Chapter XVIII. The Free Officers

During the years preceding Alara’s birth, Egypt witnessed several revolutions and popular resistance against the British occupation, or what was known as the British Mandate of Egypt.

Ahmed Orabi’s revolution against the British invasion in 1879 AD, Saad Zaghloul’s revolution in 1919 AD, the people’s uprising following the end of World War II, and the strike of all sects, including police officers, in 1947 and 1948 AD, along with the armed struggle against British forces in the Suez Canal immediately after the lifting of martial law that follows the end of the Palestine War in 1948 AD.

Despite the Egyptian people’s sacrifices, they all failed to expel the British from Egypt, until a group of Egyptian army officers decided to form a secret movement with the goal of isolating King Farouk, the king who became the last king of Muhammad Ali Pasha’s family and who was supported by Britain, and exiling him and his family abroad. Thus, they staged a military coup that overthrew King Farouk in 1952.

The movement called itself the Free Officers Movement, and it is a movement for peaceful change that took the form of a military coup. It was led by officers in the Egyptian army led by the Major General Muhammad Naguib. At midnight on July 23, 1952, it succeeded in seizing the army staff building.

King Farouk complied with the demands of the movement on July 24. On July 26, the army demanded that the king abdicate the throne, which led King Farouk to depart to Italy after notifying his crown prince in a written document of his intention to do so. Accordingly, the Regency Council was established and later disbanded when the Revolutionary Command Council announced the establishment of the Egyptian Republic and the abolition of the monarchy on June 18, 1953.

Major General Muhammad Naguib took over the presidency of the Egyptian Arab Republic, as its first president, but soon after, as is customary for the putschist military, they turned against him, leading an internal coup led by an officer with the rank – Gamal Abdel Nasser. This was about one month after the successful signing of the evacuation agreement between Egypt and Britain, as a result of which the latter agreed to leave Egypt and withdraw all its soldiers after nearly seven decades of occupation.

There were rumors that the root of the dispute between Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser was a dispute over power and the way the nascent republic was administered. Where the first wanted a democratic, just approach to it, and opposed Abdel Nasser’s repressive and barbaric policies.

Muhammad Naguib’s page was closed, and he was put under house arrest while the military, under the command of the Bakbashi, Gamal Abdel Nasser, turned the historically rich and powerful Great Egypt into a repressive, impoverished, weak, and indebted state. He will obliterate its past, present, and future and drag it back into a long period of gloom.

This is what Hassan said, everywhere, this Bakbashi, he will destroy Egypt, and it will not be established after him, so how can a military man who does not understand anything about managing countries lead a country the size of Egypt? He has no qualifications, except that he has a gun and a tank. If he is unable to be loyal to his military commander and his comrade in what he calls the struggle, who was the president yesterday? He betrayed him, after he betrayed many of those who helped him in the success of the coup, so how can he lead the entire Egyptian people, and how can he run the state, when he is incapable of managing the so-called Revolutionary Council, without killing this and exiling that.

Not only that, Hasan has a different opinion regarding the entire Free Officers Movement, its origins, and its supporters. The Jews’ dream of establishing a state for them in Palestine has come true, a dream that Sultan Abdul Hamid II refused to fulfill for them, and an entire empire paid the price for his refusal.

But now, after the realization of the dream, and the victory of the nascent State of Israel over the Arab armies in 1948 AD, its existence has become an inevitable reality, and Great Britain no longer has a need to stay in Egypt, but perhaps their exit from it, and its king, has become an urgent necessity. As, Egypt, despite the occupation, is strong. It is considered the destination of the Middle East, which Europeans wish to reach. It is out of reach for many of them. They stand for hours in the ranks of its embassies in their countries, in the hope that they obtain an entry visa that authorizes them to travel to it.

Egypt’s current incarnation must cease at some point. It must be undermined in favor of the State of Israel. The best person to do this is a reckless, barbaric officer who has no understanding of running a small village, let alone running an entire country, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Bakbashi.

Hassan saw that there were those who supported the Free Officers movement, he even said on some public occasions that their presence is the desire of Britain itself, after it was certain that the time had come for its exit from Egypt, as they would not leave it strong and developed as it is.

In order to ensure its destruction, and the removal of the greatest danger threatening the State of Israel in the region, it must be handed over to a group of fools and idiots.

