Press unified in anti-veil stance and support for Hosni CAIRO: In response to the attacks directed at Culture Minister Farouk Hosni two week ago after he announced his controversial opinion on the veil, public figures, religious scholars, feminists and artists have rushed to issue statements and opinions on the veil making the issue a top story in almost all publications. Prominent actor Hussein Fahmy had his own apologizing to do for clumsy remarks made during a phone call to the minister on the 90 minutes talk show on El-Mehwar satellite TV, Saturday Nov. 18. During the call he expressed support for the minister s opinion and added that veiled women are mentally retarded. A few days later Fahmy made a special announcement at the Cairo Opera House that was aired on some TV channels apologizing for what he had said during the phone call. I am here to show my deep regrets for what I said on that day . I said a sentence that I do not want to repeat about veiled women being mentally retarded. I am really sorry I said that. I did not mean to say it. I totally respect veiled women and by the way my daughter is veiled, Fahmy said. Fahmy also added that he only meant to say that the veil might pose an obstacle for women playing sports, but nothing more. Fahmy told The Daily Star Egypt that he is concerned about the fact that the veil has become an issue to be debated, noting that he had mentioned this sentiment at the beginning of his phone call to the show. There are lots of other important issues that need our attention, Fahmy said. Fahmy excused his comments by saying he was standing in a very noisy, narrow corridor, which made him lose control of what he was saying. Fahmy is one of the most popular actors in Egypt. Recently his popularity increased significantly after the success of his Ramadan talk show The People and Me, in which he discussed people s problems and concerns very openly. On his show, Fahmy interviewed many veiled women and never commented on the veil issue subjectively. On one episode Fahmy held an open discussion on the veil in which he gathered a group of teenagers to discuss the veil and refrained from expressing his opinion on the issue. In an unusual concordance, both anti-government and government newspapers have expressed similar opinions and carried comparable interviews on the issue. Al-Ahram daily published a petition the day after Hosni s comments signed by artists, writers, movie directors, and actors supporting Hosni s position and denouncing what they called the strict style of thinking that the veil advocates. Yousef Shahin and Khaled Youssef, two very famous movie directors, were listed on the petition. Rose El-Yousef, a pro-government publication, dedicated a whole section to the issue, featuring on its cover a picture of a veiled woman and Hosni under a large font heading: Terrorism by the veil. Al-Fajr newspaper, an anti-government newspaper, had: The play of the season: we are for the veil, featuring the National Democratic party, on its front page. Rose El-Yousef severely criticized Ahmed Omar Hashim, president of the religion committee of the parliament and a member of the National Democratic Party, for his stance against the minister and his calls for the religion committee to meet and take action on the issue. Gamal El-Banna, an Islamic scholar, and Ikbal Barakh, a feminist writer, both known for their anti-veil stances, appeared in most publications supporting the minister s opinion. In both Rose El-Yousef and Al-Fajr newspaper, interviews with El-Banna supported the minister s announcements.
