The ‘no central authority’ and ‘self regulated’ approach in the Internet’s management has always been a key to its success and growth. This has allowed the Internet to become among many things, a vital tool and catalyst for exercising human rights and empowering citizens around the globe. In light of the Arab Spring developments, supporting the openness of the Internet management structure, among many things, empowers the democratisation of societies. Thus support for IGF in its current form is vital.

What is its value of the IGF and why is it relevant?

The old argument that various stakeholders; governments, the private sector, the civil society and NGOs, and the technical and academic communities provide resources, knowledge sharing and innovation under one roof, is still relevant today. However as technology continues to evolve, so do the discussions at all levels. The unique aspect of this Forum is its all encompassing discussions of Internet governance and Internet public policy- related topics, addressing the opportunities and challenges created by the rapid development of the Internet.

Further, the more developed argument addresses one of the most deep routed issues associated with the IGF – ‘IGF formal outcomes’. in the closing session,Dr Vincent Cerf raised his concern; “I am a little uncomfortable with any attempt to produce a consensus document, not because they are bad, but the time it takes away from rich exploration of issues.” Dr Cerf is right. Not only does negotiated text hinder the success of the current format but more importantly, whilst the current system makes it difficult to coordinate legislation targets Spam (for example), it plays a more important role in stopping rogue states from having any say in what and how the data on Internet flows. This in its self is a HUGE success, and needs applauding.

The current decentralised governance system of the Internet means many stakeholders are involved, with each party playing a specific role. This enables the Internet’s data flow without fear of sovereignty and borders, and more importantly guaranteeing a diversity of views (from both elected and unelected governments).

It is important to highlight that the IGF in its current format has the ability for self-improvement through its own bottom-up mechanisms, with each annual meeting building on the achievements from previous meetings. This self-improvement mechanism has continued in an era of dwindling and limited financial and human resources to the IGF secretariat. This year the Secretariat must be congratulated for managing with only one full-time member staff (Mr Chengetai Masango) and a handful of valuable interns. Whilst this highlights the power harnessed by the bottom-up approach, it also rings alarm bells for future support.
Support for the secretariat is not only required in the form of finance, but also in the form of broadening the base of attendance. This can only be achieved if various stakeholders in their respective countries, outline the importance of the IGF through their networks. Without the IGF, a world with the Internet managed by an international body of bureaucracy is highly likely, and all parties who are currently benefiting from the Internet will wish they had pledged their supporting for the IGF sooner.

Scotland Yard murder squad detectives were called in to the eight-storey Marylebone hotel, after the victim’s body was found in a third-floor room shortly before 5pm on Monday. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the man suffered head injuries. A post mortem was being carried out last night. The hotel’s general manager Francis Green said: “Unfortunately, the Landmark Hotel can confirm the death of a guest on Monday who was staying at the hotel.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Police were called to reports of the body of a man found in a third-floor room at a hotel in Marylebone Road, at 4.50pm on Monday. “Officers and paramedics from the London Ambulance Service attended the address and the man was pronounced dead at the scene. “The death is being treated as suspicious and is being investigated by officers from the Met Police’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command. “Officers believe they know the identity of the deceased, who is from Saudi Arabia, but await formal identification before releasing his name. Inquiries to trace his next of kin are under way. “It is believed the victim had suffered head injuries and officers await the results of a post mortem examination, which is taking place on Tuesday. “At 9.07pm, a man in his thirties was arrested in Westminster in connection with the death and was taken to a central London police station where he remains in custody.”

This reminds me of the murder of a British police women from a Libyan diplomat, and got away under diplomatic immunity. I guess we will have to wait and see how this turns out!

With the Lisbon Treaty being signed by all European Union member states, the Pirate Party has gained another seat in the European Parliament. The second Pirate Party seat will be occupied by the 22 year old Amelia Andersdotter, who will become the youngest Member of the European Parliament.

Ironically, The Pirate Party was against the Lisbon Treaty, which has now doubled the number of seats the party has in the European Parliament.
Amelia Andersdotter, will become the youngest Member of the European Parliament. In order to free up time for her political career, Amelia recently decided to quit Economics and Spanish at Lund University in Sweden.

