Cairo - Dr. Abdel Rehim Ali, Member of Parliament, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Bawaba News, said: "Everyone at least has learned something from the late thinker and writer El-Sayyid Yassin, former Director of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, besides his ideas and research studies enriched the understanding of the intellectual spectrum on many issues." Ali's statement came during the seminar titled: "Youm Al-Wafaa (i.e. Day to reciprocate)," organized and sponsored by Al-Bawaba Newspaper to honor the memory of the late writer, and to highlight Yassin's intellectual legacy, at the headquarters of the Arab Center for Research and Studies (ACRS). The seminar which is being held on Saturday May 20, 2017, will be attended by a number of high-profile politicians and scholars.The panel discussion will be moderated by Chairperson of the ACRS Dr. Abdel Rahim Ali, former Minister of Youth and Sports Dr. Ali Al-Din Hilal, Political Expert Dr. Nabil Abdel Fattah, and last but not least, Major General Fouad Yassin, Border Guard Forces Commander during October 6 War 1973.
In his statement, Ali added: "The services and favors rendered by late Dr. Yassin for the ACRS are innumerable. The Center has been honored by his presidency. During his time, we learned a great deal from him. He was a distinguished researcher, a sociologist, a first-class writer, journalist and above all, a culturally sophisticated individual beyond compare. "We decided to organize this seminar in tribute to the late thinker because he was our mentor, teacher and godfather of our intellectual awakening," Ali expressed.
Ali continued: "I knew Dr. Yassin twenty years ago starting in 1998 when I visited him at his office in the Al-Ahram Newspaper to dedicate my first book, entitled "The Futility of Ideological Revisionism of Terrorists". I argued in my book that such move is doubtful. It could not be a transition from violence into peace; it was definitely a tactical truce with the government because terrorists could not wrestle with it at the time. Ali added: "Anyway, I thought at first, that I wouldn't hear back from him about my book, but to my surprise, a week later he published a book review about my work. Since then, we had become good friends. We co-worked in many think tanks over the next two decades and it was the first meeting between us when I issued my first book in 89 and dealt with the project of intellectual reviews that were in prisons and saw It was not based on a deep reading of the ideas of these groups, which saw the need to appease the state because it is strong and can uproot it from its roots if it wants to resort to the ploy to appease the state.
"I learned from him to take utmost care of time, pay attention to details and self-discipline. Dr. Yassin was not interested in making money as imparting knowledge and cultivating progressive ideas in the society. He was an grand Egyptian intellectual pyramid par excellence. Our loss cannot be measured; but our only solace is that we will strive to revive his ideas constantly," concluded Abdel Rehim Ali.
