The murder of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat happened on 6th October 1981. It took place on an annual victory parade that took place in Cairo, where the celebration of Operation Badr was taking place. The Egyptian Army had moved over the Suez Canal and conquered back the Sinai Peninsula which belonged to Israel. The event happened when the Yom Kippur War was starting. The Egyptian Islamic Jihad was responsible for murdering Anwar Sadat. The assassination of Anwar Sadat led to further oppression in Egypt, as will be discussed in the below work.
The Egyptian Islamic Jihadist had their reasons for assassinating Anwar Sadat. During the government of Anwar Sadat, the Islamists benefited from the rectification revolution where the activists who had been imprisoned during the leadership if Nasser were released. However, the Sinai treaty that Anwar Sadat signed with Israel made the Islamists angry, especially the radical Egyptian Islamic Jihad. The group started to recruit military members and accumulating weapons as they waited for a moment when they could overthrow order in Egypt. The group was led by Abbud al-Zumar , a colonel in the military intelligence. The plan of the colonel was killing the leader of the nation, and then capturing the headquarters where the army and the State Security were established 1 . The other places the jihadists were planning to attack were the telephone exchange building, television building, and radio. It was meant to enable broadcasting the Islamic revolution to ensure that the entire nation was aware of what was happening and the government being taken over.
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The government got word on the plans of the jihadists. The Egyptian authorities were alerted in February 1981, after an operative who was carrying the crucial information was arrested. Anwar Sadat took action in September by ordering the roundup of about 1500 individuals, and most of them belonged to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group. There were also other individuals arrested, such as the Coptic clergy, Coptic Pope, intellectuals, and others. Any press that did not belong to the government was banned. However, the roundups missed some groups such as the one which was led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli , who later succeeded in the killing of Anwar Sadat in October 2 .
The assassination took place on October 6th, 1981. It was during the eighth anniversary where the crossing of the Suez Canal in Egypt was being commemorated. There were four layers of security as well as eight bodyguards, which were protecting Sadat. There were also ammunition-seizure rules which had been established to ensure security for the army parade. There were Egyptian Air Force Mirage jets that had been established meant to distract the crowd, while the tricks carrying the soldiers were passing by. Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli was in charge of one of the trucks that carried the assassins 3 . The driver was made to stop the truck when he was held at gunpoint, and that is when the killers got put and spread out, making Islambouli able to move closer to the president, carrying a three-hand grenade which he was hiding under his helmet.
The president did not suspect that there were assassins in the crowd. Reports indicated that when Sadat saw Islambouli, he stood so that he could receive his salute. It was at that time that Islambouli threw the grenades at the president, but only one of the three ended up exploding. At that moment, the assassins from the truck also rose and started firing, and they were carrying AK-47 rifles, and they did not stop until they had exhausted their ammunition. The president was hit, and people threw chairs around him as a way of offering protection from all the bullets that were being fired. The assassination squad then tried to free from the area.
The attack was deadly that it led to the death of the president. It lasted for a period of two minutes. Sadat and other ten individuals were killed in the attack while others suffered from fatal wounds. There were twenty-eight other people who suffered from the attack, including the vice president and Defense Minister and other military officers. Initially, the security forces did not know how to react to the situation, but they were able to act after forty-five minutes had passed. Some individuals were able to escape from the attack such as Olov Ternstrom, the Swedish ambassador 4 . The attackers also suffered from the army response, with one of them being killed, while three were injured and ended up being arrested. Sadat did not die on the seen as he was airlifted where eleven doctors in a military hospital operated on him but died two hours later. According to the medical reports, the death was as a result of internal bleeding o the chest and damage of internal organs such as blood vessels and left the lung.
The death of President Anwar Sadat changed the situation in Egypt. The nation was in a war, where the Egyptian Islamic Jihadists and the law enforcers faced each other. The jihadists were able to kill about sixty-eight police officers and soldiers as they were fighting to make sure that the nation maintained peace even after the death of the president. The country was in chaos, and oppression of the Egyptians started 5 . The paratroopers who arrived from Cairo were the ones who were able to restore control in the government. The military members who had been convicted for engaging in the war received sentences for a maximum of three years in prison. However, oppression has been ongoing in the nation since then, mostly due to differences in political and religious beliefs between the Islamic jihadists and other Egyptians.
Oppression started with the assassination of Anwar Sadat in Egypt. Both peace and future direction of the nation was put in jeopardy after the resident was killed by the jihadists as indicated by Steven A. Cook. One of the main changes that were experienced in Egypt was the economy. Sadat had changed the nation by reorienting the economy, foreign policy, and domestic politics and his assassination let to contesting in the political arena more than ever. It meant that their policies led to oppressing some Egyptians, especially the jihadists who felt that they were no longer free as they were being hindered from carrying out their activities freely. The jihadist’s retaliation meant that the other Egyptians would start feeling oppression as the president would no longer be there to fight for them 6 .
After the assassination of Sadat, Hosni Mubarak took over leadership and maintained the peace treaty that led to the assassination of the previous president. The Egyptian Jihadists had to leave with the decision though they felt that their demands had not been met. The leadership of Mubarak later fell, leading to a tense relationship between Egypt and Israel. An opinion was once conducted, and it indicated that half of the people from Egypt wanted the peace treaty to be renegotiated. There are fears that the Muslim Brotherhood would win at one time, which means that people who are not Muslims in Egypt would end up suffering. That is why the peace treaty is considered important as it could stop the Egyptians from being exploited by the jihadists.
