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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 August 2000 Issue No. 495 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 August 2000 Issue No. 495
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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 Letters Take aim, fire
By Abdel-Aleem El-Abyad *The first thing that came to my mind when reading the press commentary in Egypt that came in the wake of the publication of American columnist Thomas Friedman's article "The Egypt Game" was the familiar expression -- shooting one self in the foot.
Mr Friedman's piece, which appeared in The New York Times on 8 August, criticised Egypt for not using its influence with Yasser Arafat to pressure him into deferring a decision on Jerusalem to a later date and so pave the way for the Camp David talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians to end on a fabricated high note.
Now while Friedman used language, particularly in reference to President Hosni Mubarak, that would be considered unacceptable in respectable Arabic journalistic circles when addressing a head of state, the bulk of the Egyptian commentary on Friedman's piece did not take proper note of the very different nature of Western journalistic practice. In the Western journalistic tradition there are no sacrosanct subjects, no taboos sacred or secular to be negotiated in the pursuit of a story.
The language used by Friedman and the myriad columnists and commentators who inhabit the world of newspapers in America undoubtedly sounded shocking to ears used to only the deferential tones of the local press. Yet anyone who is a regular reader of the American or Western press knows that that is the normal register of reporting there.
American newspapermen view themselves quite literally as watch dogs, their job being to bark at and on occasion hound public officials. And they pride themselves on playing this role. Should their sheer irreverence offend our sensibilities, though, it should not lead us to overreact to their style of journalism since to do so not only misses the point, but is likely to be counter productive.
The overreaction of the Egyptian press, understandable in an Egyptian context, has been unfortunate. The overreaction was inappropriate to the occasion and gave undue significance to a piece in question, which was the case with most of the commentary by Egyptian writers.
There are hundreds of Thomas Friedmans in the US and none of them is a spokesman of the administration. They should be treated as writers expressing their opinions, rather than being turned into emblems of some monstrous trend in Egyptian-American relations, which is what actually happened.
The sheer volume of the commentary Friedman provoked was in itself an example of hyperbole. It created confusion among the public and heightened not only a sense of curiosity, but of alarm. Someone unfamiliar with the patterns of Egyptian-American relations would, on perusing the Egyptian press, have thought we were in the midst of some quite calamitous disaster when in reality there was no real crisis of any substance.
Rather than the maelstrom of words that swirled in Friedman's wake would it not have been better for the Egyptian ambassador to Washington, or the press counsellor, to have written a reasoned response. All American newspapers have opinion pages and usually welcome a contrary opinion. They thrive on controversy. A calm, well-reasoned response in the same newspaper would have had a far more positive impact than the war of words that ensued.
Unfortunately reading the Egyptian press, and its coverage of Mr. Friedman, underlines the fact that much is to be desired in the pitching of the debate. It confused the reader, created a sense of false crisis and defeated the very purposes it had set itself. The way the whole affair was handled is a perfect example of how to shoot yourself in the foot. We have become extraordinarily adept at it.
* The writer is former press counsellor at the Egyptian embassy in Washington.
