Night confessions off the air

By Khaled Dawoud

However, ever since the programme went on air, it has sparked controversy. In the view of many people, pre- and extra-marital sexual relations are aberrations which involve a tiny "deviant" minority, the existence of which, moreover, should not be acknowledged. According to predominant conservative opinion, such problems hardly exist in Egypt, which is a moral, God-fearing and well integrated society.

Night Confessions, while fairly popular among young people, was fairly well hidden from the spotlight of public opinion, however -- tucked away in the twilight of after-midnight radio broadcasting.

Nevertheless, a "religion committee", including experts from the ministries of education and religious affairs charged with monitoring radio programmes, finally took note, deciding in late October that Kamel's programme "does harm to Egypt's reputation".

The committee added, in a letter addressed to the chairman of the board of trustees of the Radio and Television Union, Abdel-Rahman Hafez, that the "broadcaster receives calls from young men and women in which they confess their involvement in sinful relations violating morals, religion and Shari'a."

"The broadcaster also discusses [these relations] with them [the callers] as a means of purification in a way which causes listeners to these confessions, aired two hours after midnight, to feel as if all Egyptians were involved in sinful relations. Therefore, the committee urges the radio network to ban this programme because it inflicts grave damage on the reputation of Egyptian youths."

Hamdi El-Konayessi, director of Radio Cairo, conceded in an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly that the programme was banned upon the committee's recommendation. Reminded that most Egyptians have never heard of this committee, El-Konayessi said that it has existed for a long time, monitoring the religious content of various programmes and making recommendations.

El-Konayessi said he asked Kamel to take into account the committee's recommendations, adding that he might consider a reinstatement of the programme later. "It happens all over the world that some radio programmes stop running for a while and then return," he said.

Asked how such a popular programme could be interrupted, El-Konayessi said that the radio has an obligation to present "responsible and decent" programming and that it does not always work according to the "box office" logic. He added that he had received "hundreds of complaints from callers urging a ban on the programme because it violates our traditions and values".

Kamel, in a statement issued after the ban, said the programme "was stopped against my will and for reasons which have nothing to do with reality". She added that the programme "has proved that Egyptians need leeway to speak out freely and to make confessions. It also showed that the absence of friendship and close relations between members of the same family has influenced our lives."

Speaking to the Weekly, Kamel said she responded with a letter to the recommendations made by the religious committee. She told the committee that the charge of "damaging Egypt's reputation" should no longer be levelled since the government-run media have "adopted a new policy of transparency, freedom and encouraging creativity".

She added that members of the committee have apparently never listened to the programme themselves because they say in their letter that it is aired two hours past midnight, while it actually starts 45 minutes past midnight and lasts until 1:30 am. She said that because she had become aware of some listeners' growing sensitivity, in the latest airings of the programme, she had focused on parental issues only, "but it seems that some people were not happy with my programme's huge success".