Readers' corner
Extremist attraction
Sir-- I read Galal Nassar's 'History's clearing house' (19-25 July) with great attention and deep concern. Your assessment as to the current state of the Arab world with which you conclude your article is indeed bleak. These feelings of despair and hopelessness certainly emanate from the many "traumas" which you enumerate in your essay. What is most troubling is that irrespective of the original sources for this desperation and despair, these feelings are the primary tools used by extremist elements to try to sway a more moderate majority, whom I believe wants to strive for peace, tolerance and mutual prosperity. The allure of extremists (of every religious persuasion) is in their unshakable faith in the "rightness" of their position. I believe that moderates -- those who see other points of view and wish to practise tolerance -- must be equally as steadfast in the "rightness" of the position of tolerance and mutual respect. Indeed, the antithesis of the moderation, whether you are an Arab, Jew, or a Christian, is intolerance.
The opposite of hopelessness and despair is, of course, hope, security, and a sense of progress and empowerment. This is what all people in the region deserve. With regard to President Anwar El-Sadat's visit to Jerusalem, in my opinion this was not a sign of weakness, but rather a bold, noble and strong gesture intended to create hope, security, progress and empowerment for his people (especially in securing Egypt's status as a world leader in seeking peace). Because waging war is easier than waging peace, it is essential that more initiatives be undertaken in the region to create hope, security, progress, and a sense of empowerment.
The Camp David accords represent a single foundation stone placed in one corner of the region. Historians and experts on all sides will undoubtedly find the cracks in this foundation stone. But 30 years later, we must hope that it is strong enough to continue to foster greater trust, cooperation and respect between its signatories, and ultimately support all our hopes in a better future.
Bruce Roter
New York
USA
Smart sheikh
Sir-- Great article on Sheikh Ali Gomaa ('Bridges of understanding' 28 June-4 July). I think the reason why people in literary circles are against him is because of the threat he raises in bringing religious discourse to the forefront. They recognise how smart and capable he is of effectuating public opinion, and because they tend to be secularist, they do not want him to gain that public pedestal.
One issue I would like to see him address is the interaction between nationalism and religious identification.
I did not hear about his fatwas on mobile phone reinforcement, transmitters on top of minarets and gambling on sports. Do you know what he said on those topics?
Try and keep up his profile in the media.
Ashraf Joseph
Michigan
USA
Want to wed
Sir-- I am currently in Cairo and would like to get married. However, one of the requirements of the Egyptian Ministry of Justice (the office in charge of conducting civil marriages) is that the US Embassy provides an affidavit stating that they have no objections that US citizens get married in Egypt. However, for the past three months the US Embassy has refused to provide this affidavit to US citizens.
I have contacted the US Embassy but they have not responded to my written enquiry as of this date.
The Egyptian Ministry of Justice is turning away all US citizens from their office. They will not even entertain questions from US citizens and the US Embassy is absolutely no help whatsoever.
Mohamed Abdel-Rahman
Cairo
Egypt
School pounds
Sir-- Hundreds of thousands of teachers all over Egypt are waiting impatiently for the new financial status that has been proposed by the government. It is quite ridiculous that people in charge think that adding just a few pounds (only enough to buy a new pair of trousers) to teachers' salaries will lead to improving our deteriorating educational system.
The painful fact is that there are numerous problems that need to be urgently addressed if we are really serious about reforming our educational system. What have we done about the excruciating lack of teaching aids and facilities in our schools? Are we really aware of the absence of a clear educational philosophy that results in making the wrong policies and taking uninformed impetuous decisions? Why do we still insist on wasting millions of pounds on teacher training programmes abroad with no obvious objectives attained?
What are we going to do about the defective curricula and the large number of students per class? When will we create a healthy sustainable relationship between the school and the local community? What can we do to rectify the defective system of testing and evaluation? How on earth are we going to make any real progress when our textbooks are almost void of any reference to critical thinking skills or problem- solving techniques, not to mention values such as tolerance, citizenship and democracy?
We teach our young children how to count but we don't teach them what counts. We stuff their memories but we hardly develop their minds. We may teach them how to make a living but we never teach them how to make a life. All we have done so far has only been a placebo. Unfortunately, the real remedy remains out of sight.
Essam Wahba
Assiut
Egypt
Pins and needles
Sir-- I was really happy to see an informative article about acupuncture which can increase the awareness of important therapeutic methods that Egyptians are still unaware of.
The practice is not only a therapy, but a comprehensive method of self-care for all people is yoga. When practised with an experienced instructor, it greatly improves physical, mental and emotional health. While Egyptians are still unaware of it, big name companies in the US and Europe offer yoga classes for employees and executives for the effect it has on their health, physical fitness, mental clarity, emotional control, overall performance and ability to take better decisions. Moreover, it is an excellent preventive method against diseases and has great therapeutic benefits.
Mohamed Mansour
Cairo
EgyptCaption:
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/855/letters.htm