Alongside the highway connecting Cairo International Airport with the center of Egypt's capital, in the Heliopolis neighborhood, a large circular structure catches the eye. It stands out in the general landscape of the tall residential buildings, walls of army bases and sports centers, built in the 70s and 80s to meet the needs of the middle and upper officers of the Egyptian army and the local bourgeoisie.
The fighter jets displayed in front of the building are also eye-catching. "Panorama of the October 1973 War" - the inscription in golden letters on the wall of the official entrance gate indicates the purpose of the place. The October War, or "War 10 of Ramadan" - this is what Egypt calls the great campaign that led to a "great victory" over the "myth of the enemy's invincible army," Israel.
The decision to build the display was made after the signing of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and the completion of Israel's full withdrawal from Sinai – the ultimate goal for which Egypt, under the leadership of Anwar al-Sadat, initiated the war. The Panorama began to be built in 1983, a decade after the war and two years after Sadat's assassination by Muslim extremists at a military parade commemorating the October War. The panorama was officially inaugurated on October 5, 1989 by President Hosni Mubarak, underwent a renovation and technological upgrade five years ago, and reopened to the public in 2019.
The mural in the panorama, commemorating the breach of the Bar-Lev Line and the takeover of the strongholds, photo: Eldad Bak
The one that helped Egypt build the site was North Korea, which maintained warm relations with Cairo even after it broke away from the former Soviet Union during Sadat's time and became an ally of the United States. The beginning of the relationship between the two countries was in the 50s, when North Korea sided with Egypt in the face of the Israeli-British-French attack in the Holy War. In the early 60s, mutual embassies were opened, and the Egyptian one in Pyongyang was one of only two Arab embassies in North Korea (alongside Syria). In 2020, the embassy was evacuated due to the COVID-<> pandemic and worsening living conditions in the closed country.
North Korea's connection to the Yom Kippur War is close: Seven months before the outbreak of fighting, a North Korean government delegation visited Egypt, and Egyptian Army Chief of Staff Saad al-Din al-Shadhli asked his guests to send pilot trainers to Egypt. A month later, Kim Il-sung, the founder of the North Korean dictator dynasty, agreed to send about 40 pilots and other military personnel to Egypt, which arrived in Cairo in June. Later, North Korean MiGs landed in Egypt, two of which were involved in a battle with Israeli Air Force planes over Sinai on the first day of the war.
Victory painting at the Military Museum, photo: Eldad Bak
On my previous visits to Cairo, I avoided going to Panorama. I experienced from afar, as a child, that war, which left us all with a very bitter taste of failure and defeat – which did not necessarily reflect the reality at its end. Around me were friends who had lost their fathers, friends of my parents whose husbands had not returned from the front. To this day, I have a hard time digging through the wounds of that war.
In front of the Egyptian soldiers captured during the six days, the capture of masses of IDF soldiers on Yom Kippur is presented. The destroyed Egyptian planes and tanks of '67 show the systematic destruction of Israeli weapons of war in '73
And yet, on the 50th anniversary of that traumatic event, I put my face to the panorama to see how the Egyptians were perpetuating the war. Twice I visited the place: first, on a sweltering afternoon, so I took the tour in English, and since I was the only foreigner the cost was ten times higher than a ticket
for locals. The second time I came at a nicer evening time. This time I took the tour in Arabic, in order to compare content (there is no significant difference in the presentation of events in the two languages) and to see the audiovisual display on the façade of the circular building, which can only be viewed in the evening.
Mosaic of President Sadat and the Egyptian generals planning the course of the war, photo: Eldad Bak
Bar Lev line as symbol
On my first visit, Panorama had one other Egyptian family. On the second visit, in the evening, there were about 15 people, parents with small children, playing with the weapons of war – planes, tanks, naval vessels and shells. On one side, painted yellow, are the Egyptian vessels. Opposite them, in green, are war spoils taken from the IDF. The Egyptian weapons are Russian, and the explanatory notes do not spare criticism of their technical inferiority vis-à-vis the advanced American weapons seized from the IDF.
