By Ibrahim Nafie IN recent years, during my interviews with foreign politicians, economists, intellectuals and reporters, I noticed that they have always known a lot about Al-Ahram and its role as a pioneering press institution in the Arab world. The source of their knowledge was that they had read foreign press or news accounts, or listened to radio or TV broadcasts in which Al-Ahram was credited as a source. As a result, many of them have asked where Al-Ahram was published in English, so that they could have greater access to its in-depth coverage of events. Unfortunately, there was no English language newspaper available from Al-Ahram's at the time. I am happy to announce, however, that this has changed, and that a regular weekly newspaper is about to appear. As with the rest of Al-Ahram distinguished line of publications, the Al-Ahram Weekly will cover various fields ranging from politics and economics, to youth, sports and women. Its published would not have been delayed except for our desire to assure its entry into the international press arena on a firm footing in the most impressive form. The publication of Al-Ahram Weekly will round-out an integrated press establishment, publishing two newspapers, four magazines, weekly newspapers, monthly magazines and quarterly reviews, which will combine with the new English language weekly to make Al-Ahram the biggest institution and publishing house in the Arab world, apart from being by far the oldest in the region. In launching Al-Ahram Weekly our goal is to help bridge the gap between the East and the West. It is in fact a cross-cultural venture transcending the limits of conventional media into broader vistas. We have sprnt a whole year preparing for the publication of a newspaper which would simply meet the pressing need for an Egyptian English- language newspaper at the domestic and international level, but also serve the more comprehensive purpose of deepening understanding between Egypt and the external world. We have always been aware of the problematic relationship between the Middle East and the West, which has been due in part to the inaccurate perceptions we had behind these misunderstandings lies in the language barrier; Arabic is not simply a different language for the English-speaking reader. It is one of the basic components of Arab culture, which interacts with Arab reasoning and psychology, and which non-Arabs find hard to understand within its proper context. With this in view, our ambition is to reflect and interpret events -- through the medium of English- from Egyptian perspective on Egypt's stance and orientation at the local, Arab, African and international levels. As usual, Al-Ahram has placed all of its publishing capacity and journalistic experience at the service of this publication. With this first issue of the Weekly, we carry our ambitions a step further, knowing that the success of our venture will greatly depend on the feedback we hope to receive from the newspaper's readership. Only through this interaction can real bridge between the two worlds be established a bridge joining the English speaking world to a world whose language often obscures or prevents others from understating it fully. First Issue