Amelia will officially take her seat in Brussels on December 1st, where she will be joining Christian Engstrom. The two will have plenty of work to do in the years to come, countering the growing influence from pro-copyright lobby groups.
Although some may argue she is far too young to take such an office, I think the fact you can have young blood and passion in such institution can only be a force of good. Lets face it, she had thousands of votes to get that seat, and for that I salute her and her ambition… next stop, Saudi politics? Ya riiight!

Introduction
Recently, Saudi women activists, led by Saudi Princess Jawaher bint Jalawi, launched a campaign called “My Guardian Knows What’s Best For Me,” calling for redefining the term “guardian” and for opposing calls by those with liberal views to improve the status of women in Saudi Arabia.
Princess Jawaher’s campaign is a response to the struggle launched in July 2009 by Saudi women’s rights activist Wajeha Al-Huweidar calling for abolishing the mahram (“guardian”) law, which requires women to obtain the approval of a male relative for nearly any move they make in their lives. As part of her campaign, Al-Huweidar, together with her colleagues, went to the King Fahd Bridge, which joins Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and demanded to leave the country without a guardian’s approval.

Columnists who weighed in on the issue of the campaigns stated that Princess Jawaher’s campaign harmed women’s status by increasing men’s sovereignty over them and eradicating their selves. Op-eds on Al-Huweidar’s campaign appeared in both the Saudi press and in the U.S. and U.K. press.

Following are excerpts from various responses on this issue:

Al-Huweidar Calls to Abolish Mahram Law

In July 2009, liberal Saudi women’s rights activist Wajeha Al-Huweidar, together with other Saudi women’s rights activists, launched a campaign to abolish Saudi Arabia’s mahram law, which requires women to obtain the approval of a male relative – husband, father, brother, or son – for nearly any move they make in their lives, and especially for moving about freely. Al-Huweidar called the campaign “Treat Us Like Adult Citizens – Or We’ll Leave the Country”; she told the Kuwaiti daily Awan in an interview that her struggle was a continuation of her previous fight, called “No to Oppression of Women.” She added that she had launched the campaign at the King Fahd Bridge, and that she intended to come to the bridge, as well as to the airport in the city of Al-Damam, every Thursday and Friday to demand that the mahram law be abolished, until such time as she would be allowed to travel without a guardian’s permission. [1]

It should be noted that Saudi Justice Ministry advisor and Shura Council member Sheikh ‘Abd Al-Mohsen Al-Obikan has already issued a fatwa permitting women to travel abroad without a chaperone. [2]

On September 20, 2009, Al-Huweidar published an announcement on the liberal website Middle East Transparent (metransparent.com), headlined “Saudi Women Need Your Voices.” In it, she called on all Saudi citizens to make their voices heard on September 23, Saudi Arabia’s National Day, to demand that Saudi women be freed from the mahram law. She wrote: “The 23rd of September is the Saudi National Day. Please speak up for the freedoms of Saudi women, send letters, fax or email messages to the Saudi Embassy in your country. Say loudly and clearly, ‘Stop the Male Guardianship System Now, Let Saudi Women Be in Charge of Their Lives.’” [3]

Saudi Women Activists: “My Guardian Knows What’s Best For Me”

In response to Al-Huweidar’s current campaign to abolish the mahram law, 12 Saudi women activists, headed by Saudi Princess Jawaher bint Jalawi, launched a counter-campaign on KSA-wa.net, called “My Guardian Knows What’s Best For Me.” The campaign organizers aim to collect signatures from 1,000 Saudi women on a petition to be sent to Saudi King ‘Abdallah bin Abd Al-’Aziz. The petition vehemently opposes the demand to abolish the mahram law in the country, along with “all the other calls by liberals that will lead to the Westernization of Islam’s principles.”

The activists supporting the mahram law said that there are those who misinterpret the concept of “guardian” to mean that men have control over women, and that they would act to rectify the definition of the concept in Saudi society and to disseminate the amended concept in schools, mosques, and the media. They also stated that they aimed “to punish anyone who harms the reputation of Saudi women and misleads public opinion via conspiratorial calls.”

