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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 October 2000 Issue No. 504 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 October 2000 Issue No. 504
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Travel Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Flight no.1 to Baghdad
By Amira HoweidySeven-year-old Sally Ahmed Suleiman's looks quite pretty. The girl has long shiny brown hair and a captivating smile. Part of her black-and-red striped dress is visible in the picture that hangs on the dark wall of the Amereya shelter in Baghdad. The little girl, it says right beneath her picture, was burned to death together with 400 families when the US-UK alliance fired missiles at the shelter in 1991.
The tragic story of Amereya has been told and re-told many times and the Iraqi government makes it a must-see for any visitor. This time the visitors were of a somewhat special nature, though. They were the "Egyptian people's delegation for lifting the sanctions on Iraq," which organised and financed the first Egyptian flight to break the air embargo imposed on Iraq since 1990.
Despite the political significance of the event, the reaction back home was lukewarm. What is being called the second Intifada of Al-Aqsa and its repercussions has overshadowed all political events in this country -- including parliamentary elections. Yet the news of the Iraq flight was met with indifference presumably because it came later than expected. Non-Arab countries such as Russia and France took the initiative of breaking the embargo, and it was Jordan, not Egypt, that immediately followed suit. This led Hamdi Qandil, host of a television talk show, to make the following sarcastic statement: "I searched and searched for a news item on a flock of Arab planes landing in Baghdad, but found none. So if any of the viewers comes across something of the sort, please let me know."
It was only after planes from Turkey, Syria, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) flew to Baghdad that Egypt took action on 11 October. A second Egyptian plane carrying a large number of doctors flew to Iraq on Tuesday morning. According to an official of the Health Ministry who was on board, the doctors will stay in Iraq for 15 days to perform a series of surgical operations in various hospitals.
The moment the first EgyptAir plane landed at Saddam Hussein airport, singer Azza Balbaa began chanting El-Helm El-Arabi (the Arab dream), a song which, until the Al-Aqsa Intifada broke out, had been banished, albeit unofficially, from state-run Egyptian television. Actress Athar El-Hakim, actor Farouk El-Feshawi and other passengers on board slowly joined in. "The darkness of the night may have kept us apart, but the rays of light will take us to the highest skies. This is the dream of our lives," they sang in unison with evident zeal. "Does anyone know the rest of the words?" someone asked. "It doesn't matter, let's sing the part we know again," someone else responded.
Pan-Arab sentiments were running high. After all, the 175 passengers who boarded the plane in Cairo knew too well that the flight did not have the approval of the UN sanctions committee. For them, this was not merely a symbolic action, it was also a political statement. It is no wonder then that the flight's organisers called it "the plane of the martyr Mohamed Al-Dorra" -- referring to the 12-year-old Palestinian boy whom the world saw killed on television in a shower of bullets from Israeli snipers.
Their sentiments mobilised by the horrific scenes of violence by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the occupied territories, the delegation needed no political guidance as to what the flight represents. Once the delegation disembarked, there were chants of "Down with America and America's army." Two hours earlier, the chants at Cairo airport only called for lifting the sanctions.
Everyone had on their chests or arms stickers showing the colours of the Palestinian flag beneath a picture of Al-Dorra and his father under fire. Some women covered their heads with black-and-white Palestinian scarves. Actress El-Hakim wore black, to express her "grief for what the Iraqi and Palestinian children are going through," she told Al-Ahram Weekly.
The delegation, which included writers, journalists, poets, actors and actresses, political party figures, businessmen and university professors, was a rare collection of ideologies, representing a wide range of political affiliations. Die-hard Nasserists like Hamdin El-Sabahi and leftist figures like Mohamed Ouda mixed with the likes of Marxist-turned-Islamist university professor Abdel-Wahab Elmesseeri and Abul-Ela Madi and Essam Sultan, defectors from the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. The delegation also included singer-turned-veiled-preacher Yasmin El-Khayam, pop singer Mohamed Fouad, a Coptic priest and a Muslim sheikh. The plane carried tons of food, medical supplies and children's toys.
The visit to the Iraqi capital, which lasted nearly six hours, could only accommodate three events. The first was lunch at the Rashid Hotel, which -- to the amusement of the delegation -- displays a large mosaic painting of former US President George Bush on the floor of the entrance. "Ha!" cried one journalist, "it feels good to walk on the face of an American president. Relieving actually." Lunch was followed by a poignant tour of the Amereya shelter.
The trip ended with an hour-long meeting with Iraqi deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz, who repeatedly underlined the Iraqi-Palestinian linkage. "Your visit has a symbolic meaning, as it sends a clear message to the imperialists who have the illusion that Iraq is on its own," he told the delegation. "Now," he said, "they can see for themselves that the Arab nation, from the (Atlantic) Ocean to the Gulf, is in solidarity with the people of Iraq." On the other hand, there are "the Palestinian people, who are teaching the Zionists a lesson. Despite the impact of the sanctions on Iraqis, thousands of them are willing to volunteer to join the Palestinians in their struggle."
But it was his declaration that "Cairo and Baghdad are the two wings of the Arab nation" that was met by long and enthusiastic applause.
As the delegation flew home, a feeling of satisfaction prevailed, as did our confidence that the brief visit was a major achievement. Some passengers hummed Sheikh Imam's nationalist song El-Khat da Khati (this is my handwriting). "The beach of olive-trees is mine and Jerusalem is Arab."
Related stories:
Cairo-Baghdad-Cairo
Little steps, big goal 5 - 11 October 2000
Death siege defied 28 Sep. - 4 Oct. 2000