Visiting Panorama is not an easy experience for an Israeli. Beyond the one-sided display of events, designed to enhance Egypt's military achievements and present the "victory" as an event of world historical significance, some of the exhibits at the memorial include brutal scenes of the killing of Israeli soldiers, which are far from educational. War is war, but these moments of illustrated cruelty (this is not a photographic documentation) are difficult to watch. Those who are exposed to them, among other things, are schoolchildren – including elementary school students – who come here during the school year, especially during the months of October and November, when the war took place and the events that followed.
Small children playing with Egyptian and Israeli weapons of war. The Egyptian weapons are Russian, and the explanatory notes do not spare criticism of their technical inferiority vis-à-vis the advanced American weapons that the IDF had
"There are already historians and journalists who dare to wonder if it really was such a great victory," one visitor tells me. "The Arab world is also looking with matter-of-fact criticism at the achievements of the war, which, beyond the surprise of the Israelis, would have ended in a terrible defeat for the Arab side, had it not been for the intervention of the superpowers to stop the fighting. We received the last part of Sinai, Taba, only in 1989, 16 years after the ceasefire. So the war itself did not achieve the return of Egyptian land, but the peace process."
The panorama is divided into four sections, which seek to put the October War into a broader context in Egyptian history – up to the days of Pharaonic Egypt – and focuses on the first hours of the war, on 6 October, and on the crossing of the Suez Canal and the collapse of the Bar-Lev Line, described as "the most fortified line of defense in the history of human history."
The theme of the display comes from Sadat's victory speech to the Egyptian parliament on 14 October, at the height of the fighting and a few days before IDF forces infiltrated Egyptian soil west of the Canal. In his speech, he stated: "Military history will long study and investigate the military operation of October 6, 1973, in which the armed forces managed to break through the difficult Suez Canal Barrier and the Bar-Lev Line and establish bridgeheads on the east bank, after the enemy lost its balance in six hours."
A painting of Sadat in a restaurant in Cairo's Old City, near Khan al Khalili, photo: Eldad Bak
The "Six Hour War" narrative is intended to restore the pride of the Egyptian army after its disgraceful defeat in the Six-Day War. The Panorama exhibits constantly correspond with the shameful scenes of the terrible Egyptian defeat in the Naksa of 1967: in front of the photographs of hundreds of Egyptian soldiers who were then taken prisoner, the capture of masses of Israeli soldiers is presented. The documentation of the destroyed Egyptian planes and tanks from the War of Defeat shows the systematic destruction of Israeli weapons of war.
"היום יש קולות של היסטוריונים ועיתונאים, שמעיזים לתהות אם באמת מדובר בכזה ניצחון גדול", אומר לי מבקר מקומי. "בעולם הערבי גם מסתכלים היום בביקורתיות עניינית על הישגי המלחמה"
לרגעים נדמה שישראל נותרה במלחמת יום כיפור ללא מטוסים וטנקים, לאחר שאלה הופלו בזה אחר זה בידי סוללות הנ"מ הסובייטיות או פוצצו בטילי סאגר. אין אזכור לצליחת התעלה שביצע צה"ל ולכיתור הארמייה המצרית השלישית בימיה האחרונים של המלחמה. נראים רק חיילים ישראלים נהרגים בשיטתיות וכלי לחימה ישראליים שנפגעים. המלחמה, ככלל, מוצגת כסיפור גבורה של החייל המצרי הפשוט, שהצליח להכניע את הצבא הישראלי האימתני, שביצע פשעי מלחמה נגד האוכלוסייה המצרית.
מהפרעונים ועד סאדאת
באולם הכניסה לפנורמה מסבירה דמות וירטואלית למבקרים מה צפוי להם. "ויתרנו על מדריכים אישיים, כדי שלא ייווצר מצב שבו כל אחד מוסר גרסה משלו", מוסבר לי, "בתצוגה החדשה כל ההסברים אחידים".