These activists also said that they had demanded that officials take a civilized view of the guardian’s role, so as to enable women to actualize their rights. They also asked for the setting of guidelines to protect Islamic values in family relations, and to prevent women from being treated arbitrarily by their guardians – which was liable to happen due to the authority given them by Islamic law. [4]

Saudi activist Fawzia Al-’Ayouni said that the princess’s campaign had been organized by unknown women as “a joke, part of a dispute between two activists who wanted to make fun of each other.” She added that this campaign detracted from women’s freedom, and also contradicted the rights granted to her by Islam – and thus also contradicted human rights charters. [5]

Saudi Journalist: Al-Huweidar’s Campaign is Pointless

Saudi journalist Sabria Jawhar, director of the Jeddah office of the English-language Saudi daily Saudi Gazette, called Al-Huweidar’s call to abolish the mahram law “silly” and pointless because it was against Islamic law and because the Saudi authorities would never agree to it. In an op-ed posted by the U.S. online journal Huffington Post, Jawhar wrote:

“A battle is brewing among Saudi women over the touchy issue of male guardianship. Pressure from outside Saudi Arabia has been building to abolish guardianship laws, and a number of women who fashion themselves as activists have led the charge.

“Perhaps the most visible is Wajeha Al-Huweidar, a Saudi who does a little showboating by being driven in a taxi to the border checkpoint to enter Bahrain without permission from a male guardian. She’s always turned away by Saudi authorities and told to go home. She is the darling of Western conservatives who think this public demonstration will further the cause of Saudi women.

“It’s silly. Public acts of defiance are unseemly in Saudi society and few women want to give up their dignity when letter-writing and petition campaigns are more effective.

“Additionally, advocating to completely abolish the guardianship rules is not a productive means to deal with abuses in the system. The problem with some Saudi activists is that they want to make wholesale changes that are contrary to Islam, which requires a mahram for traveling women. If one wonders why great numbers of Saudi women don’t join Al-Huweidar, it’s because they are asked to defy Islam. Al-Huweidar’s all-or-nothing position undercuts her credibility.” [6]

In response to Jawhar’s article, Saudi journalist Nasreen Malik stated that Princess Jawaher’s campaign means women relinquishing their right to manage their own affairs. In an article in the U.K. daily The Guardian, she wrote:

“As Sabria Jawhar says, “Many families treat their wives, daughters and sisters with great respect and don’t follow their every move. Permission to travel or to conduct business abroad is often granted carte blanche with a signed piece of paper from a mahram. Many women travel freely with this document and consult little with the men in their families about their movements.

“But what this legal dimension does in other cases is ensure that despotic guardians have an iron grip, leaving little leeway for their women to flee, travel or challenge their guardianship. Abolition of the guardianship system (in itself an improbable event) is unlikely to result in hordes of women running amok in the streets and airports of Riyadh – so what is it that prompts other women to entreat the authorities not to do away with a way of life that is not immediately under threat?

“I do not believe it is anything as clichéd as Stockholm syndrome, or even a sincere commitment to what they believe are religious values. Even under subjugation, women have power, mostly over other women, and that power is drawn from their hard-earned position in the established hierarchy…

“It is true that public demonstrations of opposition to the wali system [i.e. the mahram requirement] may alienate popular opinion and rally support only from abroad, but launching such a counter-campaign reeks of distasteful one-upmanship of its own. The agenda is to discredit any women who call for more freedom in Saudi as agents of external liberal forces before any of their efforts or values become remotely mainstream.

“Nobody is stopping women from deferring to their guardians’ authority in their private lives, but insisting that this authority applies across the board shows a shocking disregard for other women not privileged enough to have guardians who ‘know what’s best for them.’ [7]

Criticism of Princess Jawaher’s Campaign in the Saudi Press

One Saudi woman columnist criticized Princess Jawaher’s campaign by saying that its leaders were puppets on their guardians’ strings. A male columnist protested against the injustice done to women by the media, which harmed their image, and claimed that women must oppose the campaign and must believe in their own abilities, while another woman writer insisted that the campaign was really initiated by a man who himself needed a guardian, and that it harmed women’s honor and increased male dominance over women.

