EGYPT: To publish or burn

The man who once threatened to torch Hebrew-language books now, in a twist of international literary diplomacy, apparently wants to publish them.

Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni is attempting to tidy up his past comments about burning Israeli books by offering a more conciliatory gesture: to print them in Arabic. The change came as writers and artists criticized Hosni’s nomination to head the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

“Farouk Hosni is the opposite of a man of peace, dialogue and culture, he is a dangerous man who inflames hearts and spirits,” went an open letter signed by filmmaker Claude Lanzmann, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. “We invite all countries dedicated to liberty and culture to take the initiatives necessary to avert this threat and avoid the disaster that would be his nomination.”

Hosni is trying to untangle himself from comments made last year when asked if there were Hebrew-language books in Egypt’s Alexandria library. He reportedly said: “If there are any, I will burn them myself.”

The quip fit the spirit of the artistic war Egypt has waged against Israel for decades. This nation may have been the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, but the Palestinian crisis prompted Egypt’s writers, intellectuals, musicians and artists to boycott the Jewish state. That sentiment may work for a novelist but not for a politician seeking the U.N. post for promoting cultural understanding.

Hosni has apologized. The ministry has announced it will publish in Arabic the works of  Israeli writers David Grossman and Amos Oz. Or will it? A report over the weekend in Daily News Egypt suggests otherwise.

Stay tuned for the next chapter. 
    
-- Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: Farouk Hosni. Credit: BBC 

EGYPT: Nefertiti and the sly archeologist

What more does one need for a tale of intrigue and desire than a sly German archeologist and the sublime bust of an ancient queen?

Egypt has been pestering Germany for years to return the 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti. As with many battles over artifacts and history, this one, which crossed deserts, borders and seas, is unresolved. But a recently discovered 1924 paper suggests that cunning and sleight of hand cost Egypt one of its masterpieces.

The existence of the document, reported by the German magazine Der Spiegel, indicates that German archeologist Ludwig Borchardt disguised the bust of the woman with stellar makeup, perfect lips and a headdress that was all the rage in the time of the pyramids.

Egypt’s Al Ahram Weekly picked up on the story, reporting that Borchardt had covered the artwork “with a layer of gypsum to ensure that the committee charged with supervising the distribution of new discoveries between Egypt and foreign mission would not see how beautiful the bust was or realize that it was actually made of exquisitely painted limestone.”

 
Check out “how deceit won a beautiful woman” and decades worth of hard feelings between two nations.

-- Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: Queen Nefertiti. Credit: Al Ahram Weekly 

IRAQ: Stars gather for concert in Kurdistan

Before a crowd of about 3,000 people, a group featuring some of world music's best-known performers -- including drummer Tariq Snare, all the way from Brooklyn, Iranian musician Sohrab Pournazeri (shown above playing the kamancheh) and multi-instrumentalist Matthaios Tsahourides of Greece -- played in Kurdistan on Friday. "Our group includes four different nationalities, and this event expresses the dialogue among different cultures," said Hussain Zahawy of Kurdistan, who plays the frame drum.

"Each state has its own culture and traditions, but after all, we are all human," Tsahourides said. See more pictures of the show below.

EGYPT: Paris exhibit chronicles Napoleon's encounter with the Pharaohs

A brash young Western leader, fresh off a traumatic national crisis, invades a Middle East country, ostensibly to spread democratic ideals. Instead he winds up violently resented by the locals and strengthening his rivals, who immediately exploit his weaknesses.

No, we’re not talking about George W. Bush and his post-Sept. 11 war against Iraq, but Napoleon Bonaparte, the French general whose forces invaded and briefly occupied Egypt nine years after a cataclysmic revolution.

His late 18th century adventures in the land of the Pharaohs are chronicled and dissected at a fascinating and extensive exhibit of paintings, manuscripts and artifacts, "Bonaparte and Egypt" at the gigantic Institut du Monde Arab along the Seine River in Paris.

Napoleon said he wanted to liberate Egyptians from the tyrannical rule of the Mamluk dynasty. But he also wanted to find another route to access to the east and undercut Britain's near-monopoly on trade with India.

At first, the Egyptians welcomed Napoleon as a liberator when he and his forces arrived on July 1, 1798, easily defeating the Mamluk forces.

EGYPT: Poet sees a storm coming

Iman Bakry has a fortuneteller's voice, husky and cracked. It coaxes you into her colloquial poems, which once were about romance but have since shifted to a cutting critique of President Hosni Mubarak's government and an Egypt plagued by self-doubt, repression, corruption and a dangerous divide between rich and poor.

"I see a storm coming," begins a stanza in one of her poems.

