24 - 30 January 2002
Issue No.570
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 24 - 30 January 2002 Issue No.570 |
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Moussa appeal at the fair
Public frustration at increasing Israeli aggression and Arab feebleness has, if anything, contributed to the popular appeal of Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. Dina Ezzat attended as Moussa took the Cairo Book Fair by storm
Fifteen minutes before Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa was due to give his lecture to an audience at the Cairo Book Fair, 6 October Hall was already packed. On Tuesday evening at 4.45, security guards posted before the entrance to the hall were not having their usual easy time. They were exerting increasingly strenuous attempts to keep the overflow from entering, and doing their best to convince an anxious audience that there was simply no room -- not even standing room.
"I have to go in. I have just had an operation on both legs but I came to listen to Moussa. You have to let me in," said one anxious middle-aged man. He was not the only one who had to battle to get in after having passed up an important commitment to come to the Moussa lecture. "I just left an important business deal in Alexandria to come to this lecture. I have to get in," said another.
Eventually, most people managed. Waiting impatiently for Moussa's entry, the audience chatted about the obvious issues -- the highly explosive situation in the Palestinian-occupied territories, the fear of US strikes against Iraq or any other Arab country, their despair at the state of Arab unity and their hope that closer relations will enable the "Arab nation" to confront its many regional and international challenges.
The audience obviously knew Moussa was not going to offer answers as such. None of the hundreds of people packed into the poorly ventilated hall expected a recipe to liberate Palestine or achieve the elusive dream of Arab unity. Still, they waited.
At five o'clock, Moussa entered to a standing ovation that seemed to go on and on. His attempts to get people to sit down only increased the clapping of an audience, wreathed in smiles as if to welcome a long-missed friend. "Egypt is so proud of you," shouted one member of the audience, extending the cheers still further.
To frequent rounds of applause, the audience followed Moussa's argument every step of the way. "The war against international terrorism could not be used as a pretext to launch military strikes against any Arab country." "Iraq should not be the target for any strikes as part of the US war in Afghanistan." "We are not going to be fooled by what Ariel Sharon or anyone in the Israeli government says. We know that the mood of the Israeli right-wing political and military establishment is against peace and for the liquidation of the Palestinian cause. Despite Israel's military power, we will simply exert every political effort to prevent the implementation of the Israeli plan." "Israel will not be allowed to control the region. This simply cannot be." "Israel is not a powerful state thanks to its potential. It is strong because it receives unlimited support." "Israel is like 'the mayor's daughter': an unattractive woman with no allure or charm who is simply desirable because she is the daughter of an influential man. Do you know who the mayor is?," asked Moussa. "The US," answered the entire audience in chorus.
This, said Moussa, was not to suggest that a conflict with the US is imminent or necessary. On the contrary, he was referring to the need to win US support -- a goal most Arab regimes are working to achieve already. This process, however, must be conducted in a way that does not undermine Arab dignity, he explained. Moussa was not saying that the Arabs should go to war with Israel. Quite the opposite: he was speaking of peace -- but, as he always insists, "not just any peace." The only war Moussa seemed to be alluding to with Israel is a war of development: "The Arab countries have to work harder, much harder, to improve their economic performance, education, social standards. Governments and NGOs have to work together. All the Arab countries have to work together to serve their common interests. This is what we need to do. We do not need to entertain romantic dreams about Arab unity. We need to work hard."
The many questions addressed to Moussa reflected real public concern about the future of the Arab countries and the Arab peoples. Moussa did not claim he had the answer to this difficult question. "What we can do is save what can be saved. The next generations, however, have big challenges ahead of them."
It is perhaps this direct, honest approach that stimulated the many positive comments coming from the floor. "I have a question, but I really want to shake hands with you. May I come up [to the podium]?" requested one university student as he threaded his way through the crowd to greet Moussa with respect and appreciation.
"You are our role model. I have always wanted to see you," said a veiled student from Cairo University.
But the climax in Moussa-mania on Tuesday evening was a song offered by one man who grabbed the microphone to chant: "We are so happy tonight. We have you with us tonight. You bring joy and hope tonight. Amr Moussa, we have you with us. You are ours. For us, no one is like Amr Moussa." The audience applauded, and the song was sung again.
Moussa tried to exit, but had a hard time of it, with hundreds of people trying to shake hands, take a picture or get an autograph. The security guards who two hours earlier had battled to keep people out were now trying to keep them inside so that Moussa could leave.
As they spilled out of the hall at last, those who had come to hear the secretary-general were not talking much about the occupied territories or Iraq. The conversation focused on whether the song offered to Moussa would be recorded and, if so, whether it would beat the LE4 million sales record of Shaaban Abdel-Rehim's "I Love Amr Moussa and I Hate Israel," which came out last January, mere weeks before Moussa moved from the Foreign Ministry to the Arab League.
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