Cairo magazine

T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R N E W S , B U S I N E S S A N D C U L T U R E

ISSUE 30 • WWW.CAIROMAGAZINE.COM • 3-9 NOVEMBER 2005 • LE7

CAIRO RACES TO WATCH IN THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

ANATOMY OF A RAMADAN FIRECRACKER

NEW BOOK OF EGYPTIAN ART MISSES SOME GIANTS

What's at Stake

news

ISSUE 30 CAIRO MAGAZINE 3-9 NOVEMBER 20052

news

ISSUE 30 CAIRO MAGAZINE 3-9 NOVEMBER 2005 3

news


news


news6 News in briefCatch up on recent headlines.

7 Keeping the peaceAfter deadly sectarian riots, everyone is pointing fingers.

8 The BirdsEgypt braces for bird flu.

8 Nukes and zibdaIran’s nuclear program may be making the neighbors jealous.

9 Tapping outKaram Gaber, Egypt’s Olympic golden boy, is emigrating.

elections10 Spirit of ‘84These parliamentary elections will be the ones that count.

11 High noonA son looks to avenge his father’s defeat in Abbasiya.

13 Free shoesThe battle for Bab Al Shaariya gets dirty.

13 Dueling Islamists in BulaqThe “religious vote” is up for grabs in Giza.

business14 On the waterfrontAlexandrian dockworkers demand canceled bonus.

15 PowerbrokersBusinessmen dominate this year’s parliamentary lists.

in-depth18 The ivory dungeonProfessors are resisting security incursions on campus.

opinion16 Bullpen

16 From the driver’s seatWhat taxi drivers have to say about the Alexandria riots.

17 Press ReviewCartoons from the Arabic press.

out and about22 Anatomy of a firecracker Though illegal, these Ramadan traditions are hot items.

23 MalibuNew Doqqi eatery is no SoCal, but offers service with a smile.

culture24-25 Not the whole pictureLiliane Karnouk’s useful new book ignores key artists.

27 Arabic Literature 2.0Union and website for Internet writers highlight new genre.

25-26 listingsTheater, music, workshops and exhibitions.

30 and finally...Pagodas in Myanmar, this week in regional history and Golo’s turn to deal.

At Cairo University, students and faculty are demonstrating for a campus free of government interference.

3-9 November

DAN

A S

MIL

LIE

Breathing room

With the opposition massing, if not lining up, to take a collective swipe at the regime’s parliamentary power-base, the upcoming elections will be interesting. And with businessmen increasingly looking to move into the driver’s seat, it could be that the engines of privati-zation are just beginning to rev up.

This is good news for business generally, and music to the ears of neo-cons in Washington and London, the ones who spout that specious nonsense about how democracy, freedom and general happiness inevitably follow from free trade and privatization.

Businesspeople are necessary. Somebody has to create employment, pay taxes and provide services.

It is easy enough to identify a community of interests among businesspeople. They need a certain degree of freedom in which to operate—burden them with silly taxes and an unworkable regulatory system and either they or their money will simply go elsewhere.

This is fair enough. However, democracy, freedom, social services, human rights, environmental controls, safety regulations, building codes and an education system that teaches anything other than job skills are not necessary items on the list. In fact, they are more often seen as impediments—expensive luxuries that might, or might not, be affordable once low wages, high unemployment, low taxes and a general absence of regulation have allowed the factory owners to build up a big enough surplus.

Other countries balance the contradictory demands of capitalists versus the rest of us in different ways. In the West, the twentieth century was a century of protracted, and sometimes violent, struggle to define the balance of power between big business (as often as not in the uniform of the state), unions and civil rights groups.

As a starting point, the balance of power in Egypt is not promising.

Thanks to a decrepit education system, the work-force has little bargaining power on the world market, and thanks to a repressive government, there is no meaningful trade union system.

Giving business its breathing space is a practical ne-cessity, but we have to ensure that there’s enough air left over for the rest of us.

Editor: Matthew CarringtonManaging Editors: Issandr El Amrani and Elijah ZarwanNews Editor: Charles LevinsonCulture Editor: Ursula LindseyContributing Editors: Steve Negus,Paul Schemm and Sameh FawzyCopy Editors: Matt Hall and Luke YarbroughWriters: Ahmad Aboul-Wafa and Eman Shaban MorsiInterns: Judith Boessenkool and Kristina RoicDesign coordinator: Michael KeatingStaff photographers: Ahmad Hosni and Tara Todras-WhitehillCover Photo: Dana SmilliePublished by AS & A PublishingPrinted by Sahara Printing Company S.A.E.Designed by Fatiha Bouzidi

For advertising contact:Cairo Media Services39 Qasr Al Nil Street, Suite #24, Cairo, EgyptTelephone: 010 171 1408 [email protected]

24

news


news


ISSANDR EL AMRANI

As Friday prayers come to an end in

the middle-class Moharram Bey district of

Alexandria, hundreds of Central Security riot

police cordon off streets in a four block radius

around the two mosques that lie on either side

of the church. They allow people to return to

their homes in small groups, blocking every

part of the normally busy thoroughfare in

neatly aligned rows. They carry gas masks and

cartridge guns in addition to the standard-

issue batons and shields. Others wield pump-

action shotguns. At major intersections and

in front of the church, light armored vehicles

with gun turrets serve as a nerve center for

plainclothes commanders. There has been no

repeat of the 21 October riot that left three

dead and more than 150 injured.

It was never clear what sparked the previous

week’s riot, but the state seems intent on

preventing such events from recurring. In

Alexandria, political leaders and ordinary

citizens give widely differing accounts of how

protests over a play led to violence and death.

For Ali Abdel Fattah, a spokesman of the

Muslim Brotherhood and one of the organiza-

tion’s leaders in the Mediterranean port city,

the violence was the result of political maneu-

vers ahead of the parliamentary elections.

According to Abdel Fattah, the CD containing

a filmed version of the play I Was Blind but

Now I Can See, which was performed only

once (over two years ago), was distributed in

the neighborhood to sabotage the candidacy

of National Democratic Party Candidate Maher

Khilla (one of only two Copts running for the

party). Khilla announced that he would step

down last week in protest at the violence, but

was later told by the ruling party leadership

not to run anyway. In a common variant of the

story, one of his rivals in the race (which will

be held on 20 November) distributed the CD to

incite Muslims against Copts.

Abdel Fattah says that security forces may

have participated in the affair, with the goal

of blaming the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood

has seized the opportunity presented by

the sectarian riots to run a candidate in the

district.

“The Christians go to the state for protec-

tion, and then they both spit in our face,”

says Abdel Fattah, who says he saw the play

and found it insulting. But he says he wants

to help repair sectarian relations and that

the governor of Alexandria, Abdel Salem Al

Mahgoub, had asked him to sit on a “Council

of the Wise” composed of members of differ-

ent religions and political tendencies.

But for many others, the Muslim

Brotherhood is part of the problem. Among

the many rumors surrounding the riot’s cause

is the story that a flyer was distributed in

the neighborhood condemning the play on

behalf of the Brotherhood. The flyer report-

edly included the group’s slogan, “Islam is the

solution.” Some commentators on the affair,

even if they don’t think the Brotherhood is

directly responsible for the incident, believe

p State security massed outside Alexandria's Mar Girgis church—and the two mosques that flank it—on 28 October.

that the group is to blame for the politicization

of religion in the country. “What would be the

reaction to a political slogan like ‘Christianity

is the solution?,’” asked Nahdet Misr column-

ist Ramzi Zaklama in a recent editorial.

The ultra-secular left is also blaming the

politicization of religion. Abdel Halim Qandil,

the editor-in-chief of Nasserist weekly Al

Arabi and a leader of the Kifaya movement,

gestured to the increasingly political role

of Pope Shenouda III: “Pope Shenouda III is

not innocent, because he has transformed

the church from a spiritual institution to a

political one. The pope has given the impres-

sion that Copts are protected by the person

of Hosni Mubarak rather than by their citizen-

ship. Hence the confusion between religion

and politics.”

Mohammed Badrashin, an independent MP

for a nearby district in Alexandria, suggested

that paranoia about Copts’ political role esca-

lated the crisis. “The US backing of minorities

in the Middle East has given the Copts a dif-

ferent way of dealing with the majority—it’s

given them confidence and power,” Badrashin

said, adding that it was “a minority” of Copts

who thought this way.

The government’s worst fear, a crisis on

the international level, could be looming.

The UN Committee on Human Rights’ Special

Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion, Asma

Jahangir, has requested permission from

the government to visit Egypt to investigate.

Jahangir, a Pakistani lawyer who recently com-

pleted a report dealing with issues of conver-

sion and the religious rights of detainees, is

highly regarded on the international stage.

A few days earlier, Suleiman Gouda, a col-

umnist for the independent daily Al Masri

Al Youm, suggested that the government’s

incompetence in handling the crisis would

encourage foreign intervention. “Aside from

the president’s declaration, there has been

no reaction from the ministries that are con-

cerned, or from the prime minister,” Gouda

wrote, adding that this was tantamount to “an

indirect invitation to Mr. Mehlis to come to

Alexandria”—a reference to the UN envoy who

is investigating Syria’s involvement in the as-

sassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister

Rafik Hariri.

Coptic groups abroad had warned that

another riot was scheduled for after Friday

prayers on 28 October as well as 1 November,

the last day of Ramadan. In a press release

distributed to US newspapers, Mounir

Dawoud, the president of the New Jersey-

based International Christian Union and

American Coptic Association, said Muslims

were planning “the death of Christians and the

continued destruction of churches throughout

Egypt.” Dawoud accuses security services of

“giving the green light to the mob” to attack

the church, while the release says it fears

“impending ethnic cleansing of Christians

in Egypt.” The organization will be holding a

protest outside the United Nations in New York

City next week. A French Coptic organization

was also due to hold a protest in front of the

Egyptian embassy in Paris on 31 October. h

KEEPING THE PEACEAfter deadly sectarian riots, Copts and Muslims are pointing fingers

ISSAND

R EL AMRAN

I

t h e w e e k i n r e v i e wEgypt

King Tutankhamun was a red wine drinker, scientists announced on 26 October. Previously, the color of the pharaoh’s wine was unknown because it dried out over time, but a team of Spanish scientists pinpointed an acid left by compounds in red wine.

On 26 October, US authorities deported Mohammad Abouhalima, an Egyptian citizen jailed for eight years in the United States for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Six people died in the bombing and more than 1,000 were injured. Abouhalima was convicted in May 1997 of trying to help his brother, Mahmoud, who had been involved in the bombing, escape to Saudi Arabia.

President Hosni Mubarak appointed a new army chief of staff on 26 October. Lt. Gen. Sami Anan will replace Maj. Gen. Hamdi Wahiba, who has held the job for the past four years. Wahiba will now serve as the head of Egypt’s Arab Industrial Authority.

President Hosni Mubarak said on 27 October that Israel’s demand for the disarmament of Palestinian militants before a resumption of peace talks could lead to civil war. He further urged Israel to take steps to strengthen Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ position.

On 28 October, the electoral commis-sion published the final list of 5,414 candidates who will compete for the 444 parliamentary seats in 222 con-stituencies in the coming elections. (see elections coverage p. 10)

Attorney General Maher Abdel Wahid said on 29 October that he was dropping the bribery case against Ayman Nour for lack of evidence. But the Ghad leader still faces separate charges of forging documents in the process of registering his party.

On 30 October, religious authori-ties at Al Azhar banned a book on Wahabism. Azhari scholars found that Wahabi Islam—From Revival and Reforms to Global Jihad was blasphe-mous and promoted hatred of Islam. The book is an analysis of Mohammed bin Abdul Wahab’s work.

A medical source said on 30 October that two dead chickens from

Kurdistan, suspected of carrying deadly avian flu, had been tested for the disease in a US Army laboratory in Cairo. Both birds were found to be infected with an avian virus, but not the H5N1 strain. (see story p. 8)

Al Ahly football club extended its 50-game unbeaten streak Saturday in a 0-0 draw against ESS Tunisia in the first round of the African Champions League final. The tournament’s deciding match will be played in Cairo on 12 November.

Region

Iraq’s electoral commission on 25 October announced that Iraqis had approved the country’s constitution ten days earlier. The 78.59 percent vote in favor of the draft obscured heavy opposition in predominantly Sunni provinces.

Several explosions shook the Kurdish city of Suleimaniya in northeast Iraq on 25 October. In total, 9 people were killed and 6 injured. The city had previ-ously been relatively peaceful.

Two thousand US soldiers have been killed in Iraq, Pentagon officials ac-knowledged on 25 October.

Iraqi Shia leader Moqtada Al Sadr’s faction said on 25 October that it backs the Arab League’s proposed conference on national reconcilia-tion in Iraq, but not at the proposed location, Cairo. “We believe it should be held inside Iraq,” Sheikh Al Arji of Al Sadr’s Shia faction said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed “wide-ranging and cease-less” operations against Palestinian militants on 27 October following a suicide bombing the day before in Hadera—the first in two months. President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad held surprise talks in Damascus on 28 October to discuss a UN report on the killing of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

On 28 October, members of the Sliba tribe in Kuwait occupied the offices of Al Rai TV. They were angry at televised remarks comedian Daoud Hessein calling Saddam Hussein a “dog of the Sliba tribe.”

A World Trade Organization (WTO) working group brought Saudi Arabia a step closer to joining the WTO on 28 October by approving the terms that would allow the country to join. The WTO’s General Council is expected to approve Saudi Arabia’s entry into the organization on 11 November.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran “was not planning an attack against Israel” on 29 October. The remarks followed a diplomatic row and censure from the UN Security Council caused by the Iranian president’s earlier call for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”

At least 30 people were killed in a car bomb in Howaider, a predomi-nantly Shia city 35 miles north of Baghdad on 30 October.

Business

Al Ahram reported on 28 October that the cost of this Ramadan’s Omra pilgrimage trips totaled $2 billion. Imports of yamish foodstuffs totaled US$80 million, Al Ahram reported.

Orascom Construction Industry said on 26 October it would acquire a 30-percent stake in a $540 million investment to build Egypt’s first ammonia plant. Other companies include PSK Holdings, Amiral Group and the Egyptian General Petroleum Company.

During his upcoming visit to Russia, scheduled for 12 November, Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry Rashid Mohammed Rashid will discuss a possible free trade agreement between Russia and Egypt.

Emaar Misr, a subsidiary of Dubai’s real-estate development firm Emaar Properties, signed an agreement with the Egyptian government on 25 October for a $172 million project in the Smart Village outside Cairo. Emaar Properties will build an exhibi-tion center, a hotel and apartments.

State-owned insurance giant Misr Insurance Company will sell 80 percent of its real estate subsidi-ary, Misr Company for Real Estate and Tourism Investment, to a strategic investor. The company will accept acquisition bids until 1 December, 2005.

