Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni's campaign to become the next UNESCO secretary-general hits the headlines yet again, reports Nevine El-Aref It seems that the curse of the Pharaohs has hit Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni's election campaign to direct UNESCO. A week after facing severe criticism from foreign and Egyptian intellectuals following the apology he published in the French newspaper Le Monde regretting his comment last year on burning Israeli books, Hosni has found himself once more in the eye of a storm. During a visit to Paris to meet with intellectuals and top officials to discuss his UNESCO election campaign Hosni announced that Egypt's National Centre for Translation (NCT) will publish Arabic translations of novels by the Israeli writers David Grossman and Amos Oz. Grossman is an Israeli author of fiction, non-fiction and children's literature. His books have been translated into many languages. He is an outspoken peace activist and well respected by anti-Zionists. Though he initially supported the Israeli government during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, in August of the same year he held a press conference with Oz urging the Israeli government to agree to a ceasefire. The Yellow Wind, Grossman's nonfiction study of Palestinians in the Israeli occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, met with acclaim abroad but sparked controversy at home. Oz is a writer, novelist and journalist as well as a professor of literature at Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva. He was one of the first Israelis to advocate a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike some others in the Israeli peace movement "Peace Now" he does not oppose the construction of an Israeli West Bank barrier but believes that it should be roughly along the pre-1967 borders. He opposes settlement, praised the Oslo Accords but frequently attacks the non- Zionist left and always emphasises his Zionist identity. Oz initially supported the Israeli army in its war with Lebanon in 2006 but changed his position in the face of the cabinet's decision to expand operations. During the Israeli offensive into Gaza earlier this year Oz signed a statement published in Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot supporting military action against Hamas. Two weeks later he wrote an article in Aharonot advocating a ceasefire with Hamas and calling for attention to the harsh conditions in Gaza. Hosni's announcement has sparked controversy at home. Few commentators believe its timing is a coincidence. "It is a sort of normalisation," says translator and poet Refaat Salam. "Has Hosni now relinquished his long held belief that cultural ties with Israel be put on hold until a complete and permanent peace has been achieved? Is this a concession he is willing to make to win the UNESCO post?" "If so," says Salam, "it will have a negative impact not only on Egypt's cultural life but on its political standing in the region." Journalist Abdel-Aal El-Baqouri questions not only the timing of Hosni's announcement but why Grossman and Oz should be the two Israeli writers selected for translation. "It's hardly the best time to take such a decision," he says. "I fully support the idea of translating Hebrew books into Arabic. How else will we be able to know better the culture and the thoughts of our enemies?" What El-Baqouri objects to is that the two writers chosen for translation are unrepresentative of mainstream Israeli thought. "I would prefer to see books translated by writers with beliefs other than my own so they might introduce young people to the different thoughts of Hebrews and immunise them against any deception." "It is really a bad timing for a good project," El-Baqouri concludes. Gaber Asfour, chairman of the NCT, denies any link between the timing of the announcement with Hosni's UNESCO campaign. He points out that the NCT has published five translations from Hebrew since it was founded 10 years ago and the announcement is simply a continuation of existing policy. The five titles published by the NCT -- The Relationship Between the Religious and the Secular in Israel, A history of the Jews in Egypt during the Ottoman Period, A History of Old Testament Exegesis from Ancient to Modern Times, Arab Identity in Israeli Theatre and a collection of Arab- Israeli short stories -- are all, says Asfour, by writers noted for an anti- Zionist stance. "They were published in 2000, long before Hosni's UNESCO nomination," notes Asfour. The production of further titles was put on hold in 2005 after Egypt became a signatory to international agreements protecting publishers' rights which meant the NCT would have to deal directly with Israeli publishers. It was only at the insistence of the Hebrew Studies Centre in Egypt, Asfour claims, that the NCT renewed its endeavours, beginning to translate Hebrew texts via already existing translations into English and French. "The centre will continue with its policy of producing seminal Hebrew works in Arabic, using English and French translations as a source. What I would want to highlight is that the decision to translate and publish Grossman and Oz had nothing to do with Hosni's UNESCO candidacy."
