# Alexandria (a series of articles #1)



## MensEtManus (Jul 30, 2009)

_Once in a while, I tend to find some interesting articles online about Alexandria, so I decided to take the time and post them on EF. 
_

*Egypt’s cultural destruction
*
Baher Ibrahim 
1 March 2010 in Culture


ALEXANDRIA: Egypt is witnessing a cultural revolution. Strike that, more like a cultural destruction. It started in the late 1970s with the return of migrant workers from the oil rich Gulf states with two things; money and religious fanaticism. However, the degradation of Egypt’s rich and vibrant culture has accelerated in the past few years, with no end in sight.

Religious fanaticism has spread like wildfire among rich and poor. Tourists may never notice this because tour companies exert extra effort to conceal it. Many unfavorable consequences have resulted. One of these is the decline in people’s morals and behavior.

Take for example the situation of women a few decades ago and now. Back then, the upper class women had no problem wearing bathing suits at Alexandria’s once glamorous beaches or walking around in short skirts. This was considered the norm and is portrayed by the movies of that period; and the sexual harassment cancer of today’s Egypt was almost non existent. Fast forward to 2010, where most women are pressured to cover up outside the house to be “respectable and modest”, and sexual harassment has increased exponentially. Extremist interpretations of religion encourage “religious” men to view women who bare any part of their body as immoral, since every part of a woman is ‘awrah. A woman in Cairo, no matter how “modest” she is, cannot walk in the street and board a bus or metro without verbal or physical harassment.

Egypt, once the bastion of liberalism and moderation in the Arab world, has become a breeding ground for backward ideologies. A man cannot wear shorts without a friend telling him that it is religiously forbidden to show his knees in public. Many girls have told me that the only reason they started wearing hijab was because of constant nagging by her more “modest” and condescending friends. A medical student explicitly said that she had to adopt the headscarf because the patients would not accept her as a doctor without it.

One might say, “So what if people have become more religious? Will that impede progress and development?” This is the bottom line. People haven’t become religious, but are focusing on religious superficialities to a pathological degree, taking up far too much time and brain cells than is healthy. An example of how trivial Egyptians have become with regard to religion is the nationwide vilification of culture minster Farouk Hosni that happened a few years ago when he dared to criticize the hijab, which is still basically nothing more than a piece of cloth used to cover the hair.

Loss of productivity has become commonplace. Tram drivers in Alexandria will actually stop trams for as long as fifteen minutes during their shifts to perform Friday prayers, leaving hurried and tired passengers stranded until the prayer is over. And of course no one dares object because they’re following God’s orders. During Ramadan, when it’s time to break the fast, all transportation comes to an illegal standstill for almost an hour. In government institutions, employees will eagerly leave their desks for extended periods to attend the prayer in congregation, leaving endless queues of exasperated citizens. Once, at a private hospital in Alexandria, I was astonished to find out that the emergency room doctor wasn’t there because he was praying Maghreb and breaking his fast (this was not in Ramadan, it was an optional fast).

Apart from these obvious effects, religion is invading all aspects of life. University professors, including those of medicine, cannot resist the temptation to twist the facts of whatever subject’s at hand to throw in some “divine wisdom”, often going to ridiculous lengths. They’re not too happy either when a student asks for a scientific explanation for something he has just attributed to “God’s will”.

On a minibus, a total stranger may suddenly speak up and start religious lectures, regardless of whether or not the driver and passengers are interested. Some university professors may intrude on the privacy of mixed gender groups on campus and forbid them from standing together. One is pressured to go the mosque with his friends if one of them suggests it, for he dare not blaspheme by saying he doesn’t want to pray. Religion is, literally, being forced down our throats.

Cultural breakdown is happening at full speed. Egyptian cinema has fallen to an all time low. Films that attempt to break social norms and introduce something different (and there are many of these) receive widespread condemnation. A work of art that portrays nothing but the ugly truth is deemed blasphemous and immoral, and hence has no market.

Freedom of expression was never great in Egypt, but it has certainly made great progress in recent years. Now more than ever, things are opening up. Old taboos are slowly breaking down. However, blind religious fanaticism isn’t improving anything. You can still land in jail for “insulting Islam”. Blogger Kareem Amer is serving a four year jail sentence; three of them for allegedly insulting Islam. It is a disgrace that such a crime even exists. Kareem was simply expressing his opinion, which was very brave of him considering the society we live in. Try telling people you’re an atheist and see if you will have any friends left. Most disturbing of all is that many people, upon hearing about Kareem’s case, actually agree with the punishment, because he’s a “non believer” should not be allowed to broadcast his views to the public (When will you set Kareem Amer free? | Bikya Masr).

Columnist Nadine Al Bedair wrote a thought provoking article a while ago in the independent Al Masry al Youm, criticizing the still existent custom of polygamy. It sparked an outcry and prompted one MP to actually file a lawsuit against her (Egypt: women should have right to polygamy article causes stir | Bikya Masr). The quite amazing thing is that she had a point. While certain religious values like honesty, truth, mercy and hard work are essential for every time and place, ancient laws on inheritance, polygamy and divorce are certainly not. Women now are not like they were in the 7th century, so it is preposterous that these ancient laws are still applicable these days. Perhaps women back then didn’t object, but in today’s world, these laws are certainly discriminatory and need to be abolished for good.

