CAIRO — Col. Tamer al-Rifai, the spokesman for the Egyptian army, posted Jan. 27 an official statement on his Facebook page saying that, under the slogan “Army and People,” the Egyptian armed forces had a special stand at the Cairo International Book Fair from Jan. 27 to Feb. 10. The army hoped to spread military awareness, culture and national values to Egyptians from all classes.
Al-Monitor visited this stand to find out more about it. As visitors passed through Abdul Rahman al-Sharqawi Hall where the stand was situated inside the book fair in Nasr City in Cairo governorate, soldiers and army affiliates hosting the event invited them to visit the Ministry of Defense’s stand. To lure in visitors, the entry to the stand had many statues and murals depicting the heroic acts of Egyptian soldiers throughout history.
As soon as visitors entered the main hall, they heard the song “Tislam al-Ayadi” (“God Protect the Army’s Hands”), one of the most popular songs produced in the wake of the June 30 events that led to the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood. The song addresses the armed forces and thanks them for their efforts and sacrifices and for supporting the Egyptian people and protecting them from religious fascism.
The stand featured officers’ publications in politics, sociology, technology and culture and included more than six sections. An officer was in charge of each section to explain its content to visitors. The sections included books on social sciences, car mechanics, quality control, project success methods, general culture and military magazines and journals like Al-Nasr, Al-Mougahed, Al-Difaa, Al-Wafaa and the military medical magazine. Another section was called “October War Heroes” and included books about the Egyptian army’s accomplishments in the October 1973 war with Israel.
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