20 - 26 September 2001
Issue No.552
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 20 - 26 September 2001 Issue No.552 |
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Mutating emotions
Disbelief, shock, distress, apprehension. Shaden Shehab reports on the reactions of commentators, Rana Allam on feelings in the street
Mustafa Kamel El-Sayed, professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo, articulated the dilemma that lies at the heart of the seeming ambivalence of many Egyptians when he said that it is difficult for Egyptians to watch Palestinians dying daily on television and know that the United States does not object to it and then share their grief. "Deteriorating developments in the Palestinian territories and the continuous support of the US administration for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, understandably led Egyptians to lose sympathy with the Americans."
Offering condolences at the US embassy in Cairo (top to bottom): Prime Minister Atef Ebeid; Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher; leading member of the National Democratic Party Gamal Mubarak
It was a point underlined by political writer Salah Eissa, who is the chief editor of Al-Qahira weekly newspaper, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture. "The attack," he suggested, "has undeniably come at a time when the overwhelming number of Egyptian people are resentful towards the United States. But if there was a sense of ambivalence in people's initial responses, because they were not thinking of the civilian casualties, such feelings were soon washed away with the images of destruction."
During the presidency of Anwar El- Sadat, Egyptians had nothing but positive images of the US, but with the Intifada, and especially since the election of George W Bush, America's image has reached an all time low, an inevitable result, Eissa argued, of "the monstrous attacks of Israel on the Palestinian people with the direct or indirect support of the US."
Fahmy Howeidy, Al-Ahram columnist, went further. "It [the attacks] is an outcome of American foreign policy and America's overwhelming belief that it rules the world." He voiced concern that "America will commit further mistakes by jumping to conclusions and planning retaliatory actions that will act only to induce more hatred towards it."
Mustafa El-Fiki, a career diplomat and member of parliament, insists that the the attack "is not the work of Arabs. It was highly organised and the way it was carried out indicates that it involved an intelligence agency. Americans must be involved, one way or the other."
It is an argument echoed by Howeidy. "It cannot be the work of Arabs, it does not follow the pattern of any previous attack linked to any Islamist organisation. The attack is the work of an organisation that possesses and can use the most advanced technology."
Mustafa Kamel El-Sayed, professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo, articulated the dilemma that lies at the heart of the seeming ambivalence of many Egyptians when he said that it is difficult for Egyptians to watch Palestinians dying daily on television and know that the United States does not object to it and then share their grief. "Deteriorating developments in the Palestinian territories and the continuous support of the US administration for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, understandably led Egyptians to lose sympathy with the Americans."
It was a point underlined by political writer Salah Eissa, who is the chief editor of Al-Qahira weekly newspaper, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture. "The attack," he suggested, "has undeniably come at a time when the overwhelming number of Egyptian people are resentful towards the United States. But if there was a sense of ambivalence in people's initial responses, because they were not thinking of the civilian casualties, such feelings were soon washed away with the images of destruction."
During the presidency of Anwar El- Sadat, Egyptians had nothing but positive images of the US, but with the Intifada, and especially since the election of George W Bush, America's image has reached an all time low, an inevitable result, Eissa argued, of "the monstrous attacks of Israel on the Palestinian people with the direct or indirect support of the US."
Fahmy Howeidy, Al-Ahram columnist, went further. "It [the attacks] is an outcome of American foreign policy and America's overwhelming belief that it rules the world." He voiced concern that "America will commit further mistakes by jumping to conclusions and planning retaliatory actions that will act only to induce more hatred towards it."
Mustafa El-Fiki, a career diplomat and member of parliament, insists that the the attack "is not the work of Arabs. It was highly organised and the way it was carried out indicates that it involved an intelligence agency. Americans must be involved, one way or the other."
It is an argument echoed by Howeidy. "It cannot be the work of Arabs, it does not follow the pattern of any previous attack linked to any Islamist organisation. The attack is the work of an organisation that possesses and can use the most advanced technology."
"Yet all of us, Arabs and Muslims, are suspects. When Christians do something they are never labelled with their religion. Such labelling of Arabs can only multiply the anger and hatred. America is accusing people without evidence, they really do not know who the real enemy is."
Whatever the reservations felt, El-Fiki predicts that Egypt will back American retaliation if it is under the umbrella of the UN. "We will have to follow. But should the US launch an unlimited retaliation we should have nothing to do with it," he said.
The US has three choices, argues El- Fiki. To attack without concrete evidence, to build an international campaign against terrorism, that will take time, and to honestly review its foreign policy in an attempt to understand where all the hate comes from in the first place.
"I believe that it will take the first choice. America is hurt."
Egyptians, like millions of others around the world, were glued to television screens on 11 September, watching as the World Trade Centre's twin towers in New York imploded into an immense cloud of smoke. In shopping malls and coffee shops people stood around TV screens as slowly the enormity of the attacks struck home."I was passing infront of a coffee shop and I saw people gathering. At first I thought it was a special effecets movie but then realised it was real life," says Mohamed Rezk, a parking attendent in downtown Cairo.
"The enormity of the event is indescribable," said actor Yehia El- Fakharani.
Indescribable, yes, but tragically, and for a great many people on the streets of Cairo, not unfamiliar. Whether it is 500,000 Iraqi children, Palestinians civilians, Sudanese farmers, Bosnian women -- the grotesque frequency of innocent lives lost is daily reinforced by news reports. It is a daily diet that has left many expressing what might seem ambivalence.
"From a humanitarian perspective it is a sad situation, but then again US policies aim to kill every day," says banker Hossam El-Dereiny. "And what goes around, comes around."
Such sentiments found repeated echoes. A car mechanic in the impoverished area of Masr El-Qadima insisted that the attacks are unacceptable to any Muslim. But then comes the sub-clause. "What does the US expect given what it is doing around the world?"
Yet "two wrongs don't make a right," said Haitham Abbas, regional sales manager for a multinational company. "Innocent people are suffering because of their governments' policies and this is very unfair."
The average American views the killing of innocent people -- either as a direct result of US orders, or using American-made weapons -- as something that happens on the other side of the world "but now the reality has hit home," argued financial analyst Yasser El-Maraghy.
When accusations began blaming Muslims for the attacks, and Israel seized the opportunity to intensify its onslaught against the Palestinian population of the occupied territories, the underlying frustrations felt by many Egyptians surfaced.
"It is a tragic situation, innocent people were killed and now Muslims are accused and detained in the US, without evidence," says Sherif Abul-Ezz, a businessman. "Now America is trying to pin the guilt on anyone, and who better than the Muslims, who better than America's long-time-ally-cum- enemy, Bin Laden?" he added
"Every tragedy is blamed on Muslims, yet our religion is one of forgiveness and love. Why can't they understand this," asked Iman Khedr, a housewife.
A week after the attacks fear of the likely consequences is beginning to set in. Tellingly, during noon prayers on Friday most clerics in Cairene mosques refrained from directly commenting on the attack. Many, though, focussed on forgiveness and compassion, recounting the Prophet Mohamed's prohibition to his soldiers on killing civilians, or even uprooting a tree.
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