Were they killed in 1949 or in 1906 ??

The Controversy about the mass grave in found in Eilat is not finished yet despite there is no more news about it in the media. The Controversy now is not about whether the remains in the mass grave were for Egyptian or Jordanian Battalion in 1949 , the nationality is not our issue here this time , the historians in debate agree that these remains were for Egyptian battalion yet they disagree to by whom or when that Egyptian Battalion was killed . Yes the general idea or assumption based on the fact there is not serious investigation in the site itself that that Egyptian battalion was killed in year 1949 by the Israeli forces still there is another probability that this Egyptian Battalion was killed in 1906 by the Turkish Othman forces.

It is all related to Um Rashrash village and its official history. Officially Egypt lost this village to Palestine according to order issued by the Othman Empire. Egypt according to history did not give up the village without a fight especially that the Othman Empire sent a battalion in order to control the village on the sea.

Late Egyptian historian Yonan Labib Razek who died last week said from couple of weeks ago that he believed they could be the Egyptian Battalion in 1906 who were killed by the Othman Empire Battalion.

Egyptian Historian Amr El-Nasharti also agree on this assumption despite that he did not deny the possibility that they could be killed in year 1949 by the Israeli forces

I will check by myself in the history books about the 1906 incident. Already for me whether they were killed in 1906 or 1949 ,whether they were killed by the Othman Empire Soldiers or by the the IDF soldiers as it is a war crime in either ways

More updates about the New Sheikh Zowaid Mass grave

Yesterday morning in the city of Sheikh Zowaid in the North Sinai Governate, citizen Khalil El-Mani’e had found bone remains “Skulls, teeth and bones “ for people in military boots while digging in order to building some building . It did not take much time to know that these remains were actually for Egyptian Soldiers from their military boots that were killed in 1967 as POWs.

Mr. El-Mani’e went and reported immediately to the Egyptian authorities represented by the Police forces (( I was correct it is not theSheikh Zowaid 1 Egyptian army but the Egyptian police )) , which immediately by its turn reported back to Cairo and made the area of the cemetery as restricted area, no cameras or photos are allowed except those which took shots before the restriction and they are already very few.

The restriction will be continued till a forensic team comes from and examine the remains in order to know their correct number “their estimated number according to the eye witnesses are 120 soldiers”, whether they were killed in action or as POWs which is very important as this will be an evidence that IDF committed war crimes against the Egyptian POWs during the six days war as the Egyptian regime seems to depend on science and does not depend on people’s testimonies!!

Already the area where the mass grave was found used to have a camp for the Egyptian Army during the six days war.

Already Daily El-Masry Youm made a scoop yesterday when their correspondent in Al-Arish made a short interview with an Eye witnesses from the natives who refused to share their names, these Eye witness had seen the burial of those soldiers from 40 years ago with other important details.

Eye Witness # 1 from the natives, he was born in 1960 and so in 1967 he was 7 years old when he had witnessed the burial of those soldiers from 40 years . He had seen Sheikh Salah El-Mani’e ((He may not related to the person who found the mass grave in direction connection but they belong to one tribe)) and his tribe burying those men in the Sheikh Zowaid which was unpopulated area during that time in a mass grave and that some wild animals had devouring some parts in the bodies.

Eye Witness#2 from the natives too , he said that they managed to save one of the officers who is called “Mohamed El-Mahdy” and he was from El-Mansoura despite his injure in this massacre as he was shot by 8 bullets and that he escaped through the sea

Also they managed to save lance corporal called “Mahmoud Arafa” and return him back to Cairo after forging Palestinian id for him. Till very near time they used to communicate with “Arafa” yet they do not know if he is dead or alive now.

Several eye witnesses said that it was a common thing during that time that their parents and chief tribes bury the POWs then they would pray the funeral Islamic prayer on their souls.

If I were from officials, I will start immediate search for officer “Mohamed El-Mahdy” and lance Corporal “Mahmoud Arafaa” as they are considered from the surviving victims and eye witnesses from the first degree

Till now there is no official statement issued from any official party regarding the incident, also the official media ignored the matter which the AFP transferred to the whole world yesterday, and naturally the Israeli press ignored the whole matter as they are busy with Bush’s visit.