Nabila Husseini Mahjoub: The Women Behind the Princess’s Campaign Are Puppets on a String

Nabila Husseini Mahjoub wrote in her column in the Saudi daily Al-Madina that Princess Jawaher’s campaign was a reflection of women’s dependence on their guardians. She stated: “I favor the first campaign [i.e. that of Wajeha Al-Huweidar]… I believe in the principle of freedom that is destroyed by the ‘My Guardian Knows What’s Best for Me’ campaign. I don’t believe in the idea of this campaign, or in the person who launched it…

“Perhaps [the leader of this campaign], who had the idea, has no belief in her own capabilities, and is not aware of her human value or of her social, educational, and occupational status – and thus she [does not] know what is best for her.

“We shouldn’t be angry at this campaign or at others like it, which [somehow] see restrictions on women to be [an expression] of their freedom… [The fight against us] is proof of the scope of the problem, and reveals the real repression that it conceals.

“Behind this campaign is [a woman's] guardian – a guardian who sees her liberation as a danger that threatens him… [Her guardian] is… the hidden finger, or the hand holding the marionette.” [8]

Sultan Al-Jumeiri: The Campaign Harms Women’s Honor

Saudi journalist Sultan Al-Jumeiri wrote that the princess’s campaign harmed women’s honor and that subordinating women to men had no religious basis at all. He wrote in the Saudi online magazine Royaah: “The [campaign's very] headline is an insult to women, and [ostensibly] transfers her wisdom to men – because a woman herself knows what is good for her and knows herself better than anyone else does. [While] she is helped by men – her husband, a cleric, a ruler – she [still] does not refrain from acting and thinking, and she fearlessly demands that her needs be met…

“[This campaign's] slogan gives the man greater tyranny and greater control, and greater humiliation and greater disregard [for the woman], and expresses a view [of women] as inferior… because of customs from the Jahiliya [i.e. the pre-Islamic period] which some consider to be ‘religion.’ How can the term ['guardian'] be given to a cheating husband, a drug dealer, a misyar husband [9] or a ‘summer husband[?]‘ [10]…

“[The campaign's slogan] is illegitimate and illogical – it is a catastrophe, and the greatest catastrophe is that women themselves fall victim to this idea, and justify the myth of [their own inferiority] and become enthusiastic about it. Even if [the term] ‘guardian’ in this slogan refers to the ruler, Allah did not create woman so that man should speak in her name…

“Men no longer customarily bury their daughters [alive] as they did during the Jahiliya. [11] But some among us have buried women’s emotional and psychological needs… [as well as] affection and attention [to them]. The ill treatment of women is [not limited] to any one trend or party. It exists in all streams – Islamic, liberal, and secular. How women are treated is the result of upbringing in the home and of the culture of an entire society, a combination of customs handed down [from generation to generation].

“Religion has nothing to do with these problems. After all, we are calling for giving women their rights [as set down by the religion] – not for returning to the Saudi [traditional] model or to the Saudi interpretation [of religious precepts]. We want to return to the model of the first purely Islamic generation, to the days when women could express their views clearly without being chastised, and could correct a man’s mistakes no matter what his status…

“Understanding and correcting our [i.e. Saudi society's] behavior does not mean relinquishing our principles as Muslims. Our main problem is that we give a religious dimension to our wrong behaviors and deviant customs…

“I wish that those dear sisters [behind the princess's campaign] would stand with the poverty-stricken women, the humiliated divorced women, the unemployed women, and the spinsters; with the teachers who sacrifice themselves on dirt roads in far-flung villages; with the schoolgirls studying in huts and in ramshackle buildings… with the women [visiting relatives] in the government hospitals who are ill-treated, [or] with the women [who have no guardian because] their children and spouses weep in the darkness of prison, and their hearts are consumed by torment and trouble, broken by want and isolation.

