Here are couple of Photos showing Israeli POWs captured in 1973 by Egyptian army Al Ahram newspaper , Egypt´s largest newspaper following the State and Alexandria Bibliotheca released online on the anniversary of October 1983 war “Yom El Kippur War”.
In 1995 after the shameful confessions of IDF commanders of committing war crimes against our POWs in 1956 Suez War and what followed it affecting our mutual relations then , French Libération continued to cover the matter internationally revealing things we did not know about then back in Egypt for some reason. In August 1995 the French newspaper published a small newspaper based on an interview with an Israeli official , Elie Dayan who was the Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs with an unnamed Egyptian newspaper that Israel was ready to pay compensation to families of the 900 Egyptian prisoners massacred by Israeli soldiers during the wars of 1956 and 1967 and that those acts did not represent the Hebrew State…etc.
Here is the original article and its English translation.
I do not recall that interview but I believe the French newspaper could have quoted Al Ahram newspaper. It is very important statement for sure and I do not have to bet that in the original interview Dayan said the following : “Israel is ready to pay compensation for the 900 Egyptian prisoners if they were proven to be murdered by the IDF” because after few days we found in the same newspaper a small news saying that Shimon Perez , the new Prime minister then promised to open an investigation in to the matter in order to calm down the Egyptian angry public then despite the Israel’s Attorney General back then “Michael Ben-Yair” had ruled that there was no basis for prosecuting soldiers for wars crimes or offenses as he had described it in 1956 and 1967 war because of a 20 years limitation on homicide charges !! The attorney general did not considered the crimes against our POWs as war crimes !!
Here is the second article and its English translation
It is not the first time that Nawara Negm speaks about POWs especially now after Dostor report about Our POWs mass graves , already she criticized Rosa Al Youssef Chief in editor Abdullah Kamal for his cold inconsideration and disrespect to our POWs but this time she speaks about the undeniable evidences on these war crimes above them the Israeli confessions themselves on Video.
Tomorrow insh Allah Dostor will continue its follow up for the report , already there is on going campaign being prepared currently to raise the matter to international and local courts.
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
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
I did a quick online interview with Egyptian journalist Wael Mmdouh who re-opened again the Egyptian POWs file in the Egyptian media in a way like no other. I asked him several questions about his report and he was kindly enough to answer my questions.
Egyptian POWs.net: what made you search for the mass graves of the Egyptian POWs in this way that one has ever done and that was the beginning of the interview??
At first I was not sure that I was going to find mass grave like I have done, I only wanted to prove that these mess graves do exist; through research and the cooperation of the locals I was able to be sure completely that there are mass graves and thus I started to take this lead with the help of some of the locals; I also looked for eye witnesses to tell me the circumstance of the POWs murder and its right time and date.
Egyptian POWs.net: Did you meet any difficulties while talking with the locals??
Of course I did meet several difficulties while talking with the locals in the area , especially it is a desert area that does not accept strangers easily which made even harder ; the people there do not accept to speak with strangers easily and they never trust them at all.
At the end I was able to find some locals who had strong relations with eyes witnesses and those took care to win the confidence of the people there and assuring that I only seek the truth and that no names would be mentioned if requested and that what happened.
Still despite all this we met difficulties, for instance after agreeing with one of the sources near the Halal mount to speak and after long time in the way to get him, we found him refusing to speak to us ; I had to thank him in the end despite I could not document his testimony nor did he guide us to that mass grave “which is the biggest” between the mass graves I found yet this did not stop me to search for the rest mass graves and find them in the end besides documenting the witnesses’ testimonies.
Egyptian POWs.net: Did the security or the official authorities stand against the research or there was not an interest or completely absence!!??
This did not happen because I took my precautions in order to finish my reportage without the knowledge of the authorities and this is better because I can’t be their reaction for reportage like this; the authorities did not know about my reportage except when it was published.
Egyptian POWs.net: What was your feeling when you hold the bones of our POWs in your hand??
Frankly I can’t describe my feeling then, it was so difficult that you can imagine and it is enough to say that I stop working and speaking after burying the bones that appeared in the video. I could not continue working; I did not say one single word except after leaving the middle zone.
Egyptian POWs.net: Why did not you show the complete video especially in the mass graves in Dostor Channel??
It was for technical reasons, as YouTube does not allow long news material or documentaries, still it was required to be a short news report to support the story with photos and videos. I recorded long interviews but it would take long time to upload and download which will be bad for the readers. Already there is an idea to produce a long documentary with the testimonies and footage for the mass graves.
Egyptian POWs.net: Are there more pictures for the mass graves??
Yes there are more photos that will be published later in Dostor newspaper and its official websites for the sites as a follow up.
Besides there is a file from audio testimonies and photos currently prepared to help the legal committee which is being formed by Ambassador Ibrahim Youssry currently in order to sue the Israeli war criminal in the coming days.
Egyptian POWs.net: Has there been any official reaction you knew about regarding this reportage??
Officially there has been no reaction as if this reportage were published in another country, as if these soldiers were not Egyptians but off the record I know from personal sources that there are Egyptian Israeli moves to absorb the situation and not to escalate it like the gas issue, well I hope they fail.
Egyptian POWs.net: Will there be new material added to the report??
