Normalising dismissal
By Salah Eissa
The Union of Egyptian Writers' decision to sack playwright Ali Salem for visiting Israel, and deprive him of his union membership, has important and complex implications that go beyond the two parties' positions and even the question over which they disagree.
A trade union or syndicate is, by law, an assembly that brings together practitioners of a certain profession, like writing, with the object of protecting that profession and defending its practitioners' economic interests. Being part of a union is the right of anybody who practices the profession, regardless of political orientation. Dismissal, in consequence, is legally justified only in the case of individuals who have broken the law or contravened the traditions of the profession.
The decision to dismiss Ali Salem turns the union into a political party that imposes the majority opinion on the minority. Besides being illegal, this constitutes a dangerous development that could encourage Islamists, now the majority in a number of syndicates, to follow suit and expel those who are accused of apostasy or labelled secularists. Since membership in a syndicate or union is a prerequisite for practising the associated profession, the law protects citizens against unjustified expulsion. And normalising relations with Israel is a charge that justifies neither expulsion nor the abrogation of legal protection.
The decision, in fact, endorses normalisation, for, besides portraying the anti-normalisation movement as a form of extremism that does not allow for any difference of opinion, the decision will result in Salem's pro-normalisation stance receiving legal backing, since the courts will find the motion legally unjustified.
*This week's soapbox speaker is the editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Al-Qahira.
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