The American University in Cairo Middle East Studies in Cairo Volume 2, Issue 1 October 2005

M ESC

Satellite Image of Iraqi Marshlands, 1973 Photo courtesy of UNEP/DEWA Picture courtesy of Orchard Books. Message From the Director

This first newsletter of the academic year 2005/2006 coincides with the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. Cairo streets are more crowded and animated than normal (if Alf Fikra wa Fikra (AFWF): Fikra 1 our imagination can overstretch itself and visualize such a (A Fledgling Series of Columns by Garth Hall, MES Grad Student) situation). Why is Nothing Labeled But everybody is certainly in a good mood trying to make the best of the different dimensions of this exceptional at the Egyptian Museum? month. NB: This article assumes the Egyptian Museum to be the Some spend parts of it praying or even going on universe’s second greatest museum (second only to San pilgrimage to Mecca. Others enjoy characteristic Ramadan Francisco’s Exploratorium). features like the Khema Iftar and especially Khema Sohoor: (the midnight meal in the tent). My preferred place during NB: The author finds “nota bene” and other Latin phrases this month is still the Khan El-Khalili Bazaar and Al-Azhar extremely snobby. Park. This is where I feel that the different faces of Islamic Of the thousands of displayed statues, steles, and pieces at the civilization cancel the time span and become alive. Young universe’s second greatest museum, only about one third of kids with their lanterns in the narrow alleys that Naguib them—tops—are labeled. Why is this? Surely, with such a Mahfouz eternalized add to the trip back in time. Despite all labor-abundant economy in , the museum can afford to pay these festivities, which actually started even before a small army of workers to copy statues’ descriptions from Ramadan, normal work has to proceed. MESC is expanding Lonely Planet and glue-stick them onto the wall. (Surely I should as its number of students continues to grow. The new-comers receive extra credit in Economics 511 for using the term “labor- grope in a process of adaptation to a new culture and life abundant economy.”) Some theories for the dearth of informative style. More than any courses they are attending, these displays: challenges (of what the French call “depayesment” or momentary uprooting) is es-sential. It is studying the Middle • Tim Brown, in his May 2001 thesis on Egyptian East through actually seeing and living it on a daily basis. museums, proposes that the lack of labeling on the statues stems from the curators desire to give, “the In this respect, these newcomers (and others as well) did impression that the object is the product of the see firsthand Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential , the entire nation of people” and thereby . In this country where pharaonic remnants still promote national unity. bestow semi-godly aspects on the post of the president, this new experience of contemporary Egyptians could have • Brown also references a theory by Al-Ahram Weekly’s significant implications, nationally, regionally, and even Rehad Saad, which he summarizes as saying that the internationally, as our first talk of the year shows. museum’s disorganization “may be in existence in an effort to provide employment for museum guides, who can be hired at the museum’s entrance.”

Both are excellent theories. Here are mine:

• The curators hate ancient Egypt. Can’t blame them. Americans would be furious if hordes of European tourists flooded the eastern seaboard to stand in awe of a recent Iroquois excavation and then didn’t give a flying felucca about the Statue of Liberty or the Lincoln

Memorial.

• The curators are still ticked off about all those Discovery Channel specials claiming that the pyramids were built by aliens. I’d be pissed too: you don’t see anyone saying the Greeks needed extra-terrestrial help to finish the Parthenon. • The missing statue descriptions have been stolen by flocks of Cairo’s stray Catwings cats, who shred these labels to line their nests. PS: For more on our first talk of the year, “Elections and Egypt’s Future,” see article and summary on page four. NB: Beware the rabid Catwings. Logo courtesy of Home Box Office,Inc.