THE WEEK IN

NUMBERS

1,000,000Amount in Egyptian pounds that independent candidate for parlia-ment Mohammed Kamel told Agence France-Presse it costs to secure a nomination for the NDP list.

10Seats in the parliament filled by presi-dential decree.

2Dead chickens from Kurdistan tested for bird flu in Cairo.

2,000American soldiers killed in Iraq since fighting began in 2003.

80,000,000The US dollar value of dates, nuts and other traditional iftar staples imported into Egypt this Ramadan.

THE WEEK IN

QUOTES

“The Brotherhood has abandoned districts to all the parties, to the Copts and to the Communists, but has refused to leave Bulaq to me.” —Montasser Al Zayat, lawyer for Al Gamaa Al Islamiya and a candidate for parliament in Boulaq al Dakrur, expressing his anger with the Muslim Brotherhood for challenging him in the district.

“Big businessmen are participating in this election to a degree unprec-edented in any previous election in Egypt.” —Abdel Ghafar Shokr, a member of the Tegammu Party’s policies com-mittee, on the growing influence of businessmen in Egyptian politics.

“I was later suspended from working at the Port for three months just because I brought in some yoghurt for the protesting workers so they could break their fast. Now that I have been denied access to my work and wages for three months, how am I supposed to feed my family and three children?”—Adel Al Hassri, a non-union employee at the Port of Alexandria who was suspended for helping fellow port employees protest the cancellation of their Eid bonuses.

briefs

news


news


MAGDY SAMAAN

After experiencing the elation of their first

gold medal since 1948—awarded to wrestler

Karam Gaber—Egyptians were shocked by the

announcement that Gaber is retiring from the

sport and will go into business with his brothers

after moving to the US.

Gaber has come under heavy criticism as

a result of the announcement, particularly

after speculation that he is trying to obtain US

citizenship to compete with the US team in the

upcoming world championships and the 2008

Peking Olympics. Since the 2004 Games in

Athens, Gaber has traveled to the US and Japan

to participate in two unofficial championships

for money, without the knowledge of the wres-

tling governing body in Egypt.

In an interview with Al Bayt Baytak, the

popular talk show on state television, Gaber

objected to the attacks. “My love for my country

p Karam Gaber (r), says he wasn't rewarded for helping the NDP take down its opponents.

hasn’t resulted in any real reward,” he said. “I

have not received the honor due an Olympic

gold medal winner. With the passage of time,

everyone forgot the gold medal, so I decided to

travel to America to join the family business.”

Gaber has been bringing in medals for Egypt

in Arab, African and international championships

since 1997. Throughout that period, Gaber said,

he has planned his own nutritional regimen and

spent a great deal of his own money on the sport.

When he appeared on Egyptian television screens

after news spread that he was thinking of leaving

Egypt and emigrating to the US, he did not deny

that he would compete for another country.

He blamed his discontent on the Egyptian

Wrestling Union. “The group has not paid suf-

ficient attention to me and has spent too little

money to allow me to maintain myself as an

Olympic athlete,” he said. He also charged that

the Union had refused to set up a training camp

for him outside Egypt, which would allow him to

focus on his training.

“My principal reason for emigrating and

retirement is the wrestling union’s mismanage-

ment of me as an Olympic champion,” Gaber

said. “Turmoil in the administration has forced

me to shoulder the burden of maintaining this

level of training.”

Gaber participated in the publicity campaign

for President Hosni Mubarak during the presi-

dential elections. After the elections, he said,

he did not receive the compensation he had

expected.

He is currently preparing to marry the

Russian woman to whom he has been engaged

to for a month. After the wedding, she will travel

with him to the US. Gaber recently declined

a tempting offer to play the leading role in an

Egyptian film.

When the Egyptian national anthem played

at Gaber’s 2004 medal ceremony it was the first

since Egypt’s two weightlifting golds in 1948,

which went to lightweight Ibrahim Shamis and

featherweight Hamoud Fayyad. At that time, it

was the royal anthem.

Gaber won the 96 kilogram gold in 2004 by

carrying a powerful performance through his

Olympic matches.

Gaber was born on 1 September 1979 in a

working-class home on Nasser Street in the heart

of Hai Manshiya, one of the oldest and most tra-

ditional residential areas of Alexandria. He com-

pleted his studies at the Technical Commercial

Institute. He is the sixth of seven brothers and

sisters. h

MEN

A

TARA TOD

RAS-WH

ITEHILL

CHITRA KALYANI

With the seasonal migration of birds

from Eastern Europe seeking more temperate

climes, the threat of avian flu looms large in

Egypt. Recent outbreaks of the deadly H5N1

strain of bird flu have been confirmed in Turkey

and Romania, and the much-feared virus is

expected to hit Eastern and Sub-Saharan Africa

within weeks, according to the United Nations

Food and Agriculture Association (FAO).

In developing countries like Egypt, where

contact with animals is especially frequent, there

exists “an ideal breeding ground for the virus,”

according to FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Dr.

Joseph Domenech. Bird flu has killed 62 of the

120 people it has infected. Currently, the disease

can spread only slowly among humans because it

can only be contracted directly from birds. There

is a widespread fear, however, that should bird

flu become endemic in Africa, the virus could

mutate into a form easily transmittable between

humans. The result could be catastrophic, and

experts are already drawing comparisons to the

Spanish influenza which killed 25 to 50 million

people from 1918-1919.

The Egyptian government is taking note. In

response to UN bird flu warnings, Egypt banned

all live poultry imports on 18 October despite in-

ternational import agreements. Egyptian authori-

ties quarantined 12,000 turkeys imported from

Germany in mid-October. These were released

after testing negative for bird flu. A cargo of

ducklings seized by Egyptian civil aviation au-

thorities, however, weren’t so lucky. Half of the

30,000 fowl died while impounded.

The government has called off the hunting of

wild birds, and 27 observation posts have been

set up along Egypt’s borders to collect statistics

about migratory birds, according to the Ministry

of Agriculture. Warnings have been issued to

avoid contact with birds along the North Coast

and Fayyoum, among other areas where hunting

is prevalent.

Ministry of Health officials say there is a

national plan to guard against the spread of

avian flu. Health Minister Mohammed Awad

Tageddin told Akhbar Al Youm on 28 October

that in the event bird flu hits Egypt, infected

birds on poultry farms will be killed.

Dr. Nasr Al Sayed, the Ministry of Health

official responsible for preventative measures

against bird flu, told Cairo that areas within

three kilometers of an infection will be quar-

antined and decontaminated. Those infected

will be quarantined immediately, and a vaccine

will be prepared using the strain found in those

carrying the virus. In the event of the feared

pandemic where human-to-human transmission

takes place, antiviral drugs will be administered

by the government, though officials say that

such a scenario is unlikely.

But public awareness even at the highest

levels of administration seems insufficient. Dr.

Ayman Abdel Rahman at Al Salam International

Hospital’s emergency ward in Maadi said that no

direct information had been given to hospitals

from government authorities regarding avian

flu. Abdel Rahman said that he and his col-

leagues have had to educate themselves about

the disease through World Health Organisation

(WHO) press releases.

The global buzz around bird flu is hurting

t If avian flustrikes a poultry farm, the Ministry of Health plans to quarantine and decontaminate a three-mile radius.

chicken farmers in Egypt. Ahmed Sayed, the

owner of both a Zamalek fowl store, Tuyur

Gomhorriya, and a chicken farm, estimates that

business has dropped 35 percent. Should bird

flu appear, Sayed says he’ll have no choice but

to close shop.

Health officials say the likelihood of wild birds

contaminating Egypt’s domestic birds is highly

unlikely. “The country’s privately and publicly

owned chicken, turkey and quail farms are all

indoors,” said Abdelkhaliq Abbas, spokesman

for the Animal Health Research Centre.

At least one sector is reaping the benefits of

the bird flu panic: the pharmaceutical industry

may see an upswing in demand for vaccines and

antiretroviral drugs. The Ministry of Health’s Al

Sayed said the government is stockpiling antibi-

otics and antiretroviral drugs. The government

had ordered a consignment of Tamiflu, the

WHO-recommended vaccine for bird flu, from

the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche. The

shipment is expected to arrive by 1 November.

There is a worldwide shortage of Tamiflu,

however. And the readily available equivalent,

Amadine, “does not have any effect on the bird

flu virus,” according to pharmacist Ahmed

Montassir. While neither drug would cure in-

fluenza, they would reduce symptoms of the

disease if detected early. Amadine treats influ-

enza A, of which H5N1 is a strain. Amadine is

available for LE5 in many pharmacies, whereas

flu shots such as Vacciflu can be bought for

LE35. Vaccine shots (especially for the elderly)

are recommended. h

THIS AIN,T NO HITCHCOCK MOVIEEgypt braces for bird flu

TAPPING OUTEgypt’s Olympic golden boy is emigrating

Nukes and zibdaFREDERIK RICHTER

If Iran succeeds in developing a nuclear weapon, Egypt may decide to follow suit. That’s the conclusion of a recent report by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

In addition to Egypt, the report says, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are also closely monitoring Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program and could respond to such a program with similar efforts. IISS director John Chipman said on 25 October during the presentation of the IISS’ annual military balance report that if Iran developed a nuclear weapon, “at a very minimum, Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia would have to reconsider their positions.”

On 8 October, British daily The Guardian cited a report prepared by the British Secret Service MI5 and titled “Companies and Organizations of Proliferation Concern.” The report listed more then 360 organiza-tions, companies, university departments and governmental organiza-tions from eight countries in the Middle East and Asia that have alleg-edly obtained goods or technology for covert arms programs.

The majority of the organizations cited are Iran and Pakistan, but the MI5 report also lists a private Egyptian chemical company “as having procured technology for use in a nuclear weapons programme.” The MI5 report, prepared two years ago, was meant to be a warning to British companies against dealing with the listed companies.

The report became public the day after Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were awarded this year’s Nobel Peace prize on 7 October. In fall 2004, the French news-paper Liberation published speculations that ElBaradei had covered up an Egyptian nuclear program. This program was said to have links to the Libyan nuclear program that Egypt’s neighbor officially acknowledged and abandoned in 2004.

The accusations against ElBaradei were never substantiated, and were widely attributed to American diplomats who opposed a third term for ElBaradei as head of the IAEA.

Most independent international analysts suggest that Egypt does not actively maintain a large-scale nuclear weapons program. Last February, however, ElBaradei’s IAEA criticized Egypt for failing to report experiments that lasted until 2003 at two research reactors at Inshas in the Delta. Following inspection tours of Egyptian labo-ratories, however, the IAEA dismissed speculation about an Egyptian weapons program. Egypt gave up its nuclear ambitions after its defeat by Israel in 1967.

As a consequence, Egypt lost many of its nuclear experts due to a dearth of work opportunities at home. Some of the unemployed nuclear scientists joined the Iraqi nuclear weapons program. Egyptian expertise also contributed to Iraq’s chemical weapons program, ac-cording to a CIA report on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program.

“During the early years, Egyptian scientists provided consultation, technology and oversight allowing rapid advances and technologi-cal leaps in weaponization,” the report claims. The report also refers to Egyptian assistance in the Iran-Iraq war, during which chemical weapons were used.

According to the report, Egypt enabled warheads to store chemical agents on a rocket launch system in 1983 and exported Grad rockets, designed to hold a chemical agent. Iraq also invited Egyptian chemical weapons experts to assist in producing the nerve gas Sarin. That Egypt was able to boost Iraq’s chemical weapon program suggests that its own program was quite advanced at that time. Egypt employed chemical weapons during its intervention in the Yemeni civil war in the 1960s.

The Egyptian foreign ministry has denied all links to the Iraqi chemical weapons program. It remains to be seen whether Tehran’s nuclear ambitions could set in motion a renewed arms race in the Middle East.

Doping rumorsKaram Gaber’s withdrawal from last month’s Wrestling World Championships in Hungary may have been related to steroid use. The doping ac-cusations are at the center of an imbroglio that has pitted the Egyptian Olympic Committee against the Egyptian Wrestling Union. The in-dependent daily Al Masri Al Youm reported on 29 October that the committee had issued a sharp warning to the Wrestling Union after the latter disregarded the committee’s request to hand over the results of an investigation into allegations that Gaber had used performance-enhancing drugs.

Olympic Committee Secretary General Khalid Zein said that “decisive steps” would be taken against the union if it refused to divulge the results of its investigation. These could include referring the matter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC has the authority to strip the union of its drug-testing oversight privileges. Zein also had harsh words of criticism for Gaber, who, according to the report, “lost the enthusiasm of his sympathizers after he became obsessed with amassing money.”

news


news


remarks. If the NDP’s reformists are earnest,

they have yet to prove that they are able to

control the party.

This in turn leads to the most important

player in the election: the regime itself. Under

assault for the slow pace of reforms from the

domestic opposition at home and its most im-

portant ally, the United States, abroad, there

is considerable pressure to show a real politi-

cal opening while retaining as much power as

possible. If the election is marred, as previous

elections have been, by voter intimidation,

Egypt could forfeit its claim to be one of the

most progressive Arab states at a time when

the United States is ideologically committed

to the spread of democracy in the region. Even

though there are question marks over the true

extent of this commitment, a patently unfair

election would likely perpetuate the instabil-

ity of the past year—with its constant street

protests and clashes with security forces—and

make a mockery of parliament.

Egypt’s main opposition forces, for the first

time in quite a while, seem to have decided

that parliament deserves to be more than

a rubber stamp. Even the anarchic Kifaya

movement is dedicated to entering the politi-

cal mainstream rather than staying outside it.

This is because the opposition should know

that even if parliament’s field of action is

limited, it can still have an impact from under

the rotunda.

Parliament may sometimes be a rubber stamp

for policies hatched by the executive branch

(or, lately, the NDP’s Policies Secretariat), but it

can also be a pulpit from which politicians of

all stripes can stand up and be counted. Ayman

Nour used his position as an MP to increase his

public profile before placing a distant second

in the presidential election. Nour would never

have gotten where he is today without the

many scandals he raised under the rotunda

and the occasional grandstanding—which is

why the NDP is putting up a fierce fight in his

Bab Al Shaariya district, where he is extremely

popular.

The coming election is in many ways remi-

niscent of the one that took place in 1984, at

the dawn of the Mubarak era. Then, despite a

proportional-representation system that en-

gineered small parties out of the running, a

Wafd-Muslim Brotherhood alliance managed to

secure 58 seats, the highest number the oppo-

sition has ever gotten. It now seems plausible

that the opposition could better that score. On

13 December, when parliament reopens for

business, it could have its most diverse com-

position yet—and that is why naysayers are

wrong to be as apathetic about this election as

they were about the presidential one. h

The election at a glanceFive thousand, four hundred and fourteen candidates will compete for 444 seats in the People’s Assembly in either the fiaat (pro-fessional) or umal (worker) category. This distinction is a holdover from the Nasserist era, when it was put in place to ensure more representation for the lower classes. Today, the lines are blurred and many umal candidates are wealthy businessmen. A call to abolish the current system was met with uproar earlier this year.

