This is a
very important interview given by Jimmy Carter to Newsweek on occasion of the 25th anniversary of Sadat's death. It's a must read.
It's a shame that a former American president should know more about the Egyptian people and their peace treaty than our
uber-intellectuals.
* * *
What I am about to say will be met with shocked gasps of horror from certain readers...but I will go ahead and say it anyway:)
You know what...when I think of it now, it gives me chuckles what Sadat did to the uber-intellectuals in September 1981.
Here is a little background to our story...
Basically at the time, the country was in a state of dangerous civil strife; some angry crazy Muslims were up in arms against some angry crazy Christians (I proudly boast of our unity in
this mutual way), more than a dozen countries and organizations around the world were out to kill Sadat, all the while the opposition from all directions and uber-intellectuals were ganging up and doing their best in abusing the freedoms they had been given to make a mockery of the president and accuse him of treason. All this while in the background Sadat was pre-occupied with the greater project he had dedicated his presidency to; the Middle East peace process he had launched and the tangible fruition of his work with the completion of Israel's final phase of withdrawal from the rest of Sinai at the very imminent date of April 1982.
You have to understand where Anwar el Sadat was coming from. He inherited a country that was ruled by his military colleague and predecessor with a tyrannical iron fist; a police state of terror where families were too afraid to talk of politics in their own homes. He inaugurated his presidency, as soon as he consolidated his power, by overthrowing this vicious police state and giving Egyptians the freedoms they had been denied throughout Nasser's reign. Yet here we were, ten years later and the country was in this state of chaos at this critical juncture of Egypt's political and territorial history.
After all the achievements he had done in his presidency, and in the middle of its most critical part which he was undergoing now, how do you think this all made him feel?
So in his self-described capacity as the father of the Egyptian village, Sadat said enough is enough; you will rise above your petty differences and Egypt will focus on its existential cause that we are undergoing right now. He was worried that this internal strife would spill over to something more serious that would cause Israel to halt its scheduled handover of the rest of Sinai.
So he had 1500 people from all over the political spectrum arrested; Islamists, Christian fundamentalists, vocal critics of his peace policy (i.e. uber-intellectuals), and even the Pope, whom Sadat regarded as a fanatic for his meddling in politics (and whom Heikal wrote of under the chapter of "Militant Monks", in his book Autumn of Fury), was exiled to his monastery in Wadi el Natroun. Unlike was the going habit of his predecessor however, Sadat ordered for them all to be treated well and planned to release them as Israel completed its withdrawal in April 1982, the year he was looking forward to retire.
In my opinion he planned to tell them, here you go; this is what I did for you. And now I retire in peace. Which is exactly what happened at that same exact date, but with him already gone from the scene. In my opinion he would have released them much sooner than this had he lived, because his objective was exactly to make a statement.
This last act of September may be seen as a little eccentric and grandiose of Sadat, but this statement of his wasn't without its meaning, or lacking humor in its truthfulness which continues to laugh at his opponents everyday. And this may be why the uber-intellectuals continue to hate him more and more with each passing day.
All I can say, looking back in hindsight, is Sadat was right.
In the midst of his army in a parade after the war.Nota Bene:
Before you make a jump for my throat, make sure you first read
the above interview to understand the scope of what Sadat had worked for and achieved in the years leading up to and following Camp David, as opposed to the endless lies and smear campaigns he had been and continues to be subjected to that you may or may not already be familiar with.
Also read what Abouna
Matta el Meskeen had to say about
the banishment of the Pope:
"I can't say I'm happy, but I am at peace now. Every morning I was expecting news of more bloody collisions. Sadat's actions protect the church and the Copts. They are from God."
Ok, now you go right ahead.
