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See - Sada Elbalad
a day ago
- General
- See - Sada Elbalad
The Arab League calls on the world to compel Israel to halt its aggression
Amir Hagag The General Secretariat of the League of Arab States (Palestine and Occupied Arab Territories) commemorates the 58th anniversary of the Naksa (Naksa), which marked a tragic turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict following the 1967 Israeli aggression, which resulted in the occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. The Arab League affirmed that the repercussions of this aggression continue to this day and are clearly evident in the bloody war waged by Israel against the Palestinian people for more than 600 days, particularly in the Gaza Strip, where the attacks have resulted in the deaths of more than 200,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children, in addition to the forced displacement of approximately two million Palestinians. The League warned against the escalation of the occupation's expansionist colonial policies and its grave violations of international law and international humanitarian law, including through illegal settlement construction, the demolition of homes, the confiscation of land, attacks on holy sites, and the imposition of a financial and political blockade on the Palestinian Authority. The General Secretariat reiterated its call for the international community to implement relevant UN resolutions, most notably Resolutions 242 and 338, and to compel Israel to halt its aggression, open the crossings immediately, allow unimpeded humanitarian aid, and provide the necessary support to UNRWA. It also called for effective international action to end the occupation and enable the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and establish their independent, sovereign state on the June 4, 1967, borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative. The General Secretariat emphasized the importance of participating in the international peace conference scheduled to be held this month in New York, calling on countries that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to take this step in support of the two-state solution and to ensure peace and stability in the region. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan
Mid East Info
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Mid East Info
The Prayer of Anxiety wins 2025 International Prize for Arabic Fiction - Middle East Business News and Information - mid-east.info
Mohamed Samir Nada wins 18 th edition of International Prize for Arabic Fiction for The Prayer of Anxiety edition of International Prize for Arabic Fiction for Nada is an Egyptian writer, and this is his third novel; he is the first Egyptian novelist to win the prize since 2009 The events of the novel take place in an isolated village in Egypt, during a socially and politically turbulent period as seen through the eyes of its community The Prayer of Anxiety by Mohamed Samir Nada was announced today as the winner of the 2025 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF). The novel, published by Masciliana, was named as this year's winner by Chair of Judges Mona Baker during a ceremony in Abu Dhabi that was also streamed online. The judges selected the winning book from 124 submitted titles as the best novel published in Arabic between July 2023 and June 2024. The Prize was presented by Asma Siddiq Al Mutawa, founder of the Al Multaqa literary salon. In the novel, storytelling is intertwined with symbolism in an unsettling narrative with multiple voices and layers. Depicting a transformative period in Egypt's history, the decade after the 1967 Naksa, the book is an interrogation of the commonly held narrative of the Naksa and subsequent Arab illusions of victory. Mona Baker, Chair of the 2025 Judges, said: 'The Prayer of Anxiety won because it successfully transforms anxiety into an aesthetic and intellectual experience that resonates with the reader and awakens them to pressing existential questions. Mohamed Samir Nada blends polyphony and symbolism with captivating poetic language, making reading a sensory experience where revelation intersects with silence, and truth with illusion. In this novel, 'Nagaa al-Manasi' is more than just a village in Upper Egypt; it becomes a metaphor for societies besieged by fear and authoritarianism, giving the novel dimensions that transcend geography and touch upon universal human themes.' Professor Yasir Suleiman, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said: 'The Prayer of Anxiety is an outstandingly beautiful and intriguing novel. Referencing history, its immediate conceptualisation around the 1967 war does not make it a historical novel. The occasion of this war is cleverly used to probe the structure of political tyranny in an isolated and forgotten village in Egypt. Coercion, manipulation, co-optation and the occlusion of meaning drive the inhabitants into submission and utter despair. Turning to organised religion for worldly redemption through a hurriedly concocted 'prayer of anxiety' offers little solace, rather brings occasion for