In addition to the 444 seats that will be up for grabs, an additional 10 seats will be filled by presidential decree. Traditionally, these seats have gone to Copts and women—two groups that this election are again disap-pointed by their representation on official party lists.

More than 1,600 candidates will stand in the first round of voting. Of these, 523 will be running in the greater Cairo area. Four hundred thirty-two of the candidates running for seats from Cairo are running as independ-ents, but many of them are members of the NDP who were not selected as the party’s official candidates. Of the 1,600 competing in the first round, only 82 are registered with a legal opposition party.

ISSANDR EL AMRANI

When the country’s first presidential

election took place on 7 September, the outcome

was both simple and unsurprising. There could

be only one winner and it was already quite clear

that it would be Hosni Mubarak. Even though

history was being made in that there had never

been a multi-candidate election—or opposition

campaigns in which other candidates took on

the incumbent—the excitement was more in

the process than in the outcome.

The opposite is true for the three-round

parliamentary election that will take place in

November and December. While the campaigns

currently underway have offered just a few sur-

prises so far, this election could make a differ-

ence for the future of political reform in Egypt.

The opposition is taking things seriously.

There is little chance that it will defeat the

ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), which

p Young Turk Hossam Badrawi faces Hisham Mustafa Khalil in the race for Qasr Al Nil's seat in parliament.

is both too organized and too intertwined

with state authority to cede its dominant place

on the political landscape. But it has formed

an opposition front that, warts and all, is the

most impressive coalition built in years and has

overcome ideological and personal differences

among most parties. Making inroads in the

People’s Assembly is essential to the opposition

for one simple reason: come the next presiden-

tial election (at the latest 2011), only parties with

at least 25 MPs will be able to field a candidate.

Under current legislation, it will be practically

impossible for an independent to run.

Chances are that most parties will not make

this quota. This will mean that only one or two

opposition parties will be able to field a presi-

dential candidate, or more likely that they will

band together. Although Cairo has highlighted

the many internal divisions in the current

alliance, it remains that opposition parties have

at least partly put aside their usual bickering

and gone to some trouble to coordinate their

campaigns. Even more important, though,

would be to start reform at home. The emer-

gence of the Kifaya movement, the heightened

profile of party offshoots like the neo-Nasserist

Karama and the neo-Islamist Al Wasat parties,

and Ayman Nour’s rise in popularity through

sheer charisma have shown what new blood can

do to opposition politics.

For the Muslim Brotherhood, which is part of

the opposition front but is not coordinating its

candidates with other parties, the next election

could be the biggest boost to its political profile

in two decades. For the first time since 1995,

there are no Muslim Brotherhood members

in jail only a week before polling starts. The

Brotherhood is fielding three times as many

candidates as it did in 2000 and is campaigning

openly under its own name. Its leader, Mahdi

Akef, says he expects as many as 70 seats in

the next parliament. That claim may be too

ambitious, but unless massive arrests or fraud

mar the elections, a group that has had many

obstacles in previous races will find itself vir-

tually unhindered—apart from the fact that it

remains illegal.

One of the most interesting aspects of the

election, however, is that for the first time since

the 1970s new Islamist movements are actually

being allowed, if not encouraged, to run. The

Muslim Brotherhood’s current domination of po-

litical Islam was not always so. From the 1930s

through the 1970s, other groups competed

with it for the “religious vote.” This year, can-

didates affiliated with Al Gamaa Al Islamiya, a

popular Islamist movement that took up terror-

ism in the 1980s, are running as independents,

in addition to moderate Islamists from the Al

Wasat movement. The most prominent of these

candidates, former Gamaa Islamiya member

(and Ayman Zawahiri cellmate) Montasser

Al Zayat, a lawyer who specializes in Islamist

cases, has already blasted the Brotherhood for

trying to “monopolize the Islamist scene” and

running one of its members against him in the

Giza district of Bulaq Al Dakrour. This was

all the more surprising as the Brotherhood is

widely reported to have made deals with not

only opposition parties but also the NDP not to

run in certain districts.

But the biggest challenge of the election,

paradoxically, is for the NDP. While there

is little doubt that it will achieve at least a

two-thirds majority (compared to the current

89-percent majority it holds now), this is

more than enough to control parliament and

steer major political decisions. Two-thirds of

parliament is all that is needed to renew the

Emergency Law (should President Mubarak’s

pledge to replace it with an anti-terror law not

be fulfilled), grant full powers to the executive,

secure the expulsion of an MP from parliament

or pass a constitutional amendment. So the

question for the NDP is not so much whether

it will win, but rather which of its candidates

will win and what that will mean for its much-

vaunted reform process.

One aspect of the NDP’s attempt to reform

has already been a failure. In the 2000 elec-

tions, official NDP candidates won only about

38 percent of seats, while 51 percent of winning

candidates were NDP members who ran as in-

dependents and later returned to the fold to

form the current 89-percent majority. Despite

constant threats from the party leadership,

a very similar scenario is likely to unfold this

time around. This will not threaten the hold

of the party on parliament, but it will weaken

the ideological grip that the NDP’s new leader-

ship, headed by Gamal Mubarak, has tried to

impose over the past few years. For now, the

NDP remains mostly a party of opportunists,

more interested in the access to the state appa-

ratus that membership offers than in the fancy

program dreamt up by the Policies Secretariat.

As prominent Al Ahram commentator Salama

Ahmed Salama noted in a recent column, should

the NDP accept the return of its members who

ran as independents against the will of the

party leadership, it “will risk the credibility of

the party.”

A related question is whether the “old vs.

new guard” disputes that have marked the last

four years in the NDP will continue. Some NDP

insiders are lamenting the fact that key old

guard figures are still at the helm of electoral

politics. Kamal Al Shazli, the party’s parlia-

mentary powerbroker, is practically guaran-

teed re-election in his hometown of Bagour. It

will mark his forty-second year in parliament.

It’s not surprising to find Hossam Badrawi,

an MP for the central Cairo district of Qasr

Al Nil—who is facing a strong challenge from

Hisham Mustafa Khalil, a fellow NDP member

who is running as an independent—quoted in

the 26 October edition of Al Masri Al Youm as

saying that the party’s leadership was “sacri-

ficing reform and reformists on the pretext of

regime survival.” Badrawi later disavowed the

Parliament after the 2000 elections:

n NDP: 174n Independents who joined NDP: 216n Independents: 20n Muslim Brotherhood: 17n Legal opposition: 17

Source: Egypt Almanac

Parliament after the 1995 elections:

n NDP: 317n Independents who joined NDP: 114n Independents: 13

elections elections

JOHN EHAB

On the streets of

the poor Weili district

of Abassiya, Deputy

Director of the Wafd

Party Mounir Fakhri

Abdel Nour is fighting

an intense battle to hold

his seat against medical

doctor and NDP candi-

date Ahmed Sherin. It’s

an old family rivalry.

In 1995, and again in

2000, Abdel Nour ran

against Sherin’s father.

Abdel Nour lost in 1995, but won in 2000.

With sensitivities about Coptic-Muslim relations running high fol-

lowing the recent riots in Alexandria, the country is watching the Weili

campaign closely. In both campaigns, local Coptic leaders allege, the

elder Sherin unleashed a volley of sectarian propaganda against Abdel

Nour. The combination of family rivalry and the specter of sectarian

division make this race a sensitive contest.

Abdel Nour was one of only three Copts elected to parliament in

2000. This time around, the NDP will run only one Coptic candidate, but

the opposition National Front is running 13. Kamal Al Shazli, a senior

member of the NDP’s Policy Committee who boasts of being the longest-

serving MP in the world, has said during past campaigns that to put a

Copt on the NDP list is to risk losing a seat.

Ghad Party candidate Sameh Mahrous, also a Copt, is running a distant

third. Some here speculate Al Ghad chose a Copt to run against Abdel

Nour in an attempt to siphon votes away from the rival Wafd Party and

to build on their success in Abassiya in the September presidential elec-

tions. Voters in the district returned roughly 1,000 votes for Ayman Nour

in September, compared with just 168 for the Wafd’s Noman Goma.

Sherin, the NDP challenger, says he is committed to the NDP program

of reform laid out during the presidential election. He was elected to

the local neighborhood council in 2003 and has a base of support in the

district. He is working to undermine Abdel Nour’s credibility, portraying

the Wafd Party businessman as an absentee parliamentarian who has

neglected his district’s interests since elected to parliament for the first

time in 2000.

The program appears to be working. “[Abdel Nour] always said ‘my

door is open,’ but he was never there,” Abdel Tawab, an elderly Weili

resident, told Cairo.

Abdel Nour’s own political missteps haven’t helped his image. During

a recent radio program he asked the residents of his district to “stop the

noise.” According to his own account of the interview, Abdel Nour says

he told the interviewer that “having worked for Weili and the parliament

for the past five years, he would like to have five minutes rest with a ‘no

noise’ sign on his office.”

Abdel Nour admits that he has not always been visible in his electoral

district. “If ‘presence in the district’ means that I sit with people in coffee

shops playing backgammon, I apologize—that’s not my duty,” Abdel

Nour told Cairo. “I think the role of a public official is solving the overall

problems of the country, not giving private services to supporters.”

Abdel Nour says that during his time in parliament he supported laws

to encourage foreign investment by relaxing state control over economic

policy. This program of economic liberalization, he said, would create

jobs, which he sees as the greatest challenge facing Egypt today. h

HIGH NOONSon aims to avenge father’s Abbasiya defeat

SPIRIT OF ‘84This year’s parliamentary elections will be the poll that really counts

TARA TOD

RAS-WH

ITEHILL

TARA TOD

RAS-WH

ITEHILL

news


news


JOHN EHAB

An old woman hurries into Ayman

Nour’s well-known headquarters in Midan Bab

Al Shaariya howling: “Hey everyone, they’re

pulling down Nour’s big banner next to the

kebab place.” Hagga Hamida was on her way

back from the hospital when she witnessed a

young man taking down the banner. “I would

have beaten him if I’d had the chance,” the

Nour supporter says defiantly.

In Nour’s parliamentary election campaign

center, banners torn down in the streets are

brought in regularly. “When we have objected,

police officers have sided against us,” Mahmoud

Al Nahas, the district director for Nour’s

campaign, says. Nour’s campaign workers are

full of stories about threats against them and

an atmosphere of fear shadowing Nour sup-

porters.

“Every day I hear NDP supporters threaten-

ing me, saying I can be detained or fired from

my job. I know they can do nothing to me,”

says Tamer Abdel Wadoud, a physician and

Nour supporter. Others display injureis which

they say are from encounters with thugs from

their opponent’s campaign.

Outside Nour’s campaign center and

throughout Midan Bab Al Shaariya, the majority

of banners bear the name of the district’s NDP

candidate, Yehia Wahdan. “Wahdan is a nice

young man who is going to do a lot for Bab Al

Shaariya. Ayman Nour serves only those who

follow him,” says Osama Al Toukhi a fatatri

(Egyptian pastry maker). “Wahdan is from Bab

Al Shaariya, while Nour is not.”

Wahdan, the son of a former MP from the

same district, was a state security officer until

he resigned to run against Ayman Nour in

2000. He lost that race and returned to work

as a public prosecutor until this year, when he

resigned again to seek revenge for his 2000

defeat.

Along Port Said Street, a banner for Wahdan

reads: “Yehia Wahdan—Native Son.” Opposite,

a Nour banner lies discarded on the pavement,

footprints muddying the once glistening

orange banner. Pointing at Nour’s banner,

Wahdan campaign manager Emad Shami says,

unprompted, “That was a result of natural

causes.”

“Ayman Nour is a successful media man,

but he markets only himself, nothing else,”

Shami says, but admits that, as the incumbent,

Nour has a better chance in the elections.

Shami pauses mid-sentence and calls out to a

woman, a Wahdan supporter, passing by. He

gives her a brand new pair of shoes from a

stockpile, a token of appreciation, he says, for

her support.

New shoes or otherwise, petty political

paybacks are quite commonplace in this

district. “Nour spoiled many young men in

Bab Al Shaariya by giving them a monthly

salary just in exchange for supporting him,”

Shami adds. He also showed Cairo a pile

of job applications that the NDP candidate

had collected from supporters. The applica-

tions had been passed on to the Minister of

Finance, Youssef Boutros Ghali, and at the

bottom of each was a written confirmation

that the applicants had been hired in a tax

agency. h

TARA

TO

DRA

S-W

HIT

EHIL

L

FREE SHOESBattle for Bab Al Shaariya gets dirty as Ayman Nour takes on an ex-state security officer

Dueling Islamists in BulaqMAGDY SAMAAN

It’s predictable that the principal competition in the parliamentary elections will be between the National Democratic Party and the opposition. The district of Bulaq, however, is witnessing a different phenomenon entirely. In this sprawling district of illegal slums, the primary competition is between powerful opposition candidates.

Bulaq Al Dakrour is a big district that includes parts of Al Haram, Al Omrani and the rural Kafr Al Tuhurmos. More than 50 candidates are competing for the votes of the district’s 130,000 low-income residents.

In most electoral districts, the opposition alliance has agreed to run a single candidate. Not so in Bulaq. Opposition wrangling has left the district open to outsider Montassir Al Zayat, a lawyer for Al Gamaa Al Islamiya and a member of the Lawyers’ Syndicate leadership council.

Al Zayat has lived in Bulaq for more than 20 years and, to the dismay of many, has received the endorsement of the liberal Wafd Party. The Wafd’s support will help Al Zayat gain the support of Coptic voters, and Al Zayat’s

campaign is pitching him as a protector of national unity. At an Al Zayat press conference, a representative of the Wafd announced that “the Wafd supports national unity, and Montassir Al Zayat does not distinguish between Copts and Muslims.”

Recent events, however, have belied these state-ments. Al Zayat has adopted the slogan “Yes, we want it Islamic.” He is stressing his commitment to Islamic sharia law, and his opposition to changing the second article of the constitution, which says that sharia is the principle source of legislation. He says Egypt needs a candidate committed to the idea of change and reform, and not a candidate co-opted by the government.

Copts aside, Al Zayat will have to struggle for the Islamic vote as well. The Muslim Brotherhood’s decision to run a candidate against Al Zayat has rankled the Islamist lawyer, who reportedly worked tirelessly to convince the Brotherhood to leave the district to him.

Despite his efforts, he Muslim Brotherhood is running Gamal Ashri, a powerful candidate who has worked in Bulaq for years, and who the Brotherhood says is capable of garnering a seat in parliament for the Brotherhood.

“The Brotherhood does not want anyone but them-selves to speak in the name of Islam, but Islam is for all the people,” Al Zayat said during a press conference on 27 October. “The Brotherhood has abandoned districts

to all the parties, to the Copts and to the Communists, but has refused to leave Bulaq to me.”

