44 Years After Camp David: Formal Relations and Cold Peace

This month marks the 44th anniversary of the signing of the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel.

44 years have passed since that treaty that was signed on September 17, 1978. Late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat expected it to become a major catalyst that would move the entire region to more open and humane horizons. However, with the assassination of President Sadat on Oct 6, 1981, the official peace became cold and icy, and this continues to be the case today, without any hope to defrost it in the short term.

Sadat never expected that the success of the peace process, which he truly believed in, would result in such icy relations between the Israeli and Egyptian peoples. For the record, I have many, many reservations about the former President. On the issue of peace, however, I praise him because he was authentic and honest, and he paid the price for that with his life, which is another story and the subject of another article.

After his death, Egypt’s ruling regime completely and deliberately excluded the Egyptian public from the peace project and strictly confined it to formal relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv. To understand what this looks like on the ground, consider the case of South Sinai, which is supposed to be a warmer “meeting point” for regular Israelis and Egyptians as it serves as the first front in Egypt to receive Israeli tourists. I will present some of what was mentioned in a very important and distinctive statement I received.

The statement reveals to us what is happening on the ground. I have completely verified its content through several sources. Its source, who has been working in the field of tourism in South Sinai for a long time, says, and I quote: “I want to draw your attention to several things that are happening in South Sinai, including the explicit fact that some young Egyptians who are owners or tenants of camps in Nuweiba and Taba, especially Nuweiba, are facing difficulties in working because security measures are increasing day by day. There are strict and explicit instructions by security services on the need to report immediately and inform them of any human acquaintance between Israeli tourists and Egyptian youth at the camps. They must immediately report to the national security or military intelligence officer responsible for following up on the camp. And whoever does not abide by these instructions or overlooks them for any reasons is abused and deported to Cairo.” The source adds that “they do not want any human acquaintance and communication between the two communities, even if minimal. Things have become suffocating. They, to the maximum extent, are tightening our livelihood to a strange degree as if they wanted us to leave. What’s wrong if people get to know each other, talk, communicate and discuss? What is the problem and the crime in that?”

The paragraphs end and they show us with the utmost clarity the situation in the region, which is supposed to be relatively warm as I have already pointed out, but they are as frozen as anywhere else. Here, all the definitions of “shock” in the dictionary are applicable. Everyone knows for sure that no person may work in the field of tourism in South Sinai until their record is carefully scrutinized by all security agencies. They must be without any flaws of any kind at the criminal and intellectual level regarding how much they are influenced by the ideology of Islamist groups. Also, every Egyptian who goes to South Sinai faces several checkpoints that detect and make sure they won’t cause any problems. On one occasion several years ago when I was in Egypt and wanted to go on vacation for a week in South Sinai, I saw with my own eyes this procedure of “stopping the bus” and examining the papers of all passengers at checkpoints operated by several security services. This state of affairs has profound negative consequences on the future of tourism in the region, forcing one to wonder what is the true purpose of all these restrictions that are carried out on the pretext of security challenges, procedure and precaution?

Anyone who has tried to deviate from this carefully drawn framework and sought to conduct free and open relations with their Israeli counterparts, or has had a positive attitude towards the issue of peace, has been subjected to fierce campaigns of character assassination and accusations of treason by the mouthpieces of the ruling regime through its newspapers and media outlets. Such campaigns have always been encouraged and promoted even by those who are considered to be opponents of the government in order to earn points with the regime or to win favor with the masses by stirring up nationalist strife and spewing vitriol that poisons the public sphere. Anyone who questions this demagoguery is penalized as a warning to anyone who thinks of taking the same direction.

The list of those who have been subjected to frenzied campaigns and accusations of “normalization” goes on and on. Writing about them requires articles and studies, including, for example, but not limited to,  Ali Salem, Amin El Mahdi, and myself. The most recent of these cases is the novelist, Alaa Al Aswany, who, having been hosted through a mediator in a radio interview with veteran Israeli journalist Jackie Khoji for Galatz (Israel Army Radio) on the occasion of his novel “The So-Called Republic” being translated into Hebrew, was subjected to a huge, frenzied campaign in May 2022.

Media channels owned by Cairo’s security services participated in the campaign and leveled a long list of accusations against the author in addition to inciting hatred against Israelis with loud rants. They accused Al Aswany of treason. Moreover, Islamist groups joined in the character assassination of the famous dissident novelist through their media outlets in several cities along with many YouTube channels affiliated with them and followed by millions of people. I wished with all my heart that Al Aswany would not retreat in the face of the cynical, childish campaigns against him that belonged to the ideologies of hatred, the Nasserist rhetoric of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and the Baathist, nationalist and Islamist rhetoric that followed it. This is an example present before us that has not yet cooled down, an example that completely confirms the rule and proves that nothing has changed. The hollow term “normalization” has turned into such a bogeyman for some that they mindlessly demonize anyone accused of it.

For things to be very specific and meaningful, I ask a number of questions.