While the Egyptians failed, through seven decades of armed revolutions and bloody demonstrations, to expel the British, the Bakbashi succeeded in one statement, and in one night! He posed such a danger to Great Britain who fled from Egypt! What strange logic and a fishy situation.

Hassan’s words, or perhaps his insight, were untimely.

His views reached the last party he wished to hear, the Revolutionary Command Council, in the midst of their relentless pursuit to confiscate the wealth of the rich and their lands, which they inherited from their ancestors, under the name of the Agrarian Reform Law.

In the aftermath of the revolution, a number of legislations were issued.

Among the most important of them is what was called the Agrarian Reform Law; The goal is a fair distribution of wealth, according to what its legislators claimed. This slogan encapsulated this law, allowing the Revolutionary Command Council to steal whoever they want when they want, and as much as they want.

These, too, were some of Hassan’s opinions about what he sees as a group of demagogic opportunists, who understand nothing but slogans, manipulate the emotions of the Egyptian people, and make grandiose promises, while failing at various levels.

These views of his, not only made the law reach him, but more than that, a little.

Not only his property was confiscated, but the property of all the descendants of Prince Ismail everywhere in Egypt, including the palace, the basement, and a secret safe, in a dark tunnel, containing a bundle of papers, and the seal of the Yildiz dervishes.

Time: Summer of 1953 A.D.

Alara is barely two years old.

Hassan ran out of the office room upstairs, carrying a box in his hand. Time speeds up. They are getting close. On the road, they will confiscate everything.

Zainab and some of the servants gather as much money as they can, and gold, which is light in weight and great in price, to escape with before their arrival, except that Hassan decided to save something he had forgotten for a long time, Abdul Haqq’s file box, in the secret safe.

The first thing he saw was his son Fouad, a twelve-year-old boy.

-Take it, Fouad, run away with it, don’t let them see it, give it to your uncle Mahmoud in Cairo.

-What is this, Dad? Jewels? gold? My mom said we should carry as many of them as we can.

-No time to explain, make sure you hand it over to your uncle, and let him hide it in a safe place.

They did not have enough time, the military surrounded the palace, and the confiscation team entered, an officer carrying in his hands an order from the Revolutionary Command Council, to confiscate all their property, and leave them alone! This is a tribute from the Council. We will not arrest you, but beware of uttering a single letter that offends the revolution, its leadership council, or leader Gamal Abdel Nasser.

-This time, we’ll be content to apply the law to you; however, if we find later that you said even a single thing that could be construed as demeaning to the leader, you will be sentenced to life in jail.

They were all searched, they confiscated everything they were carrying, one of them took the box from Fouad’s hand, opened it, a stack of papers with Arabic letters, and sealed, looking at the officer: Sir, look, I did not understand anything of what was written!

The officer grabbed them, he also did not understand, Arabic letters and incomprehensible words!

A young soldier caught his attention: Sir, it is the Turkish language in Ottoman letters. It was written in Arabic letters only twenty years ago. Perhaps there is something important in the folds of these papers, given the history of the family and their origins.

His intervention provoked the officer, he looked at the soldier with contempt, and shouted at him: Respect yourself, soldier, do you think I don’t know?! I knew it was the Ottoman language, but it doesn’t matter to us, go back to your work, come on.

He flipped through the papers with his hands, but whoever cares about the papers, as long as they are not gold or money, we have no need for them, he threw them and the box on the ground, Fouad picked it up again, put the papers back in it, felt the seal, still in the box, closed it, and they all went outside the palace.

On their way to Zainab’s old house, which has long been deserted, they walk a long distance.

Fouad: Why did the officer let us take out the box, Dad?

Hassan: Because he is ignorant, my son, he did not know this language, while the young soldier is educated.

-So why didn’t he listen to him?! He told him: It might be important papers!

-So that it is not said, a small soldier under his command, who understands more than him, pride took him to sin.

The father added: This scene boils down to the future of Egypt, Fouad. Remember this, where positions and ranks, incentives and privileges will not be due to a person’s intelligence or level of education, but rather to his loyalty, the approval of the Revolutionary Command Council, his loyalty to the leader, and his obedience to his orders.

Egypt, my son, will enter its darkest era, as it was ruled by dictators before, who enslaved its people, and made them suffer all kinds of torment at times, since the era of the Pharaohs, through the era of Muhammad Ali Pasha and his descendants, and even during the time of the British occupation.