The Muslim Brotherhood has organized a number of marches in the district so far, gathering thousands of supporters in the streets with banners reading “Islam is the solution,” the Brotherhood’s controversial election slogan.

Running against the two sparring Islamists is Kamal Abu Attiya, the well-known leftist activist. Abu Attiya’s leftist credentials are solid. He is a member of the Karama Party, Kifaya, the Revolutionary Socialists and the National Front for Change. Often dubbed the muezzin of the revolution, Abu Attiya has long been a thorn in the government’s side. He has been at the helm of many demonstrations during the past 30 years, and has been imprisoned some 15 times.

Abu Attiya is among the public figures whom the government would least like to see in parliament. This fact has raised questions about the Wafd’s decision to support Al Zayat over Abu Attiya. Some observers say the move reeks of Wafdist collusion with the government.

The NDP candidate in Bulaq will be Ahmed Samih Galal Darwish, the current MP who, as an independ-ent in 2000, beat the NDP’s candidate Mohammed Hassan. Samih, however, joined the NDP shortly after his victory.

p Campaign banners have been casus belli in Bab Al Shaariya.

election elections

for advertising contact

Michael Emad

TEL: 010 171 1408

[email protected]

standout from the crowd

news


news


FREDERIK RICHTER

With the final candidate lists prepared

and a picture emerging of what Egypt’s next

parliament could look like, the Left is declaring

the dawn of the rule of big business in Egypt.

“Big businessmen are participating in this

election to a degree unprecedented in any

previous election in Egypt,” said Abdel Ghafar

Shokr, a Tegammu Party leader. “The candi-

p Kamal Al Shazli has a lot to do with who gets to run for parliament under the NDP banner.

date lists of the NDP, the Wafd and the Ghad

Party are filled with millionaires.”

Egypt’s emerging cadre of super-wealthy

businessmen is beginning to seek formal po-

litical clout to match their informal influence.

A parliament with more businessmen would

shape the direction of economic reform and

facilitate the government’s accelerating, but

controversial, privatization program. For some

in the opposition, it also raises the possibility

of conflict of interest.

Signs of big business’ growing political in-

fluence first emerged during the presidential

election, when the Mubarak campaign was

able to stretch the LE10 million spending limit

thanks to massive volunteer spending on signs

and advertising by businessmen throughout

the country.

Competition for the NDP’s nomination in the

2005 parliamentary elections has been hard

fought. A whopping 2,700 people vied for only

444 candidate slots. Few know what criteria go

into the selection process, which remains the

purview of NDP powerbroker Kamal Al Shazli.

Some on the outside believe that a simple cash

donation is often the surest way to ensure the

NDP nominates you to be their candidate in any

given district.

Mohammed Kamel, who is running as an in-

dependent against Al Shazli in Menoufiya, told

Agence France Presse that it costs an average

of LE1 million to be selected as a candidate for

the NDP. “The sum is in cash and to be paid to

the party,” he told the wire service.

Many businessmen are drawn to parliament

by patriotism or a desire for prestige. Others

might appreciate the legal immunity from pros-

ecution that serving in parliament bestows. Still

others might see benefits in influencing legisla-

tion that will affect their business interests.

“The society is turning capitalist, so the role

of the capitalists in politics is growing,” Ghafar

Shokr said. “They are turning their wealth into

political power. They are not merely individu-

als, they are a class that has joint interests.”

The race in many districts has come down

to a spending match between competing mil-

lionaires. In Maadi, NDP business tycoon

Mohammed Al Murshidi faces independent

but NDP-affiliated candidate Akmal Khourtem,

who chairs an oil company. Hossam Badrawi

is running in Downtown’s Qasr Al Nil district

against Hisham Moustafa Khalil, nephew

of former Prime Minister Moustafa Khalil.

Badrawi owns a hospital and several healthcare

businesses. He is a close associate of Gamal

Mubarak.

The construction and agricultural industries

feature prominently in the coming races. Hani

Sorour, Mostapha Saleb and Mohammed Abul Al

Ainen, three ceramics magnates, are running. Of

the three, Al Ainen is likely the most powerful:

his company, Ceramica Cleopatra, maintains

12 factories and has expanded into agriculture,

tourism and the production of “smart cards.”

Youssef Wali, the former minister of agricul-

ture and a major landowner, is running in Al

Fayoum.

The individual candidacy system has made

candidates more dependent “on their own

money or familial and tribal affiliations for

success,” Al Ahram columnist Salama Ahmed

Salama says. “The old list system put the

funding pressure more on parties, and less on

individuals.”

Rich candidates can use their fortunes to

pay for campaign posters, public conferences,

flyers, presents for voters or simple cash

bribes.

“Many of these businessmen have been

formed through corruption, not by produc-

ing for their countries,” says Ghafar Shokr.

“They got their wealth illegally in most cases,

in smuggling, on the black market or through

currency speculation. They are not productive

capitalists like those in Japan, Malaysia and

Europe.”

One suspects that Ghafar Shokr won’t

be seeing many big contributions from the

business elite in the coming elections. h

MEN

A

JANO CHARBEL

Nearly 3,000 of the 4,000 workers who

keep the Port of Alexandria running con-

gregated to protest the cancellation of their

annual Eid bonus on 23 October. Contrary to

reports aired on satellite stations, however,

the workers did not go on strike.

“There was no strike, but rather a large

workers’ protest,” said Ibrahim Abdel Razeq,

a suspended member of the Alexandria Port

Workers’ Union Council. “The 3,000 workers

who were protesting were not on duty—the

nearly 1,000 workers who were continued with

their work as usual. Tugboats moved ships

into port, and workers continued loading and

unloading goods. There wasn’t even a slow-

down.”

Unified Labor Law 12/2003 and Prime

Ministerial Decree 1185/2003 forbid workers

employed in “strategic enterprises” from

striking. “If any of us had gone on strike, we

would have been arrested,” Abdel Razeq said.

“It was Ibrahim Yousef, the new administra-

tive chief of the Port, who ordered the cancel-

lation of our Eid bonuses. It was also Yousef

who fabricated and disseminated information

regarding our so-called ‘strike’ and the result-

ing losses of LE2 million.”

The leftist Al Tagammu was the only local

newspaper to cover the protest. A spokes-

woman for the Center for Trade Unions and

Workers’ Services told Cairo, “The official

media does not cover workers’ protests unless

opposition papers bring the issue to light. If

and when the official media does cover such

issues, it almost always portrays workers in

a negative light, describing them as trouble-

makers or lawbreakers.”

On 24 October, the Ministry of

Transportation intervened in the dispute,

striking a deal whereby workers would receive

two-thirds of their traditional Eid allowances in

exchange for ending the demonstrations. Four

out of the 10 men who sit on the Alexandria

Port Workers’ Union Council went on hunger

strike from 25-26 October to protest the deal.

Port security forces forcibly ejected these

four and a fifth, non-unionized worker from

the Union Council’s headquarters in the Port

on 25 October.

Yousef, in Alexandria Port Authority Decree

1231/2005, temporarily barred the five from

entering the Port and barred the four union

members from participating in the union.

Their names are posted at every entrance to

the Port.

Abdel Razeq, calling Yousef’s actions

“dictatorial,” charged the new port chief with

violating the terms of its international treaty

commitments to freedom of assembly. “He

has neither the authority nor the jurisdiction

to prevent us from working or to freeze our

membership in the union.”

Adel Al Hassri, a non-unionized port

employee, said, “At first I was relocated from

the Port of Alexandria to the underdeveloped

Port of Al Dekheila, which we port employees

consider to be our Abu Ghraib, along with 15

other employees. These punitive relocations

are Yousef’s attempts to bring the workers

to heel. I was later suspended from working

at the port for three months just because I

brought in some yogurt for the protesting

workers so they could break their fast. Now

that I have been denied access to my work and

wages for three months, how am I supposed

to feed my family and three children? This is

entirely unjust.”

Faced with these allegations, Ibrahim

Yousef responded, “I am the chief and the

primary authority in this port. I know what’s

best for the Port and for its well-being. If I let

the workers do whatever they feel like doing,

there will be chaos. I’m sick and tired of all

this harmful unionism.”

Abdel Razeq maintains union activity at

the port need not be harmful. “We have three

demands: recognition of our right to engage

in unionism, payment in full of our Eid allow-

ances... and the reversal of the decision to

suspend all five employees from work. We sent

an emergency appeal to President Mubarak

requesting his intercession, but received no

reply. We also sent a telegram requesting

the intervention of our parent union—the

Maritime Transport Workers’ Federation—but

we were again let down. We have appealed to

the general prosecutor and we are confident

that we will prevail. But in the meantime,

how are the suspended workers to feed their

families?” h

ON THE WATERFRONTThousands of Alexandrian dockworkers protest canceled Eid bonus

MONEY, POWER AND PARLIAMENTBusinessmen dominate this year’s parliamentary candidate lists

CURRENCY 24 OCTOBER 31 OCTOBER

US Dollar 5.79 5.80

Euro 6.92 6.99

Pound Sterling 10.24 10.28

Japanese Yen (100) 5.00 5.01

Saudi Riyal 1.54 1.55

Gold (oz.) 2,709 2,744

r TOP FIVE BY WEEKLY TURNOVER

STOCK WEEK % ∆ PRICE LE TURNOVER LE MIL.

EFG-Hermes Holding 16.41 78.54 549.329

Arab Cotton Ginning 16.03 15.27 491.204

Orascom Telecom -6.26 556.49 327.669

Orascom Construction Ind. -2.03 200.09 224.271

ALEzz Steel Rebars 6.94 58.73 198.882

rTURNOVER

TIME PERIOD HCMI INDEX % ∆1 Week -2.13

90 Days 15.20

52 Weeks 142.91

Total Turnover LE3.11 bil.

stocks for the week of 16 - 20 October

business business

p During a protest of off-duty workers on 23 October, it was business as usual for their on-duty colleagues.

MEN

A

news


news


How To Combat Extremism in EgyptHASSAN ELSAWAF

Essam El-Eryan is a resolute man. He does not possess the charisma that would appeal naturally to millions, for he represents a movement that many repudiate instinctively. Yet he cannot be accused of hypocrisy or sycophancy, traits abundantly present in his opponents. He has done time in defence of his views and has never wavered. He is one of the leading figures in the infamous Muslim Brotherhood Organisation, touted as the most serious threat to Egypt’s future and brainwashing millions into the torpor of denouncing the mere mention of the word ‘democracy’.

Muslim fundamentalism, or any extreme movement, is not a cap-tivating path to walk in the quest for a better life. Little can be found to defend ideas based on bigoted ideology and the belief that religion must trespass into the political arena. No open-minded person is happy with the notion that people can be ruled by an antiquated set of rules intolerant to the norms and needs of modern society. Nonetheless, extreme Islam is making profound inroads in Egypt and appears to have swayed millions away from rational thinking and the practical way of coexisting with an increasingly competitive and hardy world.

If we are left persuaded that we would be far better off without the likes of Mr. Eryan in our midst, we must calmly debate how to render him insignificant. To my mind, there are two ways.

The first is to listen to our government and go after him tooth and nail. Our astute authorities would have us believe that tolerance of such dan-gerous men is a short cut to another Taliban Afghanistan. Allowing Mr. Eryan and his ilk access to the masses through open debate and healthy intellectual intercourse are methods depicted as suicidal by our learned regime. Indeed, the mere sign of showing weakness or any sign of capitu-lating is tantamount to opening the floodgates of hell. Or so our military rulers would like us to think.

Before we deal with the second way, let us look at the first at a deeper level. In the search for arguments to defend an establishment that has done nothing but persistently pull Egypt down in every field, regime sup-porters have become desperate. Protecting the fortress from the insane onslaught of seventh century warriors seems to be the last straw. Simply by being party in this contentious matter of how Egypt is fit to be ruled disqualifies any regime member or supporter from the right to influence the outcome. It is a flagrant conflict-of-interest situation. As for the ‘Taliban’ apocalyptic scenario, it is up to the people of Egypt, relishing growing doses of media and political space, to determine whether a population of intel-ligent, educated individuals would yield to more tyranny and oppression.

The second means of dealing with Mr. Eryan and his followers is through opening up the system and striving to make the masses absorb the gist of the extremists’ message. Democracy, and the freedom that comes with it, will go a long way in persuading millions of disenfranchised Egyptians that the way to a better life is not through Islamic extremists, and that the only reason they are there and growing is the absence of that very democracy. It is the way of stability and justice that will dilute extremism, not detention and torture.

The very charges being levelled at Mr Eryan and his supporters -mem-bership in an illegal organisation, “influencing public opinion against the regime” and organising illegal protests- add legitimacy to his cause through the brazen illegality in them.

Mr. Eryan and his movement are welcome additions to the Egyptian political scene, not due to my belief in their ideas, but through my convic-tion that they add another dimension to the political picture and expose the dangerous ideas engendered by a moribund regime.

[email protected]

B U L L P E NThe air in Alexandria has been charged with sectarian strife lately. After the riots, some blamed the Christians at the Mar Girgis church and Islamist leaders, while others suspect that shadowy political forces were at work. Cairo polled the city’s taxi drivers, asking for their opinion on the riots and whether the government could have done more to prevent them.

I don’t know what happened with all these fights and demonstrations. We are one people living in the same country. We have never believed in discrimination on a religious basis. I think that everyone is under pressure, and this is the reason for all the fights, in every field, not only religion. There are many fights in politics and even sports, all because people are stressed, not because of religion.Anwar, 24Second job: Car electricianFrom Al Ahly Club (Nasr City) to Hurriya Mall, Al Ahram Street (Heliopolis), LE5The car: Sahin with bobblehead dogs

I don’t know what will happen to us after this. We have Christian neighbors, friends and brothers everywhere. I believe that all of this happened for reasons related to the next parliamentary election. I would bet that the two guys competing in that parliamentary district are a Muslim and a Christian. I think that the best thing the government can do is to ban both from the next election.Mahmoud, 43From Al Abbasiya to Roxi (Heliopolis), LE2.50The car: Citroen AX

I think this is an extension to the tense situation between Muslims and Christians after the conflict that happened a few months ago in Abbasiya. Also, the newspapers are using the issue as a hot topic for their cover stories, to get people to buy them. Ahmed Mansour, 41From Midan Salah Eddin (Heliopolis) to Hadaiq Al Qobba, LE4The car: Mazda

Everyone knows that the government can do more to end this sort of thing. Firstly, they can find out who exactly provoked people and helped to spread rumors. Then, they can punish him in a public court, as an example to anyone who might try to repeat such acts for political or personal reasons. Egyptians are a peaceful community and they don’t usually have these kinds of fights unless they are strongly provoked.Ahmed Abdel Salam, 25From Sherif Street (Downtown) to Imbaba, LE6 The car: Peugeot 405

If the play [about a Christian who converts to Islam, staged in a Church in 2003] really insults the Prophet Mohammed, then we should do something about it. But if not, we should punish those who told people such lies.Sebai, 63From Abbas Al Aqqad Street (Nasr City) to CityStars Mall, LE2.50The car: Fiat 124

The government can do a lot on this issue. First, they can stop the discrimination between Muslims and Christians, especially in police stations. When there is a regular fight between a Muslim and a Christian, the Muslim stays in the station for a few days but the Christian leaves right away. Second, the government should find out who is telling people lies to incite them to violence. Sayyed, 37 Second job: teacherFrom Imbaba to Ramsis, LE6

I’ll tell you just one thing. If the government and the police hadn’t wanted it to happen, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.Name withheld, 27From Makram Ebeid Street (Nasr City) to St. Fatima Square (Heliopolis), LE6The car: Renault Dacia that weaved frightfully

AHMAD ABOUL-WAFA

F R O M T H E D R I V E R ' S S E AT

opinion opinion

“Since you insist on naming the baby “Asfur” [bird], it’ll be necessary for you to bring me a certificatefrom two officials that they’re free of the bird fluvirus.” The desk reads “Civil Records.”

