Plan to bring back Suez Canal statue stirs debate in Egypt

 A proposal to bring back statue of a French diplomat behind idea to build Suez Canal has stirred controversy in Egypt, with many saying it would be a salute to colonial times and a “humiliation” to memory of tens of thousands of Egyptian laborers who died building waterway in 1860s.

debate started when daily el-Shorouk reported last month that local authorities in Mediterranean province of Port Said were thinking of returning statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps to where it once stood, at rrn entrance of canal.

De Lesseps, who came to Cairo in 1833 as a consul and was later posted to Alexandria, h been inspired by idea of joining Red Sea and Mediterranean. He persued Ottoman goverr of Egypt to build canal and in 1859, he symbolically swung a pickax to launch construction, which took 10 years. canal was officially opened on v. 17, 1869.

A 33-foot bronze statue of de Lesseps by French sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet, was erected in v. 1899 at Port Said, showing diplomat with his right hand extended to welcome visitors entering Suez Canal, his left holding a map of canal.

statue was destroyed by Egyptian fighters amid 1956 Mideast War, when Israeli forces pushed into Egypt toward Suez Canal after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized canal. It was later restored by Paris-based Association des Amis du Canal de Suez, and is w housed in a shipyard in Port Fou. Egyptian government registered statue as an artifact in 2019.

el-Shorouk report said that along with return of de Lesseps statue, ar statue would be erected next to it, showing an Egyptian farmer, symbolizing workers who h dug canal.

A local official in Port Said, speaking on condition of anymity because he was t authorized to talk to reporters, told Associated Press that decision has yet been me and that more “public debate" is needed before statue can be returned.

Lawmaker Mustafa Bakry on Monday condemned proposal. Abdallah el-Senawy, a columnist for el-Shorouk, said deaths of forced laborers during canal's construction was a “racist crime that requires accountability, condemnation, and an apology."

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian peasants were drafted into low-w digging work with hand tools and tens of thousands died before practice was banned and steam-powered excavators took ir place.

In 1956, Nasser nationalized canal from British and French companies that owned it, a moment cherished by Egyptians as a defiant break from imperialist control. Britain, France and Israel inved in response, but were ordered to withdraw by United States and Soviet Union, in what was seen across Arab world as a defining victory for Nasser and Arab nationalism.

Around 10% of world’s tre flows through waterway, which is one of Egypt’s top foreign currency earners. In 2015, government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of canal, allowing it to accommodate world’s largest vessels.