Backgrounds of Conflict in Egypt.

The article discusses about the backgrounds of conflict in Egypt. On November 9, 1951, Sheikh Mohamed Abu Shedida, the priest of Cairo's Al Hussein Mosque, urged Moslems to launch a holy war against the aggressive invaders in the Suez Canal Zone, and he told them not to fear the enemy's ruthlessness. This campaign emanates from Cairo, capital of Egypt and center of the Moslem world. Egypt, the Nile Valley, fabulous land of the Sphinx and the Pyramids, is the scene of what is probably the oldest continuous cultural area on earth. In 1798 it seemed inconceivable to the Egyptians that they could be overrun by a western army. But when they saw that it was true, they became conscious of the full measure of their decline. The first tangible result was the reign and the conquests of Mohammed Ali, who galvanized the country behind him and gave it an idea of its collective strength. Only the British fleet kept him from conquering Constantinople. He aroused Egypt from its long sleep, and since that time the country has never gone to sleep again.