Al Arab, 30 October 2005

Bird flu:“How’s it goin’ today, little duckling?”“Don’t call me duckling!”

Al Akhbar, 30 October 2005

u

F

EATU

RE

D D

ISTR

IBU

TORw h e r e t o g e t

ZamalekuArabicauCilantrouZamalek BookstoreuRomancia BookshopuTabascouEuro DeliuAUC BookstoreuDrinkie’s (delivery only)uNo Big DealuOrangette

MohandiseenuMadbouli El SagheruTrianonuVolume One

DowntownuAUC BookstoreuOum El Donia BookstoreuCilantro

MaadiuGold’s GymuKimo MarketuVolume OneuMasoud MarketuAl GrecouDrinkie’s (delivery only)

HeliopolisuHarris CaféuEveryman’suArmando CaféuCilantro

“To make sure that the elections are fair [naziha], we’re running Aunt Naziha!!””The banner reads: “Elect your aunt Naziha as NDP candidate! Symbol: The club”

Al Wafd, 31 October 2005

“Strange... I can’t find any news in the sports section about the Zamalek Club.”“It’s Mortada Mansour, God bless him... Ever since he got there, Zamalek’s news has been in the police blotter.”

Al Destour, 31 October 2005

The soldier reads from the “Iraq Occupation Script” while rushing toward Syria.

Al Osboa, 31 October 2005

“What’s the penalty for stealing in Ramadan, while I’m fasting, good sir?”

Rose Al Youssef, 31 October 2005

news


news


in-depth in-depth

BEN HUBBARD

Prof. Adil Inani is a tall, thin man with

a salt-and-pepper goatee and a calm, confi-

dent voice that manages to both comfort and

command attention. He graduated from the

English department of Ain Shams University

in 1975 and has been teaching in the same

department ever since.

As a result of his many years at the uni-

versity, Inani feels an emotional attachment

to it. He has many faculty friends and lots of

memories associated with the campus, and

considers the university “a place where I can

serve the people I belong to.” His salary alone

isn’t enough to keep him there—he teaches

in Saudi Arabia when he needs money—but

he stays because he feels a sense of duty and

because, he says, he can’t picture himself

anywhere else.

Inani’s devotion to the university was

tested last November when he was beaten

up on campus by a police officer for driving

down a lane reserved for officers’ cars. He was

punched, kicked, insulted, his shirt was torn

and he suffered cuts on his face and legs.

Inani demanded an investigation from the

university president, but the administration

dragged its feet. When Inani’s persistence

finally got him an investigation, he learned that

the officer would not be questioned because

he was not a university employee, and was

therefore not accountable to the university.

And when the investigation began, according

to Inani, “It turned out that I was the one who

would be questioned and investigated. The

lawyer was dealing with me as if I had commit-

ted some crime.”

While few others have been exposed to such

extreme violence, Inani and a growing number

of his colleagues at different universities see

his conflict with the security apparatus on

campus as representative of the increasing

interference of State Security with university

affairs. On 22 October, 150 professors dem-

onstrated on the steps of Cairo University’s

administration building, calling for university

independence. Many student groups have also

taken up the cause, foremost among them the

student branches of the Muslim Brotherhood.

On 11 October, 15,000 students demonstrated

at Cairo University, carrying banners that read

“Together for Reform: Free University, Free

Country.”

“The university is actually being run by

the police,” said Inani, explaining the growing

interest in university independence. “The

police have the upper hand, and the univer-

sity administration merely listens to them and

carries out their orders.”

Security Interference

In October 2003, a group of professors at

Egyptian universities formed the University

Independence Action Group, better know as

the “9 March Group,” after the day in 1932

when Ahmed Lotfi Al Sayyed resigned as

president of King Fouad University (now

Cairo University) to protest the government’s

transfer of Taha Hussein off campus. Since

then, the 9 March Group has worked for

greater university independence through oc-

casional public demonstrations and, more

frequently, letter-writing campaigns and

behind-the-scenes negotiations with univer-

sity administrators.

The members of 9 March list various ways

in which State Security interferes with uni-

versity affairs, such as the selection of junior

academic staff. According to university rules,

junior staff members are selected by their

departments and presented to the university

president based solely on their grades. The

best students get nominated.

But in reality, these candidates must also

be approved by State Security before their

appointments can be finalized. According 9

March members, there are currently four cases

at the University of Alexandria and one at the

University of Al Minya in which the appoint-

ment of nominees has been blocked because

of security concerns.

Professors must also get security clearance

if they wish to travel, conduct research or

receive guest speakers on campus. In the past

two years, security has rejected invitations to

prominent media figure Hamdi Qandil, the

American scholar Norman Finkelstein and

novelist Baha Taher, among others. Members

of 9 March complain that they cannot even

invite professors from other universities to

visit their classes without security clearance.

“This is our work, our profession,” said Dr.

Nadiha Dos, a professor of French Linguistics

at Cairo University. “In any respectable uni-

versity, you should have respectable people

coming to give lectures. The good university is

open to the world.”

The result of this security interference,

which the members of 9 March say is aimed

at professors and students who participate in

opposition political or religious activities, is

a stifled academic environment, in which the

p The 9 March group protesting on the steps of the Cairo University administration building, on 22 October.

subjects that can be studied and the opinions

that can be expressed are tightly controlled.

“We have grown to know that we must keep

away from certain subjects,” said Adil Inani.

“And the result is that most of the topics we

research are worthless and the outcome is

obviously worthless, too. It’s always better to

study the there and then than the here and

now. Other people’s systems, not ours. Other

people’s rules, not ours. For example, if you

want to look at the ruling system, you can look

at Sadat and Nasser and say whatever you like.

But you can’t do research on Mubarak, unless

you plan to say he’s the best man there is.”

Security vs. Administration

According to Leila Soueif, an active 9 March

member who has taught mathematics at

Cairo University since 1977, State Security

has always operated on campus, though its

influence over matters not directly related to

security has grown over the past decade.

Soueif points out that the mere presence of

State Security on campus is a violation of the

University Law of 1979, which stipulates that

each university is responsible for establishing

its own security department, with guards that

wear uniforms, carry badges and are account-

able to the university administration.

BEN

HU

BBARD

Over the past decade, a security mentality has made inroads on campuses.

Now, some professors are fighting back.

DAN

A SM

ILLI

E

news


news


in-depthin-depth

“But the police officers on campus now are

not university officers as stipulated by the

law,” she says. “They are not attached to Cairo

University; they are attached to the Ministry

of Interior. The situation now is completely

illegal.”

“The law is bad, but not very bad,” said Dr.

Hany El-Husseiny, also of Cairo University’s

mathematics department. “If we apply the

law, things will go more or less well. But they

don’t follow the law in any respect. The law

says nothing about needing securing clearance

for faculty appointments, only for protecting

property.”

The professors in 9 March also note that

while they feel the presence of State Security

on campus, the State Security officers rarely

deal with them directly. Instead, State Security

makes its decisions and the university ad-

ministration carries them out. Indeed, many

of the professors feel that the relationship

between State Security and the administration

has become so close that its hard to determine

where one ends and the other begins.

According to Arabic literature professor Dr.

Sayyed Al-Bahrawy, “No person in a position

of responsibility is appointed without the

agreement of security. And those people can’t

make any decisions without the permission of

security.”

The top-down manner in which univer-

sity administrators are appointed ensures

that their loyalties are to the government

and its security apparatus, not to the profes-

sors and their academic concerns. University

presidents are appointed directly by the state.

They in turn appoint the deans of the various

faculties, who are responsible for choosing the

department heads. Traditionally, the oldest

professor in the department was selected as

department head. Now, the members of 9

March say that security concerns often inter-

vene, keeping faculty members with divergent

views, or those who participate in opposition

political activities, out of power.

This has not always been the case. Prior

to 1994, the full professors of a given faculty

elected that faculty’s dean. But in 1994, this

procedure changed and the university president

gained the power to appoint the deans. This

meant the professors no longer had a say in

choosing any of the administrators from whom

they had to get permission before traveling

abroad, doing research or inviting a guest

speaker to campus. All the authorities had been

put in place by, and were thus accountable to,

the state-appointed university president.

The Government Line

Despite this top-down authority structure, uni-

versity administrators deny that State Security

plays any role in how they run their universi-

ties. According to Dr. Hamid Taher, the vice

president for education and student affairs

at Cairo University, the security presence on

campus is for the sole purpose of protecting

university property.

“This university is very big,” he said in his

office in the administration building of Cairo

University while members of the 9 March group

protested outside. “It has 180,000 students

and has facilities, labs, computers and expen-

sive devices worth millions of dollars. This

requires university security.”

Taher dismisses the 9 of March group,

saying that it is small and doesn’t represent

the majority of the faculty. “We now have

15,000 members in the teaching faculty. The 9

March group, how many are they? One hundred

twenty out of 15,000?”

When asked about the issue of security

clearance for junior academic staff, he said its

sole goal is to weed out criminals and religious

extremists.

“When a person is about to be appointed,

he needs to be examined to see if he has com-

mitted a crime in the past. And in terms of our

situation in Egypt, the most dangerous thing is

to appoint a religious fundamentalist. Because

if a professor becomes a religious fundamen-

talist, he’ll turn 1,000 students into religious

fundamentalists.”

On the issue of guest speakers, Taher first

said that only fundamentalist speakers had to

be kept out because their lectures could incite

the destruction of university property. But

when asked specifically about Baha Taher, the

writer who had been invited to discuss one of

his novels, Hamid Taher said that if the writer

wanted to come now, the university would let

him. Then he amended his comment.

“But watch out, sometimes Baha Taher has

some liberal ideas. And we have a problem

here [in Egypt]. He’s too liberal. There’s the

religious fundamentalist, and there’s the one

who wants to permit everything. He’s a bit

outside of the system. So those two are dan-

gerous. But the moderates, they get in without

any problem.” Taher did not specify who quali-

fies as a moderate.

He then summed by saying that the admin-

istration has to control speech on campus

because large numbers of students are diffi-

cult to control.

“When you have a place with a large number

of students, you have to protect it. And what if

chaos breaks out? People don’t realize that. We

have, for example, 3,500 seats in the hall down-

stairs. 3,500! And what if someone comes to

talk to them and gets them all fired up? They’ll

get up and break up the whole place. And we

also have the issue at the cultural level. Is the

student conscious enough to listen to someone

else’s opinion and be quiet? Sometimes he

listens to the other’s opinion and riots. We

have to protect the university facilities.”

Accomplishments

When asked about their successes, the

members of 9 March mention Hany Dweik, a

former student of entomology. Dweik was a

senior when he was arrested and detained for

his participation in demonstrations against

the 2003 Iraq war.

Dweik then graduated from Cairo University

in May 2004, with the highest grade of all the

entomology students. The entomology depart-

ment requested two assistants, so Dweik and

the student with the second highest grades

were nominated by the faculty. The president

of the university signed off on their nomina-

tions, but when Dweik went to sign his contract

in December, he found that his nomination had

been held up because of “security concerns.”

The members of 9 March started a campaign

of letters and petitions to the university admin-

istration and published letters about Dweik’s

case in opposition newspapers. This continued

until August, when the president of the univer-

sity announced that Dweik’s nomination had

been accepted.

While the members of 9 March consider

Dweik’s appointment a success, they concede

that it came during the final weeks before the

presidential election and guess that someone

from Mubarak’s campaign intervened to quiet

a potential scandal. They also admit that this

has been their only concrete achievement to

date.

“All the others are failures,” said Dr. El-

Husseiny. “But our success is that everyone

now, even the minister [of higher education],

is talking about academic freedom and dimin-

ishing the security presence on campus. So the

issues that were not present at all two years

ago are now one of the main political subjects

in the country. This is our success. We have

brought this to the forefront. But to accom-

plish our goal will be very difficult. We need

more political power than this. We need real

political change.” h

p Tens of thousands of Cairo University students are affected by security bans on speakers deemed "fundamentalist" or "too liberal."

DAN

A SM

ILLI

E

news


news


Tried-and-trueEid sweets

CAIRO STAFF

It’s Eid once again, and along with the firecrackers, the festivities demand piles of sweets. Cairo’s research team, after a series of harrowing expeditions into the kitchens of the city, has come up with the absolute best of the best of holiday recipes and gained 10 kilos.

Al Kahk:Ingredients:1. 1 kilo flour,2. 1/2 kilo clarified butter (semna),3. 5 grams yeast,4. 1/2 teaspoon salt,5. 11/2 glasses of water.

• Add the semna to the flour and mix into an even dough. Use your hands, never use a spoon! It’s important to feel the texture of the dough. • Add the yeast to a glass of water. Stir. Slowly add both to the dough and mix well.• Dilute the salt in half a glass of water and add to the dough. Mix well. • After the dough is mixed evenly, cut it into medium-sized round pieces. Insert dates or jam to taste. Arrange pieces on a flat metal baking tray. Let them rise for four hours. Begin preheating the oven an hour before the kahk have risen.• Put the tray in the center of the oven. Check the bottoms of the kahk every 30 minutes until golden-brown.• Sprinkle powdered sugar over the tops of the cookies before serving if desired.

Al Ghourayeba:

Ingredients:1. 1 kilo flour,2. 1 kilo clarified butter (ghee),3. 1/2 kilo powdered sugar,4. 1 large bag of nuts.

• Blend the sugar and the ghee with an egg whisk.• Mix in one cup of flour and blend. Then add a second cup of flower and blend again. Repeat the process till all the flour is mixed into a soft dough.• Cut the dough into small round pieces and arrange them on a thin, metal, baking tray and put one piece of any type of nuts on top for ornament.• Preheat oven till nice and hot.• Put the tray in the oven for roughly 10 minutes, when the dough turns yellow take the tray out.• Don’t move the Ghourayeba from the tray until it cools down or it will crumble.• Don’t add too much sugar or the Ghourayeba will come out hard.

