Espionage revelations, pan-Arab inertia and constitutional amendments. Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed have loads of issues to choose from This week, the papers dared to break one of the country's biggest taboos: espionage. It takes a special kind of journalist to tackle the prickly question of spying. Commentators said it was a question of the cold dysfunctionalism of the Egyptian political system and in particular the state of emergency enforced upon the country. The daily liberal-leaning Nahdet Masr ran a feature about the history and aims of Israeli espionage in Egypt, after the Egyptian authorities announced last week the arrest of an Egyptian engineer, Mohamed Sayed Saber, in the Atomic Energy Authority who served as a spy for Israel. Are spies a source or a symptom of dysfunction of the system? The pundits expressed ingenuousness and at times incredulity. "Sixteen spies [have been arrested] since the signing of the peace treaty [between Egypt and Israel], and many others will be [arrested in the future," ran the headline of the feature. Pundits have their fingers on the pulse of the nation. "The Mosaad is interested to know the [Egyptian] people's opinion on the political system, the regime, and all cultural and social issues, the high cost of living, youth trends, in addition to military information. Through all these varied information, it can draw a map of the society and predict its future," Emad Gad, an expert in Israeli affairs, was quoted as saying in Nahdet Masr. Indeed, there was much speculation about the nature of the Israeli intelligence. "Israel has spied on America, so [it is no wonder] that they spy on Egypt", former Egyptian Ambassador to Tel Aviv Mohamed Bassiouni was quoted as saying in Nahdet Masr. Other commentators questioned the fundamental nature of Israeli espionage. Israel will always be suspicious of the most populous and militarily strongest Arab country. Moreover, there is a great historical cultural chasm that divides the two countries. "Israeli spying on Egypt will never stop, for the conflict [between the two countries] is cultural, religious, economic and political," Wahid Abdel-Meguid was quoted as saying in Nahdet Masr. Abdullah Kamal, in the daily liberal pro-government Rose El-Youssef, also wrote about the espionage case from a different angle. "Spying is a tenet that is deeply rooted in the behaviour of the Israeli state. Two years ago, an Israeli spy -- and his sponsor, America -- was exposed. In fact, if Israel didn't find a state to spy on, it will spy on itself." Still, the papers had time to discuss other matters -- topping the list was the endless discussion about constitutional amendments. Saadeddin Ibrahim, in the daily independent Al-Masry Al-Yom, wrote about the fallout from the constitutional changes. "There has been much concern about the constitutional changes in [the international media]... and despite the American administration's enthusiasm for promoting democracy in the Arab world, the enthusiasm of the American media -- especially major newspapers like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Herald Tribune, and The Los Angeles Times -- did not abate. Also, research and study centres in America and Canada... and human rights organisations shared the same enthusiasm." Ibrahim harked back to the socio- political context. "International observers argued that notwithstanding all kinds of deprivation and oppression the Egyptian people have been subjected to, Egypt still possesses a great deal of 'a social and cultural capital' that qualifies it not only to have a real democracy, but also to lead the entire region." He wrote fiercely in defence of the long-suffering Egyptian masses. "The Egyptian people are not lazy or apathetic when there is real and fair competition [in elections]. But the Egyptian masses refuse to serve as a décor or be treated like fools." Last and not least was Arab affairs. Poet and writer Farouk Goweida, in the daily business newspaper Al-Alam Al-Yom, focussed on the Arab peace initiative. Goweida unleashed scathing criticism of the weaknesses and incompetence of the Arab regimes and ridiculed the peace plan. "The Arab world is in a very awkward situation. There is nothing that will force Israel to accept the Arab peace initiative or any other initiative, for it has achieved secret normalisation with most Arab capitals. Israel does not need recognition of existence from the Arabs. In addition, the Palestinian resistance was besieged and contained... Israel can now impose what it wants through the Bush administration in light of the chaos in which the Arab lives. Therefore, the Israeli response to the initiative was frigid, for Israel realises that the passing of time is in its interest." The reinvigorated economic and political closeness of the two neighbours, Egypt and Sudan, featured in the week. Akhbar Al-Yom ran a feature about the Egyptian- Sudanese economic integration prospects, after a meeting of the Higher Egyptian- Sudanese Committee last week. The two Nile Basin countries have much in common -- they share the river and there are ancient cultural and social similarities. Indeed, the two countries were for a long time ruled jointly as one country. However, the writer, who was not identified, warned about certain complications to the new-found closeness between the two neighbours. "Obstacles in the way of the renaissance of [economic] integration with Sudan." Moreover, he questioned some facets of the agreement, certain puzzles and unresolved riddles. "Why were only 14 documents -- instead of 28 -- signed?" Apparently, it all boiled down to meat. "Egypt refuses importing cattle meat from Sudan, and the Sudanese did not give up hope [in resuming exports to Egypt]."
