Al Shaab (newspaper)

Al Shaab (in Arabic الشعب meaning The People) was the official newspaper of the Egyptian Islamic Labour Party (formerly known as the Socialist Labour Party). The paper existed between 1979 and 2000.

Al Shaab
TypeDaily newspaper
Owner(s)Egyptian Islamic Labour Party
Founded1979
LanguageArabic
Ceased publicationMay 2000
HeadquartersCairo

History and profile

Al Shaab was started in 1979,[1] and the first issue appeared on 1 May 1979.[2] The paper initially advocated a mix of socialism and nationalism similar to that advocated by Nasser.[3] Al Shaab considered the stay of the former Iranian ruler, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in Egypt in 1979 as having negative consequences for Egypt's national interests.[4]

From 1985 to 1993, the paper was edited by Adel Hussein, a Marxist turned political Islamist.[5] In May 1993 Adel Hussein resigned from the editorship to become general secretary of the Socialist Labour Party, and was succeeded as editor by his nephew Magdi Hussein.[6]

The newspaper's oppositional Islamism repeatedly brought it into confrontation with government authorities in Egypt. In 1993 Abd Al-Munim Gamal Al-Din Abd Al-Munim from Al Shaab was jailed for several years under indefinite detention for "insulting religion" and "publishing indecent photographs".[7] Shortly afterwards the newspaper's military correspondent Abdel-Sattar Abu Hussein was held in a military prison for allegedly publishing "top secret information", Hilmi Murad was held overnight in a police station for criticising a cabinet minister, and Adel Hussein spent 25 days in police custody after anti-government literature was supposed to have been found on his plane seat.[3] On 24 February 1998, the editor-in-chief and a cartoonist of the paper was sentenced to one year in prison at hard labor due to libeling the sons of a former interior minister, Hassan Al Alfi.[8][9]

In 2000 Al Shaab printed a hostile review of Haidar Haidar's book A Banquet for Seaweed, which had been reissued by the Ministry of Culture as part of its Modern Arab Classics series. Criticising the government for thereby promoting "rank atheism and blasphemy", the review helped spark a riot at Al-Azhar University, and the newspaper kept up pressure by denouncing secular literary figures including Tayeb Salih. The government responded by arresting some junior Ministry of Culture figures for "assaulting revealed religion", shutting down Al Shaab, and banning Haidar's book.[10] On 29 May 2000 the paper was again closed down following the freezing of the activities of the Socialist Labour Party.[1][2]

See also

References
  1. Nathalie Bernard-Maugiron (1999). "Freedom of the press in Egypt: Checks and Balances". Law Journal Library. 6: 22–43. doi:10.1163/221129800X00032.
  2. "Al Shaab". Library of Congress. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  3. Amira Howeidy, Opposition blaster Archived 21 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Al-Ahram Weekly, (244), 26 October-1 November 1995.
  4. Hanan Hammad (2009). "Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution in the Egyptian Press: From Fascination to Condemnation". Radical History Review. 2009 (105): 39. doi:10.1215/01636545-2009-003.
  5. Andrew Hammond (2005). Pop Culture Arab World!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-85109-449-3.
  6. François Burgat (2003). Face to Face With Political Islam. London: I.B.Tauris. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-86064-213-5.
  7. David P. Forsythe, ed. (2009). Encyclopedia of Human Rights. London: Oxford University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-19-533402-9.
  8. "English-language newspaper banned in Egypt". Associated Press. 22 March 1998. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  9. Gamal M. Selim (2015). The International Dimensions of Democratization in Egypt: The Limits of Externally-Induced Change. Heidelberg; New York: Springer Cham. p. 68. ISBN 978-3-319-16700-8.
  10. Scott W. Hibbard (2010). Religious Politics and Secular States: Egypt, India, and the United States. Baltimore, MD: JHU Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-8018-9669-9.
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