Al-Ahram Weekly | Culture

		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 10 - 16 January 2002 Issue No.568
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Global women unite

THE ARAB Women's Solidarity Association (AWSA), headed by the well-known "women's lib" writer Nawal El-Saadawi, held its sixth international conference in Cairo from 3 to 5 January. Around 100 scholars and intellectuals from 19 countries around the Arab world and beyond gathered at the Greater Cairo Public Library to discuss "Women and Global Change." Despite AWSA's essentially Arab concerns the proceedings reached out to gender experiences in other parts of the world as participants strove to discuss the elusive effects of globalisation.
Among the those present were a number of scholars from Norway, in addition to feminists and writers from Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan, as well as the United States. The keynote address was presented -- in Arabic -- by Miriam Cooke, professor of Arabic Literature at Duke University. In her paper Cooke briefly outlined the history of Arab women's literature exposing prejudices and biases inherent to the conventions of this narrative mode as well as the pressure the 11 September events have exercised on women's creativity.
Most of the discussions centering on globalisation emphasised its negative effects on women's liberties, arguing that it relegates women's issues to the background of national discourse in the Arab world and perpetuates what Sherine Abul-Naga, professor of English Literature at Cairo University, termed "an exclusivist, chauvinist and dogmatic atmosphere."
The predicament of Palestinian women living under Israeli occupation was also the subject of heated discussions, giving way to debate about the peace process and the Intifada in their ramifications on women. Among the participants was Palestinian novelist Liana Badr whose 37-minute documentary film Zaytounat (Olives) was screened as part of the conference.
Produced in 2000, Zaytounat is Badr's second attempt at filmmaking, her first being a documentary on the life of the Palestinian poet Fadwa Tuqan. The film exposes many of the realities of life for Palestinian women of various social classes through their relationship with olives -- a relationship that is endangered because of policies of Israeli occupation. Olive trees have traditionally been an important part of Palestinian economic and social life, providing nourishment, wood for fire and oil for soap. Yet thousands of olive trees have been cut down by occupation forces to build settlements on confiscated or occupied lands and freeways ("bypass roads") linking them to each other, bypassing Palestinian villages.
According to Badr, 18,000 olive trees were uprooted in 1999 alone, while an additional 50,000 have disappeared since the outbreak of the Intifada last year. Olive picking picnics were part of the social and economic life of Palestinians for centuries, a tradition that has become all but extinct in the light of security measures that make it life-threatening.
The most controversial session, however, was by far the last one, during which an American documentary on male circumcision, Whose body? whose rights?, was screened. The film, produced by an American NGO, the National Organization to Halt the Abuse and Routine Mutilation of Males (NO HARMM), and directed by Lawrence Delon, argues against the validity of the procedure from a medical point of view. Contrary to common perceptions that male circumcision prevents a number of diseases, the film warns of the dangers of diseases and psychological trauma to which it exposes the subjects. It generated heated debate among both audience and participants. Some, notably novelist Salwa Bakr, opposed the film ostensibly for being an American production.
Circumcision, whether male or female, remains a controversial topic in Egypt and the Arab world due to social and religious considerations. By taking up a crusade against "male genital mutilation" (after fighting for years against female genital mutilation [FGM]), AWSA and its president might be in for another battle with the establishment.
El-Saadawi herself has been jailed for her outspoken views and was recently at the centre of a divorce case on the grounds of propagating anti-Muslim ideas.
AWSA has branches in other Arab countries and in the United States and holds consultative status with the United Nations. The group had been banned for unlawfully engaging in political activities following El- Saadawi's opposition to the Gulf War in 1991. Yet this conference has received the state's blessings in the form of a grant of LE35,000 from the Ministry of Culture as well as permission to hold it at the Cairo Library.
"Holding the conference," El-Saadawi told AP, "is a small victory, and gives us a small hope."

Mahfouz at the fair
THE 34TH Cairo International Book Fair will be held from 17 January till the end of the month at the Cairo International Fair Grounds in Madinat Nasr.
Numerous cultural festivities are planned on the fringe of the event, including a special celebration of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz's 90th birthday organised by Hamdi El- Sakkout, professor of Arabic literature at the American University in Cairo. The celebration -- scheduled for the second week of the fair -- will open with a documentary film on Mahfouz. Seven films based on his novels will be screened through the week. A number of Egyptian writers and artists will participate in symposia related to Mahfouz's literary and cinematic contribution.
Al-Ahram is organising a special Naguib Mahfouz book fair including all his published works in Arabic and in translation.

Egyptian film festival
THIS year's round of the Festival for Egyptian Films (organised by the Catholic Cultural Centre and founded by the late Kamal El-Mallakh in 1952) will start on 25 January. The jury, headed by actor Ezzat El-Alaili, will bring together actors Ahmed Bedeir, Laila Elwi, Shweikar, Athar El-Hakim, director Alaa Karim, scriptwriter Farouk Sabri and writer Iqbal Baraka. Seven films, including Amr Arafa's Africano, Mohamed El- Qalyubi's Itfarrag Ya Salam (Watch and Wonder) and Mohamed Khan's Ayyam El- Sadat (Days of Sadat) are competing for awards.
Compiled by Amina Elbendary

E-mail this page to someone

© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved

Send a letter to the Editor