Harassment of Nawaal El Saadawi
[From the SA Debate list, and example of religious activism at work.
No link given for the petition, though.]
(From Dennis Brutus, in a letter to the great Egyptian feminist writer)
Will also send this message and text to patrick bond/CCS/UKZN in
south africa for information. Will be sending text to PEN in U.S. for
action - hopefully international action - but I cannot speak on their
behalf. We are having a major conference in Durban in June and it may
be possible to raise the issue there. It has been a pleasure to see
you again and to present you with the Fonlon-Nicholls Award from the
ALA; I look forward to working with you in the future. Fraternally,
Dennis Brutus
International campaign for freedom of thought and creativity and for
solidarity with the Egyptian novelist and writer Nawal El Saadawi
The Egyptian writer and novelist Nawal El Saadawi, well known both in
the Arab world and internationally, is facing a political and
religious campaign mounted against her by the authorities of Al-
Azhar. Basing themselves on a play written by her entitled “God
resigns at the Summit Meeting” published during the month of January
2007 in Cairo, they are accusing her of apostasy and disrespect for
the principles of Islam.
The theatre play is a work of fiction and should be judged by the men
and women who read works destined for the theatre and not by
religious dignitaries whose areas of concern are totally different.
To bring a writer to trial before a court relying on dangerous
accusations of this kind is a license for her assassination and can
encourage any mad man who might cross her path to kill her.
Accusations such as this which remind us of the era of slavery, and
of the Middle Ages, and which hardly correspond to the values which
should hold sway in the Twenty First Century are being leveled
against a woman of letters, a woman from the medical profession who
has given to the Arab world forty five works ranging from novels,
plays, short stories, autobiography to scientific and intellectual
studies which have served the cause of women’s liberation and that of
men and have been translated into thirty languages covering different
regions of our globe.
This is not the first time that Nawal El Saadawi has had to face
campaigns of this kind. A case was raised against her attempting to
separate her forcibly from her husband. The accusation here also was
that of apostasy and her name figured for many years on a death list.
We the signatories of this petition demand that this repressive
campaign come to an end immediately. We call upon all the men and
women of conscience all over the world, in the Arab countries and in
Egypt to take the action they see fit in order to defend freedom of
thought and creativity. We call upon all the associations and
organizations of civil society, the unions of workers, on
journalists, on all free women and men in the different countries, on
the associations and organizations of women and on democratic
progressive political parties to join us in our efforts to defend
freedom.
To support our action you can:
sign this petition and distribute it as widely as possible;
send messages of protest to the Egyptian embassies in your country,
to Sheikh Al Azhar, to the President of the Republic, the President
of the Peoples Assembly, and the Prosecutor General in Egypt.