Cinema-goers in Egypt may or may not get the chance to see the award-winning documentary “Jews of Egypt,” which was easily passed by the government censor and was scheduled to make its countrywide debut on March 13 until it was suspended for reasons of “national security,” apparently on the grounds that it could be inflammatory. Now, the film’s director Egyptian-born Amir Ramses says it will be screened in Cairo cinemas on March 27 [today]—but in this nation going through a period of confusion, there’s many a slip between cup and lip.
The film’s producer Haytham el-Khamissy has condemned state security for terrorizing thought and repressing creativity. The accusation is valid when even the censorship committee’s director Abdel-Satar Fathi supports its showing and apparently called national security to protest the ban when he was told “the film’s title might cause public uproar.” If that’s correct, then it’s a sad indictment on the Egyptian people implying they are bigoted against Judaism when Jews are considered by Islam to be “Peoples of the Book.”
I would argue, however, that’s far from the case. Egyptians are savvy enough to distinguish between Judaism and Zionism. While it’s true to say that few Egyptians have warm feelings toward Israel despite a long-standing peace treaty, I’ve yet to hear any educated Egyptian display open hatred for Jews. Indeed, I’ve spoken with many of the older generation, some fervent supporters of the Palestinian cause, who’ve expressed fond memories of their former Egyptian-Jewish friends, neighbors and colleagues. Even if there is a lesser informed segment of society that does mistakenly conflate Judaism with Zionism (large numbers of Zionists are evangelical Christians—and many activists for Palestine are Jews), the state shouldn’t massage that view, which is one of the reasons the public should be given access to this film. In my opinion, ignorance is one of the greatest evils of all.
Admittedly I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the documentary which I’m looking forward to enjoying today, national security permitting, but according to the film’s website, it’s “a documentary that captures fragments of the lives of the Egyptian Jewish community in the first half of the 20th century until their second grand exodus after the tripartite attack of 1956 (the Suez blunder) . . .”
Try as they might, the Egyptian authorities cannot expunge the history of Jews in Egypt and shouldn’t attempt to rewrite Egypt’s own past on which Egyptian Jews left an indelible mark. Formerly up market stores—Hannaux, Cicurel, Chamla, Benizon, Omar Effendi—still retain the names of their Jewish founders. Grand old buildings in the affluent areas of Cairo and Alexandria are inscribed with the names of their Jewish architects. Joseph Smouha constructed an entire Alexandrian neighborhood—today known as Smouha—on inhospitable marshlands but undoubtedly only a few of Smouha’s contemporary residents are aware of that fact. The Menasce banking family donated a palace to the state that was used as Alexandria’s library.
Jews have been in Egypt since ancient times and during the era covered by the film they numbered around 80,000. They were entirely integrated into the broad Egyptian society and in many cases were Egyptian patriots who helped oust the British occupier and its puppet king. For instance, Rene Qattawi, the leader of Cairo’s Sephardi community, was an opponent of Zionism who promulgated the slogan “Egypt is our homeland, Arabic our language.” Likewise, Henri Curiel, the founder of the Egyptian Movement for National Liberation, actively participated in Nasser’s 1952 and went on to support Algerians in their struggle for independence. Joseph Aslan Cattaui, known for developing Egypt’s sugar industry, was a member of a delegation that traveled to London to demand the country’s autonomy.
Another prime reason why “Jew of Egypt” should be screened is to counter the Zionist narrative that Egyptian Jews suffered persecution and were treated as second-class citizens. You only have to read “The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: a Jewish family’s exodus from old Cairo to the New World” by Lucette Lagnado or “Out of Egypt” by Andre Aciman to realize the falsehood of that. Both books, on sale in Egypt’s better bookstores, are poignant memoirs.
Lagnado’s father ‘described as an elegant boulevardier who conducted business on the terrace of Shepheards Hotel’ never got over leaving the country he thought of as his beloved homeland and visibly wilted in the US where he complained the roses have no smell. And it’s evident from Aciman’s accounts that his eclectic wealthy family enjoyed an enviable lifestyle in once cosmopolitan Alexandria.
Joseph Beinin the author of “The dispersal of Egyptian Jewry” exposes the confusion felt by an Egyptian Jewish immigrant to Israel who, on arrival in 1956 confided to the Jerusalem Post that “Egypt is our country; we have no other . . .”
A glance at the guestbook on the Historical Society of Jews from Egypt website tells the real story better than any other. It’s crammed with nostalgic posts. “It was a real cosmopolitan society which has no comparison with the so-called multi-culturalism of Australia, writes one poster, adding, “We carry this heritage wherever we go.”
In the same guestbook, a Christian of Arab descent born in Canada highlights his mother’s memories of living in Cairo in the 1940s and 50s. “My mother said there was no such thing as religious or ethnic profiling. Jews, Christians and Muslims all intermingled together and life was peaceful and enjoyable. Everyone lived in harmony together and helped each other in times of need. They all shared in one another’s religious holidays and feasts . . . The way my mother described life back then seemed so vivid that I could picture myself living in such a wonderful period.”
The Jewish exit from Egypt that was, indeed, traumatic for most, has been linked to the 1954 Lavon Affair a false flag operation in which a tiny minority of Egyptian Jews participated in attempts to blow up Western targets to discredit Gamal Abdel Nasser in the eyes of the West. From then on, all Egyptian Jews, most of which never gave a thought to Zionism and had no ambition to live in Israel, were under suspicion. Political realities triggered their exodus, not religious bigotry as Zionists like to portray. Hopefully, Amir Ramses’ film will go a long way in setting the record straight.
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.
