Books? What books...

Syrian and Lebanese books destined for the Cairo International Book Fair have been mysteriously detained at Damiette. Amina Elbendary meets with some puzzled publishers
The Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF) has in recent years developed into a cultural festival -- or carnival, depending on who you talk to. So much so that events intended to be on the fringe have almost taken over the two-week-long celebration and books as such no longer seem to be at the centre of the extravaganza. (It remains discomfiting that the most popular "publication" at this year's fair appears to be a tape of recorded sermons by populist preacher Amr Khaled, on sale literally everywhere, from Saray Italia where technological and digital works are displayed to the Ezbekkiya Fence. They are, in addition, broadcast at torturous volume everywhere you go.) Yet in a frustrating twist of fate the only books making news at this year's fair are the ones that haven't arrived.
With the official inauguration of the 34th round of the CIBF it became apparent that a large number of books had not arrived at the fair grounds and that many stalls in the Arab publishers' halls would be practically empty. Soon it was made public that 750,000 volumes of books belonging to 74 mostly small-scale Syrian and Lebanese publishing houses (not all of which are members of the Arab Publishers' Syndicate) had been detained by customs authorities at the port of Damiette.
The immediate question on every observer's lips -- but why Damiette? These publishing houses had shipped their books by sea from Beirut and relied on one agent, a certain Mohamed Hassan El- Bannani, who was responsible for getting the crates through the relevant customs and security check points. The shipment could not, for reasons to do with El-Bannani himself, pass through the Alexandria port. They were redirected to Damiette. It is not clear what exact trouble the agent had in Alexandria but his misfortune wound up following him -- and the seventy-some publishers -- to Damiette.
The crisis has been shrouded in mystery since day one, allowing theories, conspiratorial and otherwise, as well as rumours and innuendos to spread and multiply without check. Thus, several non- mutually exclusive explanations have been given by the cultural press. One of these was the version reported by Samir Sarhan, the director of the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO), the institution responsible for organising the fair, that customs authorities had detained the shipment owing to the smuggling of pornographic material within the hardcovers of Qur'ans. While this would not be the first time the p-word had caused a cultural controversy in recent years, the suggestion offended many of the publishers involved. Sarhan had nevertheless conceded that books relating to such controversial topics as sex in the Qur'an were inserted within the shipment by some of the shipping agents and not by publishers themselves. The validity of this version aside, it obviously does account for all the volumes within the 16 containers.
A subsequent explanation was put forth by an irate Ibrahim El-Mo'allem, head of the Arab Publishers Union, who was involved in negotiating this crisis. He believes this crisis has been exaggerated, by the publishers involved as well as by the cultural press. "A lot of what has been reported is simply not true," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. According to him the issue should not have escalated as it did, for the number of publishers involved is limited compared to the 800 or so participating in the fair.
Furthermore, the customs agent in question has a bad reputation and has been in legal trouble already. "The Syndicate solved a similar crisis involving him last year and advised the Lebanese not to do business with him again," El-Moa'llem added, explaining to the Weekly that the discrepancy in prices reported by the Lebanese publishing house Dar Riyad El-Rayyes has led customs authorities to re- evaluate the books involved. This in the absence of documentation and bills led Damiette port officials to demand increased fees as well as fines on the shipment. Publishers were first asked to pay LE250 in fees per crate. This was then negotiated down to LE100. Yet it remains a remarkable increase from the LE40 paid in overall fees last year. Despite the attempt at reconciliation, El-Mo'allem lamented, El-Bannani has not taken up the offer to pay part of what is due up front and the rest in escrow, until a committee of customs officials and Syndicate representatives decides the case. In fact, El-Bannani has disappeared.
"Both figures are extremely exaggerated," says Habib Al-Da'di of the Syrian publishing house Dar Al-Tali'a Al-Gadida. "We've signed a petition asking authorities to allow us to ship our books back to Beirut."
Indeed, all publishers when asked said they had refused to pay these exorbitant fees and would rather ship the books back. El-Mo'allem has also negotiated a deal with Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni and Sarhan allowing publishers participating this year, whose books did not make it through, to participate next year free of charge. Those whose books arrived late will be allowed a special discount.