AFWF Fikra 2 Who Art Thou, O Middle Eastern Countries? Are Turkey and Iran “Middle Eastern” countries? What about Cairo brought me to my knees the first night here. Afghanistan and Pakistan? My twenty hour flight from the USA turned into a twenty- My political science class recently opened with these questions, eight hour marathon, Air France lost my luggage (it would later which both draw from the alleged enigma, “What is the Middle be returned in mangled pieces some six days later), I had not slept East? What nations comprise this region?” Well, the mystery in over forty hours, and my hotel did not have a working phone or stops now. These questions have a lot of background, which we internet access. will skip here in favor of an over-simplified formula that happens Come two in the morning I had a hunger headache, my to work. If the country fulfils two of these three requirements, tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth, and I had no idea it’s a Middle Eastern country: what just scurried under my hotel bed (did it have four or eight 1. Is Arabic, Farsi, or Hebrew an official state language? legs?). To my surprise, I even contemplated a ticket back home. But as my mom always reminds me, “Fatigue makes cowards of 2. Is the majority of the country Muslim? us all.” Hey, I am not a coward and I salivate at challenges. If the 3. Is the country located in a former territory of the jungles of Borneo didn’t kill me, neither would Cairo! Ottoman Empire? Yes, my first experiences in Cairo were a bit frazzling. I Some case studies: can’t cross the street without gritting my teeth and hoping for the best, I’m sweating out of every pore, and my taxi driver is as lost • Turkey: fulfils religion and location requirement. Therefore, as I am. Some creepy, unknown person surreptitiously crept into Turkey is a Middle Eastern country. my apartment to leave ripped up pizza and chocolate cake in my • Iran: fulfils language and religion requirement. Ergo, Iran is a refrigerator, while at the same time stealing my batteries and CD Middle Eastern country. player. The Egyptian police thought this to be incredulous and I • Afghanistan: fulfils language and religion requirement. Thus, found it nerve rattling. Afghanistan is a Middle Eastern Country. But out of the corner of my eye, I see the River. Forever • Pakistan: fulfils only the religion requirement. Consequently, chiseled in my mind will be my first look at the Nile River at Pakistan is not a Middle Eastern country. sunset. The coming weeks made everything worthwhile. Ready According to this method there are twenty-six Middle Eastern for my exploration is this ancient city full of history and secrets. countries (Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, I still laugh when I think about my first attempt to speak Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Arabic to the produce guy at the Alfa Market. I thought I was Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, asking him for apples, but with my poor pronunciation skills, I Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, and Yemen). actually was asking him if he had spit. Little did I know that the There are twenty-eight if one includes Palestine and the Western words “apple” and “spit” in Arabic could be pronounced with Sahara each as countries. Complaints against the method and incredible similarity! theory readily accepted: [email protected]. Only in Cairo can you “otlob” for falafels and cotton balls at NB: Ten countries fulfill all three of the requirements, making the same time. Cipro is my buddy, TGI Friday’s desserts will be them—according to this method—part of the core Middle East as my downfall, and the tune, “It’s a Small World After All” on opposed to the greater Middle East. These nations are: Algeria, taxis’ brakes will always make me laugh. Cairo will test the Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, elasticity of your nerves, sense of humor, and pain threshold. I Tunisia, and Yemen. know the ends and outs of Zamalek apartment hunting, I figured out how far an can be stretched, and I am NB: If Turkey, Iran, or Israel weren’t considered Middle Eastern, determined to conquer the art of the bargaining “dance” at the how would one categorize them? Do they really fit better in a Khan al Khalili. category like European or Mediterranean or South Asian? Email This is my first semester at American University in Cairo responses written along the lines of, “Why must we always and my first venture into the Middle East. Among the colonies of categorize things?” will not be categorized as questions and will cats, expats, sheesha joints, and study time, I have carved out a be ignored. little niche in Cairo for myself. I’m more than 8,000 miles away from California, but everyday, Cairo feels more like home.

n September 28th, 2005, Egyptian scholars Dr. Mohamad El O We Don’t Want to Jump into the Abyss. Mubarak played on Sayed Said and Mr. Bahey El Din Hassan presented their thoughts on Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential . The panel voters’ fears of the alternative, campaigning with the slogan, “We discussion, titled “Elections and Egypt’s Future, was chaired by Dr. Don’t Want to Jump into the Abyss.” It worked. The Coptic Bahgat Korany. community rallied around Mubarak, wanting a certain and sure path to progress. Fear played a big role in this. Voters preferred Mubarak to Dr. Said, Vice Director at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and anyone they didn’t know. Instead of looking at the Kifaaya Strategic Studies, and Mr. Hassan, Director of the Cairo Institute for (“Enough”) rallies as a promise, those in the country looked at is as a Human Rights Studies, discussed the results of the election with a threat of disorder. Mubarak’s propaganda contributed to this Middle East Studies Cairo (MESC) Center panel, agreeing that perception. He made sure the working class Egyptians and the small Mubarak’s return to the presidency was a only a short-term victory for farmers realized that a vote for his competitors might mean the end of the forces of conservatism. Both Dr. Said and Mr. Hassan believe that the state subsidies that support their jobs. over the next six years the 2005 February election amendment of article 76 of the constitution will dramatically change Egyptian They Did This in a Technically Splendid Way. The two speakers government. While Dr. Said focused loosely on what he called “The agreed that Mubarak’s campaign involved very sophisticated vote Return of Mubarak,” Mr. Hassan’s main theme was political reform’s rigging. According to Dr. Said, this was rigging far beyond the usual rise to become the most important agenda topic in 2005. tactic stuffing cards in the box—although that did happen in fringe neighborhoods. Although neither speaker went into specifics on exactly how Egypt’s security apparatus did the riggings, they agreed, “they did this in a technically splendid way.”