Freedom to do what you want isn’t being helped either by religious fanaticism. Last Ramadan, citizens were arrested and fined for publicly breaking the fast during daytime (Egypt: Interior Ministry says okay to fine citizens for "not fasting" | Bikya Masr). While the arrests were probably just an excuse to collect fines rather than actually motivated by religion, the prospect is disturbing. Sounds more like something that could happen in Iran or Saudi Arabia. Again, the fact that most ordinary Egyptians believed that these people deserved the fines does not warrant optimism.

The government has given free rein to ignorant, widely popular telepreachers to poison the hearts and minds of our youth with 7th century views on everything ranging from women to travel to Facebook. One popular preacher recently referred to women who don’t dress “modestly” as “whores”. Not really helping with our sexual harassment problem.

Die hard secularism will never be accepted by Egyptians, at least not in the foreseeable future and probably won’t work as well as it has in other countries. What is essential, however, is that religion needs to take a back seat. There’s nothing wrong with a little moderation.


Source: Egypt’s cultural destruction | Bikya Masr


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## DeadGuy (Jan 22, 2010)

Great article, really.

Describing some of the things happening in Alex made me think that I live there, I don't actually, but it's like this everywhere :s

And the talks about what happens in universities, rang many bells lol

Have a nice time


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## Sam (Aug 27, 2009)

Thank you for sharing.

I agree with every word. Although I haven't lived through it, when I was last in Alex my other half kept telling me how he wishes I could have seen how it used to be, in the not-so-distant past. A great shame.

This author was very brave to publish such an article with the extremist reactions taken against such an opinion, despite it not being against Islam, only against the extremism and forcefulness of the "craze".

I also agree with "badguy" (lol, sorry couldn't resist  ) that it's not just Alex but it rings true throughout the country. And so sad to see that there doesn't seem to be any changes happening in the near future, if anything it just keeps escalating.


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## Helen Ellis (Aug 9, 2008)

Thank you so much for this article, the Alexandria described is not the one I remember. I think it was a nicer place back then, very tolerent of other cultures.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Very interesting article.
Is it just me or does anyone else get annoyed that when you get into a taxi they put the Koran on and Christian drivers always tell you that they are Christian.
There was an article in the Daily Mail last month about a London bus driver who stopped the bus on route and took his prayer mat onto the aisle and started praying. No he didn't get the sack despite leaving his engine running whilst praying.


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## DeadGuy (Jan 22, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> Very interesting article.
> Is it just me or does anyone else get annoyed that when you get into a taxi they put the Koran on and Christian drivers always tell you that they are Christian.
> There was an article in the Daily Mail last month about a London bus driver who stopped the bus on route and took his prayer mat onto the aisle and started praying. No he didn't get the sack despite leaving his engine running whilst praying.


Hi there,

Audio Qura'an or one on radio is played most of the time, but mainly the volume is turned to be more loud if a non Muslim was in the taxi/buses etc., sometimes it gets too loud that I can't even make a call when I'm in, and the responds that I get most of the time for my requests of lowering the volume (Knowing that I do tell that I only wanna make a stupid call!!!! May be it's too much to ask for??!! :confused2 They describe how many things work in Egypt (We're in a democratic country, you can say ANYTHING you want, ask for ANYTHING to be done, but I'll just do what I want ) I know why the volume is turned up dramatically, but think I'd get attacked if I said it lol

Christian drivers in Cairo tell that they're Christians cause for some reason they think they will get some sympathy and may be some extra tips, as for where I live, taxi fees are fixed (I know it's a GIFT ) but they do tell that they're Christians too if they were, and they do that only if a Christian was in the taxi, just to let the passenger know that they're not gonna be..........can I say not gonna be dumped before they arrive their destinations??? lol

So it's not just you, (You're not the only crazy one in here )

I think the main reason why that driver wasn't fired was the xtra democracy and freedom! And most probably the company didn't wanna go through the hassle of being described as an "Anti-Islam/Muslims" one, cause I am sure that it would happen if they did fire him!!

London, Bham, God knows where else, damn I hate UK, nothing personal people!

Enjoy your taxi rides in here everyone


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

I think the main reason why that driver wasn't fired was the xtra democracy and freedom! And most probably the company didn't wanna go through the hassle of being described as an "Anti-Islam/Muslims" one, cause I am sure that it would happen if they did fire him!!

I would say without doubt that is the only reason...


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## DeadGuy (Jan 22, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> I would say without doubt that is the only reason...


It's a joke ain't it?? How people can double/triple or even more than just triple their standards and ask for some kind of respect that they don't show to anyone?? Not to mention that they're asking for the respect that they never had in their own countries??? And what's even more stupid, they don't respect the rules or even the laws!!

God I love how stupid the immigration laws can get in some countries!! Sorry people!!

God bless the democracy!!


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## DarcyDonoghue (Oct 9, 2011)

Interesting to read these discussions from last year..wondering how much (or little) has changed since then as I prepare to move to Alex.

Thanks.


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## kevinthegulf (Aug 16, 2009)

A couple of months ago, I did a job in Alex, the vessel superintendant was a 60+ greek chap who was born and spent the first 19yrs of his life in Alex.

He said Alex was a happening place in the 1960's, party city, now, you look at the beach in summer its like a national geographic photo of the antartctic with all the penguins.

The last pub in Port Said shut few months ago Cecils. I do not know why, but for sure the creeping influence is there, tolerance is dissapearing


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