According to novelist Bahaa Taher on Tuesday, intellectuals and artists who had been occupying the minister of culture's office in Zamalek over 30 days will now end their sit-in. They had announced the continuation of their sit-in until demands are met and the new caretaker government appoints a new minister, standing their ground in protest of the former minister's decisions, yet wider political developments in the wake of 30 June have apparently changed their viewpoint, and they no longer feel it is as crucial to continue protesting. Still, the official spokesman of the sit-in Maha Effat, also a member in the Egyptian Creativity Front, says intellectuals feel that one of their duties is to rescue the ministry and protect their sit-in as the situation is not yet settled. Novelist Mohamed Boghdadi announced a statement addressed to the caretaker government in which the demands in question have been set out: intellectuals are to make up 10 percent in the new constitutional assembly; the Muslim Brotherhood is to be disbanded and banned; political parties based on sect or religious affiliation are to be banned; and the electoral law is to be amended. Boghdadi pointed out that intellectuals called on the Armed Forces to protect Egypt's National Archives against loss or destruction by employees appointed by the Muslim Brotherhood(MB) affiliated minister Alaa Abdel-Aziz. The archives include important documents on Egypt's history, borders, geographical statues and identity as well as the history of the MB itself. Intellectuals also demand the annulment of all decisions made by Abdel-Aziz. Abdel-Aziz has antagonised cultural figures since his appointment in May by sacking the Cairo Opera House head Ines Abdel-Dayem, the Egyptian General Book Authority head Ahmed Megahid, the Fine Arts Sector head Salah Al-Meligui and National Library and Archives head Abdel-Nasser Hassan. Many artists and intellectuals feared Abdel-Aziz would impose an MB agenda on Egypt's culture scene, compromising its diversity and changing Egypt's cultural identity. That is how they came to occupy the minister's offices in Zamalek, preventing Abdel-Aziz from entering and announcing an open sit-in until he is replaced. That started weeks before the 30 June protests. The protesters also urged that the will of Egypt's intellectuals should be taken into account while setting the standards for the culture minister. Boghdadi says the candidate must be from Egypt's cultural community with significant achievements to their name. The statement issued by intellectuals also urges the new minister to organise a national conference for intellectuals on “the future of Egypt's culture”. The conference would chronicle the realities of contemporary Egyptian culture and mechanisms for its development in the light of changes in the political and cultural dominions. The conference would also propose a strategic road map for the upcoming period with regards to relations between culture and society and the mechanisms for constructing new policies for culture to nurture those relationships. “A vision for restoring the rights of the Egyptian people and safeguarding national culture was also put forward in the statement,” Boghdadi pointed out. A collaborative framework featuring the participation of multiple state institutions, including the ministries of culture, education, information, youth and endowments, and religious institutions, such as Al-Azhar and the Coptic Orthodox Church, as well as civil society, is also proposed. The intellectuals' statement demanded the re-merging of the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA) and the Ministry of Culture as was the case before the January 2011 Revolution. But in fact this demand was not welcomed by archaeologists, who want their ministry to remain independent. The Archaeologists' Syndicate unanimously rejects such a request, and its organising committee urges caretaker president Adli Mansour and all concerned authorities not to abort the archaeologists' dream to have their own ministry in order to efficiently protect and preserve Egypt's heritage. Syndicate coordinator Salah Al-Hadi has called on Mansour to review the syndicate's issues and to publicise their needs and turn the archaeologists' dreams into reality. Before the January 25 Revolution in 2011, the MSA was part of the Culture Ministry and gave 10 per cent of it's profits to the Culture Ministry. On Sunday intellectuals organised a march to Tahrir Square to support the 30 June protests with the participation of a large number of artists, actors, filmmakers, musicians, poets and novelists. Among the well-known actors there were Leila Elwi, Yosra, Ghada Adel, Soheri Al-Morshedi, Samed Al-Sereti, to mention but a few. The march comes only a week after artists and intellectuals staged the largest protest march since the January 2011 Revolution. This was the third time since 30 June, but regretfully the smallest. The march still counted several hundred and was met with the cheers of passers-by as the crowd walked along the 26 July road, right through, to Tahrir Square to join the big demonstration. Protests were led by a car with speakers as artists sang patriotic songs, including the national anthem, while clapping or raising the Egyptian flag. Slogans were also chanted: “Sisi Sisi Morsi, is not my president”; “Muslims and Christians are one”; “Army, police and people are one”. As the march approached Qasr Al-Nil Bridge, it was met with a large crowd of protesters from the Gezira Club and other protest groups. Army vehicles that passed on the street in between the marches were met with cheers.
