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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Monthly supplement
Alexandria re-inscribed
No One Sleeps in Alexandria, Ibrahim Abdel-Meguid, tr. Farouk Abdel-Wahab, The American University in Cairo Press, 1999. pp409
Southern PartThe Crusades through Muslim eyes
The Crusades -- Islamic Perspectives, Carole Hillenbrand, Edinburgh University Press, 1999. pp648Economic schizophrenia, global style
Misr wa Riyah Al-'awlama (Egypt and the Winds of Globalisation), Mahmoud Abdel-Fadil, Cairo: Dar Al-Hilal, 1999. pp264Canine ruminations
Darourat Al-Kalb fil Masrahiya (The Need for the Dog in the Play), Girgis Shukri, Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organisation, 2000. pp101History and parallel history
Tumanbay: Al-Sultan Al-Shahid (Tumanbay: The Martyred Sultan), Emad Abu Ghazi, Cairo: Mirette, 1999. pp96Sun Dancer speaks his sorrow
Prison Writings: My Life is my Sun Dance, Leonard Peltier, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1999. pp243Novel of novels
Al-Bashmouri II, Salwa Bakr, Cairo: Supreme Council of Culture. 2000, pp151Chagall's Arabian Nights: Four Tales from The Thousand and One Nights with lithographs by Marc Chagall, Prestel Verlag, 1999. pp163 Read caption
To the editor
At a glance
A shorthand guide to the month compiled by Mahmoud El-WardaniMagazines & Periodicals
* Al-Kotob: Wughat Nazar (Books: Viewpoints), a Monthly Review of Books, issue No. 14, March, 2000, Cairo: The Egyptian Company for Arab and International Publishing
* Aafaq Ifriqiya (African Horizons), quaretrly, Cairo: State Information Service, issue no. 1
* Al-Thaqafa Al-Alamiya (World Culture), bimonthly cultural magazine, Kuwait, no.99
Books
* Al-Riwaya fi Nihayat Al-Qarn (The Novel at the End of the Century), Ali El-Ra'i, Cairo: Dar Al-Mustaqbal, 2000, pp371
* Al-Himaya wal-Iqab: Al-Gharb wal-Mas'ala Al-Diniya fil-Sharq Al-Awsat (Protection and Punishment: The West and the Religious Question in the Middle East), Samir Morqos, Cairo: Miret, 2000, pp210
* Al-Wataniya Al-Misriya fil-Asr Al-Hadith (Egyptian Nationalism in Modern Times), Amina Higazi, Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organisation, 2000, pp555
* Khamriya, Amin El-Ayyouti, Cairo: Al-Hilal, 2000, pp121
* Awlamat Al-Faqr (The Globalisation of Poverty), Michael Chossudovsky trans. Mohamed Mostagir, Cairo: Sotour, 2000, pp328
* Hal Intahat Ostourat Ibn-Khaldoun? (Is the Myth of Ibn-Khaldoun over?), Mahmoud Ismail, Cairo: Dar Qibaa, 2000, pp333
Books is a monthly supplement of Al-Ahram Weekly appearing every second Thursday of the month. We welcome contributions and letters on subjects raised in this supplement. Material may be edited for length and clarity; and should be addressed to Mona Anis, Books Editor, Al-Ahram Weekly, Galaa St., Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt; Faz: +202 578 6089; E-mail: m.anis@ahram.org.eg
For advertising call +202-5780233; Fax +202 394 1866To see other book supplements go to the ARCHIVES index.
Illustrations courtesy of International Commitee of the Red Cross
"Folk drawings and tales", Cairo, 1996
A shorthand guide to the month compiled by Mahmoud El-Wardani
Magazines & Periodicals
Al-Kotob: Wughat Nazar (Books: Viewpoints), a Monthly Review of Books, issue No. 14, March, 2000, Cairo: The Egyptian Company for Arab and International Publishing
"Finally, and if I may take it upon myself to divulge an honest opinion, there is one remark that must be made, one that reaches across the banks of the River Nile, crosses the deserts of the Egyptian homeland and reaches out with a note of genuine concern to the entire Arab Mashriq. This remark concerns the Christian communities of the Mashriq as a whole, in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and even in Turkey.
