CAIRO: Egypt celebrates Sinai Liberation Day today, marking 35 years since the victories of the 1972 war against Israel which eventually led to the return of the Sinai Peninsula from occupation. After three consecutive defeats at Israeli hands, the battle victories near the Suez Canal produced a groundswell of national pride and were the first step in the peace process between the two countries.
Today, much of that national pride has been replaced by frustration, and many young people seem to have forgotten what the holiday is all about. And for people in the Sinai, it is unclear how much life has improved under Egyptian rule.
“For the generation of Egyptians who fought and lost and restored the Sinai, it is a part of their memory and identity and has been the subject of a great deal of soul-searching, said Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a political sociologist with extensive knowledge of Egyptian-Israeli relations. “Thousands of Egyptians died in those battles and many times more were wounded. Their blood became like an indelible ink on this country. So people rejoiced when the land was restored in 1973.
Ibrahim believes that the surge of pride following the war created a “psychological parity that allowed Sadat to begin peace negotiations with Israel. Now that Egypt had won a war of its own against its bitter enemy, the two states were on a more equal footing when it came to the bargaining table.
After the victories in the Canal Zone, striking a deal with Tel Aviv was more palatable. But many young Egyptians do not seem to care one way or another.
“For the generation that was born after ’73, and who are now in their 20s and 30s, Sinai to them is a playground, he added. “It is a place they either read about as a resort or a tourist attraction, or as a place they themselves go to during the holidays.
Mohamed Ibrahim, 26, a lecturer at Menoufia University in the delta town of Shebeen El-Kom, agrees that few young people care about what the holiday is supposed to commemorate.
“After all these years, people don’t think about the war the way they used to, he says. “Now it is just another holiday, a day off. People just stay home and watch TV.
He blames much of this disinterest and apathy on the frustrations that many people feel in their lives.
“People were more proud before, when the war was still fresh, he said. “Back then people thought this would mean a major change in their lives, but now the more recent generations know it doesn’t mean anything for them day-to-day.
“I think the country is standing still now, he added. “We are stuck in the same place. When people think about their lives, their incomes, their life styles – many people feel that things like these have not changed for the better. And when they are thinking about all of these things, they don’t care about Sinai Day at all.
Reham Mabrouk, 28, a communications specialist who works for a nongovernmental organization in Maadi, disputes the value of the military victory itself. She says the army did not inflict enough damage on Israel. In her opinion, the government should have done more in the war and should be doing more for Egypt today.
“We didn’t triumph in the manner that we should have – we should have pushed the Israelis all the way back to Tel Aviv but we didn’t, she says. “The fighting only took back small parts of the Sinai, Israel still kept most of it and we had to negotiate with them for it. Israel killed Egyptian civilians in factories and schools, but no Israeli civilians died because we didn’t attack them in the depths of their country. Israel as a country was not hurt at all.
“I think that Sadat was right to make peace with the Israelis because we would not have survived another war with them, she added. “But the victory was not military. I don’t want to undermine the courage and bravery of the soldiers who fought, but this victory had two parts to it, and the negotiations are what got us back the Sinai.
In the more than three decades since the war, Sinai itself has changed dramatically. What was once a poorly understood desert backwater is now the site of intense investment in tourism, much of it in high-end hotels.
Sharm El-Sheikh has become international short hand for both luxurious beach holidays and important global summits, while other spots along the coast cater to nature lovers, Egyptian families, and back-packing foreign hippies. But some fear that the locals are being left behind in the development rush.
“For the people of Sinai themselves, the story or the script is a bit different, said Ibrahim. “These people are mostly Bedouin tribes with customs and ways of life that are significantly different from the rest of Egypt. This has created a feeling of alienation on both sides that leads to bureaucratic attitudes and policies that make life hard for the Sinai Bedouins. The influx of more than $20 billion of tourism investment in the last two decades has aggravated these tensions, as locals watch their under developed desert home sprout posh colonies of sun bathing foreigners.
“Part of this strange relationship with the Bedouins has to do with the government’s treatment of Sinai as a military zone for much of its modern history, which has the implication of not allowing anyone to own land there, said Ibrahim. “Even the Bedouin and the natives of Sinai cannot have deeds to own any of their land, but outsiders can come in and buy land and villas and invest in the area. South Sinai has more than $20 billion of tourism investment. Compare this to North Sinai, which is really neglected.
Mabrouk, the Maadi communications specialist, agrees that much of Sinai has been neglected by the government. She thinks the emphasis on tourism is misplaced, and that under Israeli rule the region was on a better economic path.
“It’s been 30 years, and you can still go to the Sinai and see the farms that the Israelis started, she says. “The Israelis worked hard there and we have not. Sinai is being totally ignored by the regime, except for Sharm. “Turning a society of Bedouin into bus-boys is not a positive achievement, she adds. “I shouldn’t be saying this, but Sinai would have been better off under the Israelis.
