The anniversary of the return of Sinai to Egypt and the danger of extremist Jewish settlers were the focus of Doaa El-Bey and Rasha Saad While the 28th anniversary of liberating Sinai marked the return of President Mubarak to active duty following gall bladder surgery in Germany, it opened debate on the deficient performance of the government in the development of Sinai throughout these years. Both Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar hailed Mubarak's resumption of his presidential duties on their front pages on Sunday. The former wrote, "Mubarak resumes his activities on the anniversary of liberating Sinai" while the latter quoted him as saying, "I am keen on the fairness of the parliamentary and presidential elections". Sunday Al-Masry Al-Yom headlined, 'Mubarak in his first speech after recovery: beware that political moves would change into a conflict and put the country in danger'. Al-Wafd quoted the first governor of North Sinai as saying, 'Sinai is suffering from a population vacuum and the ministers are preoccupied with more pressing issues. And Nahdet Masr read, 'Sinai is in danger, the reason for failure and the way out of the present impasse'. Reda Mahmoud wrote that the 6 October victory "was achieved when administrative thinking changed in a way that left nothing to chance. Everything was planned in a scientific way in which all the possibilities were taken into account, and as a result God Almighty granted us victory." And, Mahmoud continued, when Sinai returned to Egypt, all hopes were pinned on that area to ease the population concentration around the Nile Valley. But whatever was achieved throughout the last 28 years did not conform to these hopes. We did not secure the area by investment projects and a population that would prevent it from being reoccupied by the enemy. Mahmoud expressed his view that populating Sinai needs more than one government minister who is responsible for its affairs but a mini-ministerial council sponsored by the president. This council should also include young faces who have the will and the resources to change Sinai. He also suggested that a similar council can be selected to run other newly- established areas like Toshka. "The idea of a mini-ministerial council to run new areas like Sinai and Toshka is worth studying. It can be a better substitute for the big ministerial council that is engaged in problems like traffic, pollution, shortages in sugar, meat and oil and other problems that are left unresolved," Mahmoud wrote in the official daily Al-Akhbar. Mohamed Naeem wrote that celebrating Sinai Day commemorates the return of Egyptian sovereignty to Sinai and underlines three matters: first, that what is taken from us by force can only be regained by force and that was what President Gamal Abdel-Nasser believed in before the war. Second, what could be achieved by peaceful means was better than that which could be achieved via war and that was what President Anwar El-Sadat believed in. Third, Egypt's continuous national role in the Arab region and its keenness on Palestinian rights was President Mubarak's approach since he came to power and which has kept Egypt the heart of the Arab nation, Naeem wrote in the official daily Al-Ahram. Mohamed Amin wrote that the joy of celebrating Sinai Day this year was incomplete for two reasons: Sinai is still in a population as well as military vacuum; and the Syrian Golan Heights is still under occupation. On Sinai day, we usually remember Syria, but this year, Amin added, we remembered it for another reason: Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's promise to visit Egypt and why a date has not been fixed up till now. After the recent Arab summit in Sirte, Al-Assad declared his plan to visit Egypt. Ever since, many parties have been waiting for the visit especially when other Arab leaders have recently visited Egypt. All the Arab states are waiting for the visit and questioning why it is late. During a visit to Lebanon this week, Egypt Prime Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit was clearly asked why Al-Assad's visit was delayed. He answered that it was not late, but that a date had not yet been fixed. "When will Al-Assad visit Egypt? The answer to that question should be easy, given that Cairo has no demands from Damascus and Damascus is not considering Turkey as a substitute for the Egyptian role," Amin wrote in the daily Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the opposition Wafd Party. Many writers pointed to the impact of the failure to reach a water-sharing pact among the Nile Basin states following the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting. However, the immediate measures to be taken to avoid the consequences are more important. Ahmed El-Sawi ruled out the theory of a conspiracy waged against Egypt by the Nile Basin countries and supported by external powers. He described their stand as an efficient political performance by those who seek their own interests. El-Sawi questioned why we should blame Israel, Iran, China and the US or any other state that is opening the door for developmental projects for upstream African states on the Nile. These states would not have found a place for themselves if the Egyptian presence in Africa had been more active. However, El-Sawi concluded in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, to resolve the water problem, Egypt not only needs to open channels of negotiation with the seven upstream African states, but with outside states as well. The angry reaction to a member of parliament calling on the security forces to shoot those who launch protests against the government were still being heard this week. Nabil Rashwan satirically ruled out that the MP made a mistake except in making his declaration before the media. However, we have to acknowledge that the state's bodies, government and officials believe that the people should be governed by an iron fist or by a whip and any official who does not follow this policy is swimming against the tide. Rashwan recalled that years ago, he heard the former secretary-general of the ruling party saying that Egypt had historically been governed by force or by the whip and that by allowing a margin of democracy, President Mubarak is swimming upstream. If we look at the state's behaviour with those who call for more liberty, an amendment of the constitution or annulling laws that shackled freedom, we would find that they were never listened to, but confronted with whipping, detention, harassment and jail. "Have you ever heard that a statesman or a member of a ruling party declare that the demands of the opposition were reasonable or called for dialogue with its members on national issues, freedom, amendment of the constitution or abolishing laws? Never," Rashwan wrote in the independent daily Nahdet Masr. However, he added, the problem is not in MPs who call for shooting protesters but in the officials' deep rooted conviction that those who call for freedom and constitutional amendments are not abiding by the law and not appreciating whatever the state is doing. As a result, they should be shot.