באולם הזה מוצגים לוחות קיר חרוטים, המתארים אירועים צבאיים גדולים בעברה של מצרים, מאז הקמתו של הצבא המאוחד באזור 3200 לפני הספירה, בימי המלך נערמר שאיחד בין מצרים העליונה והתחתונה. "הצבא המצרי נחשב לאחד הקדומים ביותר בעולם", מודגש בהסבר ללוח.
באפיזודה הצבאית הבאה מונצח פרעה אחמס, שבמאה ה־16 לפנה"ס הצליח לגרש את בני החיקסוס, שפלשו למצרים והשתלטו עליה "במשך כ־100 שנה". היסטוריונים מסוימים קשרו בין החיקסוס לבין בני ישראל, אם כי הקשר זה לא מופיע בהסבר ללוח.
בכניסה לפנורמה, דמות וירטואלית מסבירה למבקרים מה צפוי להם. "ויתרנו על מדריכים אישיים, כדי שלא ייווצר מצב שבו כל אחד מוסר גרסה משלו", מוסבר לי, "בתצוגה החדשה כל ההסברים אחידים"
השלב הבא הוא ניצחונו של הצבא המצרי של הסולטנות האיובית על הצלבנים במהלך מסע הצלב השביעי בקרב מנסורה, שנערך במאה ה־13 והוליך לחיסולו של הצבא הנוצרי. בעיני מוסלמים ערבים רבים, ישראל היא ההתגלמות העכשווית של הצלבנים וסופה להיעלם כמו מלכויות הצלבנים. אגב, מעל שמי העיר מנסורה התנהל קרב אווירי מפורסם בין חילות האוויר של ישראל ומצרים. מפקד חיל האוויר המצרי היה אז מובארק.
ציור של מובארק בטאבה, במוזיאון הצבאי, צילום: אלדד בק
המוזיאון והפנורמה הם המקומות היחידים שבהם קיימת עדיין הנצחה של הנשיא מובארק, שנמחק לחלוטין מהמרחב הציבורי, אף שמילא תפקיד מרכזי במלחמת אוקטובר כמפקד חיל האוויר
מימי הביניים עוברים ל"מתקפה המשולשת" של מלחמת קדש ב־1956, תוך התעלמות מוחלטת ממלחמת 1948. הלוח מציג את ההתנגדות העממית העזה של אוכלוסיית העיר פורט סעיד לפלישת הכוחות הצרפתיים והבריטיים, המוצגת כנקודת תפנית שהוליכה לתבוסת התוקפים במלחמה.
בקרבת פורט סעיד התנהל 17 שנה לאחר מכן גם הקרב הימי הראשון בין חילות הים של ישראל ומצרים בלילה שבין 6 ו־7 באוקטובר 1973. מתחת ללוח מוצג סרטון הסבר עם תיעוד מצולם מהימים של צליחת תעלת סואץ, מיטוט קו בר־לב ותפיסת שטח בעומק של 20 ק"מ בסיני, ובכלל זה הנפתו מחדש של דגל מצרי על הגדה המזרחית של התעלה - רגע החוזר על עצמו שוב שוב לאורך כל התצוגה באתר ההנצחה.
הקרב על העיר קנטרה, צילום: אלדד בק
הלוח המוקדש למלחמה מציג את צליחת התעלה, מלווה בחילות האוויר, השריון והצנחנים של מצרים, ובקדמתו מוצגת קבוצה גדולה של שבויי מלחמה ישראלים שפופי ראש, כורעים על ברכיהם לצד קסדות שעליהן חקוק מגן דוד. חלקם מניפים את ידיהם לכניעה, אחרים מסתירים בידיהם את אזור החלציים במעין אקט של בושה וכניעה.
