'Roz Al-Yousuf' Special Supplement: Normalization with Israel – For and Against

MEMRI
Special Dispatch - No. 2624
30 October 09

To mark the 30th anniversary of the Camp David Peace Accords, the Egyptian weekly Roz Al-Yousuf published a special supplement on the political, economic, and cultural aspects of normalization with Israel.

Following is an overview of the articles and interviews in the supplement: [1]
Normalization - Crime or Complex?

The editorial in the supplement states: "Although much water has flowed under the bridge of Egyptian-Israeli relations since the signing of the Camp David Accords, we still haven't developed a clear position on normalization [with Israel]. This issue has been manipulated for political purposes to such an extent that it has lost its meaning and possibly its value, so that we can no longer tell whether normalization with Israel is a crime or a complex…

"Is rejecting normalization still a useful weapon, which should be used… to cause Israel to make genuine concessions, or is it a weapon that has lost all its effectiveness?...

"Taken literally, normalization does exist; it is embodied in the [Camp David] Peace Accords, in the QIZ agreement, [2] in the export of [natural] gas to Israel, and in dozens of Egyptians who maintain ties with Israel or even are married to Israelis. However, as far as the public and the ideological [climate] are concerned, the Egyptian people has not overcome the psychological barrier of establishing relations with a country that still occupies some Arab land, and still sees Israel as an enemy in [the Arabs'] midst…"

Yes to Peace, No to Normalization

Roz Al-Yousuf editor Karam Gaber states that the publication of the supplement was motivated by several recent events pertinent to the Egyptian-Israeli relations, including the controversy over translating books by Israeli authors into Arabic, [3] the commotion over letting Jewish conductor Daniel Barenboim perform in the Cairo Opera House, a ruling by Egypt's Administrative Court to revoke the Egyptian citizenship of Egyptians married to Israeli women, [4] and others - issues that had sparked dispute between two opposing camps in Egyptian society.

Gaber writes: "While most Egyptians want peace and aren't seeking a substitute for it, they nevertheless oppose normalization… However, the Arab countries are proposing to Israel a peace initiative that includes normalization. Such a peace, as well as full normalization, seems farfetched, but that does not obviate the need for the Egyptian public, and for the Arab people in general, to consolidate a position on this issue.

"It has been 32 years since [Egyptian president Anwar] Sadat's visit to Jerusalem, and 30 years since the signing of the [Camp David] Peace Accords - yet the issue [of normalization] is still up in the air… Discussing the matter is imperative, but opening a door for such a discussion is not tantamount to calling for normalization. This is a call to extricating [ourselves] from the schizophrenic state in which [Egyptian] society has wallowed these past three decades."

A New Debate on 'Ali Salem's Visit to Jerusalem

A substantial part of the supplement is devoted to Egyptian intellectual, journalist, writer, and playwright 'Ali Salem, referred to as "the most famous among those singed by the flames of normalization." [5] In an interview, Salem speaks again of his trip to Israel 15 years ago, of his support for normalization and peace with Israel, and of the heavy price he has paid for his views. Salem - who is still boycotted by the Egyptian media and theaters - says that he has no regrets, since "there should be no regrets for a good deed."

The supplement reassesses Salem's case, with prominent Egyptian intellectuals commenting on normalization and debating whether 'Ali Salem had become a scapegoat or was ostracized for good reason. Egyptian philosopher and researcher Dr. Yousuf Zeidan, director of the Centre for Arabic Manuscripts at the Alexandria library, states that the reaction to Salem's visit to Israel was overly extreme and aggressive. He reports that Salem was not given a chance to defend his position at the meeting that preceded his expulsion from the Egyptian Writers Association. While calling Salem's excursion "an unjustifiable escapade," Zeidan says that the Egyptian intellectuals' reaction to it was irrational, and they should have found a better solution than to expel him from the writers' association.

Egyptian author Muhammad 'Abd Al-Mun'im contends that the main losers in this episode were Salem's detractors, who revealed their true faces by rejecting freedom and democracy. It is inconceivable, he says, that professional associations should impose their will on their members and deprive them of freedom. Al-Mun'im argues that it is wrong for such associations to reject a peace agreement that has been endorsed by the Egyptian People's Council and the entire nation. "Do they live in some other country?" he asks.

Egyptian Writers Association director Muhammad Salmawy refuses to comment specifically on 'Ali Salem, but says: "The Writers Association's position on normalization is clear and steadfast, and we have already made decisions in this regard, [to the effect that] serious steps will be taken against [any] member who maintains ties [with Israel in the framework of] normalization."

Prominent Egyptian author Youssef Al-Qaid states that he "adamantly rejects normalization, since Israeli society is not a normal society; it is nothing but a gang."

For the Egyptian Peasant, Israel is the Root of All Evil

The renowned Egyptian poet 'Abed Al-Rahman Al-Abnodi, who writes for the government daily Al-Akhbar, states that the attitude of the Egyptian fellah (peasant) towards Israel shows that normalization is impossible. He states that in the Egyptian peasantry's collective consciousness Israel is justifiably associated with evil and destruction, while the Arabs in general perceive it as a country imposed on them by force, and therefore consider any relations with it illegitimate.

The Egyptian fellah, Al-Abnodi explains, blames Israel for the rising prices of fertilizer and for the substandard pesticides that have damaged his land and crops. In fact, the peasants attribute all of Egypt's troubles to Israel's ongoing war against Egypt, even though Egypt has declared that the 1973 war was its last with Israel.

In his characteristic lyrical language, Al-Abnodi adds: "The illiterate fellah, who knows only his hoe, his bent back, and his cup of tea, is well aware that Israel has found its way into Egypt's arteries and is [poisoning its blood]… The Egyptians have witnessed the inhumanity with which [Israel] destroyed Gaza and thereby weakened us Egyptians. Anyone who weakens part of the Muslim nation also weakens Egypt, and its government's position vis-à-vis Israel makes no difference at all. I do not like the peace dove, and I do not like it when Egypt takes on the role [of peace dove]…"

Egyptians Marrying Israeli Women - A Demographic Advantage for the Arabs

Egyptian journalist Iqbal Baraka argues that marriages between Egyptian men and Israeli women actually benefit the Arabs, since they boost the Arab population of Israel. She condemns the Egyptian Administrative Court decision to revoke the citizenship of these Egyptian men, calling it tantamount to an ideological death sentence and more extreme and severe than physical execution. She also wonders why there should be legal measures against young people who work in or marry citizens of a country in which Egypt has an embassy and an ambassador.
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