11 - 17 October 2001
Issue No.555
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 11 - 17 October 2001 Issue No.555 |
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Remembering October
When the memory of the October War was upon us this year, it was under peculiar circumstances: a great challenge faces the Arab and Islamic world as Arabs and Muslims come under attack, however false the charges levelled against them may be. They are the target of hatred, even enmity, in the West -- a condition that places Arab and Islamic countries in a difficult position indeed.
These circumstances are reminiscent of the situation prevailing prior to the outbreak of the war in question, in 1973.
Arabs at the time were equally in crisis, humiliated by the June 1967 defeat -- a defeat not only of the army but of the morale. The victory was a kind of return of the spirit, to use Tawfiq El-Hakim's famous phrase. It brought Arabs, especially Egyptians, back to life, and allowed them to regain their land.
The coincidence of the occasion with the attacks on the US and the consequent crisis we are now suffering may be the harbinger of good fortune, in that, in the same way as we overcame our crisis in 1973, we might likewise overcome the present crisis.
Egypt adopted an admirable and lucid position from the start. Egypt brought the Arab nation back to life in 1973, and I certainly hope it will do the same this time, too.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
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