Malibu’s official opening coincides with Eid Al Fitr, when the restaurant will be open both from the morning late into the night. Appetizers range from LE11-25 and main courses from LE20-40, while drinks are around LE10.

Malibu50 Thawra Street Doqqi

AHM

AD H

OSN

Iout & about out & about

Anatomy of a firecrackerEid has many blessings. The firecracker is not one. Firecrackers are illegal. But every year you can see the same scene: old women quicken their step as they pass packs of teenaged boys. Bawabs stare disapprovingly.

Kids growing up in the dark days of socialism had to content themselves with small packs of gunpowder called, grandiloquently, “bombs.” Today, thanks to the Chinese occupation of the Egyptian market, kids have options. In all fairness, the Chinese did invent gunpowder and the firecracker.

You can still buy the “bombs.” Bombs are comprised of a small envelope full of gunpow-der and small stones, tightly closed with a thin metal wire. You throw it like a grenade and it makes a big sound when it hits the ground. Sound a like a fun toy? You can have a whole bucket of 50 for a mere LE4.

Or perhaps you’d prefer one of the new Chinese toys? Young boys were thrilled a few years ago when little, yellow Chinese sticks hit the market. You light one end, and three seconds later it explodes. Sometimes. Or some-times it explodes too early. Or not at all. What do you want? At LE0.10 a throw, you’re getting what you pay for.

For a mere LE0.15, you can play with the “Red Rocket,” which arrived in Cairo soon after the yellow sticks. It’s basically the same thing, but for your extra five piasters (what’s five piasters, anyway? Not even a stick of gum), you get a louder explosion.

If all this sounds like kid’s stuff, you might wish to try the “Spinning Rocket,” a circular band with a fuse that, when lit, hisses, spits sparks and spins around for 15 seconds. This is for older children or those with generous older brothers who can afford the LE.75 sticker price.

And it’s in the LE.75 range that things start getting really interesting. The “Dirty” is a small, green rocket with eight or more small explo-sives that fire like a machine gun. The “American Rocket”—so called because it is decorated from tip to tail in the American flag, not because it was made in the United States—produces circular explosions before it flies 20 feet or so in whatever direction it’s pointed.

Lucky rich kids, and those old enough to know better, might be able to spring for a quiver of colorless rockets. It doesn’t look like much for a full LE1: just a tube of yellowed newspa-per. But, as one group of young guys playing with them reported, “You get what you pay for.” Colorless rockets fly high in the sky and make pretty explosions. “They may,” one reviewer mused happily, “be used by a lost warrior as a signal, or to announce victory at the end of the battle.”

MalibuCHITRA KALYANI

Despite its name, perhaps the only thing the new Doqqi restaurant Malibu has in common with the California city is its eclecticism: a menu featuring Italian cuisine, vaguely African decorations and lighting fixtures constructed from elements of chandeliers.

It is easy to find a private corner in the spacious venue and, as the official opening is not until after Ramadan, the restaurant is not yet busy. Overall, the restaurant emanates an air of quiet elegance. The red-walled interi-ors are softened by an abundance of plants, natural wood furnishings and brown-cush-ioned seats. Silver crescent bits of blue glass dangle from lamps over the tables. Soft lounge music blends easily into muted conversations.

There is a good variety of entrees, though some appetizers were unavailable the night Cairo visited. The head chef, who goes by the moniker “Silla,” came by the table, however,

to discuss options, and in minutes produced a personalized dinner. The mushroom salad includes watercress (billed on the menu as Arugula), cheese and a generous dressing that tasted deliciously of lemon.

The scallope di pollo (chicken breast) with mushroom sauce arrives in modish (read tiny) portions, garnished simply with halves of green and red pepper. My company forgives the price (discovered later), which would be moderate for a larger portion, as the meal tastes every bit as satisfying, and the plate is returned clean. The penne quatro fromage comes in generous portions and with the same personal attentions from Chef Silla, who came by for a lengthy chat

after the food arrived.Malibu, while it does not serve alcohol, does

have a range of drinks that are fruity and oddly named. The “blue angel” is not really blue, though ostensibly made of blueberries. Other fruit cocktails bear names like “red sombrero” and the closer-to-home yet equally inventively named “smile on the Nile,” which had an un-mistakeable guava juice base.

Cairo sipped on a “t-shirt” (a mix of citrus juices, pineapple and grenadine), and found it a tasty little concoction. When asked why the cocktail is named after an item of clothing, however, the waiter smiled politely and shrugged.

KRISTINA RO

IC

news


news


ASHRAF IBRAHIM

Liliane Karnouk’s book Modern Egyptian

Art 1910-2003 is interesting and well-written,

and fills a void in the literature on the subject.

In her preface, Karnouk writes, “In time, I

hope, others will assess the importance of the

artists presented here and add forgotten and

new names to this selection.” This is indeed to

be hoped, for the book has serious lacunae.

Karnouk—a Canadian citizen who was

born in Egypt to Armenian parents—begins

her book with a seven-page preface in which

she talks about the trouble she had collect-

ing material for the book. Due perhaps to

these difficulties, the book is essentially a list

of selected artists that reflects the author’s

personal taste. There seems to be no scholarly

basis for the criteria Karnouk uses to include

certain schools and movements and exclude

others. The book’s value as a scholarly work

and documentary record is inevitably affected

by this.

The book consists of sixteen chapters, seven

of which already appeared in Contemporary

p (top) The Time Machine, installation byLiliane Karnouk, author of Modern Egyptian Art. The book's cover illustration is Hamed Nada's 1989 Eve of the Henna.

either students or teachers at the College of

Art.

In chapter thirteen, “The Body,” Karnouk

includes a profile of her own work written by

Ron Walkey, a professor of architecture at the

University of British Columbia.

Even stranger, in chapter fifteen (“History,

Words and Books”), Karnouk includes the

French photographer and painter Bernard

Guillot ahead of a long list of Egyptian artists,

despite the fact that Guillot’s work is a product

of French culture and tradition, and is not part

of the modern Egyptian art movement. This is

not to take away from the quality of his beau-

tiful pictures of Egypt, but if Karnouk wants

to talk about Egyptian art she should stick to

Egyptian artists. Foreign artists who have lived

and worked in Egypt deserve a separate book all

of their own. This could include many figures,

from the first generation of teachers at the

School of Fine Arts, to artists such as French il-

lustrator Golo or painter Mago Veillon, who died

two years ago after almost 70 years in Egypt.

The book ends with its slimmest and weakest

chapter: a discussion of photography and video

work. Focusing on just four individuals (and

featuring only one entry for video), Karnouk

ignores many important artists working in the

field. She also writes as if photography were

an entirely new phenomenon in Egypt. That’s

not the case; the first time photography was

exhibited in Egypt was in 1923 at the House of

Egyptian Arts and Crafts, 21 Al Bulaq Street,

Cairo. The Association of Fine Art Lovers held

its first photography exhibitions in January

1933. This exhibition contained 598 pictures

by 131 photographers (67 Egyptians and 64

foreigners). Karnouk says nothing of pioneer-

ing Armenian studio photographers such as

Van Leo, Alban, Cavouk and Arman, or the

generation of Egyptian artists that followed.

Although Hala Al Koussi, Nermine Hammam

and Youssef Nabil are talented artists, they are

hardly the only or the best representatives of

photography in Egypt.

Though it references more than 160

sources, Karnouk’s book cannot be considered

a comprehensive account of the Egyptian art

movement and its history. It ignores many

important artists (and entire fields—there

isn’t a single reference to ceramics). It groups

artists according to arbitrary categories and

Egyptian Art, released by AUC Press in 1995.

In a small section at the beginning of her

first chapter, “Egyptian Awakening,” Karnouk

discusses the British occupation of Egypt in

1882 and the flowering of both the fine arts

and Sheikh Mohammed Abdu’s ideas on how

to renew and reform Islam. She catalogues

attempts by Egyptian intellectuals to retrieve,

revive and reinterpret Pharaonic art, but never

mentions the desire to escape the remnants of

Ottoman colonial culture that motivated such

attempts. Instead, she erroneously associates

it with the Egyptomania that was sweeping

Europe at the time

Karnouk’s profiles of pioneering artists

Mahmoud Mokhtar, Mahmoud Said,

Mohammed Nagi and Raghib Eyyad are good

introductions for readers who know little

about them. The profiles contain interesting

biographical information, but add little to our

understanding of the artists’ work.

Her next chapter, “The Cosmopolitans,”

looks at artists from the movement’s second

generation, such as Ramses Younan, Kamil

Al Tilmasani and Fouad Kamil. She discusses

their revolt against the prevalent techniques

of the time and their move toward abstrac-

tion, and touches on their communications

with their European contemporaries.

In her third chapter, “The Folk Realists,”

Abdel Hadi Al Gazzar and Hamid Nada are

chosen as representatives of the third gen-

eration of modern Egyptian artists. Both are

extremely important artists, but instead of ex-

amining their most interesting works, Karnouk

is content to talk about events in their lives

and the influence of popular culture on their

output. She makes no mention of Effat Nagi’s

use of popular art or her early and important

attempts to move beyond traditional under-

standings of the picture, which produced

collage-like works.

In the fourth chapter, “Designing for a New

Egypt,” the author moves on to a discussion

of architecture. She looks at the growth of

Heliopolis and Hassan Fathi’s Nubian-influ-

enced work—two architectural phenomena

that bear little or no relation to one other.

Karnouk concludes the chapter without men-

tioning a single contemporary Egyptian archi-

tect by name.

None of the first four chapters appeared

in Karnouk’s previous work, Contemporary

Egyptian Art. Chapters five to eleven, however,

did. Chapter five is a superficial account of

“The Revolutionary Years 1952-1967” that

manages to ignore a number of important

artists practicing “resistance art,” such as

William Ishaq, Hassan Fouad and Dawoud Aziz.

Chapters six to eleven deal with the following

subjects: “Modernism and Art Appropriations,”

“Internationalism and Abstraction,”

“Premodernism or Postmodernism?,” “Islamic

Art Revival,” “Pluralism in Styles” and “The

Kitsch Wave: A Transition or an End?.” These

chapters have been lifted wholesale from her

previous book, paying no regard to the devel-

opment of featured artists in the intervening

ten years.

In her twelfth chapter Karnouk talks about

the 1990s, but her treatment of the annual

Youth Salon (which was started in 1989 and

has become an important event in the artistic

calendar, displaying hundreds of new artists

each year) is far too brief. Ignoring a number

of important artists, she chooses to write

about Ahmed Nabil and his painstakingly tra-

ditional canvases. Ayman Al Samri, Emad Abu

Zein and other artists who have come out of

the Youth Salon are absent. Karnouk makes no

real attempt to explore the political and social

reasons behind the Salon’s foundation, and she

seems unaware that the majority of the artists

who rose to prominence in this period were

z The 1937 painting Banat Bahari (Coast Girls) by seminal artist Mahmoud Said.

themes. Nor does the book contain images

of some of the works that, by Karnouk’s own

assessment, are the most important in certain

artists’ careers. Several pictures appear to be

low-quality, almost blurry reproductions.

Karnouk writes engagingly, and strikes a

nice middle ground between criticism and

biography. Her book is clearly intended for a

general readership, and best serves as an in-

troduction to Egyptian modern art for a reader

who knows very little about the subject.

The danger is that because this book is virtu-

ally unique, it will be taken for an accurate and

comprehensive survey. But the author is not

entirely to blame here. The problems of Modern

Egyptian Art afflict a number of books on the

subject. The fault is ours as Egyptians; we have

not produced a single book that includes a

comprehensive bibliography of our artists or

the various schools and periods of Egypt’s art

movements. Likewise, the Museum of Egyptian

Modern Art, having recently reopened its ex-

hibition on the history of modern art after a

four-year closure, disappointed us all with its

inaccurate and inadequate portrayal of this

history. h

culture culture

NOT THE WHOLE PICTUREThough useful, Liliane Karnouk’s new book ignores a number of key artists

uAl Sawy Cultural Center 26 July St., Zamalek (736-6178) Tuesday 8 November, 8:15pmThe Story of the Creation of Mankind, seminar by the Islamic preacher Fadel Soliman, member of the Islamic Group for Quran and Sunna ResearchuBibliotheca Alexandrina Al Geish St. (Corniche), Al Shatbi Saturdays 5-7pm Lectures on Modern Trends in Developing Education and Environmental Sustainability by the Center for Special Studies and Programs at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, for ages 14-19 Sunday 6-Wednesday 9 November, 6pmInformation Literacy and Lifelong Learning, lecture, meeting and workshop by 40 information literacy and lifelong learning experts from all over the world to discuss development in economic and social problems such as poverty, unemployment and disease using international literacy and lifelong learning. The activities are organized by UNESCO, the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and the National Forum on Information Literacy (NFIL). Egyptian actor and producer Omar Sharif will address participants.uStudio 206Villa 14, Road 200, Degla, Maadi (519-5713) Tuesday 8 November6:30pm, Beginner Ceramic, four classes to learn how to make handmade pottery. Fee:

LE200 per person. 7pm, Beadwork, four classes to learn how to use beads, string and wire to create necklaces and decorations for the home. Fee: LE200 per person.uSwiss ClubVilla Pax, Al Gihad St., off Sudan St., Midan Kit-Kat(314- 2811, 315-1455, 010-300-9695)www.swiss-club-cairo.com Every Monday and Thursday, 10-11amYoga workshop for adultsEvery Saturday 11am-12pmBallet course for childrenEvery Saturday 10-11am and Sunday 2-3pm Sport & Play for kids 3-5 years olduTownhouse Gallery of Contemporary ArtNabrawi St., off Champollion St., Downtown(576-8086, 012-735-8635)Tuesday 8 November 2 pm and Wednesday 9 November 10:30amWorkshop as part of an Egyptian-Swiss Art Project on Topography and Identity in Egypt in November 2005 and in Switzerland in 2006. Egyptian and Swiss artists and curators will participate in the workshops as well as special Egyptian guests (artists, curators, art critics, architects, writers, etc.) Artists Mahmoud Khaled, Hildegard Spielhofer, Bassam al Baroni, Gertrud Genhart, Basma Al Husseini, Christof Rösch, Alaa Khaled, Ralph Hauswirth and others will discuss their working conditions, production potentials and artistic strategies.

WO

RK

SH

OP

S

Artistic insight at the Townhouse Gallery

news


news


EMAN SHABAN MORSI

The Arab Internet Writers’ Union is trying, with

mixed results, to pull Arabic literature into the 21st

century. Founded in 2004, the union launched a test

website last April (www.arab-ewriters.com). The union

has members from many different Arab countries,

including well-known figures such as Moroccan critic

Mohammed Motassem, Egyptian writer Ahmed Al

Khamisi and Kuwaiti writer Hayat Al Yaqout.