"The phenomenon of emigration among them cannot but be noticed. It is hardly something that can be ignored, even if the psychological motivation behind this emigration has more to do with the prevalent atmosphere than with hard facts.
"I feel -- and there must be many others who feel the same way -- that the entire Arab scene will alter from the perspectives of both its humanity and its civilisation, no doubt becoming less rich and more impoverished, if we ignore this tendency to emigrate among the Christians of the Mashriq. This will be true too if we turn a blind eye to their fears, however ultimately unfounded these are.
"It is my belief that the entire Muslim community of the Arab nation is called upon, now more than at any other time, to wake up to the importance and vitality of the multicultural components of its heritage and to be more fully aware of them. It should be more conscious of the specific role this creative cultural compound plays in the formation of Arab life.
"What a great loss it would be if the Christians of the Mashriq were to feel, rightly or wrongly, that neither they nor their children could have a future here, leaving Islam alone to confront the Zionist Judaism embodied by the State of Israel."
With these words Mohamed Hassanein Heikal concludes his commentary on sectarian strife in Egypt that opens the March issue of the review Wughat Nazar. The article, a historical analysis of the intricate relationship between Copts and Muslims in modern Egyptian history, betrays Heikal's concern at the recent sectarian clashes in the Upper Egyptian village of Al-Kosheh. Heikal sounds a warning note: the Coptic question requires intervention at the highest levels of political power, that is on the part of the president of the republic.
Furnishing the evolution of sectarian antagonism in Egypt with an intricate historical backdrop dating back to the time of Saad Zaghloul, Heikal argues that tending the sensitive relations between Muslims and Copts in Egypt has always been the prerogative of statesmen who were well-aware of the dire consequences of leaving this sensitive issue to be settled by popular sentiment alone. Zaghloul valued the presence of Makram Ebeid in the Egyptian Wafd Party and selected Ebeid for the role of personal aide and confidante in full awareness of the active participation of representatives of the Coptic minority in the anti-colonialist struggle and in the political life of the country at large. Similarly, President Nasser selected Kamal Ramzi Esstino, a member of an influential Coptic family, for the post of advisor and minister. However, whereas Makram Ebeid played an instrumental role in the formation of modern Egyptian political consciousness, Esstino was not able to play the same role due to changes in the political climate. In search of closer ties with the Coptic community, Nasser established a strong link with the Coptic Pope Kirolos.
If relations between Nasser and the Coptic Pope were warm and friendly, however, the same cannot be said about the problematic relations between President Sadat and Pope Shenouda. In his article Heikal provides a first-hand and detailed account of this period's ups and downs, shedding interesting and amusing light on a number of incidents that he personally observed. He provides the reader with some fascinating anecdotes. The disagreements between the president and the pope ended with Sadat's arresting Shenouda in 1981, Sadat himself however being assassinated only one month later.
Heikal concludes his article with the comment that there has been much water under the bridge since then. But the sectarian question, ill-managed by Sadat in Heikal's opinion, remains with us to this day. The Al-Kosheh incident, in which 23 people were killed, 22 of them Copts, is a serious indication that we could be approaching a situation in which many circles, both civil and religious, could be playing an irresponsible part and even spreading sectarian feelings.
"It is about time that such people lowered their voices," Heikal writes, "remembering that the highest authority in the state has the responsibility to take matters in hand." Heikal thus concludes his piece with what amounts to a plea to President Mubarak personally to intervene.
Aafaq Ifriqiya (African Horizons), quaretrly, Cairo: State Information Service, issue no. 1
The first issue of this promising quarterly includes an article by Amr Moussa, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Egypt-Africa relations, as well as a special section to which a number of well-respected figures have contributed. The quarterly also offers comprehensive reviews of various specialised books on African affairs, and includes a number of interesting columns and lighter pieces, all of which revolve around Egypt, Africa and the manifold relations between the two.
