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Show From the Editors Desk Theres a Darkness on the Edge of Cairo John William Salevurakis wy Westminster Alumni Al-Sha- Every day I walk from my fashionable neighborhood to the university and pass a pair of very kind, police officers. They stand in their almost blindingly clean attire, only a block from my crumbling apartment building, smoking Egypts cheapest Cleopatra cigarettes and directing traffic. Ya Pasha! they shout, Habibi! This is my daily greeting as I pass and kiss each of them on both cheeks. Since I came here from Utah and Westminster nearly two years ago, I have been a Kate Pappas ruler and their dearest one nearly every day. I Editor dont smoke but they commonly offer me a cigarette so I will take the time to uneasily chat in my pidgin Arabic. We talk about mundane things like the summer heat or when Ill again be visiting America or Europe. In Cairo, the mundane is really One doesnt need to look any further than a of immense value as a symbol. It is a social ritual, glance away on campus to know that Westminsters it seems, representing calm and a certain degree of campus has changed. You dont need to read any material prosperity, a sign that one can afford to further in this column to know that the look and be concerned about such things pertaining to ones style of the Forum has changed either. The Forum self and others. With regularity, however, the calm became a tabloid size, fortnightly paper, added one is now broken on the edges of Cairo, and the darkmeticulous copy editor, and perhaps most imporness, fueled jointly by domestic and foreign powers, tant of all, added a crossword puzzle and Sudoku is creeping in from the edges of town. Everybodys (page 6). One thing that has remained consistent, howgot a secret, it seems. and MohamOn May 25th, Karim er ever, is the mission of this campus and of this paper. med were arrested at a local protest Through buildings, presidents and mascots, Westand taken to the Kasr El Nil police station near my minsters mission a commitment to each students success through a challenging and supportive comapartment. They were beaten tortured, and sexumunity of learners is still alive. Similarly, through a ally abused then subsequently turned over to State Security Forces, at which point their long-ter- m surplus of mastheads and editors, the mission of the futures became even more uncertain. The two were Forum , has also remained the same. The Forums obthen allegedly denied medical care and remanded ligation is to be a voice for the campus, in support of to the Tora Prison for a minimum of 15 days units schools goals and mission. All flowery stuff aside, we do believe in the tenants of the school which have der Egypts widely criticized yet strikingly familiar Emergency Laws which have been in place, almost shaped us in thought and action. without interruption, for the last 38 years. A second That said, the school administration does in no form dictate what the Forum decides to publish. Inprotest on June 2nd saw the detainment of three stead, all responsibility for what is (and isnt) printed Egyptians and an L.A. Times reporter who also had his camera smashed by police in front of the Kasr El lies in the hands of a person whos name can be Nil station. It was loudly and repeatedly noted by found at the top of this column. We believe the Forum should be just that a fosecurity: Theres no permit for a protest today for the demonstrators. There is no permit for the coverrum, for writers, alums, administration and faculty and staff to contribute to. We promise to fulfill this age by reporters! Historically, no one has asked any mission the best we possibly can through our choice questions when faced with statements such as these of stories and discussion of issues. Whether reporting . . . but that obedience is starting to evaporate. This cycle of demonstrations and arrests is beabout the latest parking issue or a world renowned coming more frequent as the darkness extends visiting speaker, we want to write about issues that further toward the heart of the city. The calm that affect you. We also want to recognize past alums who have made a difference in the world since graduation generally characterizes Egypt in the region is shattered in support of journalists and judges who are from Westminster. This issue, for example, includes an essay by a Westminster alum who is now a school being oppressed by the Mubarak regime. The mundane is perhaps most foundationally overshadowed teacher in Cairo, Egypt. But now its your turn. by popular frustration over last years dubious of President Hosni Mubarak. It is common Each of you has a responsibility to contribute whether that means picking a paper up and reading knowledge here that voter fraud was rampant and neither journalists nor judges are being allowed to the latest feature story (which our staff writers will voice this reality. Support for those who do voice have worked two weeks on), or writing a scathing it is then swiftly met with brutality or the credible letter to the editor. threat of it. Whats more, the American governSo, now, relax and enjoy the new Forum. Exment issues only occasional communiques of conplore the Forum beyond its hard copy online even cern regarding these events of repression and hails if it is just to check the answers to the entertainment puzzles. Even after encountering more techEgypt as a fertile root of democracy in the region. On June 2nd, the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt exnical difficulties with the new style changes as I encounter on a daily basis with my 1987 Honda pressed disappointment but continued to simply state: We dont know all the facts. We know that Accord, it was worth it. We hope getting more involved with the Forum is there are at least two sides to every story. A day later, the U.S. State Department issued a statement worth it to you. Make this your paper. With the presence of new changes, the mission of the Forum remains the same white-uniform- ed Al-Sha- wy - ion Page 4 in which Tom Casey said, We are troubled by the as well recent reports that Mohammed were arrested and, during their as Karim arrest and detention, were tortured. He continued to soften American concern by adding, If those allegations are true, that would certainly be a violation of Egypts own laws and If the allegations are true, what we want to see happen is. . . . What a repuldisively inappropriate assertion of either doubt or plomacy, given that a political activist in the regions first true democracy was just reportedly sodomized with cardboard in a police station. Of course, maybe the definition of democracy is somewhat flexible as all of this was taking place a mere two weeks after President Mubaraks son, Gamal, had met with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and National Security Advisor Steve Hadley while visiting the U.S. on er private business. At my university, I teach economic principles largely to the children of ministers in the Mubarak government or American students privileged enough to spend a semester or year abroad. When controversial political topics invariably arise, I make uneasy jokes about the room being bugged or offending someones father with my impending comments. Everyone laughs . . . but the darkness is here in my classroom, too, and perhaps only temporarily hiding behind the mundane graphical representation of supply and demand or the oblique writings of Thorstein Veblen. Still, I pass the usual white-suite- d police officers on my street. I still exchange smiles and handshakes and still get offered cigarettes. We chat about the mundane . . . the weather, my fiancee, our dog, and their families in Upper Egypt. I look at them and wonder, though, about the true reach of darkness into Cairo, from where it originated, and how far it will ultimately travel. I look at the policemans kind aging face, tobacco-staine- d teeth, and graying wiry hair, thinking that perhaps this smiling gentleman was jumping on the stomach of a prisoner yesterday or penetrating another with whatever implement happened to be convenient the week before. A mundane object like a cardboard paper towel roll assumes a new horrifying aspect in hindsight. The calm here remains generally widespread however, making the surface of daily life courteous, yet it is widely understood to be a fa$ade for the externally supported brutality maintaining it. The United States has found itself stuck fast in a tarry mass of its own prejudice and financial interests in Iraq and yearns for allies, any ally, in the region. The price for this is paid by Egyptians who are victimized in the name of domestic political stability as well as by Americans, even Utahns and Westminster students, who find themselves witness to domestic imprisonments without trials, remote European interrogation facilities, or warrantless domestic surveillance in the name of insulation from terror. Hearing I have contracted to stay in Cairo for another three years, people of varied origins former Westminster classmates often ask me if I feel safe in what they perceive to be the darkness completely external to their own lives. My response to them is simply, Do you? John Salevurakis is a Westminster graduate and Assistant Professor ofEconomics at the American University in Cairo. A version of this essay was originally published by The Monthly Review and may be viewed at www.monthlyreview.org. Volcume XXXX: Issue 1 |