The union says it aims to spread awareness of “digital

culture” among the Arab public. Its website publishes a

great number of articles on information technology and

digital literacy in the Arab world.

The website also publishes short stories, poems,

novels, and critical essays under the heading Al Nashr

Al Electroni (Electronic Publishing). Though its archive is

comparatively small, it is regularly updated and within a

short time should rival other Arabic literature websites

such as www.kotbarabia.com. Short stories include Boqa

Sawda (Black Spot) by Gawaher Al Refaiya, and Habibat

Al E-mail (The E-mail Beloved) by Abdel Nur Edriss. It has

also published book-length works of criticism, such as

Qiraat Fi Adab Al Mara Al Khalijiya (An Assessment of

Gulf Women’s Literature).

Besides publishing a great number of literary works

produced by union members, the website also contains

samples of what has come to be known as adab al

waqeiya al raqamiya, or “digital realism literature.” It is

for this new form of literary production—which includes

sound tracks, visual effects and hyperlinks—that the

website was mainly created.

Ahmed Fadl Shabloul, vice president of the union,

says, “We are working on a theory of ‘digital realism

literature,’ that will make literature more interactive

through the use of available Internet tools such as multi-

media and hypertext. It will be a more interactive litera-

ture—one in which the reader helps create the text.”

In one of the stories featured on the website, the

reader gets to choose what events will come next by

clicking on one of the numerous hypertext phrases at

the end of each chapter, thus creating his or her own

version of the story.

Union member Mohammed Al Sherbini shares

Shabloul’s enthusiasm for the new literary genre. “The

Internet is the future,” he says. “On the web you have

more options, you can have three dimensional images,

background music and many other special effects.” Al

Sherbini is confident that soon interactive, digital litera-

ture will replace the traditional, printed kind. “Literature

develops along with society. We started with the myth

and the epic, and now we are moving towards digital

realism—but of course, it will take people some time to

accept the change.”

Many of the union’s own members, however, are far

from accepting such changes. “Digital literature will never

replace printed literature,” insists Mohammed Ateiya, a

young writer who recently joined the union. “Reading

a novel takes hours and to spend such a long time in

front of the computer screen, with all the concentration

involved in the process of reading, is not something that

many can do—it hurts one’s eyes.”

Ateiya sees the union and its website mainly as a

chance to publish. “Getting your work published on the

Internet will provide you with a better chance of being

read and consequently known,” he says. “Thanks to the

union, I now have readers and friends not only from my

governorate [Alexandria], but also from all around Egypt

and the Arab world. Publishing online is also faster and

less complex than publishing on paper.” Ateiya also says

that publishing online provides writers with valuable

feedback from readers.

“I like the fact that you get more space in terms of

story length and freedom of expression,” adds Ateiya.

Online publications in Egypt are generally uncensored.

“We are not censored at all,” says Shabloul. “Our focus

is on culture and literature, not politics or pornography.

We are just a group of intellectuals, with no political

aims, writing about a new creative genre, so we have

no trouble with the government and won’t have in the

future.”

Overall, the website looks promising, as do its future

plans to release an e-magazine and establish an elec-

tronic publishing house and an electronic library. h

culture culture

Archaeologists have found a treasure trove of Asian and Islamic art from the tenth century in a sunken boat off the coast of Indonesia. An international team of divers recovered 250,000 artifacts over the last 18 months. The objects include perfume flasks, vases, porcelain dishes and glassware from the Fatimid dynasty that once ruled Egypt. The divers also found objects from China’s Five Dynasties period (907-960 AD), as well as 14,000 pearls, 4,000 rubies, 400 dark red sapphires and more than 2,200 garnets. This ancient treasure has led to modern-day greed. Cosmix, a secretive Dubai-based corporation, funded the €5 million (about LE35 million) salvage operation. The divers have also had to defend their booty from the Indonesian Navy and other treasure hunters. The artifacts will be offered at auction in 2006 and 2007, and Indonesia will receive 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale.

Egyptian actor Omar Sharif has just been sued for allegedly attacking and hurling racial slurs at a US parking attendant in June 2005. Guatemalan-born Juan Anderson, a valet at a chic Los Angeles res-taurant, claims Sherif punched him in the side of the head and called him a “stupid Mexican.” Sharif was reportedly angry when the valet refused to accept a tip in euros rather than dollars. In 2001, the hot-headed Sharif was given a one-month sus-pended prison sentence for head-butting a police officer in a casino near Paris.

Daily images of the pyramids are now avail-able to people around the world, thanks to a new website: http://www.pyramidcam.com. PyramidCam.com is a collaborative effort. Heading the project is Jim Sorenson, an American businessman who has lived and worked in Egypt for 30 years. Local partner Siag Hotel and Travel furnishes the vantage point for viewing: the top of the Siag Hotel in Giza. The high-definition network camera used at PyramidCam.com is from StarDot Technologies, a California company known for its cameras on the Yosemite and Yellowstone National Park websites.

As Ramadan ended, a vague consensus emerged about this year’s most popular soap operas. Hits included Hanan Turk’s Sara on Dubai channel, in which Turk played a woman stuck at the developmen-tal stage of a 12-year-old by a childhood trauma and set upon by villainous relatives and acquaintances. The Satellite channel MBC had two popular shows as well. Raya and Sekina was a high-quality retelling of the crimes of the Alexandria murderesses, while the Syrian show Al Hur Al Ein tackled terrorism, recounting the 2003 bombing of a Riyadh apartment complex from the point of view of the Arab families living there.

Culture in BriefMusic and Dance Venues: uAfter 86 Qasr Al Nil St., Downtown (010-339-8000)Shows start at 10pm unless otherwise noteduAl Sawy Cultural Center26 July St., Zamalek (736-6178)uAmerican University in CairoMain Campus, Sheikh Rihan St., Downtown(797-6373)uCairo Opera HouseGezira, Zamalek (739-8132, 739-8144)Shows start at 8pm unless otherwise noteduFrench Cultural Center, Heliopolis5 Shafiq Al Dib St., Ard El Golf(417-4824, 419-3857)uFrench Cultural Center, Mounira1 Madrassat Al Hoquq Al Faransia St., Mounira (794-7679, 794-4095)uGeneina Theater Salah Salem Road, Al Azhar Park (346-7601, 010-575-5191)Shows start at 9pmuGezira Art Center1 Al Marsafi St., Zamalek (737-3298)uGomhouriya TheaterGomhouriya St., Abdeen (390-7707)Shows start at 8pmuJazz-UpNile Hilton, 1113 Corniche Al Nil, Downtown (578-0444, 578-0666)Shows start at 10:30pmuTownhouse Gallery of Contemporary ArtNabrawi St., off Champollion St., Downtown(576-8086, 012-735-8635)Shows start at 9pm

Thursday 3 NovemberuAfter 8 Wust El Balad, modern Egyptian songs uAl Sawy Cultural Center River Hall, 8pm, Farah Al Masri and Magdi Batta, Nubian folkloreuJazz-Up Riff, swing and jazz

Friday 4 NovemberuAfter 8 Wust El Balad, modern Egyptian songsuAl Sawy Cultural Center River Hall, 8pm, Wust El Balad, modern Egyptian songsuJazz-Up Salsa night with Rami and Suzi

Saturday 5 NovemberuAfter 8 Screwdriver, rock and rolluAl Sawy Cultural Center River Hall, 8pm, Wama, pop musicuCairo Opera House Small Hall, Sunshine, led by Hamada Nour, English and Spanish pop music

Sunday 6 NovemberuAfter 8 Wust El Balad, modern Egyptian songsuAl Sawy Cultural Center River Hall, 7pm, From The People, To The People, Nubian concert by BeshiruGezira Art Center 7:30pm, concert by Mexican singer María Elena García Rivera, with Uruguayan pianist Ignacio Pilone uJazz-Up Salsa night with Rami and Suzi

Monday 7 NovemberuAl Sawy Cultural Center Wisdom Hall, 8pm, Arabic music and lute night with Oud Stars and Atef Abdel Hamid

Tuesday 8 NovemberuAfter 8 Sahari, rai musicuAl Sawy Cultural Center Bostan Al Nil Hall, 7pm, nai concert by Ali Aboul Fadl

Wednesday 9 NovemberuAfter 8 Riff, swing and jazz uAl Sawy Cultural Center Word Hall, 7pm, Madad Ya Kul Al Fannaneen (Long Live All Artists), poetry and singing by Gemmeiza, led by Nasser Al NoubiWisdom Hall, 8pm, Dieski, rock musicuCairo Opera House Main Hall, Opera Butterfly performed by Cairo Opera Choir and Cairo Opera Orchestra , led by Nader Abassi

Thursday 10 NovemberuCairo Opera House Main Hall, Opera Butterfly performed by Cairo Opera Choir and Cairo Opera Orchestra , led by Nader AbassiuFrench Cultural Center, Mounira 8:30pm, musical dinner with Valery and Wassillev on piano and contrabassM

US

IC

&

D

AN

CE

Screen-scrollerEMAN SHABAN MORSI

It’s not a book. Is it a novel? A website? Entertainment? Literature? None of the above? All of the above? Perhaps the best indication that Mohammed Sanajleh has done something truly innovative with Chat is that it so stub-bornly resists categorization.

Sanajleh, the head of the Arab Union for Internet Writers, says he’s written a novel. He’s even got a name for the genre: “digital realism.” Chat was released 23 October, on the Arab Union’s website.

Chat tells the story of Mohammed, a young Jordanian engineer who works for a multinational company in an isolated seaside town in Oman. Driven by boredom and chance, the protagonist turns to cyberspace, which he finds more fulfilling than his everyday existence.

Both the narrator and the author are Jordanian. Both are named Mohammed. At some points, the protagonist drifts into long passages of metaphysical meditation that seem improbable coming from a math-nerd engineer.

Sanajleh used a mixture of Flash and HTML to create backgrounds and add special effects. The first chapter, Al Adam Al Ramly (The Sandy Vacuum), begins with a short clip of wind blowing through an empty desert.

Every time the protagonist receives an SMS, an icon of a mobile phone appears in the text. Clicking on the icon allows the reader to hear the message tone and read the

message text gliding across the image of a mobile phone screen. Whenever Mohammed turns to chat services on the Web, Yahoo! or Maktoob icons appear on screen. This really is literature for today’s Arabic youth.

Background music plays during certain passages. If that’s not enough to suggest the mood of the protagonist, cartoon thought balloons appear as the reader glides the mouse over certain words, to explain what the narrator was thinking while he wrote them: literary meta-text and computer hypertext. When characters make reference to American Beauty and The Matrix, links to clips from the films appear.

On the union’s website, Sanajleh writes that “In the digital realism novel, words will be just one part of a larger whole. For, in addition to words, we should write with pictures, sounds and animation.”

But does all this focus on technological tricks merely disguise bad writing? Lengthy passages in Chat, in which the narrator describes his feelings for a Lebanese girl, contain such a long and complex array of symbols and images that they are almost incomprehensible.

Though Chat’s multimedia effects give the reading ex-perience a new flavor, the novelty quickly wears off. In the end, these effects accomplish no more than what readers’ imaginations have long done: visualize elements in the story. Thus, one wonders if the pyrotechnics are merely a means of compensating for writing that fails to evoke a scene or capture the imagination. Chat may be the first novel of its kind in Arabic literature. A new path has been opened. Let’s hope many more gifted writers travel down it. Otherwise, it risks being no more than another forget-table experiment.

ARABIC LITERATURE 2.0

Union and website for Internet writers provide publishing opportunity and highlight new genre

uAl Sawy Cultural Center 26 July St., Zamalek (736-6178) Open daily 9am-9pmEarth HallArtwork using various materials by Hossam Eddin AhmedWord HallWoodwork exhibition by Mohammed YoussefAll exhibitions through 9 November.Daily 6-11pmuBibliotheca Alexandrina Al Geish St., (Corniche), Al Shatbi, Alexandria 100 days—100 Imachinations, live projection by German artist Tim Otto Roth. The series of changing projected images will be shown on the BA Conference Center’s triangular wall facing the Corniche, enabling the public to watch the light show from the Corniche. Through 6 December.

uCordoba Gallery3A Degla St., Mohandiseen (012-110-4699)www.cordobatalgibaly.comOpen daily 11am-8pm, Fridays offMasriyat, painting, photography and pottery by Yasser Nabayel, Hatem Al Toudi, Ali Azzam, Khalaf Tayea, Mohammed Al Nasser, Abdel Hakim Sayed and Mohammed Mandour, through 15 NovemberuFonoun Art Gallery 14 Jedda St., Doqqi (338-0298) Open daily, 10am-10pmPortraits by Gamal Kamel and sculpture by Mohammed Al Fayoumi, through 4 NovemberuFrench Cultural Center, Mounira1 Madrassat Al Hoquq Al Faransiya St., Mounira (794-7679, 794-4095) Daily 10am-11pmPar la Forêt Obscure (Through the Dark Forest), photography by French artist Aurélia Frey, through 6 November

uKarim Francis Contemporary Art Gallery157 26 July St., third floor, Zamalek(736-2183, 010-667-4823) www.karimfrancis.com Open daily 4-11pm, Mondays offStory Teller, paintings by Christian Voigt, through 9 NovemberuMashrabiya Gallery8 Champollion St., Downtown (578-4494)Open daily 11am-8pm, Fridays offPhoto exhibition by French artist Aurélia Frey, through 9 November uPicasso Gallery 30 Hassan Assem St., off Brazil St., Zamalek (736-7544) www.picassoartgallery-egypt.com During Ramadan open daily 10am-9pm, Sundays offVarious works by Sudanese artists: black and white drawings by Ibrahim Al Sayed, oil paintings by Hasan Ali, drawings on pumpkin by Adel Kebeida and portraits by Mervat Al Shazli, through 4 NovemberuRare Books and Special Collections Library 22 Mansour St., Downtown (797-6243)Open daily, 8:30am-5pm, Saturdays 12-5pm, Fridays offCairo and Its People, selections from the Rare Books & Special Collections Library’s Van Leo and Creswell collections, through 31 January 2006uSafar Khan Gallery6 Brazil St., Zamalek (735-3314) www.safarkhan.comOpen daily, 10am-2pm & 5-9pm, Sundays offExhibition by Mahmoud Afi , works 1920-1984, through 5 NovemberuSalama Gallery 36 Ahmed Orabi St., Mohandiseen (346-3242) Open daily 10am-2:30pm & 5-9pmRamadaniyat, oil paintings and sculpture by George Bahgouri, Omar Al Nagdi, Ammar Shiha and Mohammed Ibrahim Youssef, through 15 NovemberuToot Gallery80 Mohieddin Aboul Ezz St., Doqqi (335-0248)Open daily 11am-7pm, Fridays offColors from Egypt by Sri Lankan artist Padmini Serasinghe, through 4 NovemberuTownhouse Gallery of Contemporary ArtNabrawi St., off Champollion St., Downtown(576-8086, 012-735-8635)