Of course there will be more to be revealed in the coming days especially the reportage was met with huge successful as I got many phone calls from people who want to document their testimonies and the physical evidences they have concerning the occupation era, this besides the people of Rafah, Sheikh Zowaid and on the borders villages who wanted to talk about the mass graves they found and feared to talk about. I think this report will continue and I will discover through it the biggest number of Israeli crimes to be documented.
Egyptian POWs.net: Did you document any of the sites on maps like Google maps??
It has not been done yet but I have the coordination of the middle zone on paper maps in order to prepare more precise maps to include the new cemeteries in the coming days.
Dostor weekly today published their big report about the mass graves of our POWs in Sinai today and from here I would like to thank journalist Wael Mamdouh for his time and effort in doing such great report alone , Mamdouh has already done something I always wanted to do and still want to , to take my camera and record by word , picture and video these mass graves to prove to our just case.
Dostor newspaper has put the government or rather the regime in to a corner and unfortunately I think the regime will ignore the whole matter again because of many reasons most of us know , this report I believe is just like these reports in the media that prove the failure of this regime on every single level.
Back to the Dostor report , you can find it here in Arabic . The report is about the massacres that happened against our officers and soldiers on the 5th and 6th of June 1967 in Al Arish valley area or as it was known then as the “First Defense Line”or as it is known to the locals there now “The Black Zone”
The report includes testimonies from the locals and one of the Egyptian POW survivors who escaped death in 1967 , this besides the photos and the video from the mass graves themselves showing the bone.
Stay tuned for more coverage insh Allah , please spread this post
It has been more than a week since that shocking report from Yediot Ahronot with its shocking findings reached to our press. It has been more than a week and since than there has not been a media follow up in Egypt at all expect the day after Ahronot published its report and after that it has been as if these stuff belong to other people than the Egyptian people !!
There was no official reaction at all ; not even a small announcement that our “embassy in Tel Aviv will follow the matter from there and restore back those items in order to return them to the families of those men !!”
I do not ask the regime to open an investigation on how exactly late Mr.Y got his trophies from the six days war , all I am asking is just simple announcement on the updates of this case.
FYI this case did not make it to our official media for some unknown reason I can’t guess !!
Nobody saw this coming nor expected something similar like this to happen , as a son of a late Israeli paratrooper decided to return back the ID and letters his dad collected from the dead Egyptian soldiers and officers in the six days war to the families of those soldiers and officers. He decided to give them back to Yedoit Ahronot to help him in locating the relatives and relatives of these soldiers and officers “where is our embassy??” Theses families and relatives have been awaiting for 42 years to know anything about their men who went to that war and never came back.These souvenirs were telling the story from the other side according to the newspaper which gave me the impression that they do not consider us as humans who have a life too !!!?
The souvenirs include IDs,photos,permissions, letters and diaries of soldiers and officers on the front you can see them below here
Here are the names of these late officers and soldiers God bless their souls mentioned in the report :
Yedoit Ahronot published this as a special report and I do not know if they expect the level of controversy they will create back in Egypt as this report , these souvenirs will open the door of the Egyptian POWs files again and thank God they will do it.
Some people including me believe that these souvenirs were taken from Egyptian murdered POWs and this is because some reasons :
1- The newspaper for some unknown reason did not identify the name of the Israeli paratrooper nor his son , only “Y” ; why are they afraid from mentioning his full name ?? Already I believe we should thank the son of Mr. “Y” for his desire to return those stuff to where they do really belong !!??
The fact that they hid his name and the name of his family not to mention the detail of his father’s military background as which battalion he used to be at .. etc except that he is a paratroop raises many questions.
2- The father wanted to return these stuff to Egypt for decades but he was afraid and I only wonder the reason behind; why he was afraid from returning back these stuff to the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv ; was he afraid from accountability and that our diplomats may ask questions on how he got them other than he took from dead Egyptians.
3- Some people believe that Mr. Y, the father was a member in Shaked battalion but I doubt it because Shaked was not the only battalion that killed our POWs. Also if he were from Shaked battalion I would bet that these souvenirs would have been destroyed by now to protect Ben Elizer from any accountability.
4-The father said nothing to his son about the circumstance of the fights
The son of that paratrooper decided to return back these Egyptian collectibles after the death of his father by a year and half.
I believe the least thing our embassy in Tel Aviv must do is to restore these items immediately and return back to rightful owners, we need to have them back. I do not even dare to ask them to investigate who that Mr. Y was !!
P.S Al Shorouk Newspaper is calling the families of these men in the photos to contact the newspaper and share their stories.
Yossi Sarid is a leftist Israeli who used to be a Knesset member a former minister and long time member in the Merertez-Yachad leftist party in Israel. Mr Sarid said in interview with Egyptian Daily Al Ahram last year 2007 that the Israeli army executed 250 unarmed Egyptian soldiers at the end of the 1967 war describing it as a war crime. Despite he did not see the controversial documentary that opened a big wound for Egyptians yet he said that he was aware that that the Israeli troops carried away out war crimes against Arab Soldiers in that War.
He may believe that it would be hard after 40 years to punish them but he was sure that history would not let them go.
Well for sure History won’t let them go with all the war crimes that they have done.
Mr.Yossi’s testimony is not the first from its kind in Israel. It is enough that those who committed the crimes in 1956 and 1967 confessed .
I do not know what the Egyptian regime needs more.
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]