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Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 June 2000 Issue No. 487 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 June 2000 Issue No. 487
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Focus Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Goats and football
Sir- A few days ago, I went to have my hair cut. My barber, who is in his late 40s, never talks about politics and doesn't even read the newspapers. He is, however, a loyal Ahlawi and likes to entertain me during my monthly visits by recounting the latest jokes about Zamalek or to tell me news of some event related to football.However, he was quite a different person this last time, definitely not the Hossam I know. He spoke of nothing but the death of Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad and the fact that his son, Bashar, will be succeeding him sooner or later.
Actually, he was unhappy that the pan-Arab Syrian leader died. But then it was more than just that. He asked me: "Are we goats, ya Bey?" Puzzled, I asked why. He simply said: "Well, it seems like we are. Otherwise, why would they groom a 30-something ophthalmologist to become president of a modern country when he's not heir to the throne? It's a republic, isn't it? It's not a monarchy. But they must think we're goats that know nothing else but eating grass."
I was surprised that Hossam voiced such an argument. It was always football, what happened? But then who can blame him? Maybe we are goats...
Mahmoud Fahmy
Heliopolis
Bittersweet good-bye
Sir- I am the wife of an American diplomat who has read Fayza Hassan's column for the past four years. It has been the highlight of my week! Whenever I read her Pot Pourri, whether she is discussing what the value of men is (as when she reduced it to needing them to open jars until her grandchild enlightened her to the American method) or in needing a car with big spikes to ram other drivers, I want to scream "Go girl!" She is the Erma Bombeck of Egypt and the Middle East.I have always hoped to meet her but since we are leaving soon, I just want to thank her for her acerbic insights. I hope that Mursi Saad El-Din and [AUC Press director] Mark Lintz will have the intelligence to publish a book of her columns. They would be a great success!
Joan Ahmed
Cairo
Hung, not strung
Sir- In (A Diwan of contemporary life, Al-Ahram Weekly, 15-21 June ) ("The vanquished looks back," ) we can read that "Mussolini was strung up on a tree in Milan before the Allies entered that city."This is not correct.
He was shot at Giulino di Mezzegra (Lake Como) and then his body was hung, opprobriously head down, in a gas station at Loreto Square in Milan.
Paolo Lombardini
Zamalek
