The number of scandals is at an all-time high. Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed see what's on fire Hala Sarhan might be the right person at the right time for a scandal. Chaos theory stipulates that the drop of a petal can cause a cyclone. The veritable flower, the host of perhaps the most appealing of Egyptian television talk shows, dropped a bombshell, not a petal. And, sure enough, her show caused a public outcry. Sarhan, "forgetful" in the Arabic language, has made sure that her name is never to be forgotten. The "Sarhan scandal" as it has come to be known, has taken the country by storm. The prominent television presenter apparently fabricated an episode in her much publicised "Hala Show" about prostitutes in Egypt. Her detractors pointed accusing fingers, saying she used innocent girls to impersonate prostitutes. Some of these girls later ran into big trouble. She vigorously denies the claims. The lunacy that gripped the nation following the Sarhan revelations has not abated. The Sarhan scandal hit the headlines. Al-Masry Al-Youm took issue with the strong-willed Sarhan, often dubbed the Oprah Winfrey of the Arab world. "Hala Sarhan hired clappers [who sit in the spectator seats during her show] to play the role of prostitutes interviewed in her show." Claptrap, the paper bellowed. It stressed the inconveniences suffered by the girls. "The girls faced family problems after the episode was aired... one of them is threatened with divorce; the second broke up with her fiancé; and the third has received a death threat." Some of the girls came forward and were interviewed by the paper. "Sarhan asked us to play this role and promised to appoint us in the TV station," one girl was quoted as saying. "She also gave us LE200 apiece to play a prostitute. She promised she would not reveal our real identities by changing our voices and blurring out our faces. She taught us what we were to say during the interview." Sarhan vowed to have the last word. She is not easily intimidated, as her viewers know all too well. Meanwhile, she escaped to Dubai, claiming professional reasons. Political commentator Hassan Nafaa in Al-Masry Al-Youm, had a different take on the Sarhan scandal. "It has become crystal clear that a number of media venues -- print, audio or visual -- that have emerged in the past few years... are exerting strenuous efforts to distract youth and make them spend their energy on futile activities and issues," Nafaa extrapolated. "To what extent is such a [vicious] policy planned and supported by the regime? This is a difficult question. However, when a TV show like [Hala Sarhan's] is raised on the heels of a series of scandalous issues starting from El-Tourbini [who sexually abused dozens of street children] to the issue of the serial killer in Maadi at a time when the domestic political scene is heating up because of [the clash between the regime] and the Muslim Brotherhood... It is hard to believe that this [new scandal] has been brought to surface by accident," Nafaa added tongue in cheek. Another pertinent issue that aroused the interest of the pundits was the plight of the Baha'i people of Egypt. It seems that their compatriots are intent on making life most difficult for them. The big question is whether they should be considered an accepted religious community at all. The powers that be, it appears, do not approve of the Baha'is. Minister of Religious Endowments ( Awqaf ) Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq was quoted in the daily liberal-leaning Nahdet Masr as saying: "Baha'i centres are aimed at spying in the interest of Israel." Charges have yet to be brought against anyone, but Baha'is fear that accusations such as these will turn most Egyptians against them. Apparently, Zaqzouq sent a message to the People's Assembly explaining that "Baha'i followers are infidels and their faith is posing a threat to the nation and should be combated and eradicated." The notion peddled by the minister, that "the United Nation's acknowledgment of the Baha'i faith came under Free Mason and Zionist pressure" has not endeared him to the Baha'is because they insist that it would make them an easy target for retribution. However, their protests did not seem to bother Zaqzouq. "This sect is posing a threat to the Islamic world and aims at undermining its structure by spreading atheism. And there have been many fatwas (Islamic verdicts) describing them as infidels." He stressed, "The Baha'i faith is a mixture of several deviating philosophies... that aim to achieve the goals of Zionism and new imperialism." The spy saga continued to interest certain commentators. Magdi Mehanna, writing in Al-Masry Al-Youm, was sympathetic to the allegedly homosexual spy who converted from Islam to Christianity before spying for the Israelis. "The president of Al-Azhar University [at which the spy Mohamed El-Attar studied] should not have appeared on TV describing the spy as a failed student and a homosexual. Such talk shouldn't come from a president of a university, especially Al-Azhar, who occupies a high-profile position just below the mufti of the republic." Akram El-Qassas, writing in the weekly opposition Al-Arabi was equally forthright. "There are youth in Egypt who themselves are strangers, humiliated and unemployed. This will not be the last time we discover that there is a young man who hates to live in Egypt... which is replete with corrupt people. These youths [like spy Mohamed El-Attar] do not hate the country, but rather the regime that does not give them a space [to live properly]. El-Attar hates conditions in the country, and there are millions of youth who hate everything in this country." In much the same vein, Farida El-Naqqash, writing in Nahdet Masr was highly critical of Israeli attempts to undermine Al-Aqsa Mosque. "They [the Israelis] are destroying Al-Aqsa while we await the coming of Judgment Day". El-Naqqash has a most poignant point. "It's a pity that huge demonstrations took to the streets in protest against a [Danish] caricature [defaming Prophet Mohamed]... while those who claim to be defenders of Islam did not lift a finger when Israeli bulldozers tried to demolish one of the most sacred Islamic and Arab symbols." Israeli oppression against the hapless Palestinian people inevitably drew parallels with the oppressive state security apparatus in Egypt. Gamal Fahmi, writing in Al-Arabi, complained about Egyptian police preventing people from performing Friday prayers so as not to protest against the Israeli attempts to undermine Al-Aqsa Mosque. "It's understandable that the regime's oppressive tool [central security forces] tries to prevent people from protesting against Mubarak and his government. But [what I cannot understand] is why they behaved in such a stupid way when a handful of worshippers succeeded in getting into the mosque and shouted against Israel and the serial killer Ehud Olmert."
