When the issue of the ownership of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir surfaced, I preferred to stay out of it. I did not know enough, for I am not a specialist on the issue; and I trusted Egyptian leaders to do what was best for Egypt. This still applies, but what concerns me today is how some believe that the betrayal of Egyptians and Egyptian land is an easy matter.
Back then I did not know much about the two islands. I did not recognize their strategic location nor their historic value. Simplistic as this may seem but a realistic confession nonetheless, I frequented Sanafir, a restaurant in Sharm el Sheikh, making this island more memorable in my mind than Tiran.
Before the current kerfuffle over the Islands of Tiran and Sanafir, the multitudes, folks similar to me, may not have heard of the islands either. All this made me wonder how some Egyptians were so dead sure that the islands were Egyptian or Saudi.
I began to read and listen then, but I couldn’t decipher right from wrong when both sides were willing to vow on their honour, their children’s and their lives that the islands were either. And since I wasn’t knowledgeable enough to go either way, and neither did all those semi, know-it-all folks, I remained neutral.
So today is the first time I venture into no man’s land, into an arena of fright or flight, and, consequently, of tumultuous reprisals. I’ll be talking about Tiran and Sanafir, but with the limited scope that I have, the knowledge of an ordinary Egyptian.
Egyptians are divided over the issue; they all know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Tiran and Sanafir are either Egyptian or Saudi. In reality, both groups know little. Each is basically one or the other: advocates of President Sisi, loyalist who would never believe he would err, and blind discontented souls who refuse to see any good in his efforts—an unnecessary tug of war that has nothing to do with the real issue: the ownership of Tiran and Sanafir.
Those who disliked President Sisi from the start will render everything the man does as objectionable, and they are ready to pounce after every major decision. Muslims Brotherhood members, and collaborating media abroad, will continue to want things to flare up. And while at it, don’t forget western media, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, for they, too, want ill for Egypt.
This group will find western media unequivocally correct. When World Politics Press says, “Sissi’s Egypt Is Falling Apart. Will It Explode?” they believe them. When Ahdaf Soueif’s headline in the NY Times is “Egypt’s lost islands, Sisi’s shame,” they retweet and share her thoughts. I can only say that we shouldn’t indulge ourselves in the words of those who can never be objective or fair.
I know why western media is infatuated with Egypt’s fall, but I don’t understand the simplicity of Egyptians who think it is easy to give up one’s land.
By the same token, those who believed in President Sisi from the start hail the islands’ Saudi ownership. They, too, come across as though they are unquestionably sure of their sources. I appreciate their allegiance and loyalty, but even they have little knowledge of the facts by which to build their views on.
Setting all this aside, here comes the paramount question. To those who believe that Egypt is parting with its own land, I ask: would you personally give up Egyptian land? Is giving up one’s land an easy matter? More importantly, if you would rather die before you concede Egyptian land, how could you possibly expect the leaders of your country to do such a vile action?
President Sisi may have been too young to participate in Egypt’s ’67 and ’73 wars, but he is surrounded by men who fought to regain Sinai: comrades–in-arms and supervisors. If Egypt was simply giving up its land, wouldn’t these men stand up in the face of betrayal?
President Sisi, as an army officer, has had the notion of how valuable one’s land is drilled into him, as it has been in all the young men who stand along Egypt’s borders and fall valiantly while protecting that same land.
And the worst times in Egypt’s modern history were when the army, along with the police force, was looked upon with disdain. That’s when Egyptians believed the police force could open up prisons and kill its own, proven later as a delusion; when the army was being held accountable for killing its youth and leading Egypt astray, again delusional. Thankfully, these times have gone, and today Egyptians realize the sacrifices these men bestow on Egypt.
Would Egyptian leaders toss out Egyptian land in lieu of a flow of cash? I truly doubt it, for hasn’t this same team raised money internally before? It called on Egyptians to assist in building the Suez Canal, and it raised 8 billion dollars in less than a week. It devalued the pound, and today it eases the limits over transfer as the dollar issue gets resolved. It raises interest rates and the money pours in. I don’t think that Egypt is as desperate as pundits on Egyptian financial issues would like us to believe.
Would Egyptian leaders part with Egyptian land for a friend that stood by Egypt? Absolutely not. A friend is not a friend if he demands what doesn’t belong to him. Grateful as Egypt is, it has not followed the Saudi view on Syria, Iran, or Yemen, given in to exploitation, or stood subservient to any country.
A friend put it eloquently,, " ... disposing of chunks of land would be completely out of character with the man's [President Sisi's] record, especially that he has nothing to gain nationally. Quite the contrary, taking the bull by the horns on all fronts is the surest way to lose popularity...I will not lose trust in a man of this calibre."
And to all this President Sisi announced in a televised speech earlier, “This matter has been closed, and I am only bringing it up again because we have nothing to hide. You have entrusted me with this nation and for this I will be held accountable not just before you but also before God.”
Egyptians: think carefully, stop being swayed too easily, and rest assured that what you wouldn’t commit yourselves, your leaders wouldn’t commit either.
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