dispute and no clear way out. Enchanted by the elegant writing and the deft structure of the novel, the reader is drawn into a dystopian microcosm with polyphonous meanings that adroitly captures one until the end. Crafted with considerable virtuosity and narrative acumen, The Prayer of Anxiety is engaging and thought-provoking. It is destined to become a classic in the Arab literary scene in years to come.' Based in Cairo, (where he is the financial director for a tourism company), Mohamed Samir Nada has written articles for numerous Arabic newspapers and websites, and published two earlier novels: Malika's Kingdom (2016) and The Confession of the Walls (2021). This is the first time the author has been recognised by the prize, and it is also the prize's first Egyptian winner since 2009. The novel is published by Masciliana. Alongside Mohamed Samir Nada, the 2024 shortlist features novels by Ahmed Fal Al Din (Mauritania), Azher Jirjees (Iraq), Taissier Khalaf (Syria), Nadia Najar (UAE), and Haneen Al-Sayegh (Lebanon). The panel of five judges was chaired by Egyptian academic Mona Baker. Joining her on the judging panel were Moroccan academic and critic Said Bengrad, Emirati critic and academic Maryam Al Hashimi, Lebanese researcher and academic Bilal Orfali, and Finnish translator Sampsa Peltonen. The aim of IPAF is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic creative writing and to encourage the readership of high-quality Arabic literature internationally through the translation and publication in other major languages of novels recognised by the prize (whether as winners, or on shortlists or longlists). Winning book: Synopsis and author bio: Mohamed Samir Nada is an Egyptian writer, born in Iraq in 1978. He has lived in Baghdad, Cairo and Tripoli in Libya. After graduating from business college, he worked in the tourism sector and is currently financial director for a tourism company in Cairo. He has published numerous articles in Arabic newspapers and on websites, such as Al-Ahram, Al-Shorouk and London-based Al-Arab. He has a personal blog where he publishes reviews of novels. He is the author of three novels: Malika's Kingdom (2016), The Confession of the Walls (2021) and The Prayer of Anxiety (2024). The Prayer of Anxiety: In 1977, in the isolated and forgotten village of Nag' Al-Manassi in the heart of Upper Egypt, the inhabitants believe that a minefield surrounds the village, which would be dangerous to attempt to cross. Little is known about the wider world, except that a war between Egypt and Israel has been raging since 1967 and the Israeli enemy is trying to penetrate Egypt through the village, meaning that Nag' Al-Manassi is the first line of defence on the Egyptian border. Khalil Al-Khoja, the representative of the authorities, acts as the villagers' only link with the outside world. He owns the shop that prints a local paper, The Voice of War, controls all the buying and selling of vital goods, and starts to conscript people into the war. After an unknown object – possibly a meteorite or a satellite – falls upon the village, an epidemic disfigures the population, including the newborn children. An unknown hand begins to inscribe people's hidden sins on the village walls, and in an attempt to cure the village, the local Sheikh invents a new prayer, the 'Prayer of Anxiety'. Through the perspectives of eight different characters, readers learn the history of the village from the 1967 Naksa, better known in English as the Six-Day War, through to the epidemic. At the core of this elaborate mosaic is an interrogation of the commonly held narrative of the Naksa, and subsequent Arab illusions of victory. IPAF Shortlist 2025 Author Title Nationality Publisher Ahmed Fal Al Din Danishmand Mauritania Masciliana Azher Jirjees The Valley of the Butterflies Iraq Dar al-Rafidain Taissier Khalaf The Andalusian Messiah Syria Al-Mutawassit Mohamed Samir Nada The Prayer of Anxiety Egypt Masciliana Nadia Najar The Touch of Light UAE Al-Mutawassit Haneen Al-Sayegh The Women's Covenant Lebanon Dar al-Adab IPAF Judging panel 2025 — biographies Mona Baker (Chair, Egypt) is a university professor and researcher in the field of Translation Studies. She is the director of the Baker Centre for Translation (named after her) at Shanghai International Studies University, China. Two of her best-known works, In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation (1992) and Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account (2006), have been translated into Arabic and numerous other languages. She has contributed articles and research to various international journals and has won several prizes honouring her work. These include the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Award for Translation awarded by Saudi Arabia (2011), and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences Prize in the field of Arts, Languages, Foreign Language Studies and Literature (2015). Said Bengrad is a Moroccan university professor in the Arts College of Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco. He obtained a doctorate from the Sorbonne University, Paris, and a state doctorate from Moulay