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The Black March

The Black March
folder_openVoices access_time13 years ago
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By Sara
Ibrahim

In 1956, "Israel" occupied Sinai in the Suez Crisis a war that was fought by Britain, France, and "Israel" against Egypt. Since then Egypt was concerned about getting back its land. Several wars between "Israel" and Egypt occurred, the Six Day war of 1967 and the October War of 1973 which was fuming.
 Camp David
was one of the
 biggest mistakes
 in the History
of Arabs

It was till 1977 when "Israel" still held most of Sinai and handed in some plans to the Egypt. "Israeli" Prime Minister Menachem Begin, a supporter of the "Israeli" expansion, that approved the development of settlements on the occupied West Bank and payback raids into Lebanon, invited Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem in order to solve things out. Sadat with no hesitation headed to Jerusalem on November 19, 1977. The Westerns saw it as a daring heroic move, while the Arabs and the Palestinians were left betrayed.

But that was only the beginning. In December 1977, Egypt and "Israel" had begun negotiating a peace treaty in Cairo, the talks kept going till September 1978. President Jimmy Carter was involved in the negotiations and so he invited Sadat and Begin to Camp David in an effort to break the ice between them.On September 17 Carter announced the birth of a Peace Treaty under the name of Camp David Accords. The Camp David Accords consisted of two parts: "The Framework for Peace in the Middle East and The Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between "Israel" and Egypt. The treaty was signed on March 26, 1979 of where "Israel" agreed to withdraw from Sinai within 3 years of the treaty and "Israeli" ships would pass unhindered through Suez Canal.

The Black March

After that the Arabs were left at shock and dismay. They felt they were betrayed by Sadat especially in terms of the Arab solidarity and the Palestinian case. Egypt and "Israel" were supposed to begin negotiations for the establishment of the "elected self-governing authority" in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. That was said to happen one month after the treaty, however the Framework for Peace was only invisible ink on a paper.
Begin announced that Jerusalem would remain undivided, the settlements would continue and the autonomy would never become sovereignty and there would be no Palestinian state.On May 12, 1979 Deputy Geula Cohen, a Zionist, declared Jerusalem to be "Israel's" united and indivisible capital.

 

By then Sadat was universally condemned. The reaction in Egypt towards what happened was hostile and especially by the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt was expelled from the Arab League and from other Arab institutions. The Arabs depended on Egypt military power, after the peace treaty their hopes collapsed.
On the 25th of January 2011, the Egyptians started a revolution for change. Millions of protesters demanded the overthrow of the polluted regime. After hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries, they managed to provoke Hosni Mubarak in stepping down as president on February 11 2011.The Arab world awaits the overthrow of the Camp David treaty ever since.

General Hisham Jaber a Lebanese former Army General and a strategic expert commented on the path of the Camp David treaty, in an interview with Moqawama.org. He said, "Camp David was one of the biggest mistakes in the History of Arabs. All it did was save Egypt from a battle and put Palestine and Lebanon ahead of an endless war."
General Hisham noted that after the Camp David treaty Lebanon was invaded by "Israel" and therefore the treaty opened many threats to the Arab world. He stressed that Anwar Sadat was assassinated by Khaled Islambouli due to his betrayal to the Arab nations and especially the Palestinians.

General Hisham made it clear that "Israel" and America saw Anwar Sadat as an easy tool that can be used with no hesitation. He did point up that America may have sent Islambouli to assassinate Sadar, "16 years I was at one of the universities attending a case study on Terrorism, and I asked why Hosni Mubarak wasn't assassinated that day. Islambouli received an order not assassinate Hosni Mubarak. It was clear that Sadat had expired, and it was time for a new president that would serve the "Israeli"-American interests." he said.

He added that Camp David gave "Israel" everything leaving Egypt with nothing but shame. "If Camp David wasn't signed "Israel" wouldn't have had the nerve to do what it's doing today". General Hisham hoped that the revolution in Egypt will be able to change the roots of the old regime with new faithful members that will eliminate the Camp David treaty. To take a live image of how the Egyptians felt about the Camp David treaty, Moqawama.org interviewed 2 Lebanese Students that lived in Egypt for more than 20 year.

 

The Black MarchMay, a 24 year old that studied at the American University of Cairo said, "I remember how the Egyptian students cried when Gaza was first attacked. They felt really ashamed of their past presidents except for Jamal Abdul Nasser who they considered a hero that could've saved Egypt and the Arab world had he been alive."
May stressed on the fact that most of the Egyptians were against the Camp David treaty, in fact it was a loss for them, "Israel" was taking advantage of them in all means. Not only did "Israel" take most of their natural sources but it also took away their pride. "I remember one of my closest friends in college burst with tears when she saw the Gaza children being killed during 2008, she was ashamed that her country was supporting the murderers of these children", She said.

 

Maysaa, a 21 year old that also studied at the American University of Cairo noted that the Egyptian people tried for so many years to protest against the Treaty yet they were attacked by the government some were arrested others were beaten up. "It was very hard for the Egyptians to express their denial, the more they expressed the more they were slammed by the government."

Maysaa added that all her friends at the university took part of the revolution against the regime. "Some kind of divine power pushed them to protest against tyranny and this time they were confident about victory. Perhaps the victory Lebanon witnessed in 2006 gave the Arabs hope", she said.

Media did play an essential role in spotlighting the facts. The means of communication facilitated the path of today's revolutions while enlightening the people's perception of reality. For that sake Moqawama.org had a special interview with Mohammad El Adel, an Egyptian director that struggled many times while fighting for his rights in his country. He found nothing but his beloved camera that helped him shoot all the miseries in his country and turn it into a legend. 

Mohammad told us part of his story...

  "I always held rage within me especially when witnessing the tyranny our leaders put us through. I had to do something; I wasn't a man that could stand still. I organized several protests yet we were always faced by harsh obstacles whether by the government or by its coward allies that beat us up. If it was up to me I would've continued till death but I had a family and so that wasn't a mature choice. I decided to organize plays at schools", he said.

He continued, "These plays were aimed at showing the students the bitter reality they are living and they bitter history their leaders had. My aim was to provoke them to try and change. Many of my plays were banned yet I never lost hope."
Mohammad added, "Today after the revolution in my country and after Husni Mubarak had stepped down, I regained my hopes and the future of Egypt that was once blurred is now clear. I'm very sure that Egypt will change the map of the Middle East and will heal the wound of the Arab world that it once caused."

    He noted that he's working on a film about Camp David and its betrayals and will reedit the movies that were once banned at the time of Husni Mubarak. "Of course the dangers haven't yet vanished for we managed to kill the snake but the poison is still their", he ended.

 

Comments

person JB

Very nice. . .

Very nice article and well written. It is nice to understand May and Maysaa's perspectives on the events that have occurred in the region.