הלוח הבא מוקדש להנפת דגל מצרים מעל טאבה, בחלקו האחרון של סיני שהושב למצרים, ובו נכתב: "הצד הישראלי ניסה לייצר משבר ביחס לגבולות טאבה, שהעמיד קשיים בפני יישום ההסכם". הלוח האחרון מציג את צבא מצרים של היום על חילותיו השונים, על רקע מלך פרעוני לוחם. מעגל הניצחונות הגדולים נסגר. על הקיר ממול מופיע פסיפס עצום, המציג את הנשיא סאדאת ואת צמרת הצבא המצרי בוחנים את תוכניות המלחמה בחדר המצב הראשי.
אחד ההישגים שבהם מתפארים המצרים הוא נטרול מערכת צינורות להזרמת נפט ולהבערתו, שהותקנה מתחת למעוזים הישראליים ונועדה למנוע את צליחת התעלה על ידי המצרים
מאולם הכניסה עוברים לאולם "ההתנגדות והאתגר", שבו מוקרן סרט תיעודי על ההיערכות למלחמת יום כיפור לאחר התבוסה ב־1967. התיעוד מתחיל ב"ניצחון" המצרי במלחמת קדש, שבעקבותיו "ישראל הרגישה שקיומה מוטל תחת איום" ולכן יזמה את מלחמת ששת הימים, ש"היתה תבוסה נוראה" למצרים. הסרט מתייחס גם להתפטרותו של גמאל עבד אל־נאצר מהנשיאות בעקבות התבוסה הזו, ללחץ העממי עליו לחזור בו, ולתחילת בנייתו מחדש של צבא מצרים.
הנצחת הצליחה המצרית של התעלה, צילום: אלדד בק
אפוס בהיסטוריה הצבאית
מלחמת 1967 לא חדלה, לפי הנרטיב המוצג, בתום שישה ימים אלא נמשכה: בקרב ראס אלעיש ביולי אותה שנה בצפון תעלת סואץ, שבו הציגו המצרים יכולת עמידה והדפו את הכוחות הישראליים; בהטבעת המשחתת "אילת" באוקטובר בקרבת פורט סעיד באמצעות טילי ים־ים מצריים; ובמלחמת ההתשה, או "מלחמת אלף הימים", המוצגת כהקזת דם בלתי פוסקת של הצבא הישראלי וכתישתו בירי ארטילרי, בהפצצות אוויריות ובפעולות של יחידות קומנדו מצריות, שהביאו להקמת קו בר־לב.
התקיפות הישראליות מוצגות בעיקר כפגיעה מכוונת ביעדים אזרחיים (בתי ספר, בתי זיקוק), שגרמו לעשרות הרוגים. עם זאת, מצוין גם הרג רמטכ"ל מצרים, עבד אלמונעים ריאד, בעת ביקור בחזית, במארס 1969. יום מותו הוכרז כ"יום השאהיד" במצרים, ויש הרואים בו את מועד תחילתה הרשמי של מלחמת ההתשה.
סאדאת נראה כשהוא נושא את נאום "שש השעות" שלו, פותח מחדש לתנועה את תעלת סואץ, נוסע לירושלים כדי "להשיג פתרון של שלום" ומצליח להחזיר את סיני למצרים בהסכמי קמפ דיוויד ב־1978
President Nasser's death in 1970 led to the cessation of preparations for the next war, which had resumed even more vigorously under Sadat's presidency, by creating an "air defense wall" with Soviet anti-tank missile batteries designed to neutralize the IDF's air superiority, arming the Egyptian army with mobile warfare weapons and anti-tank missiles, and mass recruitment to its ranks.
The panorama, the core of the memorial site, is a large, rounded hall with a large, detailed, realistic mural on its walls, depicting scenes from the first hours of the war on the eastern side of the canal, which is held by Israel. In the background - a soundtrack that combines explosion and shooting effects, dramatic and noisy war music, cries of "Allahu Akbar" and explanations by an announcer with a thunderous voice, reminiscent of Sadat's speaking style.
