Ben-Eliezer and Mubarak in 2005

The infamous hero of Shaked affair, Ben-Eliezer passed away

On August 28, news came from Tel Aviv that former minister of defense and deputy prime minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer had passed away at a medical center. The 80-years-old Israeli official was suffering from kidney disease.

A screen shot from Rush Shaked
A screen shot from Rush Shaked

The Iraqi-born Israeli official gained hate in Egypt when Israeli war documentary “The Shaked spirit” or “Rush Shaked” was aired on an Israeli TV channel in March 2007, including testimonies of military veterans in the Shaked unit he headed in 1967 on how they killed 250 Egyptian POWs near Egyptian-Palestinian borders.

In an alleged U.S confidential cable sent from the U.S embassy in Cairo to Washington on 7 March 2007, it was detailed how Ben-Eliezer cancelled his visit to Egypt over the anger of the government of Egypt as well the anger of media.

Interestingly, according to Ben-Eliezer’s Wikipedia page, the Egyptian General Intelligence service warned him of coming to Egypt during that time otherwise he could be arrested.

The public anger during then in Cairo forced the Egyptian People’s assembly summoned the minister of foreign affairs then Ahmed El-Ghait to investigate the matter.

The Egyptian ministry opened an investigation into the documentary vowing to take strong steps if proven the Israeli guilt. It also released the transcript of the documentary in Arabic

The statements of the videos were clear that Egyptian POWs were killed despite they were not holding any arms and they were hiding according to the transcript released by the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs to the Egyptian media in March.

In 2008, Ahmed El-Ghait stated that the investigation was still open till Israel would finish its investigation.

It is unclear to know the fate of the Egyptian investigations into the Rush Shaked documentary but Israel already made it clear that its veterans did not commit anything wrong as usual.

The Israeli ministry of foreign issued a statement in Arabic on March 7,2007 claiming that video stated those late Egyptian military were actually fighting combatants who had a battle and “both sides had battles and victims during that war”!!

The former Israeli minister of defense was proud of his very close friendship to Egypt’s ousted dictator and convicted ex-president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, a thing which brought to him criticism sometimes in Israeli media ironically after 2011.

Binyamin Ben-Eliezer stated in August 2011 that he and current Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu offered political asylum to Mubarak and his family following his ouster but he declined because “he was patriot”.

Mubarak and Ben-Eliezer in Sharm El-Sheikh
Mubarak and Ben-Eliezer in Sharm El-Sheikh in January 2012. “Getty Images”

As a minister of infrastructure, Ben-Eliezer witnessed along with Mubarak in June 2005 the signing of a memorandum of understanding for supplying Israel with Egyptian national gas.

Mubarak’s long-time friend, Hussein Salem was the main Egyptian partner in this controversial deal.

Ben-Eliezer had a very legacy when it comes to Egypt and its POWs as Lebanon and its invasion and history won’t forget that.

History will also remember how the Mubarak’s administration had an opportunity to restore back some of the rights of the Egyptian POWs but it gave it up.

Morsi’s Administration , The #MB And The #POWs File

It is June 2013 and amazingly as I have waited the elected President in Egypt Dr. Mohamed Morsi to open the file of the Egyptian POWs in the anniversary of the six days war but instead there was nothing. Complete silence from the new administration.

The anniversary of the Six days war came and Egyptians found out the members of the Muslim brotherhood which the president belongs to were gloating over the defeat caused by their nemesis Nasser !!

I cannot ignore this opportunity without congratulating the Nasserites with their defeat Happy Six day war anniversary dear Nasserites and you are defeated , the leadership is for those who deserve the leadership Gentlemen !!

This was the tweet of Nour El Din Abdel Hafiz, the star TV host of Misr 25 TV channel. Misr 25 TV channel is owned by the Muslim brotherhood.

Display
Egyptian POWs in 1967

It did not stop at this , the MB members and supporters kept posting the Egyptian soldiers’ humiliating photos while they were in the IDF capture to tease the Nasserites on social media websites with no respect to all those who were killed and tortured during their torture.

The members of the Muslim brotherhood were actually gloating over the defeat of the Arab people and the death of thousands on 5 June 1967. In 2007 the MB used to speak frequently about “Shaked Affair” but now the whole thing is forgotten.I remember that Ikhwan Online used to follow carefully the case of the Egyptian POWs of 1956 and 1967.

