Press freedom, piety in preparation for Eid Al-Fitr and celebrations marking the Sixth of October anniversary were the preoccupations, observe Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed Celebrations marking the 34th anniversary of the Sixth of October War against Israel and the speech of President Hosni Mubarak dominated the headlines of the official and semi-official papers. "The security of Egypt and its stability is paramount. These are the red lines that cannot be crossed" ran the headline of the Friday edition of Al-Ahram. The paper quoted Mubarak as saying the most vital issue was to strengthen the Egyptian armed forces to ensure that the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty was preserved. Mubarak also noted that the anniversary of the October 1973 victory was a golden opportunity to emphasise national unity, social stability and solidarity between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Egypt. On the same page, Editor-in-Chief Osama Saraya congratulated the president and the Armed Forces on the anniversary of what he described was "the most decisive battle which determined the future of the Middle East". On the same day of glory, 22 daily and weekly newspapers and two websites decided not to appear on 7 October in protest at the sentencing of five editors- in-chief to one year in prison for slandering the president and his son Gamal. The issue of press freedom in Egypt and the maltreatment of journalists received much attention from the press in Egypt this week. The daily independent Al-Masry Al-Yom was one newspaper that protested against the sentencing. In its front page on Sunday, the paper ran an editorial explaining why it chose not to appear that day. "The paper will not appear tomorrow in defence of freedom of expression and in protest at the sentencing of more than 11 journalists," an unprecedented step that showed how strongly independent journalists feel about the situation. "The paper will not appear [on Monday] in protest against [pro-government] newspapers that blackmail and insult [opposition officials]. The paper will not appear in protest at the Press Syndicate's inability [to solve journalists problems]. The paper will not appear to protest against the [ruling] National Democratic Party that supports a pro-government newspaper [i.e. Rose El-Youssef ] that uses obscene language and has insulted all of Egypt's public figures." Indeed, the paper went on to deride the official position in a strongly worded admonition. " Al-Masry Al-Yom will not appear to protest against the State Security Apparatus that runs many newspapers and exploits many journalists." In conclusion the editorial said, "The newspaper will not appear to protest against the regime which has forced Egypt to be living its worst times." Columnist Salama Ahmed Salama was quoted in Al-Masry Al-Yom as saying: "the solution to the [current] crisis has four factors: dropping the lawsuits [filed against journalists], enacting the journalists' convention, enforcing an information accessibility law, and activating the president's promise [to prevent the imprisonment of any journalist]." The sentencing of the five editors is regarded as a serious issue, indeed a deciding moment in the country's quest for press freedom. It is clear that the journalists are not going to keep quiet; they are protesting as never before. Makram Mohamed Ahmed was also quoted in Al-Masry Al-Yom as saying: "the dilemma is not that a group [of journalists] spoke improperly about Mubarak. The big problem is that there is no code of ethics [governing journalists' work]." Official papers reiterated the official position that the journalists in question had erred gravely. Safwat El-Sherif, head of the Supreme Press Council and speaker of the Shura Council, was quoted in all the pro-government newspapers, defending the court rulings issued against the editors-in-chief for fabricating rumours about Mubarak's state of health. "The judiciary in Egypt is independent and abides by the law... there should be no comments on court rulings," El-Sherif was quoted in the daily pro-government Al-Gomhuriya. On an entirely different issue, Lamis El-Hadidi wrote in the daily business newspaper Al-Aalm Al-Yom about Minister of Industry and Trade Rachid Mohamed Rachid's decision to refer all cement manufacturers to the prosecutor-general, accusing them of monopolising cement, leading to recent unreasonable increases in the price of the vital building material. "The minister's decision," El-Hadidi contended, "is the first real test of the [fair] competition and anti-monopoly law and the activation of the state's role as an observer of the market. If we succeed, it will be a milestone in our economic course. If we fail, we will be in a dilemma that will affect our credibility in front of the international community and investors." Cultural issues, especially those intertwined with politics, also received some attention. Minister of Waqf (Religious Endowments) Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq sparked a debate after calling on Muslims to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. "The initiative [better] serves the Palestinian cause and counters the Israeli tide [in the old city]," Zaqzouq was quoted as saying in the daily liberal-oriented Nahdet Masr. Other men of religion begged to differ. Abdel-Sabour Shahin was quoted as saying: "when a Muslim obtains a visa from Israel he is acknowledging its sovereignty on Palestinian territory." And, concerning another cultural concern -- the purity of the Arabic language. Salama, this time in Al-Ahram, wrote about the deterioration of the Arabic language. "There is a sudden revival in the Arab world that recently arrived in Egypt calling for renewed interest in the Arabic language after it degenerated." "Undermining the Arabic language is not limited to using foreign names for shops, hotels, resorts, schools, and commodities, but has found its way into the language of daily newspapers which have began to write their headlines in colloquial Arabic... this phenomenon applies to the advertisements by giant telecommunications and mobile companies which use colloquial language in a flagrant manner." A curious social phenomenon that found its way into the press was the question of beggars. Al-Masry Al-Yom highlighted the ever-increasing phenomenon in Cairo's streets, especially during the holy month of Ramadan as people tend to give money as charity. Indeed, the paper highlighted a scandalous case of an old female beggar who was detained in Ramses Square after police found she had amassed LE4,500 in just 10 days. Investigators also discovered the beggar had a bank account with LE16,000. According to the paper, the 63-year-old beggar made around LE900 a day, the sum of money they found with her when she was arrested. Piety has become an increasingly eye-catching phenomenon on the streets of Cairo. Many a newspaper ran photos of people from all walks of life reading the holy Quran on buses, streets, while walking or sitting in their shops. "During the last 10 days of Ramadan, people rich and poor pray and recite the Quran. It's one of the most remarkable features of Ramadan," observed Nahdet Masr.
