With the upcoming Oct. 6 celebrations, public opinion in Egypt is preoccupied with three sensitive issues:
• Ariel Sharon’s prosecution in Egyptian courts on charges of torture and killing of Egyptian prisoners
• Compensation for the families of the victims of the Libyan plane that was brought down on Egyptian soil — a settlement comparable to that for the Lockerbie victims.
• Prosecution of Israel for the return of treasures stolen by their Hebrew ancestors when they fled Egypt.
No sooner had the state of Israel been established than the Zionist Jews began demanding that Germany pay compensation for the holocaust. Germany did pay up more than $10 billion to the state of Israel, which set itself up as the only heir to the Jews wherever they may be, and they continue to bear the burden of guilt, having just been asked to fork out a further $20 billion.
Israel then put political and media pressure on Switzerland and forced it to open its bank safes, from which it seized billions of dollars on the pretext that this was their ancestors’ money deposited before World War II in fear of the Nazis.
As well as helping to stabilize its economy, this unexpected success also whetted Israel’s appetite for more, and last February it began a new campaign under the title the “Return of the Jews’ stolen money from Arab countries,” specifically Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
The Knesset formed a committee that would in turn establish a center to log the records and documents of witnesses and eventually come up with a report as to the value of these possessions.
To counter this attack, Dr. Nabeel Helmi, the dean of the law faculty at the University of Zakzouk in Egypt, has been preparing a petition demanding that Israel compensate the Egyptians for the treasures that their Hebrew ancestors stole when they left Egypt — as confirmed in the Torah, verses 34 - 39.
Egyptian experts and archeologists estimate the size of the treasure to be around 300 tons of gold, silver and copper as well as food, clothing and cooking pots that were carried on rows of donkeys led by 120,000 Hebrew families that crossed to Palestine in a bid to reoccupy it.
Israel is forever proclaiming that it is the representative and heir of all Jews — demanding property or money in compensation. Fair is fair. Israel, as sole agent of its ancestors, must also pay for what its ancestors stole. Therefore, if the Jews do have claims on the Arab countries, these should be set off against what they owe the Arab countries. Does Israel have the right to take and terrorize and not pay what it owes?
This issue concerns the Egyptian people greatly, and they are determined not to back away from retrieving their stolen rights no matter what the political situation may be in the region. The 70 million Egyptians will back this case passionately.
— Arab News Opinion 6 October 2003
