Evening star., 1962-05-31
Continued From PageA-1


less tales Of woe. And, beyond
this. an those who profited
under the earlier regime-from
shopkeepers to camel drivers to
oartenders-are always signing
loudly for the good old days"
For the visitor, too, the revo-
luton has its depressing side.
Much Of the sparkle and ex-
citement Of Egypt has disap-
peared within the suffocating
embrace Of the reforming re-
gime. The Pashas have van
lshed. The Mohammed Ali
Club, once the social and in
tellectual center of Cairo, is
now gloomy and deserted.
In the old days." says a
friend, there were two cocktail
parties and three dinners every
night. Now if you invite any
one to your house, they'll be
there all evening because there's
no place else to CO."
Even the belly-dancers-the
one-time glory of Egyptian
night life-have fallen under
the. blight. The girls, the music
and the contortions are much
the same. But a horrendous
contraption known in the trade
as the "Nasser chemise" has
robbed the whole performance
Of its erstwhile pristine cham.
From such weighty evidence,
1t is easy to gather the i'm
preston that Egypt today is
a hopeless place. ruled by a
regime which is forced by its
own mistakes and failures into
an increasingly harsh pattern
OF repression. where the public
mood ranges from apathy to
outright respair. Fortunately,
however. the fact that a con-
siderable number of intelligent
and articulate Egyptians be-
lieve this does not necessarily
mean that it is true.
What is true is that the
Egyptian revolution has been
unusually slow in getting off
the ground. 1t was, as Mr.. |
Nasser himself admits, an i'm
provised affair with no very
solid philosophy behind it. After
a number Of distractions and |
false starts this philosophy of |
what Mr.. NaSser calls Arab |
socialism" is