Whatever Happened to the Egyptians? *

Be forewarned: this post is bilingual and veeeeery loooooong.

Questo post era stato originariamente concepito in inglese qualche tempo fa (il 3 agosto per la precisione), in seguito ad alcune notizie che mi avevano colpita (una su tutte: la condanna in contumacia del sociologo Saad Eddin Ibrahim a due anni di prigione per aver diffamato l'Egitto in una serie di discorsi sulla democrazia ed i diritti di cittadinanza in cui aveva criticato il regime della Sfinge, il presidente egiziano Hosni Mubarak). Ora, dopo la notizia di ieri del rapimento di 11 turisti (tra cui 5 italiani) nell'area di Gebel Uwainat, al confine tra Egitto, Libia e Sudan (QUI la notizia dal sito di RaiNews 24. QUI l'aggiornamento. Sono stati liberati? Boh, ancora non si capisce…), questo post torna buono per raccontarvi qualcosa che io so dell'Egitto e che Vespa e Mentana ignorano.
Per esempio che l'Egitto è un Paese bellissimo, dove però, purtroppo, la vita umana non vale molto…

Allora ho deciso che posterò l'originale in inglese e poi aggiungerò un commento in italiano.

This post was originally conceived in (a very poor) English on August, 3. Following the kidnapping of 11 tourist (including 5 Italians) in the mountainous area of Gebel Uwainat, near the borders between Egypt, Libya and Sudan, I am gonna publishing today the original draft in English followed by a comment in Italian. Just 'cause there are 2 or 3 things that I know and that our aligned journalists will not tell you.
For example: Egypt is a wonderful Country, but unfortunately human life is very cheap there…

"Exiled Egyptian human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim, who also holds US nationality, was sentenced in absentia yesterday [August, 2] to two years in prison for defaming Egypt. Judge Hisham Beshir of Cairo's Al-Khalifa Court sentenced the sociologist and human right activist, who is currently in the United States, to two years behind bars for "tarnishing Egypt's reputation". He was granted bail of 10,000 EGP (equal to 1,890 USD). Lawyers Abul Naga al-Mehrezi and Hossam Salim had taken Ibrahim to court and accused him of defaming the Country after a series of speeches on citizenship and democracy in which he criticized the Egyptian regime. A judicial source said that Ibrahim has the right to appeal the decision (MENA – Middle East News Agency). HERE the (edited) news from Al Jazeera website.

But which offences did he cause to Egypt’s reputation?
And which reputation has Egypt today? The reputation of a Country whose president is just a puppet in American hands? A Country where someone who wants to run for the presidential elections (Ayman Nour: 44 years old, chief of the opposition party Al-Ghad – Tomorrow – held in infamous Tora Prison since the "free" elections of 2005. In March 2008 a request of freedom for health reasons – Nour is diabetic – had been refused and even for the Egyptian National Day on July, 23 President Hosni Mubarak didn't include his name in the list of 1,587 prisoners who have been conceded pardon) is imprisoned? Where the government hunts and tortures any kind of out-of-line voices (homosexuals, trade unionists, journalists, bloggers…)? Where the governmental party agrees to giving the Muslim Brotherhood more “islamization” on civil matters to keep them quiet and then condemns them when they ask for more political power (they still have the biggest number of parliamentarians among the opposition parties in the Egyptian parliament)? Where, in the middle of a humangous crisis due to a galloping inflation and the rise of basic foodstuff, the President says he will reduce the taxes and then increases the price of oil and other goods by 20%?

Nope, the Egypt I know is not this Country.
The Egypt I know is a Country full of life and culture (not the Pharaonic culture and not the pre-packed culture of the Sphinx Mubarak).
The Egypt I know is the Egypt of poor warm people who shares with you their small dinner. The Egypt of kind, funny, sweet Bahz. The Egypt of people singing and playing oud in the streets in those hot summer nights. The Egypt of SDA. The Egypt of people assembling in the street to demonstrate for democracy and ready to be beaten by riot police while Mubarak held his pre-elections speech in the adjacent Presidential Palace.

