A new weekly series about Egypt (Saturdays)

The author of this series "Egyptian Frescoes" André Dirlik was born in Egypt and spent the first twenty years of his life in Cairo, then moved to Beirut where he studied at the American University. He later completed his studies at Mc Gill University, in Montreal. 

André's long career as professor exclusively at the "Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean" was only interrupted when that institution closed it's doors in 1995. 

Egyptian Frescoes part (12 of 19) issued with the permission of the author. 

Egyptian Frescoes (12): The 1952 Coup d'État.

When the late Yusif Shahin presented his epic movie, Saladin, to Arab audiences, was he suggesting that Gamal 'abd il-Nasir march on Jerusalem? By the time the movie hit the screens in 1965, the colonel who, on July 23rd, 1952, had staged a coup against King Farouk and his government, had risen to the greatest heights in the eyes of all

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Arabs. It was therefore reasonable that he be represented as the heir to the Great Ayyubid whose descendants already had ruled over Egypt for almost a century, from 1171 to 1266.

Gamal 'abd ul-Nasir (1918-1970) grew up as a boy in Alexandria and, later, as an adult in Cairo, in an Egypt in turmoil.  

His father was a postman, meaning that he could read and write. The family was exposed, through the newspapers, to the times of Sa'd Zaghlul and the 1919 Revolution. Such times made one cope with the humiliating Anglo-Egyptian Treaty. The nation stood helpless as an autocratic ruler emasculated parliament. In secondary school, Gamal participated in demonstrations against the British. The street battles between the various coloured shirts were, also, a daily occurrence. And, Hasan al-Banna was a rising star prior to the War. In 1936, the British induced the King to open the military academies to sons of the Lower Middle Class. The British were anticipating 1939 and they encouraged the Egyptian military to rise to 50.000 soldiers strong.

Egypt's armies had gone a full circle, from the time when Muhammad 'Ali Basha instituted a fighting force whose officers were Turks and Albanians whom the French trained and whose foot soldiers were from the Fallahin, to the time of Khedive Isma'il where officers now were sons of the Egyptian landed aristocracy, to post-1936 when the recently urbanized could send their sons to fight and die in the Infantry. The Cavalry, later to become an Armoured Unit, the Navy and the recently created Air Force were led by members of the Egyptian plutocracy.  And so was it that 'abd ul-Nasir entered the School of Infantry along with others who would rise in rank and eventually plot to topple the monarchy.

Egypt's Modern infantry 1940's

During my school years on Malika Nazli Street, every morning, officers reported to the 'Abbasiyyah Barracks. I could notice that officers from the upper classes drove themselves to their units. Infantry officers were driven by lorry to their respective units. At the time, the Infantry, was not mechanized: like Napoleon's infantrymen who reached Russia on foot, the Mushah, as infantry was called, walked and walked and walked. Another childhood memory happened when, one afternoon, my mother took me to Groppi's for hot chocolate and pastries. Next to our table sat an Egyptian cavalry major and his wife. At my age, I knew all about. And, although they all wore the same kahki battle dress, I had come to identify physical features and their language with the name of the regiment they belonged to: for instance, here, on both upper sleeves, one read Poland; the face and the spoken words became associated in my mind. There were Australians whose symbol was a kangaroo, New Zealanders and Maoris and their kiwi badge, South Africans, Sikh and Rajput or Pundjabis, Kenya Riffles, Free French and Jewish Brigade, Gurkas and, last but not least, the bearded ladies of the Black Watch Regiment. Came in a Welsh captain and his Khawagayyah date. They sat next to our table and the Welshman immediately requested from the British Military Police that the Egyptian cavalry major, his superior in rank, be evicted from the premises. To my mother and to me, this was shocking. It appeared, we later learnt, to be standard practice in British India. Not so in Egypt. And yet the MPs obliged.

