I’ve just spent the day at the Cairo International Book Fair, one of the Arab world’s biggest and oldest book fairs. I’m a frequent visitor to Egypt, with the number of stamps in my passport starting to raise eyebrows of uneasy immigration officials in various countries… Ma’alesh. Never mind. I’m visiting our Benedictine community here, doing some research for my dissertation at the Dominican’s Institute for Oriental Studies, and wanted to fill my suitcase with multiple purchases from the book fair.
Cheerful chaotic city
As ever, Cairo remains an assault on the senses: hot and dusty, crowded and loud, colourful and charming. In this cheerfully chaotic city, the last of the Christmas celebrations have come to an end and Ramadan is just around the corner, with the chatter on the street concerning Egypt’s recent presidential election and the war in neighbouring Gaza.
There is much solidarity with the Palestinians, with the flag of Palestine hanging all around and Egyptians sticking to a boycott of various western companies whom they consider to be complicit in supporting the war. The election – which many said was a foregone conclusion – saw the former army general Abdel Fattah el-Sissi re-elected to another presidential term.
Sissi has worked hard to get Egypt on the move, with spectacular results: vast infrastructure projects such as building a new channel for the Suez Canal and twelve-lane motorways connecting major cities; new houses for those living in soon-to be-cleared slums; glittering malls in the new capital city built in the desert east of Cairo.
Vanity projects
The president’s critics argue that these are vanity projects and costly extravagances, pointing to the country’s deep economic crisis as a sign of his failure in office. Many Egyptians live in poverty, with little work and low pay.
The country is beholden to foreign creditors, and inflation is staggeringly high. During my stay a young taxi driver named Mohammad talked to me in perfect French about his education at a Jesuit school in Cairo, and shared his admiration for the priests who taught him there.
He is a lawyer, but drives a taxi at night to make ends meet. I knew better than to ask him what he thought about this situation. After recounting his hardships, he simply smiled and said alhamduillah ala kulli haal – “thank God in every circumstance.”
Pursuing progress
Whatever his supporters or critics might say, Preident el-Sissi is undoubtedly aware of the challenges to be tackled during his next term in office and is determined to pursue progress and prosperity in a “new republic.” Egypt is certainly on the up, but much remains to be done so that all can share in the benefits.
As I return to Jerusalem, I’m happy to have once again been welcomed into the arms of the umm al-dinya, “the mother of the world.” I’ll be back again soon, I’m sure, for as the Egyptian saying goes: “whoever drinks from the Nile will return again.”
Justin Robinson OSB is a monk of Glenstal Abbey in County Limerick currently residing in Jerusalem.