D r. Said’s discussion centered on Mubarak’s reassertion of power within his party, a political resurrection so dramatic Dr. Said called it, “something you could make a movie from, something like, ‘The Return of Mubarak.’” According to Dr. Said, once Mubarak M r. Hassan believes the election had distinct winners and regained control of his party, he made four main moves towards his losers—but they’re probably not the ones you’d expect. Mr. Hassan electoral success: widening his support base, encouraging said that Mubarak was the main loser for failing to renew the regime’s unprecedented dedication by the ruling elite to the campaign, playing legitimacy. And his two main winners were political reform as an on voters’ fears of the instability that might come from a new and agenda topic and the new candidates, especially . For unknown president, and benefiting from sophisticated election Mr. Hassan, the election was a reassertion of the new political riggings. Despite the electoral victory that stemmed from all these dynamism that emerged two years ago with the new free press. factors, Dr. Said holds that the election had a contradictory effect: enforcing the status quo while allowing major forces of change to be unleashed. “The Return of Mubarak.” Dr. Said paints Mubarak’s reassertion of power within the National Democratic Party (NDP) as a hero’s journey of sorts. Things looked bad for Mubarak between February and July. Many high party officials saw him as weakened, especially after needing two weeks of medical treatment in Germany in 2004 and fainting before the parliament in 2003. His status as an icon was damaged. His vacillation and indecision were questioned. But then, between July and the September elections Mubarak made several moves that again rallied his party around him and brought him electoral success. How did he do it? Giving Out More Cake. Crucial to Mubarak’s success was his reaching out to new demographic groups, a process Dr. Said likened to giving out larger pieces of the cake. Well before the election fervor started, Mubarak expanded the coalition by giving a bigger part of the cake to private business by making several pro-business moves in September 2004. He then gave a part of the cake to a new sector: the information technology sector. The X Factor. Dr. Said labeled the new energy the ruling coalition put into campaigning and defending the status quo “The X Factor” because, as he put it, “We don’t know what happened.” Mr. Dr. Said raised the possibility that coalition members had committed Dr. Mohamad El Sayed Said, Vice crimes of corruption and feared the possibility of being brought to Director at the Al-Ahram Center for account by a new president. This spurred them, with Mubarak’s encouragement, to act with previously unknown militancy and Political and Strategic Studies passion. When they were asked to bring fifty people from the village or six hundred from the country to the polling station, they did it.

