Past and present folk heroes to many Arabs dominated the news. Dina Ezzat reads stories of valour being craved for "Prices rocket", "Market falls into total chaos", "People say they cannot cope", "Scrap the government". These were some of the headlines in the press this week. Despite the dominant attention dedicated to news of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and Gaza, domestic news managed to capture a few front page stories and a good number of columns. The sudden, and sneaky, declaration of most gas and oil products at the onset of the week and the subsequent shocking impact of the decision on the price of basic supplies and public transport prompted much anger in the press with explicit criticism targeting Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif for simply overlooking the economic woes of the poor. "Is this fair? Is it fair for the poor to bear the consequences of the shocking failure of monetary and economic reform that we have been burdened with for a quarter of a century... Is it fair to force the poor and the needy to make up for this failure from the very little money they have to provide for their families?" wrote Gamal Badawi in Al-Wafd of Wednesday. While writing for a liberal, or supposedly so, newspaper, Badawi's discourse was not different from that adopted by writers in the left-wing Al-Ahali or the Nasserist Al-Arabi Al-Nasseri and Al-Karama. Rejecting the government's insensitivities towards the poor was the cover page story of the semi-official weekly magazine Al-Musawwar whose Editor-in-Chief Abdel-Qader Shoheib reminded Prime Minister Nazif that "any government has clear responsibilities towards its people and that a government's success or failure is only measured by this people. Any government that overlooks this fact is simply not worth existing." A similar unity of discourse was reflected this week in remembering the days of Gamal Abdel-Nasser. With the 50th anniversary of the nationalisation of the Suez Canal, many writers across the board were paying tribute to this historic event and to Nasser, the leader behind the nationalisation. Nasser, commentators across the board wrote, was a unique leader who demonstrated an exceptional ability to lead the nation to live up to many challenges of development, war and peace. But Nasser, as many other commentators noted, was not just a leader of the past. He is, they said, very much a symbol of pride in the Arab world today. Indeed, it was not uncommon during this week, with both the anniversaries of the July Revolution and the nationalisation of the Suez Canal, which coincided with the war on Lebanon and the resistance of Hizbullah, that many newspapers drew comparisons between Nasser and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Actually, many writers noticed that the demonstrators who took to the Arab street to protest against the silence of Arab governments in the face of the Israeli aggression were marked by the unmistakable appearance of Nasser's photos that were often carried side by side with pictures of Nasrallah. "The return of Gamal Abdel-Nasser" was the headline of a column in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom on Sunday by Rifaat Rashad who wrote: "Nasser will always be there for us even though he died 36 years ago. His pictures are still there [not just in the demonstrations] but in the houses and magazines of Arab citizens. Long live Nasser." "Those who are waving the photos of Nasser today are trying to erase the long decades of humiliation that have befallen the nation... Nasser is still alive in the conscious of the nation... Nasser is still the leader adored by millions across the nation," wrote Hamdi Rizq in Al-Masry Al-Yom also on Sunday. Writers who did not choose to demonstrate a sentimental remembrance of Nasser were willing to at least acknowledge the significance of nationalisation. After years of mismanaged privatisation, suggested Makram Mohamed Ahmed in Al-Ahram on Sunday, there is a need to stop and think about the times when nationalisation should be given priority over privatisation. "What happened with the Suez Canal could have been adopted in the case of metal factories, the railway administration and the many huge industrial projects that we are selling now at any price irrespective of the wisdom of this privatisation and its impact on Egypt's national interests." Meanwhile, the press continued to follow developments of the war on Gaza and Lebanon and to report the failure of Arab governments to even speak up against this aggression or the American support it receives. The headlines continued to report that "Israel blocks humanitarian aid from getting through to Lebanon", "More time is given by the US to continue its aggression on Lebanon", "Rice gives Israel until 30 July at least", " Al-Wafd calls for a suspension of the peace process with Israel", "The Lebanese and Palestinian resistance are standing firm in the face of the Israeli aggression". "I cannot believe this unprecedented Arab submission before the US-supported Israeli aggression on Lebanon... The Arab regimes are in an unprecedented state of isolation and these acts of aggression will only generate more and more followers of the resistance movements," warned Nabil Zaki in Al-Ahali on Wednesday.