King Farouk of Egypt

I was coming to understand that there were inequalities among those who were sent to die in the desert, in the Egyptian Forces and between Egyptians and Brits in uniform. Inequality would breed resentment and bitterness, on the nationalist front and when, on May 15th., 1948, the Egyptian Army was thrown into battle in Palestine. Haydar Pasha, the Commander-in-Chief, was ordered by the King to hastily prepare for war. Second World War Italian weapons and ammunition were acquired which, on the battle field, proved defective. The war involved mostly infantry. Officers from other combat units were being spared. It has been reported that, after the Siege of Falujah, in the Neguev, where an Egyptian unit was surrounded and later surrendered to the Israelis, the younger officers around  Captain Gamal 'abd il-Nasir started plotting against the civilian leadership in Cairo.

Infantry 

Meanwhile, 1952 was an eventful year in the country: on January 25th. of that year, the British in Isma'liyyah, in an armed confrontation with the police, the Buluk Nizam, disarmed them. There were casualties on both sides and the confrontation was hailed as a victory for the Egyptians who had held their ground. The very next day, riots in Cairo, caused the European quarters to be set aflame:

the Shepherds Hotel, stores owned by Jews, the Turf Club frequented by British were looted and set ablaze. We were sent home from school and I bicycled from one hot spot to another to watch. The forces of order could not stop the rioters. It was a cold January day but the fires had raised the temperature of the air for everyone.  

Before sunset, that day, the Army was called upon to restore order and imposed a curfew. The next morning, my father and I walked towards Norton Pharmacy. The streets were littered with debris and the stench from burnt paint filled the air. Robert Hughes, had been looted and torched. So was Lappas and Ben Zion. Norton's was spared when, it was explained to us, the Egyptian staff convinced the rioters its owners were neither English nor Jewish but Turks. The city was later cleared of rubble and life appeared to return to normal. Rumours circulated that the Communists and the Ikhwan were the major culprits behind the burning of European Cairo and many rioters were arrested and admitted their crimes under torture. 

Old Shepherd's  Hotel Cairo

The Communist-led trade-unions called for workers to strike and were sent to jail. In my family's immediate circle, daily routine was back although one friend was often being cited: as early as the end of the First Palestine War of 1948-1949, he had chosen to leave Egypt and advised my father to do the same. He belonged to the Shawam Community. My father had called his decision crazy when he chose to leave this Land of Plenty. The exchange rate of the Egyptian Pound was higher than the Pound Sterling at the time. The gentleman in question settled in Monaco and bought much property in and around Monte Carlo. He never stopped after that pointing a finger of I-told-you-so to us whenever the opportunity arose.

Meanwhile, our family prepared to go to Lebanon for our annual summer holidays. We were at home, in the Shuf Hills, on July 23rd., when news reached us that there had been a Coup back home. One General Muhammad Nagib, had arrested the King who was in his summer palace in Alexandria. Also, under house arrest were the members of his Cabinet. The country remained quiet and the bulk of the population appeared to favour the change. The King would not be tried, after all, but instead went into exile. The popular ‘Ali Mahir would head a new civilian government. Everything seemed to return to what one was used to and we remained in the Hills till September, my father included, as there was no urgency for him to interrupt his summer break.

It is during this very period that a fundamental question was being raised by the Egyptian tourists to Lebanon whom we frequented: were the events of the end of July a simple change at the helm with a general replacing a king or was this the beginning of a revolution? The question had been brought about by developments which left people perplex. The first was the immediate dissolution by the Military Council of all existing political parties except the Muslim Brotherhood.

General Mohamed Naguib

The second was the promulgation of an Agrarian Reform Law, on September 11th, which, in effect, expropriated the Royal Family and the Landed Aristocracy of its wealth and power. When the real leader of the Coup appeared to replace General Nagib, Colonel 'abd il-Nasir, the Bikbashi, as he was known amongst his Free Officers, was showing his true social colours. His infantrymen had won the day against the Navy, the Cavalry and the Air Force. Amongst the prominent members of the Free Officers, meanwhile, it was being reported that Anwar is-Sadat was a member of the Ikhwan. At the other end of the ideological spectrum was Colonel Khalid Muhiyi al-Din, a Communist, both representing the have-nots. At the same time, one slogan of the New Regime was offering hope for the future: al-Din lil-lah wa al-Watan lil-Gami', Religions belong to God but the Nation is the property of All. Were we witnessing the rise of an Egyptian Mustafa Kemal Atatürk?