Ismail University, Meknes, Morocco. He has won numerous prizes, including the Atlas Award for translation, given by the French government (2006), and the Morocco Book Prize (2010). He is a specialist in Semiotics, in its branches of Narrative, Imagery and Culture. His publications include Fictional Narrative and the Experience of Meaning (2008, 2024); The Orbits of Language, between Fuṣḥā Arabic and Dialect (2022); Narrative Identity: the Narrative between Fictional Imagining and History (2023); Interpretation and the Experience of Meaning (2023); and The Image and Outcomes of Looking (2024). Maryam Al Hashimi is a critic and university academic from the UAE. She is head of the Criticism Club in the Emirati Writers' Union and has won numerous UAE prizes, including the 2017 Rashid bin Saeed Prize for Outstanding Achievement; the 2019 Al-Owais Award for Creativity (in the category of the best writer from the UAE); and the 2022 Sharjah Award for Gulf Women's Creativity (first place, in the category of critical studies). She also won the Excellence Award (in the category of scientific studies) from the Indian Al-Nahda magazine in 2021. She is the author of publications on literary criticism and philosophy, including Lament for Cities and Kingdoms between Baghdad and Andalusia: A Study of Saadi Shirazi and Abu Al-Baqa Al-Rundi (2009), The Development of the Poetic Movement in the Emirates: Jama'a al-Hira (2017), The Intellect: Between Talent and Genius (2023), and Narrative Transformations in Emirati Literature: An Artistic Study (2024). She has served on many cultural and literary judging panels, including the 2023 Al-Owais Award (in the literary criticism category), the 2023 Sharjah Book Fair Prize (in the literary creativity category), and the 2023 Sharjah Award for Gulf Women's Creativity. Bilal Orfali, a Lebanese researcher and academic, is the Sheikh Zayed Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut, and Director of the Centre for Arts and Humanities and the university's publishing house. He specialises in Arabic and Islamic literatures, as well as the Qur'an, Sufism, and narratology. He is editor of various publications: Al-Markaz Journal of Arabic Studies; Al-Abhath Journal; Texts and Studies on the Qur'an; Handbook of Sufi Studies; and the Sheikh Zayed Series for Arabic and Islamic Texts and Studies. He is an associate editor of The Journal of Arabic Literature, published by Brill, and an editor of The Library of Arabic Literature, a project of New York University Abu Dhabi. He serves on the advisory boards of several international journals, book series, and projects in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. He is author and editor of more than two dozen books in Arabic and English. Sampsa Peltonen is a Finnish translator who works in the fields of literature and media. He studied Foreign Languages at the University of Turku, Finland, and deepened his knowledge of various Arab regions and dialects through extensive periods spent in the Middle East and North Africa. He has translated novels, short stories, plays and poetry from Arabic and French into Finnish, winning two prestigious Finnish prizes – the WSOY Foundation Prize in 2014 for his translation of Hassan Blasim's works, and the 2023 Agricola Prize for his translation of Mohammed Mbougar Sarr's The Most Secret Memory of Men, which won The Goncourt Prize. For his contributions as a language expert, he was appointed member of the National Council for Finnish Language, where he served from 2015-2021. In 2021, he was Chair of the judging panel of the Finlandia Prize, the most important literary prize in Finland. In the field of media, he works as a translator at the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), where he translates documentary films and other media content. About the International Prize for Arabic Fiction and its work The previous winners of the prize are: 2008: Sunset Oasis by Bahaa Taher (Egypt) 2009: Azazeel by Youssef Ziedan (Egypt) 2010: Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles by Abdo Khal (Saudi Arabia) 2011: The Arch and the Butterfly by Mohammed Achaari (Morocco) and The Doves' Necklace by Raja Alem (Saudi Arabia) 2012: The Druze of Belgrade by Rabee Jaber (Lebanon) 2013: The Bamboo Stalk by Saud Alsanousi (Kuwait) 2014: Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi (Iraq) 2015: The Italian by Shukri Mabkhout (Tunisia) 2016: Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nakba by Rabai al-Madhoun (Palestine) 2017: A Small Death by Mohammed Hasan Alwan (Saudi Arabia) 2018: The Second War of the Dog by Ibrahim Nasrallah (Palestine) 2019: The Night Mail by Hoda Barakat (Lebanon) 2020: The Spartan Court by Abdelouahab Aissaoui (Algeria) 2021: Notebooks of the Bookseller by Jalal Barjas (Jordan) 2022: Bread on the Table of Uncle Milad by Mohamed Alnaas (Libya) 2023: The Water Diviner by Zahran Alqasmi (Oman) 2024: A Mask, the Colour of the Sky by Basim Khandaqji (Palestine) The authors of the shortlisted novels are awarded USD$10,000, and the winner's prize is a further USD$50,000. An independent Board of Trustees, drawn from across the Arab world and beyond, is