THE BOMBING OF CAIRO

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24716, 19 September 1941, Page 4

THE BOMBING OF CAIRO

The statement by an English paper, the Daily Telegraph, that if the Nazi bombing of Cairo is proved to have been deliberate Rome will be bombed, recalls a warning that was issued to the Axis Powers more than a year ago. The invasion of Greece had brought Aliens within the range of the Axis bombing planes, and the British Government then made it understood that the bombing of the historic Hellenic city, or of Cairo, would be answered by air attack on Rome. The intimation had the effect which all lovers of antiquity must have hoped it would have. The ancient glories of Athens, and so of Rome also, were saved from the destructive visitation of the bombers. Nor had Cairo, until the raid reported this week, been seriously troubled by Axis war planes. This raid, however, in which many people were killed and injured, was of a nature to suggest that the Luftwaffe is becoming careless of the warning, or is determined to carry to its most barbaric limits the attempt to blast from the earth the cities which stand in the way of Nazi ambitions. Not only explosive but also incendiary bombs were dropped, the intention being obviously to start fires which -would effect indiscriminate destruction. In the eastern parts of Cairo, with their dense population and narrow, tortuous streets and bazaars, “ incendiaries ” could cause serious havoc, but it would not be possible'to confine the destruction to the crowded quarters of commerce and human habitation which the Nazis regard as the most legitimate of objectives. Architecturally, Cairo is the proudest and most beautiful of Moslem cities. In its mosques, and the great houses of the Mameluke beys, Arab art reached its pinnacle, and the stones of Cairo have in them the history of the Moslem race. These things are as worthy of preservation as the monuments of Rome, and by the Arab world are counted as not less sacred. The reaction of the Moslem races to a vicious policy of destruction of the hallowed memorials of their ancient culture must be profoundly hostile. The Axis leaders have no excuse for overlooking that fact, for has not the Duce of Rome declared himself the protector of the races of Islam? They have, indeed, less than sufficient military

excuse for seeking to destroy Cairo, even if they are prepared to flout the Moslems as they have contemptuously flouted, soon or late, all peoples with whom they have sought friendship. The Egyptian Government’s protest to the Axis Powers at this act may give them the opportunity to make their future policy clear. If it is to be a policy of total war, without respect for the cradles of Oriental civilisation, even those with the highest regard for the cultural memorials of the Latin race must admit reluctantly that Rome cannot be spared the lash of reprisals.