An illustrated lecture which examines the history of Egyptian support for ANZAC military campaigns especially the Egyptian Labor Corps that provided hundred of thousands Egyptians in the war effort but was little told in the development of Australia’s ANZAC legacy.
The lecture will highlight the correlation between the 1917 plebiscite referendum in Australia when conscription became a national issue after many of the Australian soldiers were losing their lives after Gallipoli and the conscription of the Egyptian Labor Corps around the same time. The lecture is a continuation of Professor Hashem's work which started many years ago and also a continuation of 'Gallipoli: A Story Untold', a play he wrote and directed which premiered in Melbourne in 2024.
The lecture will show, with images and historical fact, the involvement of hundreds of thousands of Egyptians who played a key role in setting up the theatre of war for the ANZACs, and we will hear some of the similarities between the Australian soldiers and the Egyptians in times of war. There will be many heroic stories from both nations, and this important lecture will not only continue the story of the Australian troops in Egypt but also document actual involvement in the war, with a focus on recruitment and conscription issues from both nations and how things developed as a consequence.
This lecture is presented in conjunction with the ANZEG Institute who have financed Professor Hashem’s travel.
Professor Mohammed Hashem is an Australian Egyptian award-winning international director, radio & TV broadcaster (UK, US), writer, researcher and professor of Media at the American University in Cairo. Before that he was also Professor at the British University and the Canadian universities in Filmmaking and media production. He has over 20 years of experience in the fields of media, public speaking and communications. He did all of his studies in Melbourne, Australia (Media and Sociology) and Deakin University (Creative Practice/Drama/Storytelling) and is now undertaking studies in law at Central Queensland University as he is interested in the international landscape of media, public policy, and legislation. He is also Co-Chair and CEO of ANZEG Institute and President of MENA at Tafta.
Header image: [Australian soldiers with horses in Egypt], 1914-1918, photographic print, Photographer unknown, Donated by Sava Pinney 2014, Macleay Collections, HP2014.1.479.
