September 2013 Literature on strike By Hala Salah Eldin Hussein Ali, Albawtaka Review editor Of all the dismal

and discouraging numbers to have emerged from the world of literary newspapers in Egypt -- the sharp plunges in circulation, the dizzying fall-off in revenues, the burgeoning debt, the mounting losses -- none seems as sobering as the relentless protests of strikers. And the questions lingers unanswered, do ournalists have the right to choose their own editors! "n a country staggering triumphantly from a revolution that toppled a regime of #$ years, ousting corrupted defenders of the past regime has become the touchstone of a successful revolution, but %iterature doesn&t seem to be a priority. 'ustained by writings by novelist (amal Alghitany, Akhbar Aladab ournal ) founded in *airo in +,,# -- has long gone beyond its local boundaries to become the mouthpiece of fine culture in the Arabicspeaking -iddle East. Along the years, it has been a relentless opponent of former minister of culture .arouk /osni. "n the latest si0th of -arch, a group of ten ournalists in Akhbar Aladab -- which makes up around ,12 of editorial staff ) sought the instatement of their right to discharge the current editor -ustafa Abdullah. 3hat&s more than half of ournalists and editors to cover the artistic world, analyze cultural affairs, root out corruption prevalent in the Egyptian -inistry of culture and write about literature, historical writings, and visual arts. 3he ournalists have been staging strike action for a total of 45 days now in protest against editorial policies imposed by Abdullah. 'trikers are organizing stands and announcing statements supported by

other colleagues. 3hough a file loaded with violations was handed to the Akhbar institution, the union of ournalists, the military council and 6rime -inister Essam 'haraf7s cabinet, striking ournalists have not yet heard from any one of them. 3hese ournalists are not the envy of their peers as a law criminalizing strikes and demonstrations hindering public productivity has been recently passed. 8ournalists claim that they have refused to work because of a disagreement over an advertising policy Abdullah has openly endorsed. "n a statement issued by the ournalists they stated that Abdullah -appointed days before last 91 8anuary by former 'ecretary-(eneral of the dissolved :ational ;emocratic 6arty 'afwat Alsharif, now in 3ora 6rison over corruption allegations -- is blatantly violating ournalistic ethics by ordering them to bring advertisements to the ournal. <hereas the ournal is actually criticizing the ministry of culture and should be an observer to its activities, Abdullah says to the 6oetry :ews Agency, =<e have the right to obtain some of the ministry of culture7s ads.= Abdullah also contacted managers running awards all over the Arab world to =consider the ournal in their ads,= according to him. 3his approach, more like begging actually, has led to publish an ad for >uwaiti Albabtain 6rize in the ournal. Even publishers ) supposedly under scrutiny by the ournal -are a target for bringing funds in? a new section in the paper was designed for publishers to publish their news and ads. 3he previous confession, well-meaning as it sounds, discloses the unbalanced criteria and the muddled work ethics some working in national ournalism adopt. Again Abdullah aims another blow to ournalistic codes as a conflict of interests arises between keeping his paid counseling post in the governmental (eneral Organization of *ulture 6alaces and editing a ournal mainly involved in literature. 'haring the same breach of

principles are ournalists who happily leapt at the chance of taking their colleagues7 vacant places. 'tanding up to practices in disagreement with the ournal7s long history of free speech and enlightenment, =duties of the boards of editors were reduced to marginal ones,= says -ansoura Ezz Eldin, one of the strikers and a nominee for 3he "nternational 6rize for Arabic .iction 9$+$. A quick comparison between older issues and the current ones stunned readership. :ew shabby issues reveal outrageous lack of talents and coherence. 'ales have dramatically plunged. 8ournalists on strike declared that their work stoppage is mainly a last resort to save the ournal and defend its name against ideas twisting the revolution7s aspirations. @efore former president -ubarak stepped down, :ael Eltoukhy, a striker editing a weekly page concerned with /ebrew culture, proposed to issue a report about how "sraeli newspapers have been dealing with the Egyptian revolution, Abdullah reminded Eltoukhy then that =our attitude will be that it Athe revolutionB is an "sraeli-"ranian conspiracy.= 3he report, needless to say, has never been written. "n a time when you can7t really go against the unstoppable flow of the revolution, some became revolutionists overnight. "n Akhbar Aladab, accusations of being an anti-revolution element are mutual. <holeheartedly endorsing a legitimate revolution started by the Egyptian people, striking ournalists sought to embrace it in their reports, Abdullah on the other hand saw that this approach proves destructive, =3his will shut the ournal down, and you will all look for other obs,= he said to -ohamed 'hoair ) one of the strikers and a twice winner of ;ubai7s Arab 8ournalism Award. "n an interview with Oman newspaper, Abdullah alleges that he is a =victim of anti-revolution attack.= Eltoukhy detected the fallacy of his argument when he stressed the fact that they strikers

