Suez's sacrifices

By Mahmoud Bakr and Khaled El-Ghamri

A panoramic view of Suez today, with the Canal in the background photo: Saad Faggenour

The inhabitants of the city are well known for their fortitude and bravery: Egyptian folklore is full of tales of their fierce nationalism and fighting spirit. The British army of occupation encountered in Suez a tremendous popular resistance movement, that peaked between 1950 and 1951.

No wonder, then, that these people were among the Egyptians who suffered most from the humiliation of 1967 and the defeat of the Egyptian soldiers. The inhabitants showed great compassion for the defeated Egyptian soldiers who were returning from the front, many lost, barefoot and dressed only in rags.

During the War of Attrition, Suez became a ghost city, torn apart by continuous Israeli shelling. Most of Suez's homes were destroyed, and of the infrastructure, little remained. Yet it was in this city that a resistance movement, whose members were later to dub it the Sinai Organisation, was formed.

The popular resistance organisation took on the responsibility of locating Israeli patrols on the west bank of the Canal, penetrating enemy lines through surprise attacks and suicide operations, spying on enemy camps and relaying the information gathered to Egyptian military headquarters. The volunteers were relentless, stopping at nothing, and seem to have threatened the Israeli forces to the extent that the Israeli command offered LE10,000 -- an enormous sum at the time -- to anyone who could give information as to the whereabouts of members of the Sinai Organisation.

Mohamed Awwad, then the head of the Sinai Organisation, remembers: "Eighteen days after the Egyptian forces had crossed the Canal, we heard that the Israeli soldiers were heading towards Suez after having pierced our lines at Defresoir. At first we did not believe it. But as testimony to the bravery of Suez's people, when the Israeli forces approached the city, they found it transformed into a military camp. The Sinai Organisation have done their best to provide weaponry. We had two anti-tank RPGs and an assortment of light weapons stored in the general hospital that had become an ammunitions depot. The weapons had been collected by a doctor, Ayoub Badr, from the wounded soldiers. The siege of Suez lasted for 100 days. On the very last day, the courageous doctor died, literally of exhaustion."

Ibrahim Soliman destroyed the first enemy tank beside Cinema Misr, remembers Awwad, who destroyed three tanks himself. All in all, the resistance wiped out 23 tanks and armoured vehicles. "The Zionists, who had thought the defeat of Suez would be a picnic, panicked and hid in Al-Arba'in police station. They never expected the police and the people to resist so ferociously."

General Abdel-Rahman Ghoneima, who currently works at the Authority for the Monitoring of Public Funds, was the liaison officer between the military command and the popular resistance force at the time of the battle. "I was in charge of the Zaitiya riot squad, and on that particular day President Sadat sent me a message ordering us to hold out till the bitter end. We obeyed to the letter."

An Israeli tank, stranded in one of Suez's main streets, 1977. Cinema Misr still showed the scars of the long siege

Sheikh Hafez Salama, who delivered sermons at the Mosque of Al-Shuhada' in Suez, remembers having been particularly inspired during the siege. "God guided me with words to encourage the people. The mosque gradually turned into a centre where the members of the organisation and the people of Suez gathered and pledged to defend their city." Israeli planes had bombed the city's water reservoirs, and there was barely enough bread for the resistance fighters and the wounded soldiers.

Even children contributed to the struggle, taking messages and weapons back and forth between the fighters.

Hussein El-Ashi, a member of the Shura Council and a former member of the student organisations that were established to defend Suez, says: "President Anwar El-Sadat did not believe that the city could withstand the attack launched by the Israeli armoured division. He swore that he would go to Suez to pray on the Lesser and Greater Feasts as long as he lived if the city repelled the attack. He fulfilled his vow."

The members of the Sinai Organisation

 Twenty-five years on, Suez remembers its sacrifices. According to Salah Shahin, a member of the People's Assembly, 75 per cent of the city was destroyed during the war. Since 1973, it has lagged behind in the field of development and construction. Many services have been recently introduced in the fields of education, medicine and infrastructure, however. New colleges have been built, a hospital has been established, roads have been laid, natural gas for domestic consumption has been introduced, and the potable water supply has increased.

Gamal Mohamed Shiha, assistant to the Suez governor, is in charge of the investment service bureau. He agrees that the city is witnessing an industrial and economic renaissance. Three industrial zones are spearheading this increased activity. On six square kilometres in the A'taqa area, infrastructure projects are being carried out by the Ministry of Housing and New Communities. Around 140 factories and workshops have been set up. This zone lies opposite Adabiya port, which facilitates the transport of goods to and from that area. The investment office examines the applications presented by investors, and follows up on the implementation of their projects.

The second zone lies north-west of the Gulf of Suez. Due to its size and its commercial and industrial importance, it has been dubbed the Arab Hong Kong. Port facilities, sites for industrial and commercial projects, and housing for factory workers are being established. A further four square kilometres have been designated for the construction of several cement factories in the third zone.

The president of the Red Sea Ports Authority, Hassan Rashid, also notes that a contract has been signed to start work on the first stage of the new international Ain Sukhna port, at a cost of LE205 million. The port is scheduled for completion by next November. (see p. 18)

Days before victory

"I have never left the city of Suez, no matter what happened, because I love it very much," says Gorgi. "During the 100 days of the [1973] siege, I stayed here and never thought of leaving. I remember during that war, the Egyptian army would come by and give me five piastres a day in addition to meat, vegetables and water. They did this for everyone who stayed in the city." Those were the days before our final victory.

Additional reporting by Amr Ghoneima

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