Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, October/November 2000, pages 62-63

Northern California Chronicle

Egypt’s Future Addressed by Egyptian Consul General of San Franciso

By Elaine Pasquini

Prior to her return to the Foreign Ministry Department in Cairo on Aug. 31, Hagar El-Islambouly, Egypt’s San Francisco-based consul general for the western United States, addressed a capacity audience at a July 11 luncheon program of the World Affairs Council of Sonoma held at La Gare Restaurant in Santa Rosa.

Consul General El-Islambouly discussed the challenges facing Egypt today and her country’s efforts to modernize and increase development for its 64 million citizens. She described Egypt’s efforts to develop its southwestern desert by diversion of the Nile River to that area and also the diversion of the Nile beneath the Suez Canal into the Sinai Peninsula for agricultural development. Presently, the majority of Egyptians live along the Nile in an area comprising only 6 percent of the country’s land mass. The government hopes to increase the area of habitable land to 25 percent upon the completion of these projects. The additional land is needed to accommodate Egypt’s population, which increases by approximately 1 million persons each year. Some 30 percent of Egyptians are under the age of 15.

The consul general hopes U.S. businesses will discover Egypt as a valuable market for new business. “We would like more American investment, and for California to lead the way,” she emphasized. Although Egypt had a socialist economy in the 1950s and ’60s, the late President Anwar Sadat moved the economy toward capitalism. Today 75 percent of Egypt’s economy is in the private sector. The telecommunications industry is in the midst of being privatized, and American companies have expressed a strong interest in this sector. Egypt’s economy has grown steadily for the past eight years, with current annual growth between 5 and 6 percent.

“Tourism,” the Egyptian diplomat said, “is the locomotive of the economy and it is a major challenge to keep it going.” She acknowledged that, even with increased growth, “an income gap and digital gap” remains, but said the government is addressing these problems. Egypt’s First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak, is very active in programs concerning women, children, and health care, El-Islambouly added.

Regarding Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, she reminded her audience that “Egypt pioneered the Middle East peace process. We paid a very dear price,” she added, “including the assassination of President Sadat.”

The consul general briefly discussed the multilateral Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which are separate from the bilateral negotiations held at Camp David for two weeks in July. The multilateral negotiations, which collapsed during the Likud government of former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, concern such important issues as the environment, economic development, refugees, water, security and nuclear arms control. El-Islambouly said the Mubarak government is particularly concerned about Israel’s nuclear facility, which is not monitored by the international community and is located in Israel’s Negev desert, only 16 kilometers from the Egyptian-Israeli border on the Sinai Peninsula.

The consul general expressed her hope that the peace process, including the Syrian-Israeli track, can be “wrapped up” soon, in order that all the countries in the area may work together, including Israel. “It is Egypt’s goal,” she ended hopefully, “for all countries in the area to cooperate in developing the region,” which, she pointed out, includes Africa as well as the Middle East.

Egyptian Consul General Honored at Farewell Receptions

More than 400 friends, community leaders, and members of San Francisco’s consular corps gathered at the elegant Egyptian Consulate in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco on July 21 to honor departing Consul General Hagar El-Islambouly and her husband, Dr. Adel Ezzat, who returned to Cairo Aug. 31. After her five-year assignment as Egypt’s consul general for the Western United States, El-Islambouly will immediately begin her new position within the Egyptian Foreign Ministry as acting assistant minister for North America. Speaking before an overflowing audience, she admitted that, while she was happy to return to her home in Cairo and to begin an exciting new assignment in the Foreign Ministry, it was difficult to leave her friends and colleagues in the Bay Area. “Egypt and California have enjoyed a strong rewarding relationship,” she said.

The hard-working diplomat has served in the Foreign Ministry for the past two decades. She was director of the international economic affairs department at the Egyptian Embassy in Bonn, Germany and director of international economic affairs, director of the environment, and director of the Israeli affairs department in Madrid. She has participated in international conferences and meetings, including the U.N. General Assembly, U.N. Conference for Trade and Development, and the Middle East/North African Economic Summit. The outgoing consul general also has lectured and written frequently on global and regional security issues, the Middle East peace process, foreign policy and the environment.