responsible for the overall management of the prize. Yasir Suleiman CBE, Professor of Arabic, University of Cambridge, is Chair of Trustees and Evelyn Smith, formerly the Booker Prize Foundation secretary, is a Trustee and Company Secretary. The remaining Trustees are, in alphabetical order: Isobel Abulhoul OBE, Founder, Trustee and former CEO of Emirates Literature Foundation; Yassin Adnan, Moroccan journalist, broadcaster and writer; Abdulla Majed Al Ali, Director General, UAE National Library and Archives, columnist, formerly involved in a number of cultural initiatives in the UAE, including the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, the Kalima Translation Project, the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair and Abu Dhabi libraries; Rasheed El-Enany, Professor Emeritus of the University of Exeter; Michel S. Moushabeck, Founder and President of Interlink Publishing Group, Inc., writer, editor, and musician, USA; Zaki Nusseibeh, Cultural Advisor to the President of United Arab Emirates and Chancellor of the UAE University; Seif Salmawy, CEO and co-founder of Al Karma Publishers (Egypt); Ahdaf Soueif, author and political and cultural commentator; and Dr Ali bin Tamim, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, Secretary-General of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, researcher and literary critic, former lecturer at the UAE University and head of the Abu Dhabi Media Company, founder of various literary initiatives. The prize's Administrator is Fleur Montanaro. To fulfil its ambition to increase the international reach of Arabic fiction, the prize makes funding for English translation available for its winners. Winning novels published or forthcoming in English include Basim Khandaqji's A Mask, the Colour of the Sky , Mohammed Alnaas's Bread on Uncle Milad's Table ; Jalal Barjas's Notebooks of the Bookseller ; Hoda Barakat's The Night Mail (translated as Voices of the Lost , Oneworld); Rabai al-Madhoun's Fractured Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and Al Nakba (Hoopoe); Shukri Mabkhout's The Italian (Europa Editions); Ahmed Saadawi's Frankenstein in Baghdad (Oneworld, UK, and Penguin Books, US); Saud Alsanousi's The Bamboo Stalk ; Mohammed Achaari's The Arch and the Butterfly ; Raja Alem's The Dove's Necklace (Duckworth, UK, and Overlook Press, US); Abdo Khal's Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles; Youssef Ziedan's Azazeel (Atlantic Books); and Bahaa Taher's Sunset Oasis (Sceptre). , Mohammed Alnaas's ; Jalal Barjas's ; Hoda Barakat's (translated as , Oneworld); Rabai al-Madhoun's (Hoopoe); Shukri Mabkhout's (Europa Editions); Ahmed Saadawi's (Oneworld, UK, and Penguin Books, US); Saud Alsanousi's ; Mohammed Achaari's ; Raja Alem's (Duckworth, UK, and Overlook Press, US); Abdo Khal's Youssef Ziedan's (Atlantic Books); and Bahaa Taher's (Sceptre). In addition to the annual prize, IPAF supports literary initiatives including its Nadwa (writers' workshop) for emerging writers from across the Arab world. Established in 2009, the Nadwa was the first of its kind for Arab writers. Each Nadwa results in new fiction by some of the Arab world's most promising authors, some of whom have gone on to have works entered, be shortlisted and even win the Prize. Nine Nadwas have taken place in Abu Dhabi (eight under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and in 2017 supported by the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation). Others have been held in Jordan, Oman and Sharjah, in partnership with, respectively, the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, the Muscat Cultural Club, the Department of Culture — Sharjah Government and the Sharjah Book Authority. IPAF's inaugural editing workshop took place at the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation in January 2025. The International Prize for Arabic Fiction is sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi. About the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre: The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), established as part of the Department of Culture and Tourism under the directive of the President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, is dedicated to advancing and modernising the Arabic language. Through comprehensive strategies and frameworks, the Centre aims to enhance the scientific, educational, cultural, and creative contributions of Arabic, ensuring its relevance in the modern world. It aims to promote Arabic language proficiency and cultural understanding, while supporting Arab talents in the fields of writing, translation, publishing, scientific research, arts, and the creation of audio and visual content. Additionally, it plays a key role in organising book fairs and bolstering the publishing industry in the region. The Centre advances its core vision through dedicated programmes, the expertise of its teams, and impactful partnerships with some of the world's most prestigious technical, cultural, and academic institutions. The prize is also supported by the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair being held between 26th April – 5th May 2025.
