modern egypt was built on the shoulders of intellectuals

8/9/2019 ''Modern Egypt Was Built on the Shoulders of Intellectuals''

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7. 4. 2014. ''Modern Egypt was built on the shoulders of intellectuals''

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given to the liberal Amr Mussa and the Islamist Abel Futuh?

Taher:They said the two were at the top of the list, but that's not correct. Perhaps the duel

was arranged to make them into the most important candidates.

Would you like to see either of them as president?

Taher:No, my choice would be Hamdeen Sabahi. He's secular and has always fought against

the Mubarak regime. My wife doesn't speak Arabic, but when she saw him talking once, shesaid: Look at his gestures and his facial expression, he's a good person. But he won't win,

because he's not rich.

Is that a criterium?

Taher:Of course! There are election posters plastered all over Cairo, but I really have to look

hard to find Sabahy's face anywhere.

Who pays for the Muslim Brotherhood's posters?

Taher:That's something we'd all like to know. They say the money comes from voters. Well

I've not yet paid for a Sabahy poster!

The Saudis, perhaps?

Taher:The rumour is out there. And there's another claiming that Mubarak supporters are

spending a lot of money on their candidates. In these elections, no one knows whether the

money is coming from home or abroad. That has an unsettling effect on people.

Mahmud, the protagonist in your novel "Sunset Oasis", is frustrated at the political situation.

He wants to change it, but he doesn't succeed. You wrote the book in 2008, and it appears

almost prophetic in view of current events.

Taher:That may well be, but isn't literature always prophetic?

In any case, initial revolutionary enthusiasm has since given way to a strong sense of

disenchantment. Are you disappointed as well?

Taher:No, after all every revolution in history has its highs and lows, and Egypt is no

exception.

We're still in the

midst of ourrevolution, and one shouldn't be passing constant judgement on it. Otherwise one suffers

terribly with every setback, becomes pessimistic and is deliriously happy about every little

success at least that's how it is with me.

You've been political all your life, but it still affects you like that?

Taher:I was so incredibly happy when the revolution broke out, I've experienced enough joy

over the past few weeks to last me 10 lifetimes. I'm not exaggerating. Then the problems

started, because the revolution didn't have the momentum to carry things through.

Because there was no clear leader?

Taher:That was on the one hand positive, post-modern actually. But then many people

jumped on the bandwagon and tried to take over the reins: Islamists, the army, anarchists.

Fortunately, the revolutionaries who were there from the start are still there. As soon as


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anyone attempts to steal the revolution from them, they put up a fight, even if they pay for it

with their blood.

Blood is again being spilled on the streets. Are people still organising demonstrations over the

Internet?

Taher:Not exclusively, because we now know that enemies of the revolution are posting on

relevant forums under a false identity. You can no longer be sure who is writing what. Another

important point is that Europe and the US should leave us in peace.

Why?

Taher:They've interfered in every revolution that's ever taken place here and destroyed

everything.

When the current revolution first began, the US and Europe

initially sided with Mubarak. When it became obvious that

the wave was unstoppable, we suddenly received support. What is the West's true position?

What exactly are its interests? For my part, I can't answer that.

Many people in the West believe that Islam is not compatible with democracy.

Taher: That's rubbish, just look at Turkey and Malaysia. We should all convert to Buddhism,

that would make everything simpler.

Has the revolution changed the way writers are working?

Taher:Listen, I've lived under three censorship systems, each worse than the last. During the

rule of King Farouk, things the censor didn't approve of were simply whitewashed. That could

be a sentence, but also an entire page. Under Sadat, the rule was: Publish what you like, but

suffer the consequences in other words, go to prison or you won't be paid for your work.So that meant having to give up your profession for a while.

You went to Geneva at the time to work as a translator, but returned after eight years

Taher: and experienced the most perfidious form of censorship, namely that of the masses,

and it still exists to this day. This was Mubarak's instruction: Let them say what they want. But if

you interfered in politics, then potentially you could pay for it with your life. So that makes you

your own censor, you have to decide yourself how far you can go, and that is the worst.

Think of Nagib Machfus, he was attacked with a knife by an Islamist in 1994. You can survive

prison, you can also survive not being paid for your work. But censorship of the masses can

be fatal. It's a battle, and that's why I support Hamdeen Sabahi, because he defends the

values of civil society.

What is off limits at the moment as far as writing is concerned?

Taher:I write everything, I won't bow to pressure, I would rather die. But I know that several

writers are very, very conscious of this danger, they receive death threats in the mail. That has

an effect on their work, they change.

How do they change?

Taher: They become more religious, at least they suddenly pretend to be.

Are there any books that were important for the revolution?


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1960s. They were against Nasser and the nationalist movement. The Gulf States and the West

were happy about this, and they were received everywhere with open arms. The Muslim

Brotherhood was able to amass a great deal of money, and now they're very rich. They are

using their assets to finance the counter-revolution.

Which brings us back to the election posters.

Taher:Yes, maybe.

And if the presidential office goes to a member of the Muslim Brotherhood?

Taher:Then things will be awful, because the army won't cooperate. There's only one cake in

Egypt, and both sides want it. It would be a real tragedy.

What will happen to writers then?

Taher:We will continue to put up resistance, even though we have already lost several

martyrs to the cause. There's no going back now. Modern Egypt was built on the shoulders of

intellectuals. You can't rescind that, it's already cost too much blood.

Interview: Karen Krger

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung / Qantara.de 2012

Translated from the German by Nina Coon

Qantara.de editor: Lewis Gropp

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