A fter their presentation, Dr. Said and Mr. Hassan fielded a half- dozen questions. Political Reforms vs. Social Reforms. Student Youssef Beshay asked the speakers about the conflict between popular demand for social and economic reforms and party demand for institutional reforms. Dr. Said responded that institutional and political reforms don’t matter only to intellectuals. As Dr. Said put it: “Kifaaya held two or three major rallies A Pyrrhic Victory? Mr. Hassan asserted that Mubarak “won about unemployment, thinking that if they are in Shobra and talk the battle but lost the war.” He won the election that everyone, unemployment, they will get a lot of support. They didn’t.” including Ghad candidate Ayman Nour and Wafd candidate Numan Gomaa, knew he would. But the president-elect failed to achieve The . Ana Demasio, a new student at AUC, asked the main purpose of the election: renewing the political legitimacy the speakers about the role of the Islamists and the Muslim brotherhood in the of the regime. He failed to convince the Egyptian people that there past presidential election. She added that in her thesis research she had is a new process, that there is a real multi-candidate election, and discovered that although the Brotherhood leaders didn’t recommend a that they would have a clean process. The proof of this failure is in candidate for the presidential election, they are now holding conversations the low voter turnout. with the Ghad leadership about parliamentary elections and advertising a goal of one hundred and forty seats (out of the 444 seats up for elections in the And the Winner is... By Mr. Hassan’s evaluation, the issue People’s Assembly). Mr. Hassan responded by saying that the Muslim of political reform was a winner because the three main candidates Brotherhood was one of the losers of this election because they couldn’t had to make the question of political reform a priority. As an convince the public of their position. Mr. Hassan continued: “The illusion example, Mr. Hassan cites a NDP website poll which asked visitors that they have three million, five million supporters, so on, I think that this what their highest priority issue was in the coming election. The election has proved that it is difficult to trust such assumptions… They also majority of votes were not for the issues of unemployment or of lost because the focus of the debate was totally on politics. It forced the poverty, but for political reform. Muslim Brotherhood to adopt a less religious political discourse. Everyone is now focused more on internal affairs. Contrast this with two years ago, when Rejection Votes. Ayman Nour, according to Mr. Hassan, the main focus was Palestine and Iraq instead of political reform.” came out of this election a winner by tapping into the indignation of the Egyptian people. The eighteen days allotted to candidates were Completely Free Elections? Dr. Sulieman asked the speakers whether hardly enough for voters to grasp candidates platforms, and so Mubarak would have still won if the elections were completely free. He then Ayman Nour’s half-million votes largely came not from those who answered his own question by telling the speakers that, yes, Mubarak would became aware of his programs, but from Egyptians who are fed up have won, “Maybe not by eighty, seventy-five, even sixty percent, but he with Mubarak and the NDP and wanted opposition. The defeat of would still win.” He went on to laud the progress of free speech, citing the Numan Gomaa, who got fewer than half the votes of Ayman Nour, example of Kifaaya: “[This is] the first time some group would stand in indicates that Egyptians are not looking for gentleman opposition, front of the president and say ‘Enough!’ This is very, very, very new for but a militant opposition. Although Ayman Nour has undeniable Egypt. I think the next presidential election will be completely free.” Mr. charisma, many of the votes for him were a rejection of the other Hassan agreed with some reservations, saying that he expected the coming candidates. As Dr. Said had put it, “Half a million votes in three, presidential election may be completely free. four weeks: that’s a rejection vote.” Pulled In or Pushed Out? Danny, a Middle East Studies graduate student, asked about the impact of the election on the public and whether it drew them into the political process or pushed them out. Dr. Said’s response was that members of the middle class—both those who support a liberal agenda and those who support Islamic agendas—were striving for change and were both demoralized and inspired by the election. Dr. Said said that much of the public does not involve itself in the political process and has never even read the constitution. He added that the public is not surprised by election fraud because it has allowed itself to become numb: “A single case of fraud should make this election fraudulent… Rigging, even a single rigging, it should be viewed as something that should shock us. It doesn’t shock us because we have had it for fifty years.” Education Reform. Susana, an international student, asked if education reform was a concern to anyone, among either the government or the people. Dr. Said responded by saying that President Mubarak has promised 30,000 new schools and that one of the great achievement of Mubarak’s rule has been the expansion of schooling: “In the 1980s you had two hours of school a day because the same school served three groups of kids a day. Forty to sixty in a class. Now, the overwhelming number of public schools have only one set of children per day. Some argue that we need 30,000 new schools in 10 years in order to have children in class seven hours a day and have twenty-five to thirty students per classroom. Mubarak has also promised 4.5 million jobs and a thousand factories. The promises are there. How systems are operating is what is lacking. We don’t see education objectives. We don’t see figures Mr. Bahey El Din Hassan, about success in schools.” After Susana’s question the night had reached 9PM and the inquiries had to Director of the Cairo Institute for come to an end…at least momentarily. Human Rights Studies Modern development has drained the Iraqi Marshlands to a tenth of their original size, leaving the Iraqi people with very little water. But how old are these marshlands?

