First, it undermines the impression one gets from reading the military laws which organized the daily lives of the soldiers in the barracks. In spite of the sentry officers, the soldiers guarding the gates and fences of the camps, the bedouin forces roaming the vicinities of the camps, and the stipulation that all visitors be forbidden from entering such exclusive areas, this fellah not only succeeded in penetrating these supposedly insurmountable barriers but continued to live undetected with his friend for fifteen days. The presumably impermeable boundaries that were erected by the various laws, decrees and manuals were in fact constantly negotiated and crossed by the soldiers during their daily lives in the camps, a fact poignantly illustrated by the ability of the soldier to shout back at his officer from behind bars.

Builds on: "Camp security rules often broke down in actual practice."

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 1109