Cairo is set to host the region's biggest anti-war conference. Amira Howeidy reports The silence of the "Egyptian street" vis- à-vis the imminent war on Iraq seems to be causing the nation's intelligentsia some embarrassment. This is not only because public demonstrations featuring loud anti-war voices have been taking place all over the world -- except here -- but because for many, the silence is misleading. "When I go to the vegetable vendor at the market," says Soheir Mursi, an academic and UN consultant, "the people are aware. They're concerned." Mursi and a number of prominent intellectuals are trying to make sure the Arab world breaks its silence. A war on Iraq is, after all, an Arab concern. As a result, preparations are under way for an international conference called the "Cairo International Campaign against Aggression on Iraq" to be held in Cairo on 18 and 19 December. The impressive list of participants includes former US attorney general Ramsey Clark, former Director of the UN Humanitarian Program for Iraq Dennis Halliday, former Assistant UN Secretary-General Vassely S Sevranchuk, New York University Professor of international relations Norman Finklestein, and British anti-war MP George Gallaway. Prominent Arabs and Egyptians participating include veteran political analyst Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, economist Samir Amin, historian Abdel- Wahab El-Messeri, Arab MK Azmi Bishara and Arab National Conference President Khayr Al-Dein Hassib. The conference's sponsor is the Egyptian Popular Campaign to Confront US Aggression (EPCCUA), a broad coalition of Egyptian activists and intellectuals which was established several months ago. Its organisers say they intend to issue a Cairo Declaration that defines the strategic principles and commitments which guide the campaign. The conference's organisers, themes and topics of discussion seem to reflect more than just an anti-US agenda. Mursi does not deny that an anti-globalisation flavour seems to have found its way into the mix as well. "It is how we have conceptualised the basis of US aggression -- that it's not limited to Iraq, and involves the entire region. We have conceptualised the Iraq problem in a global context. One has to only listen to what US officials are saying [in this respect]." Mursi cited a US National Security Strategy which was released in September, as well as a recent lecture in London given by a former CIA officer who spoke of America's targets after Iraq, which include, he claimed, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Any attempt to "atomise" the danger to Iraq and Palestine, argues Mursi, "leads us away from the US strategy that has been announced." The campaign's goal -- as stated on the invitation to the conference -- is to urgently attempt to do what it can "prior to the US attack against Iraq". It also warns the international community of the "grave consequences of such an attack, and its extreme danger to world peace and human rights". The campaign's view of America is that "the US administration has completely turned its back on multilateral diplomacy and has snubbed international institutions and treaties." The US has also given licence to horrifying human rights abuses by equating terrorism with struggles for national liberation and against occupation, as in Palestine. Such policies and the imminent attack on Iraq violate and "undermine the most fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter". The launching of the Cairo-based campaign -- in the heart of the Arab World -- represents a serious attempt to join international intellectuals and activists the world over in a sustained resistance to US militarism and corporate-led globalisation. Over two days, the conference will discuss five main themes: "Together against US globalisation and war on Iraq"; "Empire, globalisation and struggle"; "Genocide and ethnic cleansing as the new world order"; "Towards a politics of linkage"; and "People's movements and imperialist discourse". The conference is being organised and financed "entirely" through Egyptian non-governmental sources. Although it is being held much later than would have been expected from an Arab capital (the organisers say they were waiting for President Nelson Mandela to respond to their invitation, but he declined the invitation due to health reasons), the conference is expected to deliver a strong message to the world, and fuel anti-war sentiment across the region. According to Mursi, the fact that the conference is being held in Cairo and funded solely by Egyptian businessmen, "reflects the awareness and pressing concern emanating from Egypt. Those businessmen know that Egypt's economy will be hurt and that this country is at risk".