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National security no reason to ban ‘Jews of Egypt’ documentary
Posted on March 27, 2013 by Linda S. Heard
Cinema-goers in Egypt may or may not get the chance to see the award-winning documentary “Jews of Egypt,” which was easily passed by the government censor and was scheduled to make its countrywide debut on March 13 until it was suspended for reasons of “national security,” apparently on the grounds that it could be inflammatory. Now, the film’s director Egyptian-born Amir Ramses says it will be screened in Cairo cinemas on March 27 [today]—but in this nation going through a period of confusion, there’s many a slip between cup and lip.
The film’s producer Haytham el-Khamissy has condemned state security for terrorizing thought and repressing creativity. The accusation is valid when even the censorship committee’s director Abdel-Satar Fathi supports its showing and apparently called national security to protest the ban when he was told “the film’s title might cause public uproar.” If that’s correct, then it’s a sad indictment on the Egyptian people implying they are bigoted against Judaism when Jews are considered by Islam to be “Peoples of the Book.”
I would argue, however, that’s far from the case. Egyptians are savvy enough to distinguish between Judaism and Zionism. While it’s true to say that few Egyptians have warm feelings toward Israel despite a long-standing peace treaty, I’ve yet to hear any educated Egyptian display open hatred for Jews. Indeed, I’ve spoken with many of the older generation, some fervent supporters of the Palestinian cause, who’ve expressed fond memories of their former Egyptian-Jewish friends, neighbors and colleagues. Even if there is a lesser informed segment of society that does mistakenly conflate Judaism with Zionism (large numbers of Zionists are evangelical Christians—and many activists for Palestine are Jews), the state shouldn’t massage that view, which is one of the reasons the public should be given access to this film. In my opinion, ignorance is one of the greatest evils of all.
Admittedly I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the documentary which I’m looking forward to enjoying today, national security permitting, but according to the film’s website, it’s “a documentary that captures fragments of the lives of the Egyptian Jewish community in the first half of the 20th century until their second grand exodus after the tripartite attack of 1956 (the Suez blunder) . . .”
Try as they might, the Egyptian authorities cannot expunge the history of Jews in Egypt and shouldn’t attempt to rewrite Egypt’s own past on which Egyptian Jews left an indelible mark. Formerly up market stores—Hannaux, Cicurel, Chamla, Benizon, Omar Effendi—still retain the names of their Jewish founders. Grand old buildings in the affluent areas of Cairo and Alexandria are inscribed with the names of their Jewish architects. Joseph Smouha constructed an entire Alexandrian neighborhood—today known as Smouha—on inhospitable marshlands but undoubtedly only a few of Smouha’s contemporary residents are aware of that fact. The Menasce banking family donated a palace to the state that was used as Alexandria’s library.
Jews have been in Egypt since ancient times and during the era covered by the film they numbered around 80,000. They were entirely integrated into the broad Egyptian society and in many cases were Egyptian patriots who helped oust the British occupier and its puppet king. For instance, Rene Qattawi, the leader of Cairo’s Sephardi community, was an opponent of Zionism who promulgated the slogan “Egypt is our homeland, Arabic our language.” Likewise, Henri Curiel, the founder of the Egyptian Movement for National Liberation, actively participated in Nasser’s 1952 and went on to support Algerians in their struggle for independence. Joseph Aslan Cattaui, known for developing Egypt’s sugar industry, was a member of a delegation that traveled to London to demand the country’s autonomy.
Another prime reason why “Jew of Egypt” should be screened is to counter the Zionist narrative that Egyptian Jews suffered persecution and were treated as second-class citizens. You only have to read “The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: a Jewish family’s exodus from old Cairo to the New World” by Lucette Lagnado or “Out of Egypt” by Andre Aciman to realize the falsehood of that. Both books, on sale in Egypt’s better bookstores, are poignant memoirs.
Lagnado’s father ‘described as an elegant boulevardier who conducted business on the terrace of Shepheards Hotel’ never got over leaving the country he thought of as his beloved homeland and visibly wilted in the US where he complained the roses have no smell. And it’s evident from Aciman’s accounts that his eclectic wealthy family enjoyed an enviable lifestyle in once cosmopolitan Alexandria.
Joseph Beinin the author of “The dispersal of Egyptian Jewry” exposes the confusion felt by an Egyptian Jewish immigrant to Israel who, on arrival in 1956 confided to the Jerusalem Post that “Egypt is our country; we have no other . . .”
A glance at the guestbook on the Historical Society of Jews from Egypt website tells the real story better than any other. It’s crammed with nostalgic posts. “It was a real cosmopolitan society which has no comparison with the so-called multi-culturalism of Australia, writes one poster, adding, “We carry this heritage wherever we go.”
In the same guestbook, a Christian of Arab descent born in Canada highlights his mother’s memories of living in Cairo in the 1940s and 50s. “My mother said there was no such thing as religious or ethnic profiling. Jews, Christians and Muslims all intermingled together and life was peaceful and enjoyable. Everyone lived in harmony together and helped each other in times of need. They all shared in one another’s religious holidays and feasts . . . The way my mother described life back then seemed so vivid that I could picture myself living in such a wonderful period.”
The Jewish exit from Egypt that was, indeed, traumatic for most, has been linked to the 1954 Lavon Affair a false flag operation in which a tiny minority of Egyptian Jews participated in attempts to blow up Western targets to discredit Gamal Abdel Nasser in the eyes of the West. From then on, all Egyptian Jews, most of which never gave a thought to Zionism and had no ambition to live in Israel, were under suspicion. Political realities triggered their exodus, not religious bigotry as Zionists like to portray. Hopefully, Amir Ramses’ film will go a long way in setting the record straight.
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.