See - Sada Elbalad
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Egypt's 'Prayer of Anxiety' Wins 2025 Int'l Prize of Arabic Fiction
Rana Atef On Thursday, the Prayer of Anxiety by the Egyptian author Mohamed Samir Nada was announced as the winner of the 2025 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF). The novel was named as this year's winner by Chair of Judges Mona Baker during a ceremony in Abu Dhabi. According to the statement of the IPAF: "In the novel, storytelling is intertwined with symbolism in an unsettling narrative with multiple voices and layers. Depicting a transformative period in Egypt's history, the decade after the 1967 Naksa, the book is an interrogation of the commonly held narrative of the Naksa and subsequent Arab illusions of victory." "The Prayer of Anxiety won because it successfully transforms anxiety into an aesthetic and intellectual experience that resonates with the reader and awakens them to pressing existential questions. Mohamed Samir Nada blends polyphony and symbolism with captivating poetic language, making reading a sensory experience where revelation intersects with silence, and truth with illusion. In this novel, 'Nagaa al-Manasi' is more than just a village in Upper Egypt; it becomes a metaphor for societies besieged by fear and authoritarianism, giving the novel dimensions that transcend geography and touch upon universal human themes," the statement read. Mona Baker, Chair of the 2025 Judges The Chair of the 2025 Judges told IPAF website: "The Prayer of Anxiety is an outstandingly beautiful and intriguing novel. Referencing history, its immediate conceptualisation around the 1967 war does not make it a historical novel. The occasion of this war is cleverly used to probe the structure of political tyranny in an isolated and forgotten village in Egypt." She added: "Coercion, manipulation, co-optation and the occlusion of meaning drive the inhabitants into submission and utter despair. Turning to organised religion for worldly redemption through a hurriedly concocted 'prayer of anxiety' offers little solace, rather brings occasion for dispute and no clear way out. Enchanted by the elegant writing and the deft structure of the novel, the reader is drawn into a dystopian microcosm with polyphonous meanings that adroitly captures one until the end. Crafted with considerable virtuosity and narrative acumen, The Prayer of Anxiety is engaging and thought-provoking. It is destined to become a classic in the Arab literary scene in years to come." read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Lifestyle Pistachio and Raspberry Cheesecake Domes Recipe News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Videos & Features Bouchra Dahlab Crowned Miss Arab World 2025 .. Reem Ganzoury Wins Miss Arab Africa Title (VIDEO) Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple
CairoScene
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Egyptian Writer Shortlisted for 2025 Intl Prize for Arabic Fiction
Mohamed Samir Nada is one of six shortlisted authors recognized for his novel, 'The Prayer of Anxiety'. Feb 21, 2025 Egyptian author Mohamed Samir Nada has been named as one six writers shortlisted for 18th International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF). The list was announced during a press conference at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, which also revealed that Mohamed Samir Nada is one of four authors who have been recognised for the prize for the first time. Nada is an Egyptian native originally born in Iraq during the 1970s. He's currently a financial director for a tourism company in Cairo, but has previously released two novels before his most recent, 'The Prayer of Anxiety', which follows the 1967 Naksa through the perspectives of eight characters. IPAF's 18th edition of judges is also chaired by Egyptian academic Mona Baker. 'This year's six shortlisted novels are notable for their focus on the humanity of their protagonists,' Baker said. 'The judges' main concern was not subject matter alone. The novel is first and foremost an artistic construction, and narrative representation and its forms are the novelist's means of creating worlds that can only be achieved through imagination.' All six shortlisted writers hail from different Arab countries: Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Mauritania, Syria and the UAE. The winner of the USD 50,000 prize will be announced on April 24th, 2025 in Abu Dhabi.
