El-Sisi: The Egyptian people the main reason for our stability, “Long Live Egypt,”
President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi is attending Monday a ceremony held by the Ministry of Interior to celebrate Police Day marking the 69th anniversary of Ismailiyah Battle that took place between the British occupation forces and Egyptian police in 1952.
It occurred when the Egyptian police officers refused to hand over their weapons, and evacuate the Ismailia governorate’s building. The incident left 50 martyrs and 80 injured among Egyptian police officers.
The massacre was the spark of the revolution that ended the monarchy in Egypt on July 23 of the same year.
Few months before the incident, the armed struggle against the British camps and soldiers culminated, resulting in huge losses. Suppliers abstained from providing food necessary to 80,000 British soldiers.
Egyptian workers at the British camps – whose number was 91,572 – quit their jobs, registering their resignations between October 16 and November 30 in 1951, after the government had announced earlier that workers wishing to leave their jobs in British camps are invited to register their names in the records, according to our reporters.
As the status of British forces in the Suez Canal governorates has become critical, Brigadier Kenneth Exham, the British commander warned Egypt’s police to leave Ismailia and surrender their weapons while 7,000 British soldiers equipped with machine guns, tanks and armors surrounded the governorate building and its barracks.
The nearly 800 Egyptian officers and soldiers inside resented the threat and resisted despite possessing only shotguns, according to Al Masry Al Youm. After the clashes were over, those who survived from the Egyptian officers were captured by the British forces; then the British forces destroyed the villages around Ismailia and killed civilians as the British suspected that the citizens engaged in the armed struggle against the colonization hid in those villages.
As a result, protests broke out across Cairo calling up for intensifying the armed struggle against the British colonization whose troops withdrew completely from Egypt in June 1956.
El-Sisi also mentioned project the government has embarked on and is planned to be completed in three years.
The project – worth LE500 million – covers 1,500 villages housing 50-55 million dwellers, who compose half of the Egyptian population. Hence, the president urged officials to achieve a satisfactory outcome.
Introducing electricity within the project requires LE70 billion, the president highlights. In a different context, El-Sisi urged officials to boost the manufacturing sector over the coming years. Moreover, he told Egyptian youth that the homeland needs their honest strong efforts to complete the path of reform, building, development and hopes in a bright future
In his speech, the president asserted that the state will continue the developmental projects it has embarked on. Similarly, he vowed to care for martyrs’ families and saluted the efforts deployed by police personnel.
“I wish Egypt development and prosperity. Long Live Egypt,” President Sisi said lauding the Egyptian people for it values stability.
The president underlined that the simmering regional developments magnify the threat of terrorism. As for the event Egypt is celebrating, the president noted that Ismailiyah Battle, which took place in 1952 between Egyptian police and British colonization troops, embodies the intertwining of police and civilians sacrifices.
Earlier, the president awarded families of police martyrs trophy shields to honor the names of the nation’s heroes, and also, rewarded senior police officers who showed outstanding performance.
Minister of Interior Mahmoud Tawfik said that the Egyptian police have been combating all types of crime affirming going after criminal groups trafficking drugs used in distorting peoples’ awareness.
Further, the minister added that combating terrorism is a human right for peoples all over the world. After delivering the speech, Minister Tawfik gave President El-Sisi a gift.
At the beginning of the ceremony, a mini-documentary portraying the Ismailiyah Battle was aired. At the end of the documentary, the names of Egyptian police martyrs, including policewomen and female officers, who got killed in terror attacks, were honored.
Officer Salah al-Husseiny – who lost his arm while saving a little girl by getting her into safety from a bombing – said on stage that he was honored to protect Egypt.
Later on, a video report is streamed to display key achievements of Egyptian police in 2020, particularly raids against terrorists’ hideouts and arrest of Muslim Brotherhood Acting Supreme Guide Mahmoud Ezat.
The report also showed achievements pertinent to combating crime and drug trafficking breaking cases consisting of millions of substance tablets.
Moreover, a simulation showing an operation carried out a few years ago to arrest a gang trafficking smuggled arms was streamed.
The Interior Ministry announced launching a center to train officers taking part in UN peacekeeping forces.