Spectators sit on a central stage that rotates on its axis. Within six hours, the narrator says, the Egyptians managed to break through the line of fortifications on the canal and penetrate into Sinai, Egyptian planes destroyed Israeli planes on the ground, and on the evening of October 6, Star of David flags fell one after another from enemy strongholds, ending the legend of the Israeli army's non-defeat.
The crowd sees Egyptian rubber boats crossing the canal and Egyptian soldiers climbing the sand wall of the Bar Lev Line, raiding the Israeli strongholds, while they are under heavy shelling on the other side of the canal. The Egyptians are fighting face to face with the Israeli soldiers, killing them with gunfire, a knife, grenades, against the backdrop of torn Israeli flags, blown up tanks, planes fighting and firing at IDF tanks - "the victory of man over the tank." And of course, the scene of raising the Egyptian flag again on the "holy" Sinai soil was not absent.
Wall stonemasonry of crossing the canal and Israeli prisoners, photo: Eldad Bak
By the way, in the Arabic version of the explanation, this military campaign is referred to in the Arabic word as "war" and not "sword", a fact that gives the event the dimension of an almost mythological event. "This is a great epic in military history, an epic that reversed balances and reshaped perceptions and theories, an epic that embodied the determination of a nation that rejects injustice and strives to overcome darkness and go to the dawn of freedom, prosperity and peace," the narrator concludes his commentary.
Sinai Liberation Program
Finally, the audience is led to another movie theater, but "Succeeded", where the story of the Egyptian success of the Suez Canal is presented in several more tangible ways, combined with documentary footage and computer-animated films. This is the hardest part to watch, because it resembles a kind of computer game "Destroy the Israeli Enemy."
However, it is also the only hall where there is a reference to peace. The film presents Egyptian deception exercises, which, according to the video, also included political activity to achieve an agreement (the Rogers Plan). According to the version presented in the panorama, President Sadat had no intention of reaching any settlement, but was constantly working to prepare for the next war. One documentary shows Egyptian soldiers, shortly before the war began, resting, on orders from their commanders, on the west bank of the Suez Canal, singing and dancing to convince the Israeli enemy that they have no intention of attacking.
In an exhibition on one of the peaks of Mount Muqtam, overlooking all of Cairo, visitors are greeted by two bronze statues – of Nasser and Sadat – and a more modest statue of an Egyptian soldier celebrating the victory over Israel
From this point on, the first stages of the war are described, which was "the first step in a great plan
to liberate Sinai from the enemy's grasp", "a cornerstone of modern history", "a glorious victory". One of the achievements that the Egyptians boast about in this video is neutralizing the "precious light" system – pipelines for the flow and burning of oil, which were installed under Israeli strongholds on the bank of the Suez Canal and were intended to prevent the Egyptians from crossing the canal by creating a curtain of fire and smoke. The video shows Egyptian commandos clogging the pipes, even though the Israeli side claimed at the time that the system failed to function when the fighting began because of technical malfunctions.
Hero of Peace and War
Again and again there are references to the destruction of the myth of the "invincible Israeli army," while no harm to Egyptian forces is presented. The Third Army is not encircled, the IDF does not cross the Canal westward, and the war ends, as far as the Egyptians are concerned, with the recapture of their territory east of the Canal.
Sadat is seen delivering his "six hours" speech, reopening the Suez Canal, traveling to Jerusalem to "achieve a peaceful solution," and succeeding in returning Sinai to Egypt in the 1978 Camp David Accords. There is no word about the Palestinians. War and peace were in the service of Egypt's national interest: the restoration of occupied Egyptian land. The video ends with footage of the development momentum in Sinai after the Israeli withdrawal.
