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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 August 2000 Issue No. 493 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 August 2000 Issue No. 493
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Not against the Arabs
I never said I was against the Arabs or Arab identity. It is simply that somebody asked me, "Why did you not image the Arab World in your novels?" I said, "I didn't even image the rest of Egypt itself in my work, and restricted myself to a small part of Cairo which became a backdrop to my works. My intention was not to image the whole of Egypt, much less the whole of the Arab world. Because," I told him, "the writer is free to choose the setting of his narrative in accordance with artistic and dramatic necessities."
Whoever writes about me today, claiming that I am anti-Arab, relies on the fact that I am no longer able to read all I want to, because of the condition of my health and the weakness of my eyesight. But if you go back to the interview in question, you will realise that the headline says that I am against the Arabs, while the actual article does not say that. What can I do?
In fact, I do believe that all the Arab peoples are united in culture. There is also another unity that prompts investigation, economic unity. Thirdly, there is the far-fetched goal of political unity. The cultural unity, a writer like myself cannot possibly overlook. The economic unity, I've constantly called for in my journalistic writings, because economic collaboration and coordination implies more power for Arabs at large. And I believe that the realisation of such unity (a common Arab market, for example) may well bring the desired political unity closer to realisation. This is my opinion but, alas, many a young man has come to me for interviews and I welcome them, but no sooner do they go than I find such shocking headlines in the newspapers, completely unrelated to what I said.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
