Students get a day off to mark the raising of the Egyptian flag in Taba. But why now, asks Nesmahar Sayed Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif last week declared 19 March a holiday for schools, universities and educational institutes to commemorate the return of Taba to Egyptian sovereignty. Although Israel withdrew from most of Sinai on 25 April 1982 it did not withdraw from Taba until 29 September 1988 when an international arbitration committee ruled in Egypt's favour. President Hosni Mubarak then raised the Egyptian flag in Taba on 19 March, 1989. While 25 April has been a national holiday since 1982, the date of the raising of the flag, 19 March, has until now been virtually ignored. Nazif's spokesman Magdi Radi told Al-Ahram Weekly that the decree was issued to remind younger generations of the importance of the day. Although several national holidays are related to Sinai -- 6 October commemorates the war, 25 April Sinai's liberation following the signing of the Camp David agreement -- by turning 19 March into a holiday the government, says Radi, is seeking to underline how the liberation of Egyptian land was finally achieved after six long years of negotiations during which diplomats and legal experts marshalled a host of historic evidence in support of Egypt's claim. While students were happy to accept a day off, whatever the reason, many working mothers were less than elated. Mona Mahmoud, a journalist, points out that this is the first time a national holiday will act to separate, rather than gather, families. "I will have to take this day out of my annual vacation in order to stay with my kids. If they want this generation to be proud of their history they should take into consideration the role mothers play in relating the past," says Mahmoud. Nahla Abbas, housewife, agrees with Mahmoud regarding the role parents play in relating history to their children. She says she has already told her 12-year-old daughter Yara about the strategic and symbolic importance of Taba. "I still remember the day in third secondary class when we were gathered around the television watching President Hosni Mubarak raise the Egyptian flag in Taba," she recalls. Minister of Education Yosri El-Gamal has announced that the first lesson in all schools on Wednesday be devoted to explaining the significance of the return of Taba.
