In a March 11, 2014 article in the Egyptian daily Al-Yawm Al-Sabi', Egyptian columnist Ahmad Al-Gamal, who also writes for Al-Ahram and Al-Masri Al-Yawm, advocated suing Israel, Turkey, Britain, and France for damages they caused Egypt from biblical times until the 20th century. Israel, he said, should be sued for the damage caused by the Ten Plagues and for the precious materials used by the Israelites to build the Holy Tabernacle in the desert, and Turkey should pay damages for invading Egypt in the Ottoman period, for drafting Egyptian artisans to build projects in Istanbul, for stealing antiquities, manuscripts, and books, and for plotting with the Zionists against Egypt during the 1950s and 1960s. As for France, it must pay compensation for Napoleon's invasion at the close of the 18th century and for the 1956 Suez Campaign, and Britain must pay for 72 years of occupation, during which Egypt was subjected to theft and robbery.
The following are excerpts from the article:[1]
Ahmad Al-Gamal
Sue Israel For The Egyptian Gold And Silver The Israelites Took
"I tirelessly reiterate my demand to utilize all measures of the law and of customary law, and all ethical principles, to receive compensation for what the Israelis, Turks, French and English took from us. And if you ask me whether the Turks can be placed in the same category as [the Israelis, French and English], I will reply: Yes, absolutely. Erdogan, and his party, stream and orientation, are just as dangerous to Egypt and Arabism as the Zionists and imperialists. Had the [Turks] been in our place, and had we done to them what they did to us, they wouldn't have left us alone for a moment without demanding their right many times over.
"We want compensation for the [Ten] Plagues that were inflicted upon [us] as a result of the curses that the Jews' ancient forefathers [cast] upon our ancient forefathers, who did not deserve to pay for the mistake that Egypt's ruler at the time, Pharaoh as the Torah calls him, committed. For what is written in the Torah proves that it was Pharaoh who oppressed the Children of Israel, rather than the Egyptian people. [But] they inflicted upon us the plague of locusts that didn't leave anything behind them; the plague that transformed the Nile's waters into blood, so nobody could drink of them for a long time; the plague of darkness that kept the world dark day and night; the plague of frogs; and the plague of the killing of the firstborn, namely every first offspring born to woman or beast, and so on.
"We want compensation for the gold, silver, copper, precious stones, fabrics, hides and lumber, and for [all] animal meat, hair, hides and wool, and for other materials that I will mention [below], when quoting the language of the Torah. All these are materials that the Jews used in their rituals. These are resources that cannot be found among desert wanderers unless they took them before their departure..."
Later in the article Al-Gamal wrote: "The stories of the Holy Scriptures state that the Israelites set off from the [Nile] valley at night and went to the Sinai Peninsula. This is known to be a desert, were there is no use for large quantities of gold, silver, precious stones, meats, oils, fabrics and the like. Therefore it is clear that the Israelites took all these things from Egypt before they left. Chapter 25 of Exodus, on the [Israelites'] departure [from Egypt], states: 'The Lord said to Moses: Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering... These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece. Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. Have them make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other [Exodus 25:1-12]'...
"[Exodus 38:24 states]: 'The total amount of the gold from the wave offering used for all the work on the sanctuary was 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel...'
"I call upon everyone with an interest in Torah studies to instruct us on a scientific basis what is the [precise] meaning of the word 'talent.' How many grams is it currently worth, what was the weight of the sheqel during those days, especially as it was made out of solid pure gold and pure silver..."
Turkey Must Compensate Egypt For The Backwardness They Inflicted Upon It
About Turkey, Al-Gamal wrote: "As for the Turks, we must demand [from them] adequate compensation for the economic, social, cultural, intellectual and political backwardness that their presence in our midst imposed upon us, for the world during those centuries [i.e., during the Ottoman period] made tremendous progress in all areas. We want compensation from the Turks for the invasion of our country and for the attendant oppression and aggression, and for taking all our human capital: scholars, builders, tentmakers, carpenters, coal miners, blacksmiths and all skilled artisans and forcing them to go to Istanbul to build palaces, mosques, and the like. We also want compensation for the antiquities plundered by the Turks, and especially for some relics of the Prophet and for stolen manuscripts and books. This theft and plunder lasted for centuries, from the beginning of the 16th century until the early 20th century.
"Likewise, we want compensation from the Turks for damaging the Egyptian psyche through their racism and haughtiness, their contempt for Egypt and the Egyptians, and their disgraceful treatment of the peasant as someone who [merely] plows, sows and reaps – although the harvest from the sweat of his brow filled the stomachs of the indolent Ottomans. We also want damages for the Turkish-Zionist plot hatched during the 1950s and 1960s, when Egypt led the Arab and global liberation movement and opposed the plans of the imperialist alliance, [an alliance] in which Turkey and the Hebrew state constituted vital components."
The British Owe Egypt Damages For 72 Years Of Occupation, The French For Napoleon's Invasion
"Moving on to modern history, we must grab the Zionists, the French and the British by the throat in order to take the damages that are due us for Napoleon's invasion and for the Franco-Anglo-Zionist plots against Egypt in 1956, in 1967 and also in 1973, because the British took part in preventing [Egypt] from realizing the fruits of its stupendous victory. We want compensation for 72 years of British occupation that imposed backwardness and dependency upon us, stole the resources of our country, drove a wedge between the sons of the homeland and turned [the members of] one social stratum into [British] agents who took no pity on the Egyptian poor..."
Al-Gamal concluded: "We have nothing to lose, let us sue [Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu, [British Prime Minister, David] Cameron, and others who stole from us and played a role in what befell us for generations."
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