If you go to Egypt on vacation, avoid Sharm el-Sheikh and try to live the contradictions of cities such as Cairo and Alexandria. Try to get acquainted to Egyptians and you'll be deeply paid back for your effort. Talk with the taxi drivers who want to convert you to Islam and never stop chitchatting about how bad the government is. Eat foul from a stall in the street. Go to Al-Azhar Mosque and lose yourself in the quietness and holiness of the place. Go to Townhouse Gallery to discover the new generation of Egyptian artists.
Talk to the Egyptian youths: they move, they have ideas, they are clever. They are trying to figure out how to save their lives and their Country, but it's a long way to go if they don't have the support of other youngsters.

Egyptian bloggers are 2% of the global total.
Go and check Bahz's blog (if you can read Arabic) or the internationally renowned Sandmonkey.
See what young people are doing, for example Sustainable Development Association NGO.
Keep yourself updated and read.
And keep your mind open and ready to learn from everyone."

Fin dal mio primo viaggio in Egitto, nel 2004, ho avuto una sorta di affinità elettiva con questo Paese ed, ancor di più, con i suoi abitanti. Da allora ci sono tornata una volta all’anno. Ma, nonostante tutto questo amore, non sono mai stata a Sharm el-Sheikh… Perchè? Perchè Sharm el-Sheikh non è l’Egitto. O perlomeno non il mio Egitto.
Il mio Egitto è quello delle serate passate con gli amici alla Moqattam, a guardare l’immensa distesa illuminata del Cairo, chiacchierando, bevendo the e fumando. È quello della gente che nelle calde sere d’estate si riunisce nei café a cantare e suonare l’oud. È quello del koshary venduto a 1 ghinea o della colazione a base di foul mangiata in fretta per la strada, sul cofano di una macchina. È quello dei minibus che si infilano correndo tra una macchina e l’altra con i passeggeri aggrappati fuori perchè non sono riusciti a salire. È quello della condivisione. Condivisione dei bicchieri di stagno quando al “ristorante” ne portano uno solo per tutti i commensali. Condivisione della cena preparata dalla mamma di M. e M. che, per non farci accorgere della povertà della loro casa ha apparecchiato la tavola in camera da letto perchè le sembrava la stanza arredata in modo più dignitoso. Condivisione delle paure per il proprio futuro nonostante un’intelligenza brillante ed anni di studio. Condivisione di qualsiasi cosa.
E allora io condivido il mio Egitto con voi e non vi nego che mi intristisco quando leggo notizie come quelle che ho riportato sopra. Perchè, sarò pazza, ma a furia di condividere, ormai condivido anche la paura di tanti egiziani per le sorti del loro Paese. E condivido il loro essere egiziani, perchè un po’, sotto sotto, mi ci sento anch’io…

E mi intristisco anche quando sento parlare dell’egiziano medio come lo stereotipo del furbastro che cerca di imbrogliare i turisti.
Perchè questo non è l’egiziano medio che conosco io. Io conosco tanti egiziani. Ma nessuno di loro è un furbastro da quattro soldi.
Gli egiziani che io conosco sono persone umili, ma che condividono con gioia quel poco che hanno. Che mi hanno sempre aiutato in qualsiasi momento di difficoltà. Che non hanno esitato ad accogliermi nelle loro case e nelle loro famiglie. Che a volte mi hanno commosso per il grande valore che hanno dato alla nostra amicizia. Che non smettono di battersi per far tornare il loro Paese ad essere la culla della civiltà e della democrazia nel mondo arabo. Che scendono in piazza a protestare incuranti dei poliziotti anti-sommossa che a breve li massacreranno di botte e li arresteranno e tortureranno.
Che continuano a credere nel futuro e ad avanzare verso di esso a testa alta.

* Whatever Happened to the Egyptians? Changes in Egyptian Society from 1950 to the Present. (AUC Press, Cairo 2000 – 9th edition 2006) is a pamphlet by Galal Amin, Professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo.

