Language of reconciliation

Thousands of Egyptians are studying Hebrew, and learning about the culture of Israel, a neighbor still widely viewed with hostility and suspicion.

By KSENIA SVETLOVA
Egyptians learning hebrew (photo credit: AVI KATZ)
Egyptians learning hebrew
(photo credit: AVI KATZ)
In the 20 months since Egyptians took to Cairo streets to sweep away the old corrupt regime, and with it the guardians of the Camp David peace treaty, pro-Israel sentiment has been hard to come by in Egypt. But one group of scholars could be a vital bridge to keeping the lines of communication open – the Hebrew lovers.
Each year, some 6,000 Egyptian students break away from the pack and opt to study Hebrew, instead of the more popular courses offering German, French and even Russian.
And while this figure may seem small in a country with a population of more than 82 million, before the revolution the number of students was growing.
These students speak Hebrew, they read and translate Hebrew literature, and some have even visited Israel – a rarity in Egypt.
Most support the continuation of the peace treaty with Israel, even though the majority is critical of Israel’s attitude toward the Palestinians. But vitally, they are able to see beyond the stereotypes and anti-Semitic images that are endemic in Egyptian media: A case in point: one of this year’s hit TV shows for Ramadan centered on a retired Egyptian policeman plotting a bank heist in Tel Aviv. There, his adventures bring him into contact with ultra-Orthodox Jews who bear a striking resemblance to Nazi caricatures, brutal Israeli soldiers and a small number of secular Jews who spend most of their time calling for the extermination of Arabs.
In another example that garnered international media attention, a prank show broadcast footage of a famous Egyptian actor hitting the female host across the face after he was persuaded that he was appearing on Israeli TV; an actress who was subject to the same joke says that Israelis “keep whining all the time about the Holocaust or whatever it’s called.” There are 13 universities across Egypt that offer Hebrew studies, as well as private groups. The Israeli Academic Center in Cairo also offers a rich library of Hebrew literature and Israeli books translated into English and Arabic. Until recently, the state-owned Nile TV offered broadcasts in Hebrew, with two hours of news, press reviews and talk shows. This scheduling was canceled shortly before the revolution for “lack of interest”, although journalist and Hebrew professor Mounir Mahmoud still runs a Hebrew language page on the Nile TV website.
Mahmoud tells The Jerusalem Report that although the official numbers of Hebrew language students are not high, there are many who study the language informally in small groups or in private courses. They listen to Israeli music, follow Israeli singers and read Israeli news websites.
After graduation, many Hebrew language students find work for security services, others find employment in the media as Israeli affairs analysts and some even work in the tourism industry. Israelis crossing the border into Sinai are frequently greeted by locals speaking fluent Hebrew.
And there are also those who study Hebrew simply because they like the language or wanted to know more about Israeli culture.
“I fell in love with Hebrew writing, and from then it became a wild journey. I felt like Alice going deep in the rabbit hole and exploring Wonderland,” 25-year-old There are 13 universities across Egypt that offer Hebrew studies, as well as private groups. The Israeli Academic Center in Cairo also offers a rich library of Hebrew literature and Israeli books translated into English and Arabic. Until recently, the state-owned Nile TV offered broadcasts in Hebrew, with two hours of news, press reviews and talk shows. This scheduling was canceled shortly before the revolution for “lack of interest”, although journalist and Hebrew professor Mounir Mahmoud still runs a Hebrew language page on the Nile TV website.
Mahmoud tells The Jerusalem Report that although the official numbers of Hebrew language students are not high, there are many who study the language informally in small groups or in private courses. They listen to Israeli music, follow Israeli singers and read Israeli news websites.
After graduation, many Hebrew language students find work for security services, others find employment in the media as Israeli affairs analysts and some even work in the tourism industry. Israelis crossing the border into Sinai are frequently greeted by locals speaking fluent Hebrew.
And there are also those who study Hebrew simply because they like the language or wanted to know more about Israeli culture.
“I fell in love with Hebrew writing, and from then it became a wild journey. I felt like Alice going deep in the rabbit hole and exploring Wonderland,” 25-year-old There are 13 universities across Egypt that offer Hebrew studies, as well as private groups. The Israeli Academic Center in Cairo also offers a rich library of Hebrew literature and Israeli books translated into English and Arabic. Until recently, the state-owned Nile TV offered broadcasts in Hebrew, with two hours of news, press reviews and talk shows. This scheduling was canceled shortly before the revolution for “lack of interest”, although journalist and Hebrew professor Mounir Mahmoud still runs a Hebrew language page on the Nile TV website.
Mahmoud tells The Jerusalem Report that although the official numbers of Hebrew language students are not high, there are many who study the language informally in small groups or in private courses. They listen to Israeli music, follow Israeli singers and read Israeli news websites.
After graduation, many Hebrew language students find work for security services, others find employment in the media as Israeli affairs analysts and some even work in the tourism industry. Israelis crossing the border into Sinai are frequently greeted by locals speaking fluent Hebrew.
And there are also those who study Hebrew simply because they like the language or wanted to know more about Israeli culture.
