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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 Jan. - 2 Feb. 2000 Issue No. 466 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 Jan. - 2 Feb. 2000 Issue No. 466
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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On thin ice
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Sir- Marrons glacés ("Carnival of delight", Al-Ahram Weekly, 20-26 January 2000) are marrons glazed with sugar, not iced chestnuts, glacé meaning in French iced, but also glazed.
And Fusilli are all'amatriciana, not a La Matricciana, Amatrice being a small town in Latium, Central Italy.
The restaurant reviewer used the word iced in the sense of icing sugar (used in the glazing of chestnuts, or marrons).
The Editor
Paolo Lombardini
ZamalekFriedman's view
Sir- In his column of 21 January, the prominent New York Times columnist Thomas L Friedman discussed the future of Egypt's leadership role in the Middle East after Israel and Syria reach a peace settlement. He reviewed -- among other Egyptian opinions -- Mr Mohamed Sid-Ahmed's view, expressed in his column in Al-Ahram Weekly, of an emerging rivalry between Egypt and Israel for Middle East leadership.
Friedman claims that there is only one role Egypt can play if it is to remain an Arab leader: to be a model of how the Arab world adjusts to globalisation.
I would be grateful if Mr Sid-Ahmed could comment on this view, perhaps in a future article.
Ayman Adel Refaat
Madinet NasrThe global beast
Sir- It seems that globalisation has now become a fait accompli and there is absolutely nothing we can do to change it. The question is, what does it mean for Egypt and the Arab world? Attacking globalisation will not delay the dawning of a new global era. Today, very few nations can afford to live in isolation.
Globalisation will only benefit rich countries. The poor will always suffer. Under communism, a single party controls the means of production with the aim of establishing a classless society; globalisation, on the other hand, enables multinationals to control the world economy with the aim of securing the interests of the rich. We still have a world where a wealthy few are surrounded by many poor.
We must understand that globalisation will deprive masses of people of their claims to self-sufficiency and basic human rights. Major international corporations are the winners; the poor developing and underdeveloped countries are the losers. We are in a global trap and I wonder if we can ever slip out of it.
Essam Hanna Wahba
Assiut
Confession time
Sir- I add my voice to that of Essam Hanna Wahba in his excellent letter to the Editor ("Papering the rift", Al-Ahram Weekly, 20-26 January 2000), in which he deplores the recent clashes between Copts and Muslims in Al-Kosheh.
I think we need to address the issue urgently, and not only by teaching the new generation to be tolerant, as Mr Wahba suggests.
A vital first step, I believe, is to acknowledge that there is a problem to begin with. We haven't even got to that point. Don't you think that we need to hurry up?
Raouf Zaidan
Cairo Opera
