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Egypt’s Sisi Hails Peace with Israel

Sisi during a ceremony commemorating October 1973’s victory. (Egyptian presidency)
Sisi during a ceremony commemorating October 1973’s victory. (Egyptian presidency)
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Egypt’s Sisi Hails Peace with Israel

Sisi during a ceremony commemorating October 1973’s victory. (Egyptian presidency)
Sisi during a ceremony commemorating October 1973’s victory. (Egyptian presidency)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has hailed the peace agreement signed with Israel in 1979, urging leaders and officials in the region to follow the example of late Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat in overcoming popular concepts in his era.

He made the remarks during a cultural symposium dubbed “October 1973: Crossing to the Future,” which was organized by the Armed Forces in celebration of the 48th anniversary of the October 6 War.

Egyptians have made many sacrifices before and after this war, Sisi stressed and saluted Arab nations who supported Egypt during that period.

“During the 1967 crisis, Egypt was not alone in its battle. Its brothers supported it financially and militarily, which contributed to the victory.”

Sisi praised late President Anwar El-Sadat, who decided to wage the war and assumed responsibility for his decision before heading to peace.

Sadat’s initiative to reach a peace deal with Israel reflected his ability to move beyond the entrenched ideas and policies of his era, Sisi affirmed.

He urged rulers and those responsible for managing crises in the region to take Sadat’s action as an example and pursue his steps.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Bilateral ties have been described as “lukewarm” for years and limited to security and political cooperation, but they have recently been improved on the economic level.

Earlier this week, EgyptAir made its first official direct flight to Israel and landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. Israeli Airport Authority (IAA) said the landing is "a historic first.”

In September, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met Sisi in Sharm el-Sheikh for the first time in over a decade.

Jordan was the second Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel in 1994. In 2020, the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco signed deals to normalize ties with Tel Aviv.

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Arab World

Iraqis Face Tough Homecoming a Decade after ISIS Rampage

A woman and a boy in the camp near Hassan Shami for the internally displaced. Safin HAMID / AFP
A woman and a boy in the camp near Hassan Shami for the internally displaced. Safin HAMID / AFP
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Iraqis Face Tough Homecoming a Decade after ISIS Rampage

A woman and a boy in the camp near Hassan Shami for the internally displaced. Safin HAMID / AFP
A woman and a boy in the camp near Hassan Shami for the internally displaced. Safin HAMID / AFP

A decade after the ISIS group extremists rampaged through northern Iraq, Moaz Fadhil and his eight children finally returned to their village after languishing for years in a displacement camp.
Their home, Hassan Shami, is just a stone's throw from the tent city where they had been living, and it still bears the scars of the fight against ISIS.
The militants seized a third of Iraq, ruling their self-declared "caliphate" with an iron fist, before an international coalition wrestled control from them in 2017.
Seven years on, many of the village's homes are still in ruins and lacking essential services, but Fadhil said he felt an "indescribable joy" upon moving back in August.
Iraq -- marred by decades of war and turmoil even before the rise of ISIS -- is home to more than a million internally displaced people.
Baghdad has been pushing for the closure of the displacement camps, with the country having attained a degree of comparative stability in recent years.
Most of the camps in federal Iraq have now been closed, but around 20 remain in the northern autonomous Kurdistan region, which according to the United Nations house more than 115,000 displaced people.
But for many, actually returning home can be a difficult task.
After getting the green light from Kurdish security forces to leave the camp, Fadhil moved his family into a friend's damaged house because his own is a complete ruin.
'Beautiful memories'
"Water arrives by tanker trucks and there is no electricity," said the 53-year-old.
Although the rubble has been cleared from the structure he now lives in, the cinder block walls and rough concrete floors remain bare.
Across Hassan Shami, half-collapsed houses sit next to concrete buildings under construction by those residents who can afford to rebuild.
Some have installed solar panels to power their new lives.
A small new mosque stands, starkly white, beside an asphalt road.
"I was born here, and before me my father and mother," said Fadhil, an unemployed farmer.
"I have beautiful memories with my children, my parents."
The family survives mainly on the modest income brought in by his eldest son, who works as a day laborer on building sites.
"Every four or five days he works a day" for about $8, said Fadhil.
In an effort to close the camps and facilitate returns, Iraqi authorities are offering families around $3,000 to go back to their places of origin.
To do so, displaced people must also get security clearance -- to ensure they are not wanted for extremist crimes -- and have their identity papers or property rights in order.
But of the 11,000 displaced people still living in six displacement camps near Hassan Shami, 600 are former prisoners, according to the UN.
They were released after serving up to five years for crimes related to membership of ISIS.
Not that simple
For them, going home can mean further complications.
There's the risk of ostracism by neighbors or tribes for their perceived affiliation with IS atrocities, potential arrest at a checkpoint by federal forces or even a second trial.
Among them is 32-year-old Rashid, who asked that we use a pseudonym because of his previous imprisonment in Kurdistan for belonging to the extremist ISIS group.
He said he hopes the camp next to Hassan Shami does not close.
"I have a certificate of release (from prison), everything is in order... But I can't go back there", he said of federal Iraq.
"If I go back it's 20 years" in jail, he added, worried that he would be tried again in an Iraqi court.
Ali Abbas, spokesperson for Iraq's migration ministry, said that those who committed crimes may indeed face trial after they leave the camps.
"No one can prevent justice from doing its job", he said, claiming that their families would not face repercussions.
The government is working to ensure that families who return have access to basic services, Abbas added.
In recent months, Baghdad has repeatedly tried to set deadlines for Kurdistan to close the camps, even suing leaders of the autonomous region before finally opting for cooperation over coercion.
Imrul Islam of the Norwegian Refugee Council said displacement camps by definition are supposed to be temporary, but warned against their hasty closure.
When people return, "you need schools. You need hospitals. You need roads. And you need working markets that provide opportunities for livelihoods," he said.
Without these, he said, many families who try to resettle in their home towns would end up returning to the camps.