Links:

3arabawy: journalist Hossam el-Hamalawy's blog (EN);

http://www.nawalsaadawi.net/: Nawal el-Saadawi's official website (EN);

Manal and Alaa's bit bucket: blog published by Alaa Abdel Fatah (who was imprisoned for 45 days in 2006) and his wife Manal (AR/EN);

Baheyya's blog (EN);

Fustat/Duweiqa, blog published di Ibn ad Dunia -Son of the World (EN);

Review of the movie "These Girls" about the lives of 4 girls from Cairo's poorest suburbia - from the blog Confessions of a Funky Ghetto Hijabi (thanks to Stef for the recommendation);

Salam(e)lik: journalist Sherif el-Sebaie's blog (IT);

http://www.harakamasria.org/: Kefaya, the Egyptian movement for change (AR).

Suggested Readings:

Non-fiction:
- Le Prophète et Pharaon (Gilles Kepel - originally in French, published in Italian as “Il Profeta e il Faraone” by Laterza): the best essay to understand the rise of Muslim Brotherhood and other radical Islamist organizations in Egypt;
- Cent mots pour comprendre l'Egypte moderne (Caroline Gaultier-Kurhan, Ali Kurhan et Abdel-Hafez Saleh Magdi - Paris, Editions Maisonneuve et Larose 2005);
- Il Risveglio della Sfinge (Vincent Hugeux e Tangi Salaün – in Internazionale 615, 4/10 novembre 2005);
- Explaining Egypt’s Targeting of Gays (Hossam Bahgat – here on Middle East Report Online;
- Avenues of Participation: family, politics and network in urban quarters of Cairo (Diane Singerman – Cairo, AUC Press 1997);
- All’Ombra di Piramidi e Moschee. Scritti e Interviste (Naguib Mahfouz – published in Italian by Datanews);
- Arabi Invisibili. Catalogo ragionato degli arabi che non conosciamo. Quelli che non fanno i terroristi (Paola Caridi, prefazione di 'Ala al-Aswani – Milano, Feltrinelli 2007);
- There is a very interesting book I bought (in a moment of unexpected optimism about my knowledge of Arabic) in a bookshop in Alexandria whose title in Arabic is Gomhorrikiyah Ahl Mubarak ( جمهركية اهل مبارك ). I have never finished reading it (till now, insha'llah in the future), but it is a collection of enlightening articles written by an Egyptian journalist to highlight Mubarak's dirty manoeuvre to make his son Gamal succeed to him as Egypt's next president. Actually the title is very difficult to translate since Gomhorrikiyah is a word that does not exist in Arabic: it is a contraction of Gomhorriyah (= Republic) and Malikiyah (= Monarchy). Let's say "The Mubaraks' Monarchic Republic"!

Fiction:
- Emarat Yacoubian ('Ala al-Aswani – published in English as "The Yacoubian Building" by AUC Press and in Italian as "Palazzo Yacoubian" by Feltrinelli);
- Shikagu ('Ala al-Aswani – published in English as "Chicago" by AUC Press and in Italian under the same name by Feltrinelli -> I'm looking forward to Stefania's review);
- Taxi (Khaled al-Khamissi – published in English under the same name by Aflame Books);
- Shatf al-Nar (Gamal al-Ghitani – published in Italian as “Schegge di Fuoco” by Jouvence);
- Zayni Barakat (Gamal al-Ghitani – published in Italian as “Zayni Barakat. Storia del Gran Censore della città del Cairo” by Giunti);
- Baydat al-Na'amah (Ra'uf Mus'ad Bastà – published in Italian as "L'Uovo di Struzzo. Memorie Erotiche" by Jouvence);
- Al-Karnak (Naguib Mahfouz – published in Italian as “Karnak Café” by Newton Compton);
- Hadrat al-Muhtaram (Naguib Mahfouz – published in English as “Respected Sir” by Anchor and in Italian as “Un Uomo da Rispettare” by Newton Compton);
- Yawm Maqtal al-Za’im (Naguib Mahfouz – published in English as “The Day the Leader was Killed” by Anchor and in Italian as “Il Giorno in cui fu ucciso il Leader” by Newton Compton);
- Mawt al-Rajul al-Wahid (Nawal el-Saadawi – published in English as “God Dies by the Nile” by Zed Press and in Italian as “Dio muore sulle rive del Nilo” by Eurostudio);
- Imra’a ‘ind Nuqtat al-Sifr (Nawal el-Saadawi – published in English as “Woman at Point Zero” by Zed Press and in Italian as “Firdaus. Storia di una donna egiziana” by Giunti).