Egyptians condemn minister's Israel remark
Published on Sunday 22nd June 2008Egypt: Dozens of Egyptian writers have condemned Culture Minister Faruq Hosni, a candidate to head UNESCO, for saying that he would visit Israel.
The interview with an Israeli newspaper itself angered a group of 26 intellectuals, authors and poets, who consider Israel "the enemy" almost three decades after Egypt signed the first Arab peace treaty with the Zionist regime.
"Granting an interview to an Israeli paper is a form of normalization with the enemy," they said in a statement, adding that having Hosni at the head of UNESCO "will not be an honor for Egyptians and Arabs."
The minister's remarks amounted to a "humiliating surrender to Israeli demands for the sake of personal gain," the signatories charged.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, Hosni stated that he would not allow distribution of Israeli books or movies in Egypt, adding, "I'm not willing to have a cinema burned down in Cairo or Alexandria because an Israeli film is shown there."
However, he also told the mass-selling Israeli paper that he would visit Israel if invited.
"If you send me an invitation, I will come," the minister said, while warning that it should be "carefully prepared" because of the outcry it would create in Egypt.