One military episode commemorates Pharaoh Ahms, who in the 16th century BC managed to expel the Hyksos who invaded and took over Egypt "for about a century." Some historians have associated the Hyksos with the Israelites
The Egyptian Military Museum, located in the citadel of Saladin, on one of the summits of Mount Muqtam overlooking Cairo, also has an exhibition in the courtyard of the historic building dedicated to the October War. Two large bronze statues of Presidents Nasser and Sadat greet visitors to the exhibition, alongside a more modest statue of an Egyptian soldier celebrating the victory, which is attributed not only to Sadat but also to his predecessor.
Here, too, there is a display of weapons used by the Egyptian army in the October War and other wars. On the stone wall of the wide courtyard is a large and impressive environmental sculpture, depicting the stages of the Yom Kippur War, especially the crossing of the Canal. Close to the simulation of the crossing is Baki Zaki Yousef of the Egyptian Corps of Engineers, who initiated the idea of toppling the sandhills of the Bar-Lev Line by using a large water cannon to create spaces through which armored vehicles could cross the line into Sinai and outflank the Israeli outposts.
"The idea was presented to the president, who was enthusiastic about it and instructed that it be tried and implemented, if it succeeded. Joseph built a model of a powerful water cannon, which was tested hundreds of times and used on the evening of October 6," the stone commemorating the engineer reads. The crossing, planning of the war and raising the Egyptian flag over Taba are also commemorated in the halls of the Military Museum, mainly through murals.
The museum and panorama are the only places where there is still a commemoration of President Mubarak, who has been completely erased from the public sphere, despite the fact that he played a central role in the war as commander of the air force and later, as president, completed the return of Sinai's "last grain of earth" to Egyptian sovereignty. On the other hand, Sadat's image can be seen in many places on the streets of Cairo, usually wearing a military uniform. "For you, he is the hero of peace," a young local man explained to me, "for us he is a hero of war."
The documentary about the preparations for the Yom Kippur War begins with documentation of Egypt's "victory" in the Holy War, following which "Israel felt that its existence was under threat," and therefore initiated the Six-Day War
The um Kulthum Museum in Cairo also proudly displays two letters of appreciation sent by Sadat and his wife, Jihan, to the national singer for the financial donations she sent to the Egyptian military forces in support of the war effort, forces "that are in a battle from the nobility of the campaigns, in defense of our stolen right, in our precious Arab land," as the president wrote.
The monument where the circle was closed
Not far from the October War panorama stands the monument to the Unknown Egyptian Soldier, which is also the monument to Sadat. It is a kind of hollow pyramid protecting the tomb of the Rais, and stands opposite the podium of honor, on the other side of the main road, from which Sadat watched on October 6, 1981, the military victory parade from whose ranks an Islamic Jihad squad took his own life.
The story of the Egyptian success of the Suez Canal is conveyed in combination with documentary footage and computer animation. This is the hardest part to watch, because it resembles a kind of computer game "Destroy the Israeli Enemy."
Restoring lost Egyptian honor and occupied Arab land was not to Sadat's credit in the eyes of the Islamists, whom he pursued with a harsh hand. His life came to an end on the eighth anniversary of the opening of the "Six Hour War", and thus "Victory Day" became the day of death of the "architect of victory". The Monument to the Egyptian Unknown Soldier was erected by Sadat himself in 1974 to commemorate the Egyptian soldiers killed in the October War, and was inaugurated on the two-year anniversary of the war. The president certainly did not imagine at the time that he would find himself buried in the same place, and in fact ordered that a grave be built for him in another place during his lifetime.
Monument to the Unknown Soldier, where Sadat is buried, photo: Eldad Bak
The clock at the memorial where the time of the president's assassination, photo: Eldad Bak
"The hero of war and peace lived for peace and died a martyr's death for the sake of principles," reads the inscription on Sadat's grave. On a memorial wall next to the monument is a clock bearing the time of the assassination - 12:10. On the other side of the wall is another painting commemorating the raising of the Egyptian flag on Sinai soil during the crossing of the Canal. The climactic moment, in Egyptian eyes, of a war without winners.
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