Sadat maligned
In the first of a series of articles Ibrahim Nafie begins a reassessment of the career of President Sadat
One Friday in December 1979 I went to call upon the late President Sadat. I had just been appointed editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram, following the death of Ali Hamdi El-Gamal, and this was to be the first time I had met the president in my journalistic career. As I approached the president's home in Giza I wondered how I would be received. Would the encounter be stiff and formal, or would there be an element of congeniality?
Once there a member of the presidential staff led me to the garden where the president was reading. Sadat, I learned later, always preferred to do as much work as possible in the fresh air rather than in stuffy offices. The president immediately dispelled any apprehension I had about the meeting. He welcomed me warmly, as though I were an old friend, and immediately proceeded to express his high regard for Al-Ahram and its contribution to the political, social and cultural life of Egypt. He said he was eager for the newspaper to maintain this role.
I recall that, at one point in the conversation, I told the president that I had dedicated most of my career to reporting on economic issues but that now I hoped to benefit from his lengthy political expertise in covering political issues. With characteristic and winning modesty Sadat told me that anyone who can handle the complexities of economics can write on politics. Writing on politics requires a blend of a grasp of realities, analytical skills and perspicacity. This, he told me, combined with proximity to the decision-making centre, would provide sufficient safeguard against misjudgment.
My first meeting with Sadat lasted nearly two hours, during which I also went with him to Friday prayers in a small mosque in Giza. From that day forward I remained in daily contact with the president, by phone, at various times of day or night. The president was always keen to learn the latest political news and hear of commentaries on issues that concerned our country. I would give him a call whenever news agencies or Al-Ahram correspondents abroad reported an important development. He would listen intently to my summaries, after which he would relate his impressions. It was remarkable how frequently the predictions and analyses he conveyed to me in those conversations unfolded precisely as he had anticipated.
I will never forget that, one day, following the 1981 Israeli bombing of the Palestinian resistance in Beirut -- in which hundreds of civilians were killed -- a delegation of Palestinian leaders called on me in my office in Al-Ahram. Acting on the instructions of Yasser Arafat, then in Beirut, they asked me to convey to President Sadat a request for medical assistance for the Palestinian resistance. I phoned the president and, without telling him about my guests, I conveyed their request.
"They're with you now, aren't they?" he asked to my surprise. I told him they were, and he said, "then tell them I agree, notify the appropriate official here and call me back after the Palestinians have left your office."
I phoned the relevant authority and conveyed Sadat's instructions to send doctors and medical aid to the Palestinians in Beirut. At this time, it should be remembered, Egypt was the butt of vicious attacks by Palestinian leaders and the subject of an Arab boycott for having signed a peace treaty with Israel. After the Palestinian delegation left I called up the president. He then asked me to write a commentary in the newspaper in which I reported his approval of Arafat's request.
I must add that Sadat had not singled me out. On the contrary, he accorded the same attention to other editors-in- chief at the time. Once I said to him in jest that he was so free in giving out press statements that if someone passed him in the street and asked for his position on some issue, he would deliver his opinion then and there without the slightest reservation. Sadat smiled and asked why he should not.
In fact, throughout his long political career, Sadat had developed an acute sense of the power of the press and a well-honed sense of the capacities of the country's various newspapers. His choice of newspaper for a press release -- whether Al-Ahram, Al-Akhbar or Al- Gumhuriyya -- depended on what he wanted to convey and the audience he wanted to address. Whenever reproached for choosing a certain newspaper over others, he would respond that his purpose could only have been achieved through that newspaper.
President Sadat was a modest, decent person. He was friendly and fond of his fellow men. Whenever angered, he vented his anger in a single outburst; he never bore grudges and was never spiteful. What most provoked his anger, towards the end of his life, was the impetuousness of the extremist groups, which he regarded as a threat to security, social harmony and national unity. I recall that we were aboard the presidential plane on our way back to Egypt from the US when he mentioned how he had seen a huge and furious swarm of these groups along the Corniche in Alexandria during Eid prayers. Reports on these groups, he said, were extremely disturbing and indicated that they were hampering the peace process and the completion of the Israeli withdrawal from Egyptian territory. It was therefore imperative to take firm and immediate action against them to ensure that the last phase of the liberation of the Sinai would take place according to schedule in a few months time.
The president's statement on that flight heralded the decrees issued in September that year to arrest extremist and opposition leaders. However, it was clear that other hands meddled in this process, leading to the detention of representatives of political, intellectual and even religious trends that Sadat had never considered when contemplating this course of action. In fact he said, in no uncertain terms, that those individuals who were added to the lists would be released immediately after Israel completed its withdrawal from the Sinai in February.
More than 20 years have passed since Sadat died. The events that have taken place in that interval confirm his political acumen, perspicacity and farsightedness, to the extent that even his most obdurate opponents now confess that Sadat was a man ahead of his times. Unfortunately, not only have such late testimonies failed to fully vindicate this man with a vision, attacks against him and his historical accomplishments remain common currency among certain segments of the Arab press.
It is for this reason that I have initiated this series on Sadat to mark the 25th anniversary of his visit to Jerusalem, a visit that changed the course of the history of Egypt, of the region and, indeed, the world. It is time to give Sadat full recognition for his immense contributions to Egypt and to the cause of peace.
Towards this end I have entrusted Al- Ahram offices abroad with the task of compiling the most significant articles on Sadat that have appeared in the foreign press. Simultaneously, although many relevant documents in Egypt remain unavailable under the 30 year rule, leaks and unofficial reports of that period are still revealing and furnish much fodder for contemplation. In addition, the extensive studies on Sadat and contemporary international circumstances conducted by the Al- Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies have proved invaluable sources of information for "Sadat maligned", the title I have chosen for this series intended to furnish an objective assessment of this major 20th century figure.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 28 Nov. - 4 Dec. 2002 (Issue No. 614)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/614/op1.htm