Egyptian Professor Azza Heikal on the Syrian Refugees: They Should Live and Die in Their Country

In an Egyptian TV interview, Egyptian Professor Azza Heikal criticized Syrian refugees fleeing their country, saying: "The Syrians should return to their country. They should live and die there." She was speaking on Sada Al-Balad TV on September 15. On the Egyptian LTC TV channel, host Rula Kharsa said, on September 9, that the Syrian refugees were betraying their country. The comments came in response to Egyptian enterpreneur Naguib Sawiris' proposal to buy two Greek islands in order to house Syrian refugees.

Following are excerpts:

Sada Al-Balad TV

Egyptian TV host: Businessman Naguib Sawiris has announced that he intends to negotiate to purchase two islands in Greece, within the framework of his plan to help thousands of refugees, from Syria and other conflict zones.

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Professor Azza Heikal, Dean of Communications, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Cairo: Is Sawiris trying to win a prize or to be appointed to a position abroad? I just can't understand this. What about the slums in Egypt? Why didn't he think about solving that problem? Why didn't he think about reducing the prices he charges for cellular services, or to improve the service? Why didn't he think about the people in Egypt? He is helping Israel to implement its plan. He is implementing the official plan of recreating so-called "refugees," so that just as we have Palestinian refugees, there will be Syrian refugees. This will be the end of the Syrian ID card, which will be replaced by a refugee card.

This is very nice… I am sad, hurting, and angry with Naguib Sawiris. I have many questions for him: Why are you doing this to the Egyptians and the Syrians? The Syrians should return to their country. They should live and die there. I do not wish this upon anybody, but this is our country – we should either live in it or die in it. Why should I become a refugee, who gets out and cannot come back? Whoever leaves will not be able to return. I tell you, this is a Zionist-American plot, which will be carried out… In fact, it has already been carried out. The entire region is being reconstructed. The most dangerous things is that the Syrian passport will come to an end, along with the Syrian nationality.

Interviewer: Who benefits from this?.

Professor Azza Heikal: Israel.

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Interviewer: Who benefits from this?.

Professor Azza Heikal: Yes, of course. How was Palestine divided? It was in several stages: 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973.

Interviewer: That's right.

Professor Azza Heikal: It was divided. Today, the Palestinian issue has been narrowed down to the Gaza Strip. There are also the Arabs of 1948, the Palestinian Authoirty… The division is clear, and it will be completed. They have patience – whatever does not come true in this century will come true in the next one. But the plan is clear and is written in the Torah and in the Protocols.

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LTC TV September 9, 2015

TV Host Rula Kharsa: What [Sawiris] wants is exactly what Israel has wanted for the Palestinians from 1948 to this day. Israel has succeeded in leaving over five million Palestinian refugees scattered around the world. Is that what Naguib Sawiris wants? Still, let me stress his good intentions. Maybe he really wanted to find a solution, and maybe, out of empathy, he said: Let's do something for the benefit of humanity. But I'd like to draw his attention to this: Does he want the fate of the Syrian citizen to be the same as the fate of the Palestinian citizen? Are the Syrians being led to emigrate from their land under the false pretext of fleeing terrorism? This is not merely fleeing. Whoever is leaving Syria now – I'm sorry – is betraying his country. What are you running from? This is your country. Are you fleeing death? Death can reach you anywhere. You can die anywhere. We will all die.

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Do not think that the European, who has colonized us his entire life, who came to our countries to plunder our natural resources… Do not think for a second that a day will come when he will get off his bed and let you take his place. He wants you, me, and all of us Arabs to continue to fight one another.

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The goal, whether of the Americans, of Israel, or of Europe – which is a branch of America, or is at its command, call it what you like… Their goal is for us to fight one another and destroy our countries, just as happened in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Libya. After we emigrate, just as we left Palestine, they will come and divide [the land] as they like.

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