Among the speakers at the reception were Dr. Adel Ezzat, Barbara Kaufman of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and Rosalie Cuneo Amer of the California Friends of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Linda Porter of California Gov. Gray Davis’ office read a letter of appreciation from the governor, which described the consul general as “a model of professionalism” and applauded her “legacy of excellent work.” Other guests at the reception included Consul General of Israel and Mrs. Daniel Shek, Consul General of Norway Hans Urstad, Consul General of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phong, and Consul General of Yemen Mansoor Ismael.

The reception also celebrated Egyptian National Day, the commemoration of the Free Officers Revolution of July 23, 1952, when King Farouk was deposed and Egyptian self-rule was restored for the first time in 1,400 years.

The Arab Cultural Center of San Francisco hosted a reception for Consul General El-Islambouly on Aug. 23. ACC president Alice Nashashibi presented the consul general with a commendation for her valuable service to the local Arab community. The popular diplomat expressed her appreciation to the audience of friends and community leaders for their support and friendship over the past few years. “I have been honored and privileged to meet so many members of the Arab community,” she stated, and urged the audience to “focus on bringing together all members of the Arab community.”

Because of her endless energy and commitment to peace and prosperity, Islambouly was constantly in demand on the West Coast as a speaker, and will be greatly missed by the community she served.

Arsonists Destroy Dheisheh Refugee Camp’s Computer Lab

In the early morning of Aug. 26, unknown arsonists broke into the IBDA’ Cultural Center in Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Bethlehem and set fire to the center’s computer lab. All 13 computers, CPUs, tables and chairs were destroyed. Additionally, 40 selected children’s books in the library were burned, while other books in the library were untouched.

The cultural center is home to the IBDA’ dance troupe, which toured the U.S. last fall. (See Washington Report Jan./Feb. 2000 issue, p. 55). In addition to its computer lab, the center also operates a library, nursery, kindergarten and various workshops and curriculums for more than 800 children.

The computer lab was part of the Across Borders Project, aimed at bringing Internet access to the Dheisheh Refugee Camp children, who communicated via e-mail with children in refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank and with children around the world. Recently the children were learning how to create and maintain a database, and classes in creating and maintaining Web pages were scheduled to begin in the fall. Authorities are investigating the fire.

Tax-deductible donations to re-build the center are urgently needed. Checks may be made to “MECA,” attention: “IBDA’ Emergency Fund,” and mailed to Middle East Children's Alliance, 905 Parker St., Berkeley, CA 94710, tel: (510) 548-0542, fax: (510) 548-0543.

Benicia’s Annual Camel Races

Middle Eastern attractions lured hundreds to the waterfront in Benicia, California, on July 15 and 16 for the Third Annual Camel Races presented by the Camel Barn of the Benicia Historical Museum. Benicia’s close association with camels dates back to 1864, when the U.S. government’s Camel Corps was disbanded. The Camel Corps had been created in 1855 at the suggestion of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who convinced Congress to appropriate $30,000 for the purchase and importing of dromedaries from the Middle East. The animals were used to transport supplies over the southwestern desert area of the U.S. newly acquired in the 1846-1848 Mexican War. Syrian-born cameldriver Hadji Ali accompanied the first shipment of 33 camels, which sailed from Smyrna on Feb. 15, 1856. Later that year an additional 45 camels were imported.

Eventually, with the outbreak of the Civil War, the Camel Corps experiment was abandoned. The 35 camels remaining in Bakersfield, California were taken to the Benicia Arsenal and sold at auction to a single buyer on Feb. 26, 1864. The site of the Arsenal where the camels were sold eventually became the Camel Barn Museum. Hadji Ali, who remained in the U.S. after the Camel Corps disbanded, died on Dec. 16, 1902, and was buried in Quartzsite, Arizona, where the Arizona Highway Department erected a monument to his memory in 1938.

The camels participating in the annual Benicia race belong to Gary and Diane Jackson of the Nevada Camel Company, located in Stagecoach, Nevada. After the races, children as well as adults enjoyed camel rides. Other entertainment included the music and dance group Aladdin’s Lads and Lasses, and the Sirens in Sanity belly dancing troupe. An extensive bazaar offered jewelry, books, food, camel memorabilia and henna painting. The annual event raises funds for the non-profit historical museum.

Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance journalist based in Ignacio, CA.