Al-Thaqafa Al-Alamiya (World Culture), bimonthly cultural magazine, Kuwait, no.99
This Kuwaiti cultural bimonthly is famous for its timely translations of the latest texts from the West. The main subject of this issue is American strategy in the 21st century -- a topic that merits a great deal of attention of course and one that has generated a great number of articles in the United States and elsewhere that deal with the various aspects of the question, from US military culture to human rights in a global context. The monthly's scientific section deals with advances in the understanding of the human genome, while elsewhere in the issue other highlights include translations of articles on Ernest Hemingway and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
BooksAl-Riwaya fi Nihayat Al-Qarn (The Novel at the End of the Century), Ali El-Ra'i, Cairo: Dar Al-Mustaqbal, 2000, pp371
Ali El-Ra'i, last survivor of the old guard of contemporary Arab criticism, died nearly two years ago, and since then his friends and admirers have variously applied themselves to the task of collecting his uncollected articles in book form. Critic Farouq
Abdel-Qadir, for example, has edited the first of El-Ra'i's posthumous books, a collection of essays and reviews on the short story, while novelist Bahaa Tahir has now collected together El-Ra'i's essays on the novel in this rich book. The essays span generations and schools in subject matter and cover almost every Arab country boasting a literary tradition. Given the fact that the book includes El-Ra'i's classic essay, "The Novel in the Arab World", there can be no better or more comprehensive introduction to the Arabic novel during the last quarter of a century, a period in which the Arab novel flourished and came into its own after many years of experiment and stumbling.
Al-Himaya wal-Iqab: Al-Gharb wal-Mas'ala Al-Diniya fil-Sharq Al-Awsat (Protection and Punishment: The West and the Religious Question in the Middle East), Samir Morqos, Cairo: Miret, 2000, pp210
That a Copt should tackle a topic so laden with Muslim interconnections and complications as the present one is no stranger than the fact that a self-consciously Muslim writer like Tareq El-Bishri should promptly pay him tribute for doing so. "Samir Morqos," El-Bishri says, "an Egyptian nationalist eager to pursue the well-being of his country, is right to review Egyptian conditions with an eye on what the West has done and is doing to affect them... He communicates the experience of our history, crystallizes and classifies it, only to analyse it in a tightly constructed, painstakingly argued academic text." The book's three sections deal respectively with the influence of the West on sectarianism in Egypt, with legislation concerning religious discrimination and persecution and with the contemporary history of the Copts from the standpoint of civil rights.
In his introduction to this book, historian Yunan Labib Rizq writes that at first sight it may come across as an over-emotional text, overflowing with sentimentality. And not only that: because of a staggeringly extensive array of sources, at first sight it looks very much like a patched-up amalgam of things said before and reiterated arguments. Yet on closer inspection, Rizq explains, the book gradually reveals itself to be a gem of amply demonstrated and impeccably argued cultural history, made all the more persuasive by the impassioned tone of the first-rate polemicist who has put it together. Despite the extent of the historical period that Amina Higazi tackles (from the time of Rifa'a El-Tahtawi to 1914), the author has nevertheless pursued her argument continuously and almost faultlessly, beginning with the legacy of Napoleon's Campaign and tracing the development of nationalist figures and political bodies from the literary and cultural pioneer Rifa'a El-Tahtawi, through thinkers such as Hussein El-Marsafi and Ali Mubarak, to the Ahmed Orabi movement and the emergence of political parties and political life at the turn of the century that embodied a self-aware nationalist movement in Egypt.
Khamriya, Amin El-Ayyouti, Cairo: Al-Hilal, 2000, pp121
In this book, which originally appeared two years ago, a professor of economics at the University of Ottawa in Canada reveals the extent and nature of the changes that have occurred in world economics since the 1980s, emphasising the ways in which international monetary institutions have forced economic change on much of the Third World and Eastern Europe, subjecting their economies to the supervision of the International Monetary Fund and positing a New World Order that feeds on human poverty and environmental damage and encourages racism and sexism. The writer contends that the result of this New World Order, which he amply demonstrates by examples taken worldwide , has been what he terms the "globalisation of poverty".
A little less than three years ago Mahmoud Ismail published his controversial study contending that the bulk of the famous historian and sociologist Ibn-Khaldoun's work was directly derived from the writings of the secret Alawi sect Ikhwan Al-Safaa. Due to Ibn Khaldoun being a source of pride to the Arabs of the Maghreb, an academic squabble was bound to ensue. This book attempts to document that squabble, juxtaposing the reactions of Arab scholars in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. The book also includes interviews Ismail gave following the initial publication of his book.
