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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 July - 2 August 2000 Issue No. 492 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 July - 2 August 2000 Issue No. 492
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Lessons from the past
IN A RADIO and television broadcast to the nation marking the 48th anniversary of the July 1952 revolution, President Hosni Mubarak spoke of Egypt's aspirations for the future, declaring they were made possible by the Free Officers -- the army organisation that overthrew the monarchy -- and underlining the need to view the revolution from the proper perspective.Mubarak said that Egyptians were witnessing at present "an important part of their history [and aiming] to achieve a thorough and comprehensive process of reconstruction."
This requires the development of all human and natural resources "by using the latest in science and advanced technology," said Mubarak. "We are well aware of the challenges ahead of us; we believe they are a matter of life or death and, therefore, we will confront them rationally and with an ambition for prosperity."
Elaborating on the significance of the revolution, under Gamal Abdel-Nasser's leadership, Mubarak said that it was an "embodiment of the hopes and aspirations of the people." He said that the bloodless transition to a republic "was a clear expression of the Egyptians' rejection of the appalling conditions" that prevailed under the monarchy. The president continued that since its inception, the revolution reached beyond Egyptian borders to the Arab, Islamic and African worlds, and its achievements fed "the aspirations of developing countries which also wanted to liberate themselves from colonial powers and build up strong economies."
He added that the revolution introduced "basic changes in all aspects of social, political and economic life, changes felt by many peoples on different continents."
The president dedicated a large part of his address to voice disapproval of those who tarnish the image of the revolution. He took to task those who brand the revolution as a "petrified endeavour" or "view it through dark spectacles that ignore its achievements and hold it responsible for any harm that might have befallen the region." Mubarak also condemned those who allow their imagination free rein to recount events that never happened and attribute alleged points of weakness to those who staged the revolution.
"Digging up the dead from their graves, reversing facts, fabricating history by claiming false heroics and spinning fantasies about events that did not take place, and alleging untrue character flaws in the revolutionaries [is unacceptable]," he said. "Critics would have done better had they voiced their opinions during the lifetime of these people, to give them the opportunity to defend themselves and preserve the nation's history -- unfabricated."
Nonetheless, Mubarak believes that the "collective memory of the nation is capable of safeguarding the truth."
He asserted that the revolution, nearly five decades later, must be analysed, documented and evaluated in a scientific way, "not only for the sake of honesty, but also in order to benefit most from the past."