Memri
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Member Of Egyptian Senate: Arab Countries Should Propose A New Peace Initiative
In his February 12, 2025 column in the London-based Saudi Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily, Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id, a member of the Egyptian Senate and a veteran journalist, maintained that the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has led the Arab world to a difficult position which is reminiscent of its situation after its resounding defeat in the war of 1967. He wrote that the images of the prisoner handovers following the temporary ceasefire agreement, during which Hamas members appeared in military uniforms, and President Trump's initiative to remove the Palestinians from Gaza, have served to further fan the flames in a region where they should now be doused. Therefore, Sa'id stressed that this 'sensitive phase' obliges the Arab countries to demonstrate wisdom, and not to suffice with condemnations of President Trump's transfer plan, but rather to present a new Arab peace plan to the Israeli leadership, to the people in Israel, and to the Jews of the world, while recruiting the Palestinian elite to the cause. Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id (Source: 'It may be that the entire Arab world is currently positioned in the same corner where it was when the Naksa [1] occurred in 1967, which was the fate of all [Arabs]. 'The 'Three Nos' that were published by the Arab League Summit [in] Khartoum [in August 1967]… – no to recognition [of Israel], no to negotiation [with it] and no to peace – did not express momentary extremism and fury as the result of a shameful defeat, but rather a firm decision that the Naksa not continue. 'Later, the story became a war of attrition [between the Arab countries and Israel], and then came the October War [in 1973] … When the war to liberate Kuwait landed on us [i.e. the Gulf War in 1990-91], it was capitalized upon to expand the victory to Palestine, by means of the peace conference in Madrid, until it led to the Oslo Agreement which, for the first time in history, granted the Palestinians a Palestinian government on the land of Palestine. 'We now face another moment, difficult and wearying, that began on October 7, 2023, and has yet to conclude, that brought with it a new wound which awakened the Nakba of 1948. [2] [This new and difficult event is expressed] not only in the defeat by Israel [in the current war] but [also] in the decision by the U.S. about the migration of the Palestinians [from Gaza] … 'Currently, amidst the first prisoner exchanges [between Israel and Hamas] following a temporary ceasefire, more fuel has been added to the fire: once by Hamas, [whose operatives] appeared in full military attire and declared that it will remain [in Gaza] and that October 7 was just the beginning and not the end, and the second time by the U.S. and Trump which [if] we thought that the meaning of his participation in the ceasefire scene was that this process would continue, [we discovered that] what we have here is a return to the first Nakba. 'In this way, the matter reaches the threshold of the Naksa: not only because the Palestinians are losing their lands and additional neighborhoods, but because the American initiative leads us to the gates of the first tragedy; it paves the way for the destruction of the peace initiatives that have survived for decades and prepares the ground for eternal war. 'At this sensitive juncture there is crucial need for a bit of wisdom. Unfortunately, international solidarity that opposes the migration of the Palestinians is not enough to stop the earthquake unleashed by Trump. The Arab wisdom demands that a stand be taken by the group of countries that is interested in preserving the progress and economic growth achieved over the past decade, which are now threatened by ongoing conflict in the region which is still suffering the consequences of the [Arab] Spring… 'It is only natural that the Arab position reiterate and assert the opposition to exile, but [it must also] place on the international table, and mainly on the American [table], an Arab peace plan, that will address not only the leadership of the Israeli occupying entity, but – and this is more important – the Israeli people and the progressive Jews in the world. 'At the same time, the hour has come to compel the Palestinian political elite to face its responsibility for the Palestinian people; because at present the rift is deep, the people must be addressed, through this elite, so as to prepare for fair elections, that will determine the fate of Palestinian policy…' [3] [1] The Naksa, literally "the setback," is the Arab name for the Arab countries' defeat in 1967 war with Israel. [2] The Nakba, literally 'the catastrophe,' is the Arab name for the Arab downfall in the war against Israel in 1947-48, and its consequences. [3] >Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), February 12, 2025.
