Today, 2 May 2022, marks 27 years on the passing of Watani’s founder: Antoun Sidhom. We remember this great man with love, recalling that his greatness emanated not simply from his achievements which indeed stood out; but from his integrity of character, wisdom, education and effective leadership, courage in the face of adversity, dedicated service to all, and his great humbleness. Add to this a larger-than-life sense of humour and you have a singularly great person.
Antoun Sidhom founded Watani in 1958 at a time when freedom of expression was severely curbed, the press was in the major part State-owned, and Copts were not represented in nor covered by this press. Mr Sidhom believed that Copts should have presence on the press scene, and a “voice” to represent them. He thus endeavoured to obtain licence for a paper to fulfill this mission, to express the voice of Copts in an Egyptian context, as the true Egyptians that they are; hence the name “Watani”, literally “My Homeland”. The paper was born on 24 December 1958.
Watani International
2 May 2022