Open daily 10am-2pm & 6-9pm, Thursdays & Fridays 6-9pm onlySelection of new drawings by Ahmed Nossier, through 9 November uZamalek Art Gallery 11 Brazil St., Zamalek (735-1240, 012-224-1062) www.zamalekartgallery.com Open daily 10:30am-9pm, Fridays offPaintings by Abdel Rahman Al Nachar, through 10 November

uAmerican University in CairoFalaki Building, Falaki St., Bab Al Louq (797-6373)Open daily12-9pm, Fridays off Shows starting Sunday 6 November. Opening reception Sunday 13 November, 6pm.Second floor, a site-specific installation by Malak Helmi and Tarek Al ShazliFifth floor, A Journey: From Iran to Central Asia, photography by Bernard O’Kane, professor of Islamic Art and Architecture All exhibitions through 24 November.uDoroub Gallery4 Latin America St., Garden City (794-7951)Open daily 10am-10pm, Fridays offThursday 3 NovemberCollection, paintings by Mohammed Sabri, Abdel Wahab Morsi, Galal Al Husseini, Mervat Refaat and Gihan Raouf; sculpture by Halim Yacoub and Ammar Shiha; jewellery by Ahmed Badawi, Lama Horani and Sarah Abdel Azim; calligraphy by Mounib Obradovich, through 12 NovemberuFrench Cultural Center, Mounira1 Madrassat Al Hoquq Al Faransiya St., Mounira (794-7679, 794-4095) Daily 10am-11pmWednesday 9 November, 7pmLignes de Paix (Lines of Peace), caricatures, drawings and sculpture by French artist Plantu and Mustafa Hussein, in cooperation with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, through 30 November

María Elena García Rivera

EX

HI

BI

TI

ON

S

news


news


CINEMA q

New Movies for the Eid:(call venues to check which movie will be shown)

Orido Kholaan (I Want a Divorce), written and directed by Ahmed Awad, starring Ashraf Abdel Baqi and Hala ShihaBanat Wust Al Balad (Downtown Girls), directed by Mohammed Khan, starring Hind Sabri, Menna Shalabi and Mohammed NagatiGai fil Sariaa (Coming Quickly), directed by Gamal Qasem, starring Magid Al Kadawani and Riham Abdel GhafourGhawi Hob (Hopeless Romantic), directed by Ahmed Al Badri, starring Mohammed Foad and Hala ShihaDars Khosousi (Khosousi’s Lesson), directed by Sameh Abdel Aziz, starring Mohammed Attiya and Hana Shiha

INDEPENDENT CINEMAS q

uAmerican University in CairoGreek Campus, Youssef Guindi St., Downtown, Jameel Center Auditorium, (797-6373)

Tuesday 8 November, 7pmAl Madina (The City), directed by Youssri Nasralla, 2000 (Arabic with English subtitles)uFrench Cultural Center, Heliopolis5 Shafiq Al Dib St., Ard El Golf(417-4824, 419-3857)Tuesday 8 November, 8pm Buena Vista Social Club documentary movie directed by Wim Wenders, 1999, 100min., starring Compay Segundo (English and Spanish with French subtitles)uFrench Cultural Center, Mounira1 Madrassat Al Hoquq Al Faransiya St., Mounira (794-7679, 794-4095) Wednesday 9 November, 8:30pmSahar Al Layali (Sleepless Nights), directed by Hani Khalifa, starring Sherif Mounir, Mona Zaki, Hanan Turk, Fathi Abdel Wahab and Jihan Fadel, 2003, 130 min. (Arabic with French subtitles)In cooperation with the National Center for Egyptian Cinema uGoethe-Institute Cairo 5 Al Bustan St., Downtown (575-9877)Tuesday 8 November, 7pmSchultze Gets the Blues, directed by Michael Schorr, 2003, 114min (English and German)Wednesday 9 November, 7pmAus Liebe zum Volklove(Love for the People), directed by Eyal Sivan and Audry Maurion, 2004 (German)

THEATER q uAl ArayesMidan Ataba, next to Al Taliaa Theater,

Downtown (591-0954)Starting Friday 4 NovemberDaily 11am & 8pm, except Tuesdays Al Moghamerun Al Khamsa (The Five Adventurers), puppet show directed by Mohammed Abdel Salam, through 10 NovemberuAl BaloonAl Nil Street, Agouza(347-1718)Thursday 3 November-Saturday 5 November, 9:30 pmShows by Reda Ensemble for Shaabi Arts and by Shaabi Music ensembleuAl Fan22 Ramses St., Downtown (578-2444)Daily 10pmStarting Thursday 3 NovemberBarhouma Waklah Al Barouma (Barhouma Decayed), directed by Galal Al Sharqawi, starring Ahmed Adam, Mahmoud Al Guindi and Hanan Atteya, through the winter seasonuAl Ghad Theater26 July St., Agouza (304-3187)Daily 10:30pm, except MondaysStarting Saturday 4 NovemberRagel Al Alaa (The Man of the Citadel), directed by Nasr Abdel Moneim, starring Tawfiq Abdel Hamid,Zeinab Ismail and others, through 20 NovemberuAl Hanager Arts CenterOpera House grounds, Zamalek (735-6861)Daily 9:30 p.m., except MondaysStarting Saturday 5 November

Al Edana (The Condemnation), directed by Hany Al Banna and starring Tayssir Fahmi, through 20 NovemberuAl Haram174 Al Haram St. (386-3952)Daily 10:30pm, Tuesdays offStarting Thursday 3 NovemberBodyguard, directed by Rami Imam, starring Adel Imam and Sherin Seif Al Nasr, through the winter seasonuAl Rihani17 Emad Eddin St., Downtown (591-3697)Daily 10:30pm, except WednesdaysStarting Thursday 3 NovemberDo Re Mi Fasolia, directed by Mahmoud Abu Geleila, starring Samir Ghanem and Shaaban Abdel Rahim, through the winter seasonuAl Salam 101 Qasr Al Aini St., Garden City (795-2484)Daily 10pm, except TuesdaysStarting Thursday 3 NovemberAl Nas Al Nos Nos (The Average People), written by Kamel Hanafi,directed by Fouad Abdel Hai, starring Sherine, Nihal Anbar and Ahmed Rateb, through the winter seasonuAl Sawy Cultural Center26 July St., Zamalek (736-6178)Saturday 5 November, 8:30pmBarra Al Gornal (Off the Newspaper), written by Yasser Aallam directed by Sobhi Al HaggarSunday 6 November, 8:30Al Wad Ghorab wa Al Qamar (The Boy Ghorab and the Moon), written by Ashraf Azzab, directed by Ibrahim Al SheikhuAl TaliaaMidan Ataba, behind Al Ataba Parking, Downtown (593-7948)Daily 9pm, except TuesdaysStarting Friday 4 NovemberAl Moharregun (The Clowns), written by Mohammed Al Moghawat, directed by Maher Selim, through 20 NovemberuFeissal Nada22 Qasr Al Aini St., Garden City (532-1112)Daily 9pm, except Thursday 3 and Friday 4 November at 10pmStarting Thursday 3 November In Kibir Ibnak (If Your Son Grew Up), directed by Fouad Abdel Hai, starring Sami Al Adl, Mohammed Nagati, Heba Al Sisi and Gihan Salama, through the winter season

C I N E M A & T H E A T E R

listings

u6 October CinemaAl Hay Al Sabea St., behind 6 of October University (835-7569)Daily 10:30am, 12:50, 3:50, 6:50 & 9:50pm, Thursday and Friday also 12:45am uCairo Mall CinemaAl Haram St., in front of Central Al Haram (584-9721) Daily 10:30am, 1:30, 4, 7 & 10pm, Thursday and Friday also 1amuCairo Sheraton CinemaMidan Al Galaa, Al Dokki (760-6081)Daily 1, 4, 7 & 10pm, Thursday and Friday also 12:30amuCity Center Cinema3 Makram Ebeid St., Nasr City (010-667-5096)Daily 11:30am, 1:15, 4:15, 7:15, 10:15pm & 1amuConcorde Hotel CinemaNext to Al Shams Club, Abdel Hamid Badawy St., Heliopolis (622-4000, 622-6000)Daily 11am, 1:15, 4, 7, 10pm & 1amuDiana CinemaAl Alfy St., off 26th of July St., Downtown (592-4727, 786-9949)Daily 11am, 1:30, 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pmuDream Cinema6 October, Dream Land, Dream Mall, 6th of October City (840-1252)Daily 10:30am, 1, 4, 7, 10pm, Thursday also 12:30amuFamily Cinema11 Othman Towers, Maadi (524-8100, 524-8120) Daily 11am, 1, 4, 7, 10pm, Thursday &

Friday also 1am uFlorida Cinema 1 & 2Masakin Sheraton, Heliopolis (268-5005)Daily 11am, 1:30, 4, 7, 10pm & 12:30am uGalaxy Cinema67 Abdel Aziz Abdel Saoud St., Manial (532-5745, 532-5746)Daily 10:30am, 1:30, 4, 7, 10pm & 1amuGeneina Mall Cinema4 Al Battrawy St., Nasr City (263-0745)Daily 11am, 1:30, 4, 7, 10pm & 1amuGood News CinemaGrand Hyatt, Garden City (365-1234) Daily 10:20am, 1, 4, 7, 10pm & 1amuHeliopolis CinemaOff Damask St., Korba, Heliopolis (258-0647)Daily 11am, 1:15, 4, 7, 10pm & 1amuKarim Cinema 1 & 215 Emad Eddin St., Downtown (592-4830)Daily 10:30am, 1:30, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30pm & 12:30amuMaadi Al Bandar Mall Cinema1 Palestine St., Maadi (519-0770)Daily 10am, 1, 4, 7 & 10pm, Thursday and Friday also 1amuMetro Cairo Cinema35 Talaat Harb St., Downtown (393-7061)Daily 11am, 1, 4, 7, 10pm & 1amuMiami Cinema38 Talaat Harb St., Downtown (574-5656)Daily 10:30am, 1:30, 3:30, 6:30,

9:30pm & 12:30amuNormandy Cinema32 Al Ahram St., Heliopolis (257-9195)Daily 10:30am, 1, 3:30, 6:30 & 9:30pm, Thursday and Friday also 1am uRamses Hotel CinemaAl Tahrir Sq. Downtown (574-7435, 574-7436) Daily 11am, 1:30, 4, 7, 10pm & 1amuRenaissance Nile CityCorniche Al Nil, Northern Tower, Nile City, before Arkadia mall, Downtown (461-9102, 461-9103)Daily 11am, 1, 4, 7 & 10pm & 1am uRivoli Cinema26 July St., in front of Dar Al Kadaa Al Aali, Downtown (5755-053)11am, 1:15, 3:45, 6:45, 9:45pm and 12:30amuStars CinemaCity Stars Center, Nasr City (414-2488, 480-3013/14)Daily 10:50am, 1:30, 3:30, 6:30, 9:30pm & 12:30amuTeeba Mall CinemaAl Nasr St., Nasr City (262-1084)Daily 10:45am, 1:15, 4:15, 7:15 & 10:15pm, Thursday and Friday also 1:15amuWonder Land Cinema3 Mashrou Winder St., Nasr City (401-2354)Daily 10:30am, 1:30, 4:30, 7:15 & 10pm, Thursday and Friday also 1am

Don’t ruin the film for yourself and other people TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONECairo periodically publishes photographs of moments captured in the city. To submit photographs for publication, email [email protected].

TARA TOD

RAS-WH

ITEHILL

An asbestos worker poses for the camera in 6 October City, July 2005.

news


news


Myanmar means “the golden land” in Burmese, and after being there I understood why. It is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited. It felt like a moving picture.

Yet even though it is a visually stunning country, there are many problems. The country is run by a military dictatorship, and human rights organizations claim that ethnic cleansings take place in areas tourists aren’t allowed to visit. Activist Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under house arrest in the capital Yangon and many people are too afraid of government retribution to even mention her name. The government controls its people by severely limiting access to international news and to the Internet. It is impossible to check a hotmail account in Myanmar, something I couldn’t believe until I saw it with my own eyes.

Yet knowing all of these things, my family and I still decided to go because we knew we could avoid patronizing government-run businesses. We knew our money would go into the pockets of the people of Myanmar.

Pagodas are religiously significant in Buddhism, the main religion of Myanmar. Shewedagon Pagoda, located in Yagon, is the religious epicenter of the country and the magnificent structure is covered with 40 tons of gold. Bagan, another city in Burma, is also famous for its pagodas. It is overflowing with very old (non-gilded) pagodas, and the best way to see them is by hot air balloon. There are literally hundreds of them on just a few acres. We decided to get up before dawn to watch the sunrise while we floated above the pagodas. It was incredible, and I can only hope this photo shows a tenth of the beauty of the place.

—Tara Todras-Whitehill

Send your postcards (photos and stories) to [email protected]

and finally...

75 years agoTensions ran high following the Wafd and Liberal Constitution parties’ 6 November 1930 announcement that they would boycott the elections to protest the constitution approved by Ismail Sidqi’s government. Dozens of people were injured as students rioted on university campuses in Alexandria and Cairo.

50 years agoOn 3 November 1955, President Gamal Abdel Nasser rejected David Ben-Gurion’s request for a meeting to settle “the Palestinian problem,” citing clashes between Israeli and Egyptian troops in the northern Sinai region of Al Auja that left more than 50 Egyptian soldiers dead.

30 years agoThree hundred thousand unarmed Moroccans walked across the border into the northeast portion of Western Sahara, then Spanish Sahara, on 6 November 1975, in a push to lay claim to the area. Morocco’s King Hassan called the event the “Green March.” The International Court of Justice, whose decisions are not binding, had previously rejected Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara, supporting the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination. The influx of Moroccans, especially government soldiers, forced thousands of indigenous Sahrawi into refugee camps in Algeria.

10 years agoOn 4 November 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Jewish law student Yigal Amir. Amir later told a judge that the assassination was an attempt to derail the peace process, since, he said, Rabin was intent on “giving our country to the Arabs.” He pointed to Halacha, the Jewish legal code, as the source of ideas that had led him to commit the murder.

WRITE NOW

Your opinion MATTERS at

CAIROm a g a z i n e

[email protected]

and send us your thoughts to . . .

Take advantage of our early subscriber discount and enjoy Cairo’s independent news coverage, in-depth features, the best of the cultural scene and up-to-date listings for art, movies, live music and more.

20% off cover price if you Fax this form to 393 5958

Name:

Address:

Telephone:

Email:

We bring CAIRO to your doorstep

Signature:

Payment : 1 year LE 345 NOW 2756 months LE 175 NOW 140r Cashr Checkr Bill

E m a i l : c i r c u l a t i o n @ c a i r o m a g a z i n e . c o m

news


Cairo magazine

Documents

Transcript of Cairo magazine