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A YOUNG ELTAHER’S IMPRESSIONS
WHEN HE SAW AN AIRPLANE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE*
How can I forget the first airplane I saw as a young boy, and how that airplane was unfortunate and crashed in the sea in front of me, killing those on board. Around the end of 1913 the Ottoman government wanted to strengthen its position among the Turkish population, as well as vis-à-vis other countries too. This came following the earlier successful flight made by the French pilot Jules Védrines from Paris to Beirut, and then to Cairo. At that time France stole the admiration of its supporters in Lebanon who were duly impressed by her technical prowess and its military might. So it is easy to imagine how this event registered in the eyes of the people of the Levant!
The success of the French followed by the accident of the Turkish aircraft led the Ottoman government to send another airplane from Istanbul to Cairo. Unfortunately this one also crashed along with its young pilots Fethi and Sadik near lake Tiberias in Palestine. Another airplane flown by Nuri Bey and a co-pilot was dispatched, but this one arrived safely in Jaffa. I was there that day when the airplane landed on the sands in the outskirts of the city, where Tel Aviv was later built. Before the airplane arrived the people who assembled for the event scouted the horizon with wide-open eyes until what looked like a bird appeared in the horizon and kept growing as it approached, until it was the size of a ship above us. We were immensely amazed by what we saw. The airplane eventually started its gradual descent until it stopped on the fine white sand. At which time the hordes of people rushed towards what was a fairy tale that became a reality.
I was able to touch Nuri Bey’s flying suit and caress the airplane’s wing with my hand. It was made out of wood covered with a very thin layer leather fabric. It is at that moment that I believed there and then that humans can fly like birds, without having any inkling myself or even those who invented airplanes that his magic invention will turn into an instrument of destruction and death in the hands of the imperialist powers to destroy the homelands of peaceful people.
The following day the whole city of Jaffa hurried to say goodbye to the airplane which was on its way first to Jerusalem, then to Cairo. Once airborne following an eastern heading towards the Holy City, the aircraft crashed in the sea. This catastrophe left a very sad and deep effect on the people watching that will never disappear from our imagination throughout our lives.
*Adapted from Mohamed Ali Eltaher’s book “Zalam El-Segn” published in Cairo in 1950. |
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