Bakry is a media-savvy wordsmith who has risen to national prominence through television appearances and public readings. Her politically barbed verse articulates the frustrations and false dreams that have embittered a cynical public and laced the air with hints of rebellion. Opposition forces are often silenced and intimidated by the authoritarian government, but Bakry senses the anger welling.

"The explosion is already happening," she said in an interview in her Cairo apartment. "There's demonstrations, political activism, labor strikes, protests over clean water and bread shortages. All this signals the collapse of the whole society. We are walking to hell, toward a very dark future."

Read the rest of the story in today Los Angeles Times.

--Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: Iman Bakry in her Cairo apartment. Credit: Asmaa Waguih

IRAQ: Another day, another play, another bomb

Last month, we wrote about the revival of Baghdad's National Theater and the resilience of the actors, actresses, directors and writers who had kept their artistry alive through the war and who finally were launching their first nighttime performances since the U.S. invasion of March 2003.

On Saturday, bombers struck outside the theater just before sunset. Police say an Oldsmobile blew up as people were heading to the theater in the capital's Karada district. Initial reports from police said five people were killed and 23 injured. A dozen cars along the busy street were badly damaged or destroyed.

In northern Iraq, at least 12 people were killed and 36 wounded when a bomb struck the city of Tall Afar outside Mosul. The city has been repeatedly hit by suspected Sunni insurgents who are believed to cross over from nearby Syria to fuel the violence brewing in that region between Sunni Arabs and Kurds vying for power.

Both attacks showcased the instability across Iraq, where violence has greatly decreased in the past year but where regular Iraqis' view of things often differs from the U.S. military's vision. The United States consistently points out the positives -- lower attack numbers, lower death and injury tolls each month, arrests of suspected insurgents. The people who live in the neighborhoods, go to work each day and contend with the unpredictable nature of things, look at life differently.

EGYPT: Make that 118 pyramids

Desert winds blow, sands shift, archaeologists dig, and one day you find a pyramid.

Egyptian authorities announced today they discovered what’s left of the base of a pyramid estimated to be 4,300 years old near Saqqara.

The site has been under excavation for 20 years and is believed to have belonged to Queen Sesheshet, the mother of King Teti, who ruled the Sixth Dynasty around 2291. (View photos of the excavation.)

“It’s common for us to find a tomb or a statue, but to find a pyramid, that is rare,” Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council on Antiquities, told reporters. “There are probably many more discoveries to be made around this site.”

Archaeologists have yet to enter the pyramid’s tomb. About 12 miles south of Cairo, Saqqara was a necropolis for rulers of ancient Egypt.

The newest find brings to 118 the number Egypt’s discovered pyramids.

LEBANON: Jesus, Nasrallah and Barbie raise eyebrows

Whether Shiites or Christians, the Lebanese adore icons representing their revered religious figures. Statues of Jesus Christ or posters of Hezbollah’s popular leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, are common sights on the streets of Beirut.

But playing around with religious icons, even for the sake of art, is seriously frowned upon.

Last week, some photos were abruptly removed from an exhibition by Lebanese artist and filmmaker Jocelyne Saab. One of the censored photos depict images of Nasrallah and the Christ on a crucifix along with undressed Barbie dolls in the background. 

The exhibition, “Sense, Icons and Sensibility,” held at an art gallery in downtown Beirut, tackles the change in habits and cultural characteristics of Arab societies as well as the Arab world’s vision of the West.

LEBANON: Pop art meets guerrila war

She turns the black-and-white photo of a militiaman into a glittery iconic figure combining a pinkish haze of artificial flowers, pearl necklaces and rubber dolls.   

Through her art, Zena el Khalil says that she tries to convey the complexity and diversity of her city, Beirut, where posters of fighters, religious leaders and politicians are displayed next to images of sultry pop stars or models posing for lingerie ads.

Psychedelic, evocative and occasionally erotic, the work  of  Khalil, 32,  is a reflection of her generation, which she describes as “global, superficial, consumerist, independent, with a short attention span and in search for instant gratification.”

SYRIA: Merger of music, Islam and romance

Relying on modern visual and sound effects, Syrian singer Hossam Haj’s few works display a happy marriage between romantic song clips and Islam. After taking many viewers by surprise with his song, “O, Bravo, You Got Veiled!” a few years ago, Haj is about to launch his new song clip, “Let Us Pray Together, Sweetheart.”

“I am against pornography and indecency,” he said. “When you respect your faith, everyone will respect you. There is nothing wrong in expressing your faith or talking about love.”

In his first clip, Haj played the role of a groom who celebrated his bride’s decision to wear the veil. In his new stint, he depicts a ritual that has recently become widely practiced by young Muslims before marriage. When a couple feel like getting married, they perform a specific prayer to make sure their union will mark the right match.

“Nobody sings the way I do. My songs are about love but they also show that God is there to help lovers,” said Haj, who finances his song clips from his own pocket.