F or my last set of classes on the Middle East I wrote thousands of feet of alluvial sediment entered a geosyncline (a extensively about the Iraqi Marshlands, a topic that led me to down-warping of the Earth’s crust; a very deep tectonic basin). recognize the importance of physical resources within the Because this underwater mountain range was regularly being world of political discourse. This led to my thesis on the water filled by alluvial sediment arriving in the flow of water from situation in Iraq. I began my work, however, by simply trying the Tigris, Euphrates and Karun Rivers build up was believed to find out how long the marshlands had existed. to occur only periodically in relation to the earth’s tectonic I began my exploration of the marshlands by looking at the movements. They also theorized that if it were not for this discourses and debates related to the actual location and subsidence of silt the marshlands would not survive more than structure of the Shatt-al-Arab delta over the last few millennia. a few hundred years. Ultimately they stated that there was no These debates are pertinent to the existence and structure of a evidence for the head of the Gulf to have ever been further marshland community because the delta is in effect what holds north than it is currently. Despite this, they posited a pattern in the waters as they flow to the Gulf. If the Gulf head and which the sea has both advanced and retreated and possibly therefore the Delta sat along the edges of such ancient cities as even buried the remains of ancient cities below the floor of the 2 Erdu and Ur then the marshes may have been little more than Gulf itself. salt marshes sitting along the edge of the Gulf sheltering the Obviously, such a challenge to the geological “status quo” city from the open sea. Yet if the head of the Gulf sat of the region would bring objections. In 1954 The essentially in the same place as today or has been filling more Geographical Journal printed responses to the Lees and Falcon rapidly than is evident, then it is possible that the marshlands article. M.G. Ionides notes that the silt estimates that Lees and were significantly larger than the fifteen-hundred square miles that Thesiger estimated during his travels in the 1950s. If this was the case then it is also possible that marshland society was as developed, if not even more developed, than it was in the 1980s prior to the recession of the waters. The marshes themselves are freshwater marshes currently situated in the southern portion of Iraq crossing the eastern border into Iran. The Tigris-Euphrates-Karun Delta, as it is referred to, is fed by the Tigris, Euphrates and Karun river systems on their way to attempting to reach the Persian Gulf. The historical location of the marshes themselves has been contentious due to a variety of geographic opinions. Prior to 1952 it was presumed that during the 5000 to 4000 BC time period the head of the Gulf lay somewhere in the vicinity of Samara. It was thought that the Delta moved slowly to the south as alluvial deposits from the mountains were washed downstream, gradually filling the gulf. This would have been the usual and expected process of delta building. This supposition also appeared to be in agreement with classical texts that placed the ancient cities of Ur and Erudu on the sea even though their archeological sites now sit about 100km inland.1 In 1952 geologists Lees and Falcon published an article that disputed the accuracy of previous geological suppositions and suggested an alternative hypothesis. While they noted that the vast nature of new geological and archeological evidence 1973 - Space view of Iraqi marshlands would require further substantial research, Lees and Falcon disputed the idea that the Tigris, Euphrates and Karun rivers before their drainage. Marsh were building a normal delta. Instead their contention was that the sediment being discharged by the rivers is currently filling a vegetation has been colored red, deep tectonic basin (like a crater) and that previously, over a time waters black, and shallow lakes light period measured in hundred of millions of years, many blue. An Inquiry into the Geological History of the Iraqi Marshlands

Falcon use in their article are taken from his own book “The In 1975 Larsen responded to Lees and Falcon’s challenge with Regime of the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris” and contends his own study of the delta region. In it he contends that it is “more that their use of his data is faulty. In it he notes that Lees and reasonable” to interpret the marine clays and silts below them not as Falcon stated that the silt from the Tigris, Euphrates and major subsidence, as did Lees and Falcon, but as a tidal opening or the Karun are spread over the 1,500 square miles of marshland formation of a bay extending as far south as Amara. Larsen contends and that because of this the marshes would not have survived that this bay or tidal opening was likely to have been created when the more than a few hundred years if it wasn’t for subsidence of sea reached it present level in the third to fourth millennium. Larsen’s the alluvial silt into a geosyncline or tectonic basin. Ionides full conclusion however is essentially that more geological and contends that by limiting the silt deposit to the marsh region archeological evidence is needed to determine which of the many they are ignoring the effects of flooding, irrigation and wind possibilities concerning the location of the Gulf head is accurate.4 factors. With the help of flooding, irrigation and wind, Yet the matter was still unsettled. J. F. Hansman, an archeologist alluvial silt is regularly deposited throughout the delta an who had preformed archaeological surveys along the coastal area of area of approximately 15,000 square miles. This factor the Gulf, published an article in 1978 reviewing the archeological would give the marshes a life span of only a few thousand evidence related to the location of the head of the Gulf during the first 3 years without the theorized subsidence of sediment. In the millennium, BC. After making multiple comparisons of historical same issue of The Geographical Journal Professor Sidney textual references to geography with actual known archeological sites, Smith contends that Lees and Falcon have ignored his contention was that archeological evidence for the location of the archeological evidence including the movement of the three head of the Gulf is insufficient to place it any further inland than its main river systems that feed the delta region. current location. Many of the textual references that he used refer to locations of boat registration, docking and sea access. He uses these references to demonstrate that the location of these activities, which are often presumed to be on the seashore, could actually have been associated to sites along rivers and in lakes due to their geographical descriptions and the distances given. This then provides evidence to the possibility that the marshlands may have been quite extensive in the first millennium since they are pictured in a number of archeological finds that connect them to the famous, now inland, cities of the times. Ultimately, the answers we sometimes find in our research are not as clear as we like. The truth is that I still do not know when the southern Iraqi Marshlands came into being or where the head of the Gulf was in the first millennium. Sometimes we have to settle for a simple answer: the marshlands before their drainage were very, very old.

