Politics are also absent from Kassem’s description in the article — he is, after all, not only a long-standing human rights activist (he’s been chairman of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights for something like a decade now), but also a political partisan. In 2004, he joined Ayman Nour’s nascent Al Ghad party and campaigned alongside him during the presidential election. He had previously run for parliament, and lost, in 2000 and contemplated a run in 2005. He is also perhaps one of the favorite talking heads of the foreign press corps, since he speaks perfect idiomatic English and is, more generally, quite charming. (David Remnick of the New Yorker called him an Egyptian neo-con.) The Washington Post’s campaign on Egypt over the past two years is in no small part to the briefings given by the likes of Kassem, whether in Egypt or in DC. He’s also someone with access to top diplomats in Cairo and who receives leading foreign dignitaries — I don’t think Condi Rice has come to town without seeing him (along a few other representatives of Egyptian civil society.)
And there could have been more details about the unlikely business success that al Masri has proved to be, although that’s also covered. I might return to that soon as I have been doing some work on that recently myself.
In short, Hisham Kassem — whether you agree with his politics or not — is a very interesting and if not important, at least influential, man in contemporary Egyptian politics. His achievement with al Masri as a business is important, but it would have been nice to hear about some of the other stuff.
I’m not sure I would put Hisham Kassem in the “Arab neo-con” category, insofaras such a label makes sense.
When I think of Arab neo-cons, I think of guys like Fuad Ajami, and, to a lesser extent, Saad Edin Ibrahim (whose views tend to be more nuanced).
So if you’re a small-L liberal who doesn’t mind cooperating with Americans, that makes you a neocon?
I don’t think the neocon term really works outside of Washington…
Hey don’t ask me, that’s David Remnick saying he’s a neo-con! I think it’s because Hisham is pro Iraq war, for reasons that were of the “need to shake up the region” variety, that he gets that label.
By the way, word is the neo-cons are closing shop – well, they’re closing the PNAC, anyway.
PNAC is closing????!!!!!! When did this happen?? Do you have a link Issandr??? Are they joining AEI or starting some other secret boy’s club?
Here it is, from a WaPo ,http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/11/AR2006061100739.html“ rel=”nofollow”>columnist:
Al-Masry Al-Yom’s circulation has gone up “purely on the principle that instead of presenting either the government’s or the opposition’s point of view, it presents both. That may seem like a logical formula, but for an audience that hasn’t gotten much of it in a long time, it has come across as a breath of fresh air with the force of a hurricane.”
From an http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/799/sc3.htm
“>article in this week’s Al-Ahram Weekly that provides a quick look at the changes in the Egyptian press scene
Sorry the correct http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/799/sc3.htm“ rel=”nofollow”>link for the above is:
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/799/sc3.htm
Thanks, Tarek. Good overview of the scene.
Hisham Kassem, Arab neo-con? Is there anything like an Arab neo-con? It is like telling us some short man is tall; some slim wom is actually fat. RIDICULOUS labelling. Kassen is a patriotic Arab. In fact, he is a descendent of the Prophet. He happened to have gone to college with me.
Well, I’m ahl al beit too!