“I fell in love with Hebrew writing, and from then it became a wild journey. I felt like Alice going deep in the rabbit hole and exploring Wonderland,” 25-year-oldThere are 13 universities across Egypt that offer Hebrew studies, as well as private groups. The Israeli Academic Center in Cairo also offers a rich library of Hebrew literature and Israeli books translated into English and Arabic. Until recently, the state-owned Nile TV offered broadcasts in Hebrew, with two hours of news, press reviews and talk shows. This scheduling was canceled shortly before the revolution for “lack of interest”, although journalist and Hebrew professor Mounir Mahmoud still runs a Hebrew language page on the Nile TV website.
Mahmoud tells The Jerusalem Report that although the official numbers of Hebrew language students are not high, there are many who study the language informally in small groups or in private courses. They listen to Israeli music, follow Israeli singers and read Israeli news websites.
After graduation, many Hebrew language students find work for security services, others find employment in the media as Israeli affairs analysts and some even work in the tourism industry. Israelis crossing the border into Sinai are frequently greeted by locals speaking fluent Hebrew.
And there are also those who study Hebrew simply because they like the language or wanted to know more about Israeli culture.
“I fell in love with Hebrew writing, and from then it became a wild journey. I felt like Alice going deep in the rabbit hole and exploring Wonderland,” 25-year-old Hussein Bakr tells The Report. He became interested in Hebrew while still in high school, and, deciding he wanted to take this interest further, later enrolled in the Oriental Languages Department at Cairo University.
Bakr’s favorite book is Tehila by Israeli Nobel laureate S.Y. Agnon, but he expresses a fondness for modern Israeli writers too.
His Hebrew is close to fluent; if not for the odd archaic word or phrase rarely used in modern Hebrew, it would be impossible to tell that he had never lived in Israel or even visited the country.
Bakr and fellow student Karim, who refused to allow his family name to be published, are adamant that they have never thought of Hebrew as the language of the enemy. “A language is a language. It’s neutral, apolitical. This is first. And perhaps all this talk about Israel made me eager to learn more about it”, Karim says. Bakr explains that he liked the way that Hebrew sounds, and the look of the Hebrew script. “It is love”, he says, and smiles.
Since the 1979 treaty, Israelis have swarmed to Egypt, explored the rich culture, built business ties and even performed opera in Cairo. Sadly, however, there has not been much reciprocity.
Anti-normalization sentiments have always been powerful in Egypt, with the political echelons discouraging the flow of Egyptians to Israel, or even to Israeli institutions in their own country. Those who innocently apply for a tourist visa to Israel face a summons by national security for a lengthy discussion.
Bakr knows firsthand how an interest in Israel can provoke official displeasure. A visit to the Israeli Academic Center brought him to the attention of the establishment. As he left the center he was stopped by a member of the security forces, who addressed him by name and inquired after his interest in Hebrew and in Israel. Shaken but not cowed, Bakr later described his experience – in perfect Hebrew – on an Israeli social media website.
Yet the pressure on Bakr mounted. He was briefly detained, and ultimately fled Egypt. He now resides in Los Angeles, after a successful request for political asylum.
In post-revolution Cairo, the Israeli Academic Center still opens its doors to visitors.
But, center director and Egypt scholar Professor Gabriel Rosenbaum relates to The Report, what was once a thriving hub of intellectual activity, hosting Israeli writers, academics and actors, now tries to deflect attention and maintain a low profile. He declines to comment on whether it is safe for Egyptians to visit the center today, given that even before the revolution, visitors were automatically subjected to surveillance and, at times, interrogation.
Bakr says that his own experience proves that the new Egyptian regime is very much like the old regime in this regard, and far from keen for ordinary Egyptians to know too much about Israel, or its society and culture.
Yet Mounir Mahmoud, a supporter of a true peace between Egypt and Israel, is cautiously optimistic about the future. “Many groups, movements and parties display strong anti-Israeli sentiment.
This is true. But they all know where the red line is. The agreement with Israel serves their interests, therefore they will keep it alive,” he asserts.
Veteran playwright and journalist Ali Salem, the first Egyptian to drive from Egypt to Israel, supports this claim. “Egypt is too preoccupied with its own problems. Look at the Egyptian papers today: it seems they’ve forgotten all about Israel. I believe that nothing will change, that the two countries will respect the treaty and the relations will remain. It’s a cold peace, and it’s not what I or you want, but nevertheless...” he remarks to The Report.
Another longtime supporter of normalization with Israel, Salem believes that now is not the time to promote this issue. “Egypt must undergo normalization within itself.” Both Salem and Mahmoud, who has also visited Israel and even taught a course at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, agree that the hatred towards Israel runs deep. Both blame former President Hosni Mubarak and his regime.
“For many years Mubarak and his circle lived in a parallel world to the rest of Egypt. They had business relations with Israelis and they made a good profit, while at the same time spreading the culture of hate against Israel. So the hatred was inherited, it circulated through your veins. Thus Mubarak could always play the Islamic card and tell the West that the peace agreement would not survive without him,” concludes Mahmoud.
In Los Angeles, Bakr, communicating by Skype, is more cynical, following the rise of the Islamist parties in his homeland. “Only the image of the state has changed for now; the state is the same despite the revolution. The hatred towards Israel was boiling there already, but it wasn’t overt. Now all the cards are on the table.”
Bakr believes that the new Egypt will be just as suspicious of those who want to explore the Hebrew language and Israeli culture as the old one. “They know that when a person masters the language, reads the books, understands the cultural codes, he will not hate as much, and maybe not hate at all.”