Prof. Ghada Farouk, Acting President of Ain Shams University, and Prof. Abdel Fattah Saoud, Vice President of the University for Education and Student Affairs, opened an educational symposium entitled “Homeland and Belonging” on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the glorious October War.

Where, the strategic expert, Major General Staff Officer Dr. Samir Farag, gave a lecture and the symposium was moderated by the journalist Khaled Saad, chief broadcaster on Egyptian television.

The symposium comes within the activities of the university’s cultural season, in cooperation between the sectors of education and student affairs, community service affairs and environmental development, and coordinated and organized by the Students for Egypt family and the students of the Ain Shams University Union.

During the symposium, which witnessed an unprecedented student attendance, Prof. Ghada Farouk, Acting President of Ain Shams University, welcomed Major General Staff Officer Dr. Samir Farag at the university, and confirmed that Ain Shams University aims to raise student awareness to build youth capable of facing challenges by ensuring the presentation of the university cultural season and the seminars, workshops, conferences and lectures it includes, and the university insists annually on having a dialogue session with symbols of the nation. Those who participated in the October War and the youth of the university to make the most of the experiences of these symbols.

In his speech, Prof. Abdel Fattah Saoud, Vice President of the University for Education and Student Affairs, emphasized that the Sixth of October War was a milestone in the history of the Egyptian state, which confirmed the Egyptian doctrine based on defying all difficulties and achieving achievements that the world finds impossible and which Egyptians succeed in achieving because they are in a bond until the Day of Judgment.

During his speech to the students, he stressed the need to be proud of the Egyptian identity, and added that the nation is a great responsibility, noting that it has a history of seven thousand years and that the youth have the responsibility to advance it for decades and decades to come.

He directed the students to have the spirit of great victory and preserve what our ancestors achieved, and to always fight for victory, not only against the external enemy, but in all fields, and to always carry the banner of diligence and hard, permanent and continuous work, while insisting on achieving successive achievements and victories that befit our dear homeland, Egypt.

The great media personality Mr. Khaled Saad, chief broadcaster on Egyptian TV, asked Prof. Abdel Fattah Saoud, Vice President of the University for Education and Student Affairs, about the importance of practicing activities for university students. His Excellency emphasized that the most important and fundamental goal of Ain Shams University is to produce good citizens, he has a great degree of education and has special interests and characteristics, including flexibility in thinking to keep pace with the challenges of the modern age. Then student activities come to complete the missing parts of his personality by practicing these various activities that make it impossible to penetrate his thinking, no matter the temptations. Prof. Abdel Fattah Saoud added that this thought is an extension of the New Republic’s thought adopted by His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, and its most important goals are “building human beings.”

During the symposium, Major General Staff Officer Dr. Samir Farag expressed his happiness to be present at Ain Shams University in the midst of this overwhelming presence of the youth of the future, who bear a great burden in preserving and advancing the gains of the October War and confronting the flood of challenges facing the nation.

Major General Staff Officer Dr. Samir Faraj referred to the fourth and fifth generation wars, as they are wars of rumors and lower morale, adding that any country that wanted to fight and destroy another country was using tanks and weapons, and today there is a new type of war without the use of cannons and tanks, rather, it is about overthrowing the state through its people using fourth and fifth generation wars, which depend on spreading rumors and making the citizen lose confidence in his leadership and his state.

The lecture of Major General Staff Officer Dr. Samir Farag was followed by the beginning of the dialogue with the students and then presented him with the university’s shield. The university’s shield was also given to the great journalist Khaled Saad in appreciation of his role in spreading awareness through his well-known program “Al-Multaqa,” which is broadcast on Egyptian television.

It is worth noting that Major General Staff Officer Dr. Samir Farag graduated from the Military College with distinction in 1963 and joined the infantry, rising to military positions up to the position of commander of a mechanized infantry squad. He also graduated from the Egyptian Military Staff College in 1973, and then joined the Royal Kimberley Military Staff College in England in 1974, and was appointed as a Lecturer immediately after his graduation, making him the first officer from outside NATO and the Commonwealth to be appointed to this position.

He also obtained a Bachelor of Arts in History from Ain Shams University in 1979, a Diploma in Business Administration from the United States of America in 1982, and a Doctorate degree on “The Role of the Media in Preparing the State to Achieve Egyptian National Security.”

He also held many positions in the Egyptian Armed Forces in the Operations Authority and the Military Research Authority.

He worked as a Lecturer at the Infantry Institute and a Lecturer at the Command and Staff College. He was also appointed director of the office of the Director General of Military Intelligence.

He participated in the October War of 1973, where he was an operations officer in “Center 10” within the operations of the General Command of the Armed Forces. He was the youngest officer in age and rank at that time.

He served as Director of the Morale Affairs Department of the Egyptian Armed Forces for 7 years in the period from 1993 to 2000. He was also appointed as a military attaché to Turkey in the period from 1990 to 1993. In addition, he assumed some civilian positions, including the presidency of the Supreme Council of Luxor in 2004, and in 2009 he was appointed It was transformed into a governorate and its first governor was appointed, and he held this position until 2011.

He also served as director of the Egyptian Opera House from 2000 to 2004.