An Appeal to World Leaders: Protest the Election of Farouk Hosni

Co-authored by Richard Rossin, Mohamed Sifaoui and Pascal Bruckner

We the undersigned appeal to the heads of state of the 58 countries responsible for the election this month of the future director-general of UNESCO and to the heads of state of the 193 members of the U.N. General Assembly responsible for ratifying the choice.

Koichiro Matsuura, the outgoing director-general of UNESCO, has successfully restored the prestige of an institution which since 1945 has been entrusted with the mission of mobilizing "the conscience of humankind in the cause of peace" and which is the guardian of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The September election brings together eight candidates from different countries. But one of them, Farouk Hosni, Egypt's minister of culture for the past 20 years, threatens UNESCO's legitimacy, competence and means of action.

We launch an urgent and solemn appeal to prevent the moral and financial meltdown of the institution.

UNESCO's legitimacy is endangered by the candidacy of a minister who has controlled Egyptians' freedom of thought for 20 years, who prosecutes Internet users, who censors independent filmmakers, who tracks down intellectuals and artists who do not share his opinions. By sending dissident voices to prison (notably the courageous Egyptian bloggers), by censoring films, books and concerts, Hosni has worked to reduce the heirs of the Pharaohs and the library of Alexandria to mindless obeisance.

Hosni has shown an inability to understand the Other and his differences. Even if he retracts his anti-Semitic statements, which have been deservedly condemned, this man -- a man who has turned students over to the security forces just for expressing contrary ideas -- cannot lead UNESCO, the institution for intercultural understanding and respect for the opinion of others.

Also endangered is UNESCO's capacity for action and that of the 320 or more NGOs that work with it. For how will a minister of culture whose closest associates have been convicted of corruption persuade the international community that he will properly manage the institution's finances? Some larger countries have already confidentially said that it will be necessary for them to review their relations with UNESCO under so unqualified a director and in such a dishonest environment.

We call upon intellectuals, scientists, artists and scholars the world over, from north to south, from Western and non-Western countries, from Africa, from the Arab world and Asia, and from Egypt itself, to protest the election of Farouk Hosni.

The minister who has for 20 years managed Egypt's cultural heritage by leaving the door open to corruption, hastening Egypt's brain-drain and the disappearance of its treasures, cannot hold the foremost cultural position in the world.

To sign this appeal, please click here and put your name and profession under "comments." It will be added to the list of signers.

Comments

[William50]

Under the direction of the UN we, the USA have gone to war. Under the management of the UN millions if not billions of dollars that have just been lost. To be truthful I think the UN should have to be moved to the most deadly area of Africa, the very proud should have to live in the city in Africa and the USA should not use military weapons or personnel by the direction of the UN.

[Wozzeck]

Trillions of dollars have been squandered by Bush-Cheney and the neocons who engineered the Iraq fiasco. Don't blame the UN. This was a "homeland" production.

[Wael Nawara]

Indeed

[Khirad]

I, too, was pretty confounded by the above statement.

[CroatianCritter]

Finally, here is a statement he made about the veil issue on wikipedia.

Farouk Hosni sparked controversy among many religious Muslims, particularly the clergy, after stating publicly that the traditional Muslim veil for women, the hijab, "is a step backward for Egyptian women". Hosny said, "women with their beautiful hair are like flowers and should not be covered up" and "religion today is linked only to appearances, while every woman's veil should be inside her, not outside." The dominance of the conservative party in Egypt also leads to a very conservative religious mindset. Farouk Hosni's views that men should be veiled if girls are and that men's hair is no more or less sinful than women's hair were shocking. Also he publicly denounced the "Moufti," people who are specially educated in the Koran and trained to give their views of Islam, and he said that they are worthless and are giving faulty image to the true Islam.

Sounds like a true religious radical to me!

[Khirad]

I didn't get that sense from the article. His censorship, unlike, say, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Iran is probably more often political than cultural (except of course, where the two dovetail, as with the hijab question), whereas the latter is both. I oppose the rounding up of dissidents wherever they are. I must admit though that my familiarity with Egypt is not great, and that I'm merely speculating upon what little I know of this US-backed authoritarian government.

[Tavallai]

What sort of obsessive type calls for the protest of an election that hasn't happened yet?

The key word in this largely rhetorical question being "election."

If something is put up to vote, there is always some chance that the outcome is something awful. America got Bush for 8 years, France got Sarkozy, and Gaza got Hamas.

We cannot stop accepting the results of votes - whether for nations or NGOs - simply because they don't suit our agenda.

The man in question is one of 8 candidates for a job. Let's let UNESCO's voting body decide, rathervthan mounting a smear campaign... Maybe you can even do something positive for once, like promoting one of the seven whom you DO find conscionable.

I know, it's tough for a self-annoinrted "intellectual" to be pragmatic...

[Liberal2]

The problem with the UN is that even criminal nations can be members in "good standing."

[ram1952]

Like Israel?

[larry278]

Include the USA among UN's criminal nations. W started a couple of unjust wars & Pres Obama is continuing W's unjust wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. We may see the UN deciding to leave New York City for Geneva shortly.