The MB used to criticized Mubarak and his regime for neglecting the POWs file and unfortunately I do not see any difference in time of President Morsi.

The POWs case is back

This is my first post in 2011 . It is my first post after the Jan25th Revolution in Egypt , it is my first post after ousting Hosni Mubarak , the same man who ignored for 30 years the rights of our Egyptian POWs.

I wanted to write here during the revolution to show to the whole world how the former ousted president had no friend in the world  except the same man who killed our POWs in 1967 : Binyamin Ben Eliezer !! During the climax of the revolution last February almost all the leaders of the world did not talk to Mubarak and he did not dare to call them except Ben Eliezer !!

Mubarak and Ben Elizar
Old buddies !!

It is enough that his last call before stepping down was to Ben Eliezer !! Some will not like what I will say but how come Mubarak was an officer in the Egyptian army and headed our air forces once upon time !! Ben Eliezer killed our unarmed Egyptian POWs in 1967 and he does not deny it for God sake yet they seemed to be close friends to the level that Mubarak spoke to Ben Eliezer for 20 minutes in his last international call as a president !!

Anyhow Ben Eliezer can feel very sad for Mubarak but he has to be worried now because the Egyptian POWs case seemed to be revived again by the Egyptian revolution.

The Egyptian Arabic socialist party has demanded PM Sharaf and the supreme council of armed forces to implement the administrative court rule to demand a UN and security council investigation concerning the Israeli war crimes against our POWs during the Suez war , the six days war and 1973 war.

FM Nabil El-Araby has announced that Egypt is going to join the ICC at last , this great news means we can sue Israel in front of the ICC.

Despite we are busy in our revolution that has not finished yet , we have forgotten the rights of our fallen soldiers , Ben Eliezer should be very worried.

POW Mohamed Hosni Mubarak

Many Egyptians know that President Hosni Mubarak had a cameo in an old black and white Egyptian film in 1950s  but most Egyptians ignore the fact that President Mubarak was captured as a POW in a war. Contrary to what you may think he was not captured as a POW in our wars 1956 and 1967 , President Mubarak was captured in the Sand war between Morocco and Algeria in  1963.

During that war Egypt was supporting Algeria against Morocco politically and militarily , it is not clear up till now the participation of Mubarak and whether he was transferring weapons or he was leading a squad of Egyptian and Algerian pilots , probably the later story is the correct one as it is supported by the Moroccans themselves.  Lieutenant Hosni Mubarak and his group were captured in Moroccan Aïn Chouatèr area .

As soon as notorious general Mohamed Oufkir knew about the capture of Egyptian and Algerian pilots , he ordered their immediate transfer to Marrakech for interrogation otherwise he would cut off the head of his officers !! God only knows what those young men had seen on the hand of that man. In the same year King Hassan exchanged our POWs in president Nasser’s presence at the African summit in Bamako.

This story found its way again after long time of neglect in 2009 when Moroccan newspaper Al Alam published an interview with the man who captured a man who became the president of the powerful Arab country in the world. In 2009 Moroccan Pilot Saleh Hashad spoke about the incident breifly on Al Jazeera channel.

There is no clear reason why this has not been mentioned in our official media or in Mubarak’s official biography despite the facts the Moroccans do not hide it and we have good relations with them and President Sadat who preceded President Mubarak was in jail in twice for two grave charges and he did not hide at all. Some people claimed that this incident did not find its way to the Egyptian public because the regime loves to hide the Nasserite regime mistakes which is untrue because during the Sadat’s era we knew much more grave mistakes and sins the Nasser regime had committed against the Egyptian and Arabic public.

The capture period is very hard for any solider and God only knows what Mubarak and his follow Egyptian pilots had seen on the hands of General Oufkir till their return back to Cairo so it is natural that that experience had left its remarks on Mubarak and re-shaped even on a little scale part of his personality. President Mubarak as a human knows very well what it means to become a POW and and how it feels to fear on your life and your constant wonder on whether you will return home or not ; this is why it is shocking to know how the Mubarak regime is treating our 1956 and 1967 POWs file.

Did Or Did Not Rabin Admitt it in 1995 ??

