CAIRO: Hala Mustafa, the Editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram's quarterly Democracy magazine, may face punishment for her meeting with Israeli Ambassador to Cairo, Shalom Cohen, on September 14. She had met with the ambassador to begin the groundwork for a Middle East peace conference. Her case, which has been under review by the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, has been forwarded to a punitive committee for a final decision this week. At issue is whether Mustafa's actions violated the syndicate's 1983 rule that forbids any contact between its members and Israelis. The Journalists Syndicate considers her meeting with Ambassador Cohen a violation of this rule. While Mustafa considers herself to hold an academic position, she is still a member of the press union. “I am a member because [Democracy] is part of the Al Ahram foundation, which is a press foundation,” she told Bikya Masr. Normalization of relations with Israel is still a highly divisive topic in Egypt, even 30 years after the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries. The Egyptian government, however, has no rule prohibiting contact with Israeli officials. In fact, the Egyptian government is a key mediator between the Israelis and Palestinians. President Mubarak even met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in May this year. Despite this, normalization is prohibited in other areas, such as in the arts or journalism. Boycotting Israel, many in Egypt believe, is a way to show that they do not approve of Israel's actions. In this way, Egyptian journalism will not pay tribute to settlement activity, security checkpoints and other treatments of Palestinians by Israel. In meeting with the Israeli ambassador, Mustafa violated this boycott, according to the syndicate. She sees the situation differently. “The idea is to make [my case] a kind of scandal and propaganda against anyone who has a different point of view or expresses new ideas.” She believes she is being made an example because of her liberal beliefs regarding normalization toward Israel and not simply because she met with an Israeli official. “My case is more significant because I am well known and I have liberal views regarding political reform, the future of Egypt, and many other things,” she said. Mustafa is not the only Egyptian journalist to meet with an Israeli official. This was confirmed by the Israeli Embassy, whose press office said that the ambassador meets with Egyptian journalists, but only when solicited. Mustafa claims that even Al-Ahram, her government controlled employer, “has published many interviews with Israeli officials,” and that, “many Isreali officials have visited Al-Ahram before the ambassador visited my office.” According to the Israeli public affairs officer, Shani Cooper-Zubida, even the head of the Egyptian News Syndicate, Makram Mohamed Ahmed, has met with Israelis. The Egyptian Journalist Syndicate did not respond to telephone and email requests for comments. While Hala Mustafa waits to hear the outcome of her case, the decision represents what direction the press in Egypt with take with regard to Israel in the future. Should the syndicate punish her, it will be a sign to other Egyptian journalists to limit their contact with Israeli officials. For her part, Mustafa has made up her mind. “I don't think this anti-normalization is helping Egypt any more,” she said. “We need to think and act differently today. Egypt is not Iran, and should not be. Egypt is not Syria, and should not be.” BM