"Who's going to pay this difference?" asked Mohamed Ali Baydun, owner of Dar Al-Kutub Al- 'Ilmiyya in Beirut. "These increases will have to be added to the price of the books. It is the Egyptian reader who will have to pay this extra charge in the end. And it is setting a dangerous precedent."
A despondent Nabil Nofal, director of marketing and sales at the prestigious Lebanese publishing house Dar Al-Adab, lamented the attitude of the fair organisers towards this and other problems. "They just don't care, I tell you. We have the same problems every year: lack of organisation, lack of basic services, lack of cleanliness. And every year we voice the same complaints and nothing changes. Their unwillingness to do anything about this year's customs crisis -- it is a first, mind you -- is just part of their general apathetic attitude."
El-Mo'allem, for one, is all for government institutions relieving themselves of organising the fair and leaving it to private institutions including the Syndicate.
Most Arab publisher stalls in Saray Almania (Germany) and Saray Seven are bare, the few titles on offer all too familiar, their jackets yellowed and bent. "We depended on some books that were left over from last year's fair, which we had stored here in Cairo," Al-Da'di explained. "We have 10 crates full of this year's titles stuck in Damiette," he added. Dar Al-Adab's Nofal had the same dilemma, except he had 30 crates shipped in this year. "And at US$100 per metre, this meagre 12- metre booth is costing us a lot of money," he added. "So far I can say we have sustained a loss of at least US$6,000," he calculated.
"But it's not just about the money. The moral loss far outweighs that." Nofal shakes his head in despair.
CIBF, like the international book fairs of Frankfurt or London, is ostensibly meant to provide a forum for publishers to meet and negotiate deals. It provides the major opportunity for Arab publishers to display their works and become familiar with titles published in different corners of the Arab world in any given year. And though this function appears to be overshadowed by the circus surrounding the books, it is what brings Arab publishers to Cairo every January. "Some Arabs, from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and many Arab countries, wait every year for this book fair. They come here specifically to buy books that are not otherwise available. Many Arab universities and institutions send representatives to the fair on book buying missions. Even Arabs abroad come here to order books and we usually ship them directly from Cairo. This year we've had orders from Norway, from Sweden and from Palestine, and we're unable to carry out those orders," Nofal laments.
"The very idea of taxing books is just ridiculous," Abdel-Badie Foda, owner of the Cairo- based Dar Al-Bayan Al-Arabi said. "Half of my sales year round depend on Lebanese books. And I have participated in fairs all over the Arab world. Publishers are not required to pay customs or other fees on books elsewhere. What I'm worried about, frankly, is not just this fair. What will I do the rest of the year if I'm charged such exorbitant fees on future shipments?"
"If the problem is the discrepancy in the prices of books put forth by the Dar Ryad Al-Rayyes, why should the rest of us suffer?" asks Baydun. "Why should we all be made to pay the same fine? Besides, this whole issue of us smuggling pornographic books is offensive, frankly. Ibrahim El-Moa'llem has denied these reports himself. It is simply not true," the frustrated publisher added.
"You know what this is all about?" both Baydun and Foda ask. "It is just politics. Book business politics. That's what it's about."
"Well, there are upcoming elections in the Lebanese publishers' union, and there are all sorts of problems and battles being fought there," El- Mo'allem explained. "It's all been blown out of proportion, frankly," he added.
Furthermore, the idea that the only parties benefiting from this crisis are Egyptian publishing houses who are facing less competition has been floated in the press. It is one that officials like El- Mo'allem deem too conspiratorial and irrational. Egyptian publishers wouldn't go to such extremes to conspire against Syrian and Lebanese publishers, with whom many do business throughout the year anyway. Besides, as El-Moa'llem explains, each publishing house specialises in particular themes so it is not as if there is a certain demand in the Egyptian market that could be satisfied by any single publishing house.
Some publishers were already packing their belongings on Tuesday. GEBO has decided to extend the fair for another five days (till 5 February), at no extra charge, but "this is useless to us without any books," Nofal said. "What's the point of five more days without books?"
Next year, one wonders, will there be books?
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