Many tyrants ruled Egypt, but one thing brought them all together. They built it, made it have a civilization and history the like of which the world had not seen, wronged its people, but at least they made Egypt great. There was something beautiful.

However, these people represent a new, stupid, reckless tyranny that will destroy Egypt and its people, and lead them into the ages of darkness. They will destroy everything that others have built.

Indeed, the officers left the box so that it would not be said that a soldier of a lower rank than him knew the language, while he did not,despite that, he may have left it for an additional reason, which is that the papers are not really important to them.

He knows the board of directors of his revolution more than anyone else, who cares about the papers, even if they are in the Ottoman language! They have enough papers, and they have been overwhelmed with them since the coup.

The family headed to the last place Zainab wanted to go, but there are no other solutions now!

All her efforts were wasted. In Upper Egypt, her influence was gone with her money. No one supported her, even did not host her. No one would risk hosting the enemies of the revolution. The mother, father and brother died, and only the remains of an old house and the remains of a clay oven.

At the door of the house, in one of the villages of Al-Badari Center, Zainab is trembling with fear. She has not come here since she was ten years old. She refuses to turn her face towards the oven. She wants to get out of this place, as quickly as possible. She will not stay here, not even for one night.

No one felt her pain as Hassan did, he knows exactly what she is going through in these moments, he is as he was, a noble knight, he embraced her, calmed her down, cried over her and with her, “Do not be afraid Zainab, I am by your side, and your children as well.”

Addressing his words to everyone: We will stay here tonight only, and tomorrow we will go to Cairo, where my brother Mahmoud is. He has managed his affairs. He has prepared two houses, one for us, and one for him.

He added: The train station is far away, we must walk to it, but first we have to rest our bodies, we will set off with the first light of the day.

Everyone slept on the ground; the night will definitely pass.

Hassan took the box from Fouad’s hand, went to the next room, took out a pen and a notebook from his jacket, started writing, the complete history of the box, how did he get to it, Abdul Haqq, Sheikh Omar, the dervishes of Yildiz, the Assiut cell, for two hours, he wrote down everything he remembered, then put the notebook in the box, closed it again.

Fouad is standing at the door of the room: Dad, are you still awake?

-Yes, son, come close to me.

He sat next to him: What is the story of this box?

-It’s not important anymore, it’s all over a long time ago.

-So why are you so anxious about it?!

-Out of respect for the memory of the man who gave it to me, and in fulfillment of his will, all I fear is that an officer who cares for the papers will search us on the way, and I do not want to lose it.

He smiled, then added: I have now added enough for them to hang me.

– Bury it then, Dad! Don’t carry it with you.

-Bury it? where?

-Anywhere, right here in this house.

He looked around, the house belonged to Zainab a long time ago, no one would claim it. It was old and dilapidated; its walls were cracked.

The Revolutionary Command Council does not care about such poor places, not even the Council of Elders, as they got what they wanted from the crypt long time ago.

He looked at Fouad, can you look for something I can dig with, son?

Fouad left the house, and returned carrying an old, rusty pickaxe in his hand.

Hassan began digging deep into the ground, then buried the box, and filled the hole above it.

-Listen to me, Fouad, perhaps I will not live long enough to come back here and take it, I do not know if what is in it, is of value now, but it is the will of a man who died a long time ago, and the will must be respected, if something happens to me, remember its place well. As soon as things settle down, come back here and take it out, and put it in a safe place.

Fouad: Well, Dad, I will make sure of this.

Hassan felt the dirt on the hole, and said: Under this dirt, all that remains of the legacy of the dervishes of Yildiz, my son.

-Dervishes of Yildiz? What does this mean!

-Don’t worry about it, son, but we must respect their legacy.

In the morning, the family moved to Cairo

Things have changed. The rich of yesterday have become poor today, or more specifically, they have become among the poor of today, as nothing has changed for the Egyptian people. The economic conditions did not improve but rather began to worsen day by day.

This, of course, does not apply to the Revolutionary Command Council, as they are men of war and politics who must live in the most beautiful palaces, eat the most delicious food, and drink the finest types of wines in order for their minds to calm down and settle; So that they can find effective solutions to the country’s successive crises, which did not exist prior to their existence in the first place.

In comparison to Hassan and his family, the Egyptian population’s circumstances were not any better.

Because the difficulties the revolution is facing require a lot of patience and poverty.