This is not the Egyptian Press , this is not the Arabic press , this is the French Press archives : A Libération article from 1995

Rabin reconnaît le massacre de soldats égyptiens par Israël

Rabin recognizes the massacre of Egyptian soldiers

According to that old article which was based upon quotes of  Israeli foreign minister and the current President now Shimon Perez to Radio Israel late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin admitted the Israeli responsibility for the IDF crimes in both Suez War and six days war in a meeting with President Mubarak in Washington D.C in 1995 during the Oslo 2 agreement.

Again this is a French newspaper not an Arabic newspaper.

I tried to search in international archives regarding this incident and I found out that the Israeli Press said the opposite as usual :

From Jerusalem Post :Rabin , Mubarak pledge not to let POW issue to ruin relations.

From that small excerpt you will see how the Israeli media fools the Israeli public claiming that “The Mubarak government has been under pressure from Islamic militants in Egypt” to readdress the issue !!?? What Islamic

Mubarak and Rabin in 1995
Mubarak and Rabin in 1995

militants !!?? It was in fact Dr. Cherif Bassiouny who spoke with president Mubarak about the matter and he is no way associated with any militant group !!?? It was clearly that the media there was using the Israeli public fear from militant groups and was claiming that they were pushing the Egyptian regime , the Mubarak regime to reopen the war crimes against the Egyptian POWs file as if Biro did not brag with his crimes !!

If you check the dates you will find it goes with what Dr.Bassiouny had revealed that Mubarak met with pressure from the States and Israel to close the file , may be Rabin admitted Israel’s responsibility in that meeting by off the record and wanted to be in that way in front of a comprise or may be he had admitted and let Clinton pressure Mubarak  to close the file and let it not to ruin the so-called neutralized relations.

Neutralized relations are not built over the war crimes which will surface again one day.

Again the first links are from a French newspaper quoting Radio Israel which for long time was considered from the reliable sources of information in the Middle East. Of course if we search now in Radio Israel archives we will not find any record for that news in 1995.

My only hope regarding this incident if it took place for real that someone in the Egyptian delegation would have the courage to say that it took place and Rabin admitted Israel’s responsibility for the murder of our POWs in 1956 and 1967

Thanks for Egyptian in France for the link

Dr.Cherif Bassiouni,The Man Who Wants Justice To Our 1956 POWs

Dr. Cherif Bassiouni is a well known name in the war crimes investigations after all  he was the man who headed the Chairman, of the Security Council’s Commission to Investigate Violations of International Humanitarian Law in the Former Yugoslavia still it is unknown to most people that this man was behind the first Israeli confession of its kind : The murder of our POWs in the Suez war by the IDF.

Dr.Bassiouni
Dr.Bassiouni

In 1995 Maariv made an interview with Aryeh Biro , the former general and the so-called special force hero..etc in his house in Tel Aviv where he confessed that he killed Egyptian POWs in 1956 with no regret and this was just the surface for much deeper and darker war crimes as we all know

It turned out that Dr.Cherif had a very important role in this case , in fact the most important if I may say. The 1956 POWs case is a life case for Bassiouni who fought in the Suez War and when he knew about the POWs in 1967 he began to study our wars with Israel more and more. He chose the Suez war because he knew it well plus of course he lived it. For 20 years he began to search till he found out that the IDF had killed 41 military at the Metla path and 39 laborers 6 kilometers away from the path.

Dr.Cherif went to our minister of Foreign affairs then in 1995 Amr Moussa with huge file that could be the basis of a strong war crimes case , Moussa immediately took the file and Bassioui and met with President Mubarak who demanded an immediate action. Mubarak demanded late Rabin to investigate these claims ((as if Rabin would have done it)) but Rabin refused claiming that if Egypt officially opened its POWs rights, Israel would go and claim its POWs’ rights in 1973 ((nothing happened actually to their POWs in 1973 War)) and Clinton too had interfered in the matter causing it to be closed officially forever leaving for the citizens in front of the state’s courts as we all know.

This is Dr.Cherif’s testimony and I believe if we can contact the man again now , he will not refuse to help us as citizens to restore back our POWs rights even if we try and fail , trial is enough

Source : Al Masry Al Youm

An Apology To Our POWs

First of all I truly apologize for not updating this website as it should , there is no excuse I can find to justify my neglect to this important website and its noble cause especially that there were very relevant and important news in the past months.

