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Babylon & Beyond

EGYPT: A graveyard kiss

By Jeffrey FleishmanStaff Writer 
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The lovers sat amid collapsing mausoleums and broken-winged angels. They had slipped behind the walls of the Coptic cemetery for a moment of privacy in the frenzy that is Cairo. They were Christians and Muslims, escaping society’s strict dating rules, which discourage public displays of affection, by lingering among the dead. A whisper, a kiss, gifts exchanged. All far from the prying eyes of families. It was a nice day, the sun out, the wind through the trees; pilgrims crossed flagstones to light votive candles in the church at the edge of the tombstones. But, unlike death, dates don’t last forever and, one by one, the couples unclasped hands and left their marble sanctuary, stepping through the portal and into the roar of the city.

— Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Art: ‘Endless Love’ by Alfred Gockel

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Babylon & Beyond
Jeffrey Fleishman

Jeffrey Fleishman is a senior writer at the Los Angeles Times. Previously, he was the foreign and national editor. A 2002 Nieman fellow at Harvard University, Fleishman was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing. A longtime foreign correspondent, he served as bureau chief for The Times in Cairo and Berlin, and was previously based in Rome for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He also was a writer on film, art and culture. Fleishman has been a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and a finalist for the Center for Public Integrity’s Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting. He is the author of five novels, including “Good Night, Forever” and “Last Dance.”

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