WATANI International
2 May 2010
Robeir al-Faris
On the 15th anniversary of his death, Watani remembers its founder Antoun Sidhom (1915 – 1995)
Antoun Sidhom … al-Watan wal-Aqbat … Malaffat lam Tughlaq (Antoun Sidhom, the Nation and the Copts, Files not yet Closed), is the most recent publication in the Watani Book series published by the Watani Corporation for Printing and Publishing. But this is not the first book to be published on Antoun Sidhom. Antoun Sidhom wa Mishwaar Watani (Antoun Sidhom and Watani’s Journey) was published in 1996 by Sidhom’s son Youssef, who had been a Watani editor and became editor-in-chief once his father died, commemorating a year since Antoun Sidhom’s departure on 2 May 1995. In 2009, the Investment Ministry published a book within a series it is producing on Egyptians who have made a difference to Egypt’s economy. This was entitled Antoun Sidhom, Muwatin Muhtaram (Antoun Sidhom: A Respectable Citizen). The publication of the Investment Ministry book presented a first-time recognition to Watani and its leader from outside the paper, as Youssef Sidhom wrote in his introduction to the new Watani Book.
The new Watani Book, which was compiled by Nabil Adly, commemorates 15 years since Antoun Sidhom’s departure.
An account of the talents
In the introduction, Youssef Sidhom highlights three major points he sees as the most important in the book. First is the fact that the Watani book follows the one by the Ministry of Investment, yet each deals with Antoun Sidhom from a different perspective, both complementing each other. Second, Youssef Sidhom writes, is the chapter near the end of the book, which comes under the title “An account of the talents”. The title uses the Biblical parable of the talents as a reference to account for what has today been achieved with the ‘talent’ the elder Sidhom handed to his family and friends. It lists the great contributions to society made by Antoun Sidhom, among which was the founding of Watani not as a newspaper but as a mission. This is the talent that Antoun Sidhom left to the Watani family, whose members have worked hard to develop and empower on all fronts. Youssef Sidhom comments that this notion has given every one of us hope for a better tomorrow.
Moving to the third point, which Sidhom considers would most please his father’s heart and soul, he cites an article written by Watani’s friend Ashraf Ramsis from Assiut, who imagines Watani’s diamond jubilee coming with a young lady at the helm. Her editorial commemorates how far Egypt has come in terms of growth, development, and religious tolerance throughout the 25 years since the Watani Jubilee. The imaginary editorial, of 2033 is signed by today’s nine-year-old Tari Seif, Youssef Sidhom’s granddaughter. The torch would be, hopefully, handed to the next generation.
Personal glimpse
“Everything in Antoun Sidhom’s life was tidy”, says his wife Samira Sidhom in the first chapter of the book. She treats the reader to a glimpse of his personal life when she says, “Antoun used to wake up at 5am every morning to go for his daily walk. He would come back for breakfast, which consisted of a glass of milk and honey. He then went to his office and returned home for lunch, after which he would take a siesta before going back to his accounting office or to the Watani office. Sunday was something else, because Antoun was very attached to the Church and its rituals. He would attend Mass in the morning, and then revise the Watani paper with scrutiny. He used to read it word for word, and whenever in doubt he would double check in the reference books that he always kept at hand. At the weekly Monday editorial meetings, Antoun would discuss everything published in Watani with the journalists, whom he looked on as his own children.
“At home, he always encouraged our children to read and always discussed their budgets with them. In spite of his firm and imposing personality, he was very gentle with all his children, never differentiating between the boy and girls in his treatment of them. He always left our children a generous margin of freedom and choice.”
Too high a price
The book then takes the reader in a number of chapters on a journey deep into Antoun Sidhom’s bold writing. The first chapter tackles the writing of Antoun Sidhom the citizen, who never strayed far from the grievances of simple Egyptians who elected him in 1984 in the People’s Assembly for the Shubra constituency. This chapter shows Sidhom’s deep faith in defending Christians, not Christ. His daughter Samia, currently managing editor of Watani International’s English language pages, tells of an incident which she witnessed. “I was with my father when the telephone rang and someone at the other end informed him of some article in a paper that attacked Christianity, to which my father replied. ‘Defending Christ is not my role; I can only defend Christians and help them be heard by the authorities. Christ is the One who defends you and me.’”
Antoun Sidhom had the courage to reveal the flagrant mistakes made by the authorities at a time when the price of displeasing the authorities was too high and had awful repercussions. God often saved him from such fate, but in September 1981 President Sadat closed down Watani and its printing was halted for three years.
Grievances still as fresh
Another chapter of the book is on Antoun Sidhom the Church layman. It features a number of Sidhom’s articles dealing with Church-related issues, as well as his thoughts on the Coptic Melli (Community) Councils, their fields of specialisation, and their duties. Among his most important articles was one calling for a Personal Status Law for Christians that would regulate matters related to marriage, divorce and inheritance between Christians in accordance to Biblical teachings not to Islamic rules. Interestingly, to this day no such law has yet been passed.
Antoun Sidhom the economist is the title of another chapter which deals with economy-related issues. He wrote one article on taxes and tax evasion, which constituted major problems for both citizens and the State. Antoun Sidhom also wrote an article on privatisation and how it was carried out with no clear planning. The same topic that was discussed in Parliament a few weeks ago, and brought back to mind, word for word, the article Sidhom had written in the 1980s.
Unfearing
The book is full of courageous articles on Coptic grievances written by Antoun Sidhom. Such grievances never found their way into any other publication. Sidhom wrote them, knowing he could be risking his life, and fearing no reprimand. During the golden days of religious terrorism in Egypt in the 1990s, Antoun Sidhom wrote very boldly, denouncing the State which he accused of encouraging terrorism and of marginalising Copts.
The 112-page book is a historic record of the articles written by a man who fought for the concept of citizenship rights long before anyone ever broached the subject. A man who fought for God, not the authorities. A man who planted in our souls the seeds of fighting a good fight using the pen for a sword. He planted in us a love for the nation, not with words but with deeds.