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Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Military Base (formerly Camp Huckstep), Cairo, Egypt
The Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Military Base, located near the Cairo International Airport, is a former American Military Base that served as a detention center for Communists and Jews from 1948-1950. [1, 2] The site was formerly named after U.S. Army Major Russel B. Huckstep who died while serving in World War II. [3] In 2021, Egypt’s President, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, announced that the site would be renamed in honor of Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, following Tantawi’s death on September 21st, 2021. [4]
Description
The Arab-Israeli Conflicts
Following the establishment of the State of Israel and tense relations with neighboring Arab countries, Jews in Egypt were subject to hostility and censorship. [5] The Egyptian government declared martial law and Jews were restricted from leaving the country without an exit visa. [6] Zionist movements were proclaimed illegal and hundreds of Jews were placed in jail as suspected Zionists or communists. [7] Most of the Jewish prisoners were eventually expelled and shipped off to Israel. Between 1949 and 1951, roughly 16,000 Jews emigrated from Egypt to Israel. [8]
When Egypt invaded Israel on May 15, 1948, many Zionist activists were interned at Camp Huckstep, along with communists and members of the Society of Muslim Brothers. [9] While tensions between the two nations were largely resolved by January of 1949, many Zionists and Jewish communists remained interned at Huckstep in July of that same year. [10] Not until January of 1950, when the Wafd Party returned to power, were all of the political prisoners released. [11]
Cairo, Egypt
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Sources
Notes
1 Samy Magdy, “Military general who ruled Egypt after Mubarak ouster dies,” ABC News, September 21, 2021.
2 Joel Beinin, “Communitarianisms, Nationalisms, Nostalgias,” in The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry, (Berkeley: University of California Press), 2020, 35 https://doi-org.oca.ucsc.edu/10.1525/9780520920217.
3 Samy Magdy.
4 Ibid.
5 Elinoar Bareket and Racheline Barda, “Egypt”, in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman, consulted online on 19 July 2022.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Joel Beinin, “Communitarianisms, Nationalisms, Nostalgias,” 35.
10 Joel Beinin, “Citizens, Dhimmis, and Subversives,” in The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry, (Berkeley: University of California Press), 2020, 67, https://doi-org.oca.ucsc.edu/10.1525/9780520920217.
11 Joel Beinin, “The Communist Emigres in France,” in The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry, (Berkeley: University of California Press), 2020, 147, https://doi-org.oca.ucsc.edu/10.1525/9780520920217.
Works Cited
Bareket, Elinoar and Barda, Racheline. “Egypt.” In Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Consulted online on 19 July 2022.
Beinin, Joel. “Citizens, Dhimmis, and Subversives.” In The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2020). 60-89. https://doi-org.oca.ucsc.edu/10.1525/9780520920217.
Beinin, Joel. “Communitarianisms, Nationalisms, Nostalgias.” in The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2020), 31-59, https://doi-org.oca.ucsc.edu/10.1525/9780520920217.
Beinin, Joel “The Communist Emigres in France.” In The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry, 142-178. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2020. https://doi-org.oca.ucsc.edu/10.1525/9780520920217.
Magdy, Samy. “Military general who ruled Egypt after Mubarak ouster dies.” ABC News. September 21, 2021.