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Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 July 1999 Issue No. 438 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 15 - 21 July 1999 Issue No. 438
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Higher gear
By Amira HoweidyA large number of intellectuals representing various political trends submitted an application last Monday to the Social Affairs Ministry to establish "The Egyptian Organisation to Combat Zionism and Normalisation" (EOCZN). The would-be NGO is the outcome of resolutions issued by an anti-normalisation conference held last week as a counteraction to the Cairo Peace Society (CPS), which organised the first conference of the International Alliance for Arab-Israeli Peace (IAAIP) from 5 to 7 July.
Attended by semi-official Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian delegates to discuss peace-making between Arabs and Israelis, the Cairo for Peace conference, often dubbed by opponents as "the normalisation" and "submission" event, triggered unexpected reactions from both camps.
Although established in early 1998, CPS, whose membership barely reached 30, is, 15 months later, outnumbered by a large group of political and intellectual figures representing Egypt's political arena from across the political spectrum. In fact, both sides are expressing their realisation of the fact that the stagnant political arena, to their surprise perhaps, is shifting because of the heated normalisation/anti-normalisation debate.
"The Zionist conference is not something new. Nor is the fact that some intellectuals are working with them. What is really new is that, for the first time in long years, we are standing up to say 'no'," Labour Party Secretary-General Adel Hussein told his audience last Sunday in an anti-normalisation rally organised by his party.
Abdel-Moneim Said, director of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies and a founding member of the CPS, acknowledged, though sarcastically, in an article published last week that "political parties came to life and blood flooded in there veins to the extent that they held public rallies in 24 hours." Said went on to regret that this sudden uproar was not for a major nationalist cause, rather it was because "one of our local associations within the framework of the IAAIP" organised a conference.
Reda Helal, another founding member of the CPS and journalist in the daily Al-Ahram, used a harsher tone in an article published by the newspaper. "Opponents of the Cairo for Peace conference do not have a discourse, rather, they merely reiterate phrases such as 'throwing Israel in the sea' and 'liberating Palestine from the river to the sea', in addition to intimidating those who disagree with them," he wrote.
But it was prominent left-wing intellectual Salah Eissa, famous for his outspoken views and supposedly categorised in the anti-normalisation camp, who surprised all. Publishing two consecutive articles in the London-based daily newspaper, Al-Hayat and in Al-Ahram, Eissa slammed the anti-normalisation discourse as a "terrorising" one. The often vicious campaigns launched against those viewed as advocates of normalising relations with Israel, argued Eissa, did not deter playwright Ali Salem, cinema director Hossamedein Mustafa and singer Medhat Saleh from visiting Israel. Neither did they deter the late political analyst, Lotfi El-Kholi, from founding the CPS.
"Contrary to the expectations of those fighting with the defamation weapon, it was used against them... Thus the whole debate turned into a war between two armies accused of being agents for the embassies of the US, Europe and Israel, and from the embassies of Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria," wrote Eissa. He went on to argue that the anti-normalisation movement needs to re-consider its agenda. "It's high time for the anti-normalisation movement to re-consider its understanding [of things] and style, not to reverse its positions, rather to renew them in a way that would fit the changing times and circumstances," he said.
The anti-normalisation movement was formed following the signing of the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace accord. Although it was never a unified or organised front, the movement was basically made up of a number of independent or partisan committees and a series of resolutions issued by the general assemblies of the majority of professional syndicates prohibiting normalising relations with Israel until Arab and Palestinian rights are restored.
But Eissa argued that even the resolutions issued by the general assemblies of these syndicates were vague, providing no clear methods or mechanisms for implementation, rendering them primarily useless. And when attempts were made to refer several Press Syndicate members to the disciplinary board, those members contested the decision in court.
Indeed, even proponents of anti-normalisation such as Hamdin El-Sabahi, board member of the Press Syndicate, argue that the resolutions banning all forms of normalisation lack the mechanism for implementation. Says El-Sabahi, "The Press Syndicate's General Assembly issued its anti-normalisation resolution in 1980, then again in 1985 and a third time in 1987. However, this third resolution stipulated that the syndicate's board is obliged to set detailed guidelines as to what exactly constitutes an act of normalisation and a specific disciplinary procedure against such acts. But this never happened. This makes it all the more necessary for the current board to do so."
If that is the recently elected board's primary objective, as El-Sabahi states, then the coming days will witness concrete action which the anti-normalisation camp has been accused of lacking. "Even if all we did was voice slogans, this should be appreciated because, in the end, it was effective," explained Ahmed Sharaf, a communist. "Didn't [Foreign Minister] Amr Moussa refuse to attend the Cairo for Peace conference because of our rallies?" he asked.
So far, the EOCZN has at least 31 distinguished intellectuals as founding members. These include former vice-president of the State Council and writer Tarek El-Bishri, novelist and Ain Shams University professor Radwa Ashour, celebrated poet Abdel-Rahman El-Abnoudi, prominent philosphy professor and Zionism-expert Abdelwahab Elmesseiri, head of the Doctor's Syndicate Hamdi El-Sayed and prominent lawyer Mohamed Selim El-Awwa.
The organisation's objectives include "preserving the established national principles," combating "Zionist activities," exposing all hostile attempts to penetrate the Egyptian community, lobbying for the "spirit of national belonging to assert Egyptian and Arab identity" and resisting attempts to normalise relations with Israel.
Although the NGO law prohibits local associations from practicing political activity, the would-be founders are confident their endeavour will be officially accepted in accordance with the law.
"The CPS is nothing but a politically-oriented NGO and its activities have proved to be political. Within this context, it's only natural for the government to allow us to establish a counter NGO," suggested Abul-Ela Madi, assistant secretary-general of the Engineer's Syndicate and a founding member.
