War, in the modern Arab concept of it, and not what we find in dictionaries, means defeat, and peace means surrender. Although I have never been an advocate of war, I read letters from readers on the weekend, and also recall that I have also never been a member of a peace group. I do not turn the other cheek; rather, I seek revenge on readers who have objected to me on the issue of the hijab and the niqab. While they addressed their objections to me in the letters, I was with the beautiful nationalist actress Yusra in a taxi, going around Hyde Park in London, hour after hour. Yusra arrived in London to do television interviews, and the agreement was that she would ask me about the Arab media, the Palestinian resistance and Israeli terror, as we went around the famous park together. However, Yusra and the professional team accompanying her did not take into account London's bad weather. It poured incessantly and Yusra and I ended up in a taxi. We sat next to each other, with the photographer facing us. He kept instructing me to move next to the beautiful actress, so that we would both appear, as I said to myself, “as if I need to be asked.” The next day, I went to Cairo and saw by chance, in a restaurant, my actress friend Layla Alawi, each of us with friends. We exchanged our memories of the summer; I usually see Layla, Yusra and other Egyptian stars in the south of France in the summer. In the same restaurant on the next day, I saw the young Lebanese singer Samo Zein, along with his sister. She is a beautiful girl who wears the hijab and is not involved in the entertainment business. I hope that reader Hayat al-Hurr contacts me at my email at the bottom of the article). This is enough revenge on readers who opposed me. I hope, and they should realize that I am teasing readers and trying to get a smile out of them before I move to the topic I selected for today, which has nothing to do with the ongoing debate with readers, I should say I hope that their fanaticism is limited to their opinions. Yusra is as nationalist as she is beautiful and her face is naturally radiant, with no need to any additional make up. She is not alone in the entertainment and arts world of Egypt, which has many actors and actresses and entertainers. Readers might wonder why I meet with one of these actresses and the talk is all about politics. I can provide names but am afraid I will forget others. I presume that there are nationalists in Egyptian arts and entertainment circles whom I do not know. Everyone is a nationalist, whether he or she is a journalist, merchant or grocery store keeper. However, I believe the word “nationalist” is insufficient for what I am describing, and cannot find another word. So I will use the term “super-nationalist.” The godfather of the Super-Nationalist party is my friend Clovis Maksoud. Our relationship goes back to when he was ambassador to the Arab League in India, and I was a university student and working at The Daily Star in Beirut, before becoming its editor. We resided together in Washington, while he was the Arab League ambassador there to the United Nations. We attended conferences on three continents, and were witnesses to chronic Arab failure. Perhaps Maksoud's sense of humor saved him, and allowed him to overcome the crises, without desperation settling in his heart. Of course, the Super-Nationalist Party exists only in my mind, and I decide who deserves membership. I have always considered Mohammed Saqr, and the late Ahmad al-Rub‘i, as being very super-nationalist, making them founding members, like the late Hala Salam Maksoud, Dr. Clovis' wife, as well as my dear friend Salah al-Din Hafez, God rest his soul, and ours. The prominent Egyptian businessman, Najib Sawiris, does not know about the existence of the Super-Nationalist party. But I have always found him very super-nationalist. I remember the day when his interests were attacked in Algeria, because of the “big match,” even though he was in the forefront of public Arab national action. On more than one occasion, he called for holding an annual conference of the Arab Thought Foundation in Algeria, to get to know its people and their history of struggle. However, we invited President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika to be our guest in Beirut and he accepted the invitation, so the idea of a meeting in Algeria got postponed. I hope recent events do not turn Najib “out of his” nationalist skin. Perhaps I should end by talking about the youth element in the Super-Nationalist Party. I once described Farah al-Atassi, who runs a successful media outlet in Washington, as a super-nationalist, after I heard her talking about conferences I had participated in. I confirmed this on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this year. We were at a big dinner with Arab and foreign diplomats. A young girl stood with us and said she was a Zionist, and showed us a Star of David tattooed on her hand, near her wrist. I decided to remain silent, because the atmosphere was not conducive to a discussion, but Farah confronted her and expressed her opinion of Zionism and Israel with full candor. She continued her heated attack, even after a number of diplomats and media people went out into the street at the end of the dinner. The readers who opposed me on the issue of the hijab and niqab may atone for their sins and mine by joining the Super-Nationalist party. [email protected]
