Egypt's Two October 6 Anniversaries

October 6 is Egyptian Military Day, the day Egypt commemorates "the crossing" (al-‘ubur) — the surprise attack across the Suez Canal on October 6, 1973 that began the 1973 war and was seen by Egyptians and other Arabs as the redemption for the humiliating losses of 1967.

But it is also another anniversary, for it was at the Military Parade on October 6, 1981 that President Anwar Sadat was assassinated. So on the one hand, October 6 marks what most Egyptians consider a victory (though outsiders may disagree), and on the other, the assassination of a President, though attitudes towards Sadat have long been somewhat mixed in Egypt. So it's a double anniversary. (I also met my wife at an Egyptian Military Day reception in Washington, but that's a whole other story.)

It is true of course that in the 1973 war, Israel was able to recover from the initial blow and strike westward across the canal, creating the Deversoir Salient, cutting off one of Egypt's two Field Armies from Cairo. (There's an Egyptian saying: Bonjour, al-‘ubur; bonsoir, Deversoir). But the psychological impact of the surprise of October 6 remains one of the great moments for many Egyptians of a certain age; and in fact it brought Henry Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy into play, leading ultimately to the reopening of the Suez Canal and the first Israeli withdrawals. It also made Sadat's 1977 opening to Israel possible.

For a while in the 1980s the coincidence of the two anniversaries was a bit awkward, since Egyptian embassies abroad were throwing parties for Military Day on the anniversary of Sadat's then-still-recent assassination. But as fewer people remember what parade it was Sadat was attending when he was killed, the awkwardness has faded.