1Curtis E. Larsen. “The Mesopotamian Delta Region a Reconsideration of Lees and Falcon.” J American Oriental Society, Vol 95(1), (Jan-Mar, 1975): 143-157. 2G.M. Lees and N. L. Falcon. “The Geographical History of the Mesopotamian Plains.” The Geographical J, Vol.118(1), (Mar., 1952):24-39. 3 M.G. Ionides in M.G. Ionides and Sidney Smith. “The Geographical History of the Mesopotamian Plains.” The Geographical J, Vol. 2000 - Satellite photo of remnant of 120(3), (Sep., 1954): 394-397. Larsen: 143-157. marshes after drainage. In the 4J. F. Hansman. “The Mesopotamian Delta in The First Millennium, lower-right corner the Tigris and BC.” The Geographical J, Vol. 144(1), (Mar., 1978): 49-61. Euphrates join in the Shatt al-Arab. Amy L. Rue is a graduate student in Middle East Studies and Political Photos courtesy of UNEP/DEWA Science

We, the people of Egypt, who have Article 75 been toiling on this great land since The person to be elected President of the Republic must be an Egyptian born to Egyptian the dawn of history and the beginning parents and enjoy civil and political rights. of civilization… His age must not be less than 40 Gregorian We, the Egyptian people, in the name years. of God and by His assistance, pledge Article 76 The People's Assembly shall nominate the indefinitely and unconditionally to President of the Republic. exert every effort to realize: The nomination shall be referred to the people for a plebiscite. The nomination to the post of President of the The following is an excerpt from Chapter One Republic shall be made in the People's Assembly of Part Five of the Egyptian Constitution. upon the proposal of at least one third of its member. In early 2005 the Egyptian government changed the 76th article of the constitution, The candidate who wins two-thirds of the votes included in this excerpt. These changes of the Assembly members shall be referred to the allowed for the first ever multi-candidate people for a plebiscite. presidential elections in Egypt, which took If none of the candidates obtains the said place in September 2005. majority the nomination process shall be Article 73 repeated two days after the first vote. The Head of State is the President of the The candidate winning the votes with an Republic. absolute majority of the Assembly members shall be referred to the citizens for a plebiscite. He shall assert the sovereignty of the people, respect the Constitution and the supremacy of The candidate shall be considered President of the law, safeguard the national unity and the the Republic when he obtains an absolute socialist gains, and maintain the boundaries majority of the votes cast in the plebiscite. between authorities in a manner to ensure that If the candidate does not obtain this majority, the each shall perform its role in the national action. Assembly shall nominate another candidate and Article 74 the same procedure shall be followed. If any danger threatens the national unity or the Article 77 safety of the motherland or obstructs the The term of the Presidency is six Gregorian constitutional role of the State institutions, the years starting from the date of the announcement President of the Republic shall take urgent of the result of the plebiscite. measures to face this danger, direct a statement The President of the Republic may be re-elected to the people and conduct a referendum on these for other successive terms. measures within sixty days of its adoption.

Turkey: from Afghanistan: from th Turkish turk, “Apkan,” a 9 century Tunisia: from Iranian ruler, or from Berber word Tunis, meaning “strong.” Sanskrit upa-ganah, meaning “small meaning “allied tribes.” cape or peninsula.”

Morocco: from Iran: “land of old Spanish the Aryans,” or pronunciation Libya: from an “land of the of the city of Algeria: from ancient Berber free” Marrakesh. Arabic word al- tribe called Jazā'ir, meaning Libyans by the “island.” Greeks. Bahrain: from Arabic, meaning “two seas.” Mauritania: misnamed Yemen: from Arabic after the classical Chad: named for yamîn, meaning Mauretania in Morocco, Lake Chad, which “right-hand side” and got its name from Sudan: from the itself named after the Arabic Bilad as- by extension “south.” tsade, the Bornu Berber Mauri tribe. Sudan, "Land of the word for “lake.” blacks".

