Monday, July 11, 2005
Egyptian intellectual Ali Salem awarded Israeli doctorate
Ben Gurion University of the Negev has awarded an honorary doctorate to 69-year old Egyptian writer Ali Salem.
Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper says that Salem has been "shunned by the Egyptian intellectual community, which is leading the struggle against peace with Israel, because he dared to voice a different opinion".
Regarding the attitude of his people toward Israel, Salem has written:
"There is no limit to the pain people feel when you suddenly lift the curtain of illusions and lies."
He also says:
"I believe in the sincerity of the Americans when they say that they want to bring freedom and democracy to the Middle East ... In the end they will succeed, because the people in the Middle East want the same thing."
"The movers of civilization are the merchants and the businessmen. People cross borders and countries not only with merchandise, but with ideas as well ... Everyone admires the role of the intellectuals, but today businessmen are the ones who change reality."
Here's to hoping that the views of people like Salem eventually prevail, in the Arab and Muslim world, over the views of hateful preachers who we might assume to be delighted over the carnage recently exacted by mass murderers in London.
