Reviving the Egyptian Peace Supporters Movement: An Old Dream for Today
Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas militias carried out a terrorist attack against unarmed Israeli civilians, Egypt has witnessed a terrifying surge in anti-Semitism. This wave has reached its peak in Egyptian streets, as one of my friends summarized: “Any positive word you utter about Israel, even unintentionally, in one of Cairo’s upscale cafés, could instantly cost you your life.” Imagine, then, saying that same positive word in the crowded popular neighborhoods or slums.
This situation is not fleeting; it is the direct result of decades of institutionalized hatred and incitement against Israel, enforced by Egypt’s authoritarian military regime. The urgent question today is: Will Egyptian peace supporters remain passive observers? Will Egyptian society remain hostage to this culture of enmity forever? And what would happen if the situation in Egypt were to explode due to political, economic, or social reasons that are numerous and well-known in a country approaching 110 million people, where anti-Israel sentiment has been embedded as both belief and identity?
Deep Roots of a Popular Peace Dream
Seventy-four years ago, Egypt witnessed the birth of a pioneering movement known as the “Egyptian Peace Supporters Movement.” It was a national front launched in January 1951 as an initiative of “HADTU” (the Democratic Movement for National Liberation), serving as a branch of the World Peace Council, which itself was established in response to the Stockholm Appeal issued by French scientist Frédéric Joliot-Curie in 1950.
At the time, over 12,000 Egyptians signed this historic appeal a remarkable figure for that period. Soon thereafter, the movement was formally founded, appointing lawyer Youssef Helmy as its Secretary-General and editor-in-chief of its magazine. The preparatory committee included prominent Egyptian figures such as Kamel Pasha Al-Bandari, Siza Nebrawi, Aziz Pasha Fahmy, Mohamed Mandour, Ibrahim Talaat, along with Kamal Abdel Halim representing HADTU, Youssef Al-Medrek representing the Workers’ Union, and many others.
Their shared dream was clear: to build a genuine popular peace between Egyptians and Israelis. Importantly, this dream emerged immediately after the Partition Plan and the 1948 war at a time when anti-Israel sentiment was at its peak.
Egyptian Pioneers Who Dreamed of Peace Before Us
Youssef Helmy and his colleagues were not alone. Over the decades, numerous Egyptian icons raised their voices for peace, asserting that dialogue and coexistence are human values before being political options:
1. Taha Hussein: The dean of enlightenment, who visited the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1944, believing that knowledge and dialogue are the keys to dismantling mutual ignorance.
2. Naguib Mahfouz: The Nobel laureate whose works opened a cultural window to the world through Sasson Somekh, the Iraqi-Israeli critic who translated and studied his novels.
3. Farag Foda: Who paid with his life for his courageous stance defending mutual recognition and viewing peace as a condition for the region’s survival.
4. Ali Salem: His famous journey to Israel and his book Journey to Israel embodied the possibility of coexistence when courage confronts entrenched myths.
5. Amin Al-Mahdi: Considered one of Egypt’s leading intellectuals advocating clearly for dismantling the Arab discourse of hatred against Israel. His intellectual legacy includes the landmark reference The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Democracy and Peace in Crisis, one of the rare works addressing the experience of the Egyptian Peace Supporters Movement a movement I hope we will revive today.
Why We Need to Revive the Movement Now
Calling for the revival of the Egyptian Peace Supporters Movement today is not an intellectual luxury; it is a historical and national necessity. There are multiple reasons why it is an urgent duty:
First, because the alternative is catastrophic: The continued institutionalization of hatred and hostility will only lead to further extremism and violence. In a densely populated and strained society like Egypt, any popular upheaval would have devastating consequences both domestically and across the region.
Second, because Egypt possesses a historical legacy: The existence of this movement in the 1950s proves that popular peace was an authentic Egyptian aspiration, preceding governments and official agreements. Reviving it is the continuation of an unfinished journey.
Third, because the future demands intellectual courage: In a rapidly changing world, the shared challenges between Egypt and Israel such as climate crises, water scarcity, food security, energy, technology, and more cannot be addressed through superficial or cold governmental understandings. True solutions require grassroots collaboration founded on mutual trust and collective will.
Fourth, because Egypt deserves liberation from the illusion of perpetual enmity: This illusion was created and exploited by authority, but peoples should never remain hostage to transient political propaganda.
Toward a new consciousness of peace
Reviving the Egyptian Peace Supporters Movement today means dismantling decades of entrenched narratives of hatred in official, religious, educational, and media discourse, restoring respect to the enlightened figures who believed in peace, and opening new humanitarian and cultural pathways between the Egyptian and Israeli peoples paving the way for a consciousness rooted in understanding and coexistence.
This movement is not intended to oppose the political system in Cairo; rather, it should be an intellectual and humanitarian initiative that restores Egyptians’ right to free thought and expands the horizons of peaceful coexistence, far from military and propagandistic calculations.
We need it to lead Egyptian society from blind hostility to rational awareness, recognizing that peace is not a fleeting political option but the only guarantee for a more just and stable future in Egypt, Israel, and the wider region. Will Egyptian Peace Supporters rise to the challenge and bring it back to life?