Comoros: from Arabic qamar, meaning “moon.” Lebanon: from the Semitic Laban, “white,” Palestine: named Israel: named after referring to the snow on after the ancient Jacob, literally Lebanon's mountains. Syria: from the Philistines meaning “he struggles ancient Greek name with God.” for the ancient state of Assyria.

Egypt Iraq: from the The most complicated, of course: ancient Sumerian city of Uruk. from ancient Greek (attested in Mycenaean) Αίγυπτος, or Aígyptos, which according to Strabo, derived from "Αιγαίου υπτίως" (Aegeou yptios - the land below the Aegean sea). This becomes more apparent in the variation Aegyptos. Or perhaps from the name Jordan: after the river Kuwait: from the of Memphis, meaning “temple Ptah’s soul.” Jordan, the name of which derives from the Hebrew Arabic Kout meaning and Canaanite root yrd— “fortress built near “to descend.” water.”

Name origins from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_name_etymologies As the summer drew to a close, MES grad student James R. n Egypt the summer started out with the Ihope that the reorganization of presidential Langlois took a look elections would allow for a plurality of candidates back at the summer to run, in place of a presidential referendum. President Mubarak announced that the election events that would would be held on September 7th. shape our lives—and However, in mid-July, attention quickly The evacuation of settlers was completed in six the world—in the shifted to the resort town of Sharm El Sheikh after days, although the Israeli government has not yet upcoming year. it was tragically attacked by suicide bombers. completed preparations to cede control of Gaza to Sixty-seven people, the majority of whom were the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli government Egyptian workers, were killed and another two- does not intend to cede control of the evacuated hundred injured. The Egyptian authorities areas in Imagethe West courtesy Bank, of although Comedy Centralit is believed that reported that the bombings were linked to the those areas will be used as bargaining chips in future October 2004 attack in Taba. Of the four suspects peace discussions. from the Taba bombing, a Mohammed Fulayfil was presumed to also be connected to the Sharm On August 24, the first suicide attack since the El Sheikh attack. He was killed in a gun battle evacuation happened in southern Israel in the town near the town of Suez on August 1st. Police have of Beersheba. Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade and Islamic identified the suicide bomber of the Ghazala Hotel Jihad jointly claimed responsibility for the attack. in Naama Bay as Mousa Badran. His younger In Sudan, the death of Vice President John brother, also a reported close friend of Fulayfil, is Garang in a helicopter crash led to riots and wanted by police in connection to both the Taba suspicion of assassination. He died just three weeks bombing and the recent attack in Sharm. Twenty- after taking office. According to the January 9th five others have been arrested in connection to the peace accords, in the name of national unity, Garang terrorist attack and the government believes it will took the position of Vice President under Omar Al be able to uncover the organization behind the Bashir to unite the country and end twenty-one years blasts, although Egyptian authorities believe there of civil war. Two weeks after Garang’s death, Salva was some international support involved. Kir took over as Vice President in Sudan. Kir was the leader of the military wing of the Sudan People’s Craig Egypt has led a vigorous effort to revive the tourism industry in the Sinai with reduced airfare Liberation Movement (SPLM). and other guaranteed special discounts. Shortly In mid-July, a bomb was detonated on a tourist after the bombings, President held bus in the Turkish resort of Kusadasi, killing five a conference in Sharm El Shiek for international people. The PKK denied responsibility, although leaders to show common support against Kurdish separatists were suspected. In the South terrorism. More recently, a free peace concert Eastern town of Diyarbakir, a man was arrested for featuring Craig David was held in Sharm to attract attempting to bomb Israeli cruise ships. Luai Sakra visitors and demonstrate the safety of the tourist declared publicly that he planned to attack the ships destination. and he had no regrets. He is also believed to be Across the border in Israel, this summer has connected to terror attacks in 2003 which killed the near culmination of Ariel Sharon’s Gaza and more than sixty people. In political news, Turkey’s Northern West Bank evacuation plan, which was refusal to recognize Cyprus has lead to uncertainty announced in February 2004. As of August 23, over its future position in the EU. Turkey has 15,000 Israeli settlers have been evacuated from announced that it will continue to extend its twenty-one settlements in the Gaza strip and four Customs Union to the EU that will cover Cyprus, settlements in the West Bank. but denies recognition of the state. Turkey’s negotiations to join the European Union will begin Although fears of shoot-outs between settlers in October. and the military did not materialize, there was Garang much nonviolent resistance to the evacuation, and a few isolated incidents of violence toward military personnel.

