrorist group ISIL; Islamic State in Iraq and Levant.