My first encounter with the 6th October war came in the classroom, studying the Arab-Israeli conflict at university. I was told of early Egyptian success, followed by almost calamitous Israeli gains. I learned that after the humiliating defeat of ’67, a better armed Egypt neutralized the Israeli air force and retook Sinai, then negotiated a truce with the Israeli army advancing a little over 100 kilometers from Cairo and having the entire Egyptian Third Army trapped. I was, then, a little surprised to see the 6th October war panorama on my first visit to Cairo, a coliseum shaped building that greets anyone flying into the airport on the road down town. A brief glance over a few maps, and one realizes that one of the major streets, and indeed an entire city just west of Cairo, is also named after the 6th October. I had been told that Egypt had claimed what I’d studied to be a lucky escape as a victory, but I hadn’t quite realised how big of a celebration of Egyptian nationalism the 6th October is here. I hadn’t realized how great a victory it was considered. When I studied at Alexandria University I remember being shoved into an enormous lecture hall, heaving with students where an inaudible old film celebrating the great victory was preceded by a brief speech by a hero of the ’73 war and a vitriolic, rousing address given in beautiful fusha, modern standard Arabic, by one of my teachers. Arabic is a language designed for those Nasrallah-like speeches, and I didn’t need a detailed grasp of the language to pick up on major themes of “Egypt = hero†“Israel = villain†and “73 war = glorious victoryâ€. As I looked around the room in an attempt to gauge the students’ reactions, I noticed that they were far more interested in the group of young foreigners that had joined them for the speeches and film screening than they were by what was being said or shown. The spirited nationalism of the speaker did not seem noticeably shared by his audience. At the time, I assumed this was down to a generational difference: None of the students in the room had lived long enough to witness first-hand the glorious victory of ’73, nor the searing loss of ’67, and were thus less enthusiastic about celebrating 6th October. When I put this idea to a leading Egyptian blogger, however, I was assured this was not the case. According to her, the Egyptian youth is proud of the victory, a glimmer of glory in an otherwise remarkably inglorious modern history. Further research, guided by said blogger, led me to videos and photos marking the date, all posted by young Egyptians proud of Sadat’s great reclaiming of Sinai and proud to be Egyptian. Today will even see a concerted effort by young Egyptian users of Twitter to push “#6octvictory†onto the infamous list of “trending topics†that has in recent months been dominated by “#iranelection†and “#googlewaveâ€. I have to confess that this idea of celebrating a war, rather than commemorating it, sits uneasily with me, as does the fervent nationalism surrounding the “glorious victoryâ€. I am left questioning how much the average young Egyptian really cares or even understands about 6th October. I’m certain, however, that if nothing else, it will mean the support for Egypt’s Young Pharaohs in this evening’s football will be even more enthusiastic than usual. BM