Bashir Kusadasi Mauritania As the August 15th deadline for the Iraqi draft constitution entered the 11th hour, it became clear that a consensus would not be reached in time. The deadline was twice extended before an agreement could be reached. The new draft constitution has angered large segments of Iraq’s Sunni population on several issues. There is concern that the federal system supported in the document could split the country into three states, with a Kurdish North and a Shia South, depriving the central Sunni area of oil resources. Shia Late this summer, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia died ten and Kurdish negotiators have endorsed the document, but years after having suffered a series of strokes which had Sunni negotiators have not. Also of contention is Iraq’s incapacitated him. Former Crown Prince Abdullah was identity as an Arab state. The draft states that Iraq’s Arab proclaimed the new King of Saudi Arabia, although he has people are part of the Arab nation, while Sunni negotiators been the de-facto ruler for ten years. As one of his first acts, want the draft to refer to all of Iraq as an Arab state. In mid- King Abdullah issued pardons to a number of political activists October there will be a national referendum on the jailed for criticizing the government. Also of note, King constitution and in December there will be full government Abdullah issued pardons to two Libyans accused of plotting to elections. assassinate him while he was still the Crown Prince. In mid-August, Iraqi insurgents fired rockets at US war While Mauritania’s President, Maaouiya Ould Sid Ahmed ships docked in Aqaba, Jordan and Eilat, Israel. The attacks Taya, was absent from his country attending the funeral of claimed the life of a Jordanian soldier. A Syrian is in custody Former Saudi King Fahd, Mauritanian military officers seized in Amman who is believed to be involved in the attacks. It is power and announced the installation of a military council to believed that the other culprits slipped back into Iraq. The rule the country until a democratic order could be established. Jordanian government is working with the Iraqi government The New Military Council for Justice and Democracy said it to catch the suspects, although it is believed that it will be would rule for a period of two years, before elections could be very difficult. organized. It was stipulated that no officers involved in the The summer in Iran saw elections in July and the military junta would be allowed to participate in the elections. swearing in of conservative President Mahmoud The African Union (AU), European Union (EU) and the United Ahmadinejad in August, succeeding the pro-reform States had all initially condemned the coup. However, now the Mohammed Khatami. It is said that the election of this new US and the AU are working with the military junta to ensure president gives conservatives control over all institutions of that multiparty elections are held. They no longer insist that the power and signals an end to the reform period. former president be reinstated. He has been offered asylum in The elections came at a time of intense debate regarding Qatar where he and his family are now residing. Iran’s nuclear program, which Western countries suspect of In Iraq, violence has not subsided. The majority of being a front for the development of nuclear weapons. Iran casualties continue to be Iraqi and police and government rejected a European proposal for resolving concerns of the officials continue to be targets of attack. In early July, the country’s nuclear program as President Mahmoud Egyptian Ambassador to Iraq, Ihad Al-Sharif, was tragically Ahmadinejad was sworn into office. Soon after Iran rejected kidnapped and killed by Iraqi insurgents connected to Zarqawi. the European backed plan, it removed the last remaining UN In the same month, the ambassador from Pakistan came under nuclear seals at its nuclear plant, making it fully operational. fire in Iraq resulting in the transferal of the embassy in Iraq to a The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a mission in Jordan. Later, it was reported that a number of resolution calling on Iran to halt uranium conversion. The Pakistani nationals were abducted from a bus by gunpoint in resolution asks Mohammed El-Baradei to report on Iran’s Iraq. The Pakistani government reported on August 22nd that compliance by September 3rd. Talks scheduled with Iran for eleven nationals were freed. Conflicting reports have reported August 31st with France, Britain and Germany have been that the number was only eight men, and that they were being canceled and these countries have threatened to bring the held by Iraqi police because their travel papers were not in case before the UN Security Council to seek sanctions. order. James R. Langlois is a Middle East Studies Center graduate student.

Ould Taya

Ahmadinejad Logo courtesy of Comedy Central, Inc.

CONTACT US: If you have any questions, comments, or contributions (creative writing, articles, or pictures) please feel free to contact us. Email: [email protected]. Address: 5 Youssef El Guindy St., Apt #4. Phone: 797 5994 *The views expressed herein are those of their authors and not necessarily those of MESC, the editorial board, or the Middle East Studies Program.