Already I do not want to say it but this is a déjà Vu case, the same circumstance and the same testimonies yet nothing on the official level is taken to restore back the rights of the soldiers and their families from Israel according to international laws.

Sources:

More info about Yesterday’s POWs’ mass grave in North Sinai

Even before I got the newspapers , here couple of details about the Mass grave that was found in North Sinai yesterday the wednesday the 9th of January 2008.

It turned that the Mass grave was found by accidently yesterday when one of the natives of Al-Arish city reported to the police authorities that he found while digging in order to build a new house remains of bones in military uniforms .

The place till now is not known but it is in the Sheikh Zowaid city which is between the city of Al-Arish , the capital of North Sinia Governate and the city of Rafaah which is on the Egyptian-Israeli borders.

The remains are estimated to be for 30 persons from the Egyptian soliders who were killed during the six days war.

Eye witnesses from the natives are reporting to the media that currently the Egyptian authorities presented in the Egyptian army (( I highly doubt that it is the Egyptian army because according to Camp David ,the Egyptian Army does not have existence in this area , may be I am wrong but I will ask about it )) made it a restricted area , no one is allowed to reach it currently .

The good news is according to the media also there is a team of foresnics who will examine the bones in order to know whether those people were killed from 40 years ago in in action “KIA” or as “POWs” , I hope and I wish that the findings of this team to be announced publicly and if in case “POWs” I wish that the regime takes more serious steps as they will have then official evidence

Already from my readings and research which you can find here in the website , I will say that they were not killed in action or battle , they were killed as POWs because The city of Shiekh Zowaid is a populated area with mass graves for POWs , the residents of the city who were there in 1967 had seen by their own eyes the systematic mass murder for the Egyptian POWs

This comes at the same time the mass grave of the 1949 soliders was found in Eilat and also it comes at the same time where the Egyptian-Israeli relation is facing hard time after what President Mubarak ,the president of Egypt attacked the Israeli foreign minister Livni for crossing the lines with him .

Sources :

A new Mass grave for the Egyptian POWs in North Sinai

I have just recieved the news which will be among the newspapers headlines tomorrow “Thursday the 10th of January 2008” , a new mass grave has been found in North Sinai .

I do not have more information now but insh Allah I will have more information tomorrow including the exact location of the mass grave .

As primary information this mass grave seemed to be from the 1967 Egyptian POWs mass graves

Important Updates: The complete script of Shaked in English

At last I did it and I translated the Rush Shaked Documentary scriptmenu_17 from Arabic to English so all the people will understand what was said in the controversial Israeli documentary. I translated from the origin Arabic script I found in my Cruel World blog.It is very important because according to it that is the Second Israeli confession of committing crimes against the Egyptian POWs in 1967 after the veterans confessions of committing war crimes in 1956 against our POWs from Militaries and civilians. I am sorry if there were mistakes in the Hebrew names but you must know that all that delay was to check from the names and to write it correctly ,I tried as possible to check from the names several times and some of them from those who appeared in the documentary turned to be from the important officers in the IDF as you will know The documentary and what was said in it are the solid proof against the claims of the director of the same director of the documentary who lied and said that the Egyptians were not mentioned in the documentary !! Well ha can say anything especially when the documentary was never shown again , also it is a solid proof against the claims of the Shaked battalion veterans who denied that they had killed any Egyptian pows during 1967 You can find the script in English here please spread the news Again if you find any mistakes in the Hebrew names please tell me and I will correct them

The POWs on DreamTV 2

Tomorrow insh Allah on Dream TV2 in Egypt at 10 PM Cairo Local time ,the episode of prime time Night News show 10 O’clock will be dedicated to the POWs and it will show parts from the “Rush Shaked” documentary which re-opened the taboo subject again in Egypt and caused a problem between Egypt and Israel, So if you are in Egypt please don’t forget ,I will try to put my hand on the episode insh Allah