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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters TV morality on trial
By Gamal Essam El-DinAs the five-year session of the People's Assembly draws to a close, critical and even some complacent members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) have suddenly gone on the offensive. Over the last three weeks, NDP MPs have lashed out against former Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri and Economy Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali for what they saw as erroneous and misguided policies. Other government ministers, especially those responsible for the portfolios of health, electricity and the public business sector, came under scathing attacks as well.
Mohamed Ahmed Hussein, an NDP MP for the Upper Egypt governorate of Assiut, submitted one particular request to debate what he called a very sensational and shameful subject: television video clips. After some delay, the subject was broached on Sunday by the Assembly's Information and Culture Committee.
According to Hussein, Egyptian television continues to display video clips of songs on all channels, "although they show the shameful scenes of semi-nude girls dancing around. This is highly detrimental to the religious values of society and to the mores of young people who are the future of Egypt," Hussein said in requesting the discussion.
In the course of parliament's debate over Prime Minister Atef Ebeid's policy statement delivered to the Assembly on 18 December, Hussein took the floor and, to the surprise of MP's, chose to focus instead on what he called "the shameful phenomenon of video clips.
"It is by no means Islamic to watch on TV young singers, surrounded by a large number of semi-nude dancing girls. This is what I call the shameful phenomenon of video clips that show outrageous scenes that mainly depend on lewd dancing and deliberately focus on erotic motions and appearance." Hussein described the clips as "cultural drugs" that are detrimental to the manners and morals of young people.
Hussein's remarks failed to win MPs' sympathy, especially that of Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour and the NDP's parliamentary whip Kamal El-Shazli. Hussein decided to file an official request for a discussion on the subject in the Assembly's Information and Culture Committee.
During the discussion, committee chairman Salah El-Tarouti said it was natural for TV programmes, including movies, video clips and soap operas, to receive mixed reaction from viewers. He argued that television had a responsibility to present Egyptian viewers with attractive programmes. "There is at present strong competition among TV satellite channels to attract viewers by displaying attractive and enjoyable programmes, primarily video clips. These TV [Arab] satellite channels depend mainly on Egyptian songs and soap operas. Egyptian television cannot sit idle, especially as rival TV satellite channels depend heavily on Egyptian cultural products," El-Tarouti said.
Abdel-Rahman Hafez, chairman of the Radio and Television Union, said it was impossible for television to stop showing video clips. "They are usually offered by singers to the television as gifts. Before they are shown, they are closely examined to ensure they preserve religious morality and social traditions," Hafez said.
He noted that television was not involved in the production of video clips. "Television organises some shows -- Lights of the City and Television Nights -- which naturally come under the inspection and supervision of specialised TV committees," Hafez said.
However, Hussein strongly objected to the arguments put forward by El-Tarouti and Hafez. He said officials should always keep in mind the fact that Egyptian television belongs to an Islamic state. "The constitution, in Article 2, states that Egypt is an Islamic country. Since television insists on displaying such dissolute video clips, the state should cancel Article 2. This will freely allow TV to show not only video clips, but pornographic movies as well," Hussein said.
Hussein said he had a parliamentary record of protests against "shameful" movies. The beginning, he said, was 20 years ago when he strongly criticised in parliament the movie A Cat on Fire. The movies of the late actress Madiha Kamel were also a favourite target of Hussein's campaign. "This is part of my duty, not only as a Muslim citizen but primarily as a Muslim MP in an Islamic state," said Hussein.
Egyptian Television Chairwoman Suheir El-Itribi said all cultural programmes on TV come under the close scrutiny of a specialised committee "to make sure these programmes, such as video clips and movies, do not violate Islamic principles. The committee makes sure that all objectionable scenes in video clips are cut before they are shown on the screen. If it is found afterwards that video clips featuring such scenes have been shown, it becomes a matter for immediate investigation."
El-Itribi emphasised that television was very well aware of Islamic principles and that a basic part of its task was to safeguard these principles. "Compared to most TV satellite stations, Egyptian Television is the most conservative. There is a race between TV channels for nudity but we will never join it," said El-Itribi.
