The Israeli Haaretz newspaper said that Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni is now aware of the price he may have to pay of losing the Egyptian public opinion when he normalizes relations with Israeli writers in order to win the post of UNESCO Director-General. It said the national hero who was fighting Zionism turned into a traitor betraying the principles of the intellectuals who are against normalization with Israel. The paper in an article yesterday referred to the Minister of Culture's apology for the remarks he said about burning Jewish books, his decision to translate Israeli books, and to reports about him inviting Israel to the Red Sea Art Festival in Suez. The newspaper said in a report prepared by Zvi Bariil, the Arab affairs analyst: "It seems that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows the Arabs well, particularly the Egyptians. During the premiership of Tzipi Livni, all the Israeli ministries, embassies and consulates did not spare effort to prevent the Egyptian minister from reaching the post of UNESCO Director-General. Every piece of paper carrying anti-Israel statements and every word uttered by Hosni against Israeli writers and books, and against normalization was collected and put in a dossier as evidence that condemns him. The main question in that dossier was: How can a cultured Egyptian minister and artist win such a post when he says he will burn Israeli books?" Haaretz continued: "Save for the government officials, it is difficult to find one independent Egyptian intellectual talking well of Farouk Hosni, despite the fact that his anti-Israel statements made him a local hero who helped construct a wall against normalization. But then came Netanyahu and made a deal with President Mubarak to stop the campaign against Hosni's nomination for UNESCO in return for Israel receiving good gestures."
It went on to say: "And the good gestures started on the spot. First, Hosni apologized for his remarks. Then he announced that he would translate the English and French versions of the David Grossman and Amos Oz novels. Then - according to the paper - he insisted on inviting Israel to the cultural festival that will be held in Suez."
The paper said Hosni's statements and decisions caused a stir in Egypt and made him vulnerable to criticism and ridicule in Egypt. The Suez MP Abbas Abdel Aziz called for dismissing Hosni and withdrawing his candidacy for UNESCO for his willingness to do anything for that post, and for deliberately defaming the history of the city of Suez by inviting Israelis to its festival.