Power abuse by the military has been another form of oppression in Egypt 7 . After the assassination of Sadat and the fall of Mubarak government, the military took over. The civilians suffered from the abuse of power, such as being treated in a merciless manner and considered wrong. Some people were arrested with no reason while others suffered physical injury. Since there was no government in power to regulate the power of the military, they did not care about inflicting pain to the civilians. The fear of the military executing the executive power until 2014 haunted the people of Egypt long 8 . It was feared that they could exploit the people with issues such as over taxation and closing businesses which did not meet their demand. It would also disrupt peace in the nation as rebellion would rise, and it would be retaliated by war with innocent people being caught in the middle.
Since the assassination of Anwar Sadat, various reforms have been made, but still exploitation of Egyptians can be noted. When President Hosni Mubarak took over power, he became a tyrant, but with the Egyptian revolution, his leadership was finished. President Hosni Mubarak was considered as a leader who increases the oppression of the Egyptians. Mohammed Morsi took over after Hosni Mubarak, and after one year of leadership, the Egyptians started to campaign against him and accusing him of oppression. Some of the oppression accusations against Morsi were torturing of the protesters who had been detained, unlawful detention of individuals and violating the human right. Other unjust acts that were seen during the leadership of Morsi were unfair trials of people against his government, death sentences of hundreds of people were documented, journalists were abducted for talking the truth, political prisoners experienced torture and destruction and evictions in buildings that were occupied by individuals who did not support Morsi regime 9 .
Human rights activists were faced with oppression. Leaders such as Morsi felt that human rights activists were going against them by mobilizing the citizens to fight for fair treatment and peace in the nation. The activists were arrested without trial so that they could be separated from the people to avoid mobilizing them. Some of the activists were arrested as a way of scaring the rest so that they could not resist. Some individuals who were against the government ended up being abducted and disappearing, and it were feared that the government was in charge of such animosities 10 . The Egyptians who had also joined the rebelling groups faced violence and oppression, such as being beaten in public as a way of discouraging them. Some leaders such as President Barack Obama were even seen denouncing the oppression and in inhuman treatment of the civilians and indicating that they were fighting any terrorist acts and protecting the citizens.
It is feared that oppression in Egypt is getting worse than before. However, the number of people who are fighting for the rights of the people of Egypt has decreased over time. Since revolution has failed, the fear of getting captured and tortured makes most Egyptians abalone the fight for their rights. At one time, the spokeswoman in Egypt, Amal Sharaf, indicated that they were not protesting the oppression and mistreatment because it would lead to the deaths of more people, with other being jailed 11 . It is an indication that Egypt I yet to be a democratic nation, where people can express their opinions freely without fear of being exploited. Intimidation is another form of oppression faced by activists and protestors as a way of stopping them from mobilizing citizens to stand against the oppressive government. The authority has also been seen making accusations and fabricating charges which intimidates the activists.
The death of Anwar Sadat marked the oppression of the people of Egypt from the leaders who took over. Anwar Sadat wanted to establish peace treaties with neighboring nations such as Israel, but Egypt Jihadists felt threatened. Leaders who took over, such as Hosni Mubarak had selfish interests and protecting the Islamic Jihadists. Any efforts to rebel against the oppressive governed were faced with oppressive acts such as deaths, jails, torture, and intimidation. Such actions were meant to scare other individuals from rebelling against the government. The oppression and bullying continued to a point where the Egyptians felt that revolution fell and did not require fighting anymore as it only led to more civilians and activists being jailed or killed.
Bibliography
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1 Cook, Steven A. The struggle for Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir square . Oxford University Press, 2011.
2 Friedlander, Melvin A. Sadat and Begin: The domestic politics of peacemaking . Routledge, 2019.
3 Al Jazeera. "Oppressive Policies Unite Egypt Activists." News | Al Jazeera. January 14, 2015. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2015/01/oppressive-policies-unite-egypt-activists-20151811323212508.html.
4 Cook, Jesselyn. "6 Years After The Revolution, Egyptians Still Face Abuse And Repression." HuffPost. January 27, 2017. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/egypt-revolution-anniversary-repression_n_58891765e4b061cf898c9760 .
5 Correspondent, MEE. "Oppression in Egypt 'worse than Before' but Few Have Appetite to Fight." Middle East Eye. January 24, 2016. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/oppression-egypt-worse-few-have-appetite-fight .
6 Kanalley, Craig. "A Complete Guide To Egypt's Revolution." HuffPost. December 07, 2017. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/egypt-revolution-2011_n_816026?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaHVmZnBvc3QuY29tL2VudHJ5L2VneXB0LXJldm9sdXRpb24tYW5uaXZlcnNhcnktcmVwcmVzc2lvbl9uXzU4ODkxNzY1ZTRiMDYxY2Y4OThjOTc2MA&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHsW0sOPsrbvAjlQSvXbXPj7g0Is0KbAITYwmU6qP5dDmenn7NVbowJaBZc1n-1yxuuBl8enid5_jJc40NpjCO1XjU3UgwX1Bb6vgG0F6DTeQVjJmw_fSpUDaxfHBC_jLp41BN1fuExVMrLtQNS2eQJtbnqYS8bZx3h6AkgrNczi .
7 Gelvin, James L. The Modern Middle East. Third Edition. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
8 Ardovini, Lucia. "The Muslim Brotherhood and uncertainty: resistance, civil society, and politics." (2019).
9 Khater, Akram Fouad. Sources in the History of the Modern Middle East . Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010
10 Tsourapas, Gerasimos. "A Review of Thomas W. Lippman," hero of the Crossing: How Anwar Sadat and the 1973 War Changed the World"." (2019).
11 Arab Reform Initiative. "Changing Alliances and Continuous Oppression: The Rule of Egypt's Security Sector." Arab Reform Initiative. June 2, 2016. Accessed August 15, 2019. https://archives.arab-reform.net/en/node/600.