Well after this is not the first apology I will declare in this post because I have to apology to all our POWs in our wars with Israel especially in 1967 in specific those who were killed by Shaked in a cold blood. I have to apology to all our POWs and their families , in fact all of us should apologize to our POWs because this is the least thing we could do when our elected president Hosni Mubarak congratulated BenElizer on his 75 birthday instead of suing him in front of the ICC !!

Mubarak and the Shakid War Criminal
Mubarak and the Shakid War Criminal

I could not and can’t believe such horrible news !! What made it worse is that we had waited the Egyptian presidency to deny this news but it did not which means the Israelis did not lie and Mubarak did actually congratulate this war criminal !!

The only denial Egypt has issued was regarding that joint solar energry project rumor , Mubarak regime has denied this news depsite I feel that there was an Israeli offer but the Mubarak regime had to reject due to the public anger , wel already import gas to Israel by the cheapest price ever when we have a butane gas crisis !!

I have got nothing to say except I apologize to our POWs

The POWs in a nation in waiting

Al Jazeera International aired a special documentary “A Nation in Waiting” for the occasion of President Mubarak’s 80th birthday, this documentary is about his life and a quick critical look to Egypt under his rule for the last 27 years. It is one hour documentary, in You Tube it is divided in to four parts , in the first part which deals with the early life of Mubarak and also a quick to Egypt under Nasser’s rule there is a part concerning the six days war “which is a turning point in Mubarak’s military career”; this part includes a footage for Egyptian POWs

Here is the Clip , it is in the middle

I just want to add something , if you want to comment on this documentary based on its main content which is the life of President Mubarak , well be my guest in my main blog

Another thing I may not agree with President Mubarak’s policies as a President of State but I can’t deny what he had presented to this country as an EAF commander who helped in the reconstruction of the EAF after its semi-destruction in the six days war.

President Mubarak at last speaks

At last president Mubarak spoke about the Egyptian POWs after two or three weeks of silence , of course his statements come after the public anger in Egypt regarding this issue grew , same with the Public surprise for his silence all that time.

He spoke in an interview with “Momataz El-Kot” the chief in editor of weekly “Akhabr El-Youm” last Saturday, already Mr. “El-Kot” caused a great anger last week after he underestimated the Massacres and indirectly defended the IDF “don’t even ask!” , the problem of “El-Kot” that he is working in an official state owned newspaper , so anything he writes can be considered state’s opinion regardless of how silly it is .

Of course the interview included other important issues now not less than the POWs case like the constitution amendments.

Anyhow regarding the POWs who are the main concern of this website , this is what the President of Egypt said :

Egypt will  not give up the rights of her sons and martyrs .. We will practice our rights and take all necessary actions if the allegations of killing Egyptian POWs during the war 67 turned to be true, but we need to check all what said on this issue !!

The President added that the blood of our martyrs is not a matter of compromising or giving up

With my respect to all the President and what he said from a very excellent promise that there will be no comprise on the blood of our men and believe on the Israeli side they are taking this statement seriously

but I am surprised that he considered all what happened in 1967 to be allegations that needed to be proved , pardon me but Mr. Hosni Mubarak was in the army ,in the air forces during the 1967 war ,yes he was a teacher in the Air forces school then but all Egyptians knew about the crimes that happened in Sinai , all the people who had a contact with the army and its officers , only you had to go to the nearest military hospital to know from the wounded officers and soldiers how they escaped from the hell.

I don’t know what we need from evidence more than mass graves across Sinai

Another thing ,why only the concentration is limited on the POWs of 1967 , what about the POWs of 1956 , why they are always forgotten despite the fact we have a solid case against the Israeli generals like  Biro who confessed to kill the unarmed civilians and POWs across Sinai in 1956 , is n’t the confession the master of evidence !!??

Today also the foreign Minister of Egypt Mr. Ahmed Abu El-Gat gave some statements to the Middle East News agency , which is the official State News agency in Egypt saying in the context of the President that Egypt won’t give up its right but all what we need is documented authenticated evidence not press reports even from the Israeli government , with my all respect what is more documented and authenticated that mass graves and former soldiers and officers testimonies !!

[tags]Egypt, Egyptian POWs, Press, Mubarak, Israel, History, 1967, 1956, politics, international, middle East[/tags]