“If only these women [behind the campaign] would say: My guardian is destroying my life!” [12]

Kholoud Al-Fahd: The Campaign Was Initiated by a Man; The Media Distorts the Image of Women

In her piece on sawomenvoice.com, Kholoud Al-Fahd wrote: “The ‘My Guardian Knows What’s Best for Me’ campaign was initiated by a man who was perhaps talking about himself, and who needs his own guardian, since it was recently discovered that it is men [rather than women] who have no qualifications.

“[Perhaps this man is also] demanding guardianship over women – whom he still treats as unqualified and as incapable of understanding their own affairs and of making their own decisions. If [this man's] aim were [truly] to protect defenseless women, then who is supposed to protect divorced women, widows, battered wives, and orphans who need shelter?…

“Who gave just anyone who wants media exposure and false publicity the right to trade in the affairs of Saudi women, and to speak for them about their nature, capabilities, and souls?… Today’s Saudi woman is a businesswoman, an author, an intellectual, a media critic, a doctor, an engineer, a deputy minister, an actress, a singer, a teacher, and a researcher with a professorship. Nevertheless, she is still excluded, against her will, from every real official organization…

“At the same time, the media, writers, and a few government apparatuses labor [ceaselessly] to distort the image of the Saudi woman. Highlighting examples that embarrass any educated and respectable Muslim woman is presenting an unfair picture of Saudi women to the public. By doing so, it appears that [the media] are trying to convey a hidden message to the world and to society – men and women alike – and also to the government: The Saudi woman is untrustworthy and is a human creature motivated primarily by corruption and dubious urges. This view of [women] is more deeply rooted regarding us [i.e. Saudi women] than it is regarding all other women in the world…

“Every intelligent and well-versed Saudi woman must know her rights and her value, and must believe that the Saudi government is trying to change the situation of women in a way that is compatible with our religion and our values. [The Saudi government is doing this] by pressuring public opinion, and by absolute opposition to dubious calls that try to climb on our shoulders and trade in our affairs for personal aims.

“The Saudi woman must realize that she is an independent human being capable of acting responsibly towards herself, her society, and her religion. And I am the one who knows what’s best for me!” [13]

[1] Awan, Kuwait, July 6, 2009. It should be noted that recently Al-Huweidar posted, on several liberal websites, an article titled “Saudi Arabia – The World’s Largest Women’s Prison” harshly critical of the Saudi regime’s strict limitations on women. See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2452, July 21, 2009, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP245209.
[2] www.islamonline.net, December 25, 2008.
[3] www.metransparent.com, September 20, 2009.
[4] Sabak (Saudi Arabia), August 17, 2009; Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia) August 16, 2009.
[5] Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), August 19, 2009. It should be noted that recently an exchange of accusations among the organizers of this campaign came to light, following a dispute between two of them regarding the first rights in the campaign. One of the campaign leaders, Rawdha Al-Yousuf, said that she had gone to a man named Muhannad Al-Khayat for help in coming up with a campaign slogan, but that he had stolen her idea and launched a similar campaign. Al-Yousuf claimed that Al-Khayat had no connection to the struggle, and that he had tried to disrupt her original campaign. To prove this, she presented a document from the Saudi Communications Ministry stating that it was she who had initiated the campaign. Al-Khayat s in response that Al-Yousuf was not one of the campaign’s founders, because she had decided to quit it to run a rival campaign with other activists. Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), August 19, 2009.
[6] Huffington Post, August 27, 2009
[7] Guardian.co.uk, September 5, 2009.
[8] Al-Madina (Saudi Arabia), August 29, 2009.
[9] Misyar marriage, or pleasure marriage, is taking another wife without commitment. See MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 291, “Pleasure Marriages in Sunni and Shi’ite Islam,” August 31, 2006, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=ia&ID=IA29106.
[10] “Summer marriage” is a temporary marriage during summer vacation. It has no specified duration, but the groom undertakes to the bride’s family to divorce her after a short period.
[11] A Jahiliya custom involved burying newborn girls alive, since they were considered less valuable than boys. The Prophet Muhammad abolished the practice.
[12] Royaah.net, August 15, 2009.
[13] Sawomenvoice.com, August 18, 2009.

1. First Important Lesson – “Know The Cleaning Lady”

During my second month of University, our professor gave us a test. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

“Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “hello.”

I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2. Second Important Lesson – “Remember Those Who Serve”

A 10 year-old boy entered a coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked. “£4.50,” replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. “£3.50!” she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.

When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, was a fifty pence, two twenties and a ten pence!. You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

3. Third Important Lesson – “The Obstacles In Our Path”

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand – “Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.”

4. Forth Important Lesson – “Giving When It Counts”

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes, I’ll do it if it will save her.”

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?”.

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

The network upgrade is made possible by the enhanced aggregation and transport features of Alcatel-Lucent’s broadband access, IP, optical and services solutions.

“Our strong presence in Saudi Arabia and our long-term history with Saudi Telecom enabled us to understand its network requirements, and work together to provide the best solution in an optimal timeframe,” said Vincenzo Nesci, Alcatel-Lucent’s Vice President for Middle East and Africa.

Today in Saudi, there is currently no statistics on how many guns exist in private hands in the Kingdom, and one reason is that some Saudi argue that need handguns to defend themselves. However, everyone knows that civilians with guns do more harm than good. Lets face it, criminals are always going to get the first shot anyway.

So what I propose is a call for a total nationwide ban on handguns! We need to move forward people, not back! Shocking news Saudi! So I ask, Won’t it be better to make guns illegal in Saudi Arabia?

Devils Advocate note: No. I don’t believe it would be better to make guns illegal because it just makes it harder for the honest people to defend themselves. Illegal or not, criminals get guns no matter what the laws are.

Since his nomination for the post by President Hosni Mubarak, a veritable Pharaohs’ Curse has hit Hosni’s campaign, with controversy surrounding his candidacy. Abroad, he has been accused of being an anti-Semite who would “burn” any Israeli books found on the shelves of Egypt’s libraries. When he published an apology in the French newspaper Le Monde regretting comments made in the heat of the moment, Hosni was accused at home of flirting with Israel in an attempt to secure the UNESCO post. Hosni’s announcement that Egypt’s National Centre for Translation (NCT) would publish Arabic translations of novels by Israeli writers David Grossman and Amos Oz also sparked controversy, with commentators believing the timing of the announcement was not a coincidence, even if the NCT has published five translations from the Hebrew over the past 10 years. The announcement, Hosni said, was simply a continuation of existing policy. Similar controversy greeted the inauguration by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) of the renovated Moses Ibn Maymoun Synagogue in the Jewish area of the Muski district in Cairo.

Hosni has also been criticised by liberals, who have claimed that his record as a member of Egyptian governments since the late 1980s has raised questions about his commitment to the free flow of information, another key UNESCO mission. However, it is Egypt’s pivotal role in the region that may do most to secure Hosni’s election as the next UNESCO director-general. Israel has also dropped its objections to Hosni’s nomination. What may still threaten Hosni’s chances is the fact that there are several female candidates for the post, and since the UN organisation has not yet been headed by a woman this could boost a woman’s chances of election. During the final stages of Hosni’s campaign, moves against him apparently reached their peak with the US ambassador to UNESCO, David T. Killion, reportedly asking members of the organisation’s executive board not to vote for Hosni. One source in Paris speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly under condition of anonymity said that moves against Hosni aimed to deny him victory in the first round of voting, such that various bargains could then be made.

The US campaign against Hosni has dominated the atmosphere at UNESCO headquarters in Paris recently, and the atmosphere was not entirely cleared even when Killion attended a reception organised by Hani Hilal, Egypt’s minister of higher education, who is in Paris as part of Hosni’s election campaign. Yet, according to Hossam Nassar, a consultant to Hosni’s campaign, the campaign against Hosni’s election “has not been launched by the United States, but by the US ambassador to UNESCO.” Speaking to the Weekly from Paris, Nassar said that “even though the United States has not announced who it will vote for, or even clarified its position towards the Egyptian candidate, it will not launch a campaign against him as Egypt and the US have a strong friendship on all levels.” “The minister’s situation remains the strongest despite the campaigns against him,” Nassar said, adding that Hosni has the broadest international support of all the candidates for the post. Hosni also has the support of the Al-Nabi Daniel Jewish Organisation, members of which recently toured historically Jewish areas in Cairo to see restoration work being carried out on Jewish monuments. Observers expect that Hosni will gain a majority of votes during the first round of voting for the UNESCO post, pointing in particular to his record as an artist and as Egypt’s minister of culture for the past 22 years. A further reason why Hosni may expect success, observers say, is that he has the support of most Arab and African countries, as well as some European.

One UNESCO source, speaking to the Weekly on condition of anonymity, said that the presence of three European candidates in the election — Ina Marciulionyte from Lithuania, Irina Gueoguieva Bokova from Bulgaria and Benita Ferrero-Waldner from Austria — could divide the European vote, making it less likely that any one of them will win. Hosni’s election campaign has been based on the idea of reconciliation between civilisations and religions, between human beings and the environment, and between arid and wetter areas of the world. He has also stressed the need to reduce the gap between those who live in poverty and those who enjoy prosperity.

“Education is one of UNESCO’s core concerns,” Hosni told the Weekly recently, and it is important to educate children ethically, as well as provide them with a quality basic education. “Children should be taught the value of life and faith, as well as ways in which they can discover their own skills. Solutions must be found to improve the lives of street children throughout the world, who should be provided with a proper standard of living,” he said. UNESCO’s world heritage programme, which aims to protect the world’s built heritage, should also be extended to increase the number of sites on the current list, as well as their geographical distribution. Awareness should be raised of the importance of heritage for all nations, Hosni said, since this could reinforce international peace and understanding. During his presentation to members of UNESCO’s executive board earlier this week, Hosni is believed to have called for freeing the organisation of its current “heavy bureaucracy” and for reinforcing efforts to combat global poverty and injustice.

Hosni’s plans to reform the organisation, putting an emphasis on the idea of dialogue between civilisations, has four key commitments, the first of which is a commitment to identifying “new ways in which the organisation can work to bring about peace and reconciliation,” as well as the observance of human rights. A second commitment made by Hosni during his presentation is that, if elected, he will aim to use his tenure as UNESCO director-general to improve and extend the organisation’s work in the field of education, placing a special emphasis on young people and women. A third commitment aims to support the dialogue between cultures, which is seen as an essential component of building peace. “The dialogue between civilisations cannot be achieved until all continents embrace cultural exchange,” Hosni said. Hosni’s fourth commitment aims to support freedom of expression and the independence of the media. Free access to information is essential to building knowledge societies, Hosni said. Hosni added that a special priority was to support UNESCO’s work in Africa and among smaller nations.

Enhanced support for Africa was particularly important during the present global financial crisis, Hosni said, since Africa had been hit particularly hard by decreasing demand for raw materials, a reduction in foreign investment, and reduced flows of remittances from migrant workers. “Six million Africans are at risk of sliding into extreme poverty, and 700,000 African children risk death during their first year of life,” Hosni said. Should he win the vote this week, Hosni will aim to accelerate and improve reform of UNESCO, reducing bureaucratic procedures and improving staff training. “We will also give special priority to decentralisation in the framework of the Priority Africa programme, in order to improve the quality of the work that is carried out,” Hosni said. After his presentation to the board, Hosni was asked six questions relating to his vision for UNESCO and the ways in which he would implement reform. After more than 20 years as Egypt’s minister of culture, how will you use your experience to find new sources of finance for UNESCO, particularly within the context of the current financial crisis, Hosni was asked. How will you guarantee the free and independent exchange of ideas in achieving your goal of the reconciliation of civilisations? How will you embrace exchange between the different continents? In reply, Hosni said that a special development fund might be set up to raise additional finance for the organisation, along the lines of the cultural development fund set up by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. “As far as freedom of thought and expression is concerned, my record as Egyptian minister of culture should demonstrate my commitment,” Hosni said. (Al Ahram)