1. Forty-four years after the signing of the agreements between the Egyptian and Israeli governments, what are the results at the level of interpersonal relations between the two communities? Is there peace between the two peoples?What are the results if the Egyptian model is compared to those of the signatories to the Abraham Accords?
2. Can an Egyptian writer, researcher, journalist or social activist travel from Egypt to Israel without prior approval from the security authorities?
3.  Last June, a delegation of Egyptian businessmen visited Israel. Are the steps taken recently by Egypt serious and real? Or are they a mere “pragmatic step” to promote economic interests, especially in the gas industry, and to maintain a sense of relevance after the people’s rapprochement between the countries of the Abraham Accords? What is looming on the horizon regarding Saudi Arabia’s concession to open its airspace to Israeli airplanes? What will happen now that the long-rumored restoration of full relations between Israel and Turkey has been achieved, representing a major and distinctive development?
4. If the steps taken by Egypt are real, then why is there blatant incitement against Israelis in all official state institutions: Al-Azhar, the platforms of the Ministry of Endowments, the press and media, and the educational curricula of children and the hatred for others being instilled in their minds? Incitement has reached the point of launching dozens of YouTube channels with the approval, and under the auspices, of Egyptian security services. Such channels are followed by millions with their only task being institutionalizing hatred and hostility. On Apr 5, 2022, Al-Azhar – called “The Fortress of Centrism” – produced and posted a video on its webpage to incite against Israelis and Jews. At first glance, I thought it was produced by ISIS.The level of vitriol and incitement in the film is extremely dangerous. Just to note, the video, from time to time, is reposted on the webpage and the result is certainly catastrophic in a very closed society that has no democracy and where the index of freedom of opinion is zero. So, how can anyone who does this want peace? And what kind of peace is it that they want? Or do they want to show that they are the only enlightened doves in a country full of fools?
5. The peace treaty signed between Egypt and Israel provides for the establishment of centers for peace research and studies. So why has Cairo not yet founded any such centers?
6. Why is it that whenever military confrontations erupt between Israel and Hamas or Islamic Jihad, Cairo plays a dual role: internally issuing fierce attacks and incitement against Israel through all print, audio and visual media, while at the same time, either voluntarily or in response to the wishes of Tel Aviv and some Western countries, sending delegates to calm the situation? If the Egyptian media, sometimes, describe Hamas as a terrorist movement, then why are the streets always stirred up and mobilized in their favor, even though clashes always occur in response to the firing of rockets by Hamas and Jihad militias into the Israeli interior?
7. Two months ago, I received an invitation from a dear friend in Israel to attend a webinar to talk about “Climate Change from Tel Aviv to Sharm El-Sheikh.”The seminar is being held in the period leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh in November 2022. The seminar is organized by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli Climate Forum.The long list of speakers includes the Israeli Ambassador to Cairo, Amira Oron; Dr. Tarek Abu Hamed, the Executive Director of Jordan’s Wadi Araba Institute; and others. There is not a single speaker from Cairo, although the seminar discussed an event to be held in Egypt. And of course, obviously, invitations were sent to Cairo and it was said that they would be considered, but, as usual, no one chose to attend, which may seem very strange to some, but is entirely expected for everyone who knows the truth. It will be a very significant, unexplained absence.

Here, I finish asking questions and leave the answer to you! But, as a “man of peace,” I also want to put forward some solutions and proposals, although the situation is obviously blurry, but I have to.

1. All courses of instruction that promote hostility and hatred of others must be removed from school curricula at all different educational levels.
2. Religions have lofty messages that refine and humanize human souls. So, why are pulpits of mosques, radio stations and religious institutions exploited to adopt hostility and hate speech that fill the streets with feelings of violence and abuse? All that must stop completely and all these institutions must return to perform their original mission of encouraging the acceptance of others, coexistence, integration and synergy.
3. Incitement is not part of freedom of the press in any country in the free world. It never has been, and it never will be. Materials that incite violence, hatred and contempt for others are forbidden and criminalized, and their makers will most likely be prosecuted if they do not apologize for them. So, why do media professionals come out to us for hours of broadcasting and help ignite fires between people? This tampering must stop immediately, and laws, if non-existent, must be enacted and enforced to criminalize it.
4. Basically, after the “security filtering,” it can be assumed that every Egyptian in South Sinai has no flaws of any kind. Therefore, things must be left as is. Egyptians must be left with their Israeli counterparts free to get to know each other, communicate and discuss without security restrictions, interference or comic inspection of human intentions.
5. Removing the restrictions that prevent the travel of peace advocates, of Egyptian writers, journalists, researchers and activists to Israel and opening the entire public space for them to comfortably express their convictions and opinions without being attacked, stigmatized as being traitors or agents or charged with the usual list of charges.
6. Opening the Egyptian media outlets to Israeli writers and journalists and hosting them to present their views on various topics in the region, such that an opinion is met with an opinion and thought is met with thought rather than with defensiveness and isolation.
7.  Overcoming the government obstacles that prevent the establishment of Egyptian community centers for peace studies and research with Israelis.

In the end, I, with all my heart, hope that we, someday soon, will see people’s peace being achieved on the ground, in which we see the model of the relationship between the two greats, Naguib Mahfouz and Sasson Somekh – may their souls rest in peace – a desirable role model that is always repeated and an example for future generations.

Forty-four years of frozen peace with the only beneficiary being regimes and governments, rather than peoples, is more than enough.

Mohamed Saad Khairallah is an Egyptian dissident political activist currently living in Stockholm.