An initiative to document and honor... the martyrs of the Egyptian wars return to the fore

Cairo

- Over the past century, Egypt has entered into many wars during which thousands of martyrs fell. Their families keep memories and stories passed on by generations within the same family, but many of them have been hoping for years that the tournaments will become official and preserved in the memory of the nation.

It seems that this hope will see the light soon, after an initiative by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi revived the hopes of the families of the martyrs of Egypt's wars during the past 75 years to obtain a tribute worthy of the sacrifices of their families.

Al-Sisi directed - last week - to conduct an accurate enumeration of all the martyrs of Egypt in previous wars, starting from 1948, to study their inclusion in the lists of beneficiaries of the benefits and services of the Martyrs Fund, "in appreciation of the homeland for its loyal sons and the consolidation of the values ​​of loyalty to their families."

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi directs an accurate enumeration of all the martyrs of Egypt in the wars beginning in 1948 https://t.co/rDciNKnlDV#Mr._President_Abdel-Fattah_Sisi#New_Republic#Presidency_website

- Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt (@EGPresidency_AR) November 16, 2022

The possibility of limitation and documentation

In this context, the former president of the Supreme Media Council and former governor, Major General Tariq Al-Mahdi - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - appreciated the presidential initiative that "seeks to confirm the Egyptian certainty throughout the foreseeable history of the value of the martyrs, who sacrificed themselves and left behind their families."

Al-Mahdi stressed that the initiative "is a tribute to the martyrs in the neighborhoods, including their families and children, as an actual embodiment of what was said, and to establish the fact that appreciation includes all the martyrs of the homeland."

Regarding the documentation problems with the lapse of the wars covered by honoring their martyrs, Al-Mahdi - who assumed the position of governor in several governorates - confirms that Egypt, as a country of long-standing and well-established institutions, has its records documented over time, which enables such an inventory to be carried out and accurate data obtained from many parties inside Egypt. .

Al-Mahdi, who is also a former member of the Military Council, adds, "It is not correct to ask about the implications and reasons for the state granting citizens the right to be honored, dead or alive," noting that this initiative "increases the patriotic feeling of every Egyptian who sacrificed a member of his family in a war, and multiplied A sense of pride, which gives one a motive to sacrifice for the sake of the country, after seeing that the human and moral right is not lost.

Revealing a crime committed by the Israeli army against Egyptian soldiers during the 1967 war..

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reveals a 55-year-old crime, as the Israeli army buried in a mass grave in the Latrun area in Palestine the bodies of 80 Egyptian soldiers who were martyred during the 1966 war. pic.twitter.com /JNQujnqJQ1

- AJ+ Arabic (@ajplusarabi) July 9, 2022

Unresolved numbers

Available from the numbers of Egyptian martyrs since the 1948 Nakba, passing through the 1976 setback and what followed, are approximate numbers ranging between 30 and 45 thousand martyrs, according to several official and semi-official statistics.

According to the Palestinian Information Center "Wafa", the number of Egyptian martyrs of the Nakba in 1948 was estimated at 863 martyrs who fell in various parts of Palestine.

According to the statistics of the Egyptian History and Heritage Committee, the number of martyrs of the tripartite aggression in 1956 from the people, the police and the army is 743 martyrs.

With regard to the Yemen war, there is no accurate figure for the number of Egyptian soldiers who fell in it. While the journalist and writer Wajih Abu Zekry believes in his book "Flowers Are Buried in Yemen" that they were 20 thousand martyrs, press sources believe that their number ranges between 5 thousand and 15 thousand. martyr.

As for the martyrs of the Naksa in 1967, their numbers ranged between 10 and 15 thousand martyrs, while the number of martyrs in the 1973 war ranged between 8 and 10 thousand martyrs.

And last July, Israeli newspapers revealed that Egyptian soldiers were buried in a mass grave without signs, in violation of the laws of war, amid estimates of their number reaching dozens, near the village of Latrun between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, after they were burned alive during the 1967 war.

The Egyptian government called on its Israeli counterpart to investigate the matter, and no clarifications have been issued by both sides so far.

Hopes rising

The memory of Sayed Foda - who is the grandson of a martyr in the 1973 war - still retains the warmth of honoring the late President Anwar Sadat for his grandmother and mother as being from the family of the martyr Salah Abdel Muttalib Foda. My heart," praising Sisi's initiative.

Commenting on the initiative, Muhammad Jibril - the son of a conscript who died of an injury during an accident that occurred during military service - demands that the likes of his father, who fell in accidents during military service, be included in the Martyrs' Fund.

The initiative tempted families of victims of operations carried out by special military teams outside Egypt to request that their relatives be included in the beneficiaries of the new benefits of the fund, while existing beneficiaries demanded an expansion of the scope of benefit, to include facilities and privileges in government departments and services, especially education and health.

Among the complaints whose owners appealed to the officials of the need to resolve them, was the increase in the value of the awards of the military republican medals, which were paid in the name of the martyr's family.

Unknown martyrs

A writer and former warrior - who asked not to be named - appreciated the presidential initiative, adding that the armed forces certainly have a careful monitoring of the numbers of martyrs, including soldiers as well as officers, as each category of them has a special administration based on their affairs.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, the spokesman confirmed that the initiative is primarily social and reaches a wide segment of Egyptians, because "there is no home in Egypt without a martyr in one of these wars," and thus more Egyptians benefit from it.

The speaker - who had previously participated in the 1976 war - indicated that the obstacle that may surround the initiative reaching many deserving people is the presence of unknown martyr soldiers, especially in older wars such as the Nakba of 1948 and the Naksa of 1976, and between them the 1956 aggression, each of which has its own obstacles.

He pointed out that in the 1948 war, a large number of civilians volunteered and were affiliated with groups and parties at the time of the monarchy, and these are not military in the known sense, and the recorded number of military personnel is less than a thousand martyrs, while the number could be many times this number if the volunteer civilians were counted, as well as the unknown martyrs. .

The same thing - the speaker explains - took place in the 1956 war, when civilians from the cities of the Suez Canal fell in defense of it.

The speaker confirms that the initiative - according to what he understood from it - includes all the military and civilians, as it stipulates the inclusion of "all Egyptian martyrs in wars."

More perks

Earlier, Sisi directed an increase in the value of compensation for the families of civilian martyrs in terrorist and security operations to 200,000 pounds (the dollar is about 25 pounds), including 100,000 from the Martyrs' Honor Fund and the families of the injured.

During Al-Sisi's recent meeting with the fund's leaders, the annual report of its activity and guidance were reviewed in coordination with all state agencies with the aim of providing the best service benefits and initiatives for the benefit of all groups and family members of the fund's beneficiaries, as well as procedures for developing the fund's resources and governance of its financial mechanisms, as well as developments in the compensation disbursement process. For the families of the martyrs and the injured.

It was decided that the Martyrs Honoring Fund will disburse an exceptional financial incentive for the benefit of families and individuals benefiting from the fund, on the occasion of the new academic year, in addition to strengthening the services provided by the fund to include more additional fields, such as education, health, social care, and others.

The fund’s board of directors was reconstituted at the beginning of this year to include in its membership the head of the Armed Forces Organization and Administration Authority, the director of the Armed Forces Officers Affairs Department, the assistant head of the Military Justice Authority, the director of the Insurance and Pensions Department, 3 members from the Ministry of Interior chosen by the Minister of Interior, and two members from the Ministry of Interior. Solidarity, and a member of the Ministry of Finance, according to press releases.

Al-Sisi had earlier issued a decision to consider the fund established by Law No. 16 of 2018 from entities of a special nature.