have anticipated from day one in the revolution and documented it with pictures, videos and articles contrary to Abdullah who never set foot on 3ahrir 'quare or proclaimed his backing of it. And in the challenging flurry faced by ournalists to cover cultural changes in the wake of erupted Arabic revolutions, Abdullah was planning to organize a forum in honor of the %ibyan regime7s man Ahmad "brahim Aalfaqih, all in favor of the regime in %ibya. A gross support as it is of a leader whose troops are showering unarmed rebels with bombs, ournalists put their foot down, refusing to cooperate, then went on strike, but an eight-page report was finally issued about Aalfaqih. 'ome serious allegations came from Abdullah when he accused strikers of inciting %ibyan rebels to =assassinate= him. "t7s unprecedented to turn an impartial disagreement into a provocation of killing. -eanwhile ournalists staging a strike have held an internal democratic election resulted in choosing 'hoair to hold the post of editor. 3hey have also suggested for the post critic Abla Alreweny ) a cultural editor in Akhbar Elyom newspaper. As a consequence Abdullah has stated that former editor and founder of the ournal (amal Alghitany has formulated a conspiracy against him, saying that strikers ) three-times holders of ;ubai7s Arab 8ournalism Award ) have landed their awards because of =(amal Alghitany7s personal contacts.= 3his slander on the ournalists7 good names was not retorted by another libel on their part. "nstead they intend to sue Abdullah for defamation of character. A stay-in strike inside the ournal7s building is also possible. 6rotests seem to be escalating into a full-scale confrontation. As fragile as literary periodicals are, a press release signed by +9$ ournalists and thinkers around the Arab world has been issued to boycott the

ournal. 3hat ratchets up pressure on its editor and might drive the cabinet to consider their demands, even though it would evidently hate to set a trend of ournalists removing editors and choosing replacements. 3he danger might not be in a ournal tackling literature, as it may threaten other national newspapers, generally swaying the general public. %iterary strikers, as it seems, are not alone in their call for reform. 3hey have been oined by fourteen other strikers in Akhbar Alnogoom newspaper demanding the removal of their editor. 'ome ournalists in Almosawar newspaper share the same resentment as they already filed complaints against their editor. .orty ournalists in Cadio and 3elevision magazine have claimed that their editor ) newly-appointed by another 3ora prison resident ) is using his post to gain personal benefits, and they are now striking to remove him. 3hey had already been asked to elect an editor, but received no response yet again. An open sit-in is e0pected of them tomorrow, the eighth of -ay, in the union7s building. 8ournalists at Akhbar Aladab are hailing their recent bouts of strike action as a success for the power of revolution first, ournalism second. 3here has been talk of launching a makeshift online Akhbar Aladab, but ournalists refrained for fear it might freeze the situation as it is. 8ournalists still hope to salvage the one literary ournal in Egypt from the claws of opportunism. 'triking ournalists, in a state of post-revolution uncertainty, are actually stirring a mini revolution over ournalistic standards in the country. "f ever removed, Abdullah will be the first editor in Egypt kicked out of post by the will of ournalists. 3he whole relationship between editors and ournalists will be redefined. Equals they will be, ournalists will cease to be mute followers of instructions. Cesponsible for shaping their ournal, they will redraw limits and actively indulge in policies. "n short, a whole ournalistic new scene will see the

light. 3he cabinet - brought by the will of people ) is e0pected to protect the revolution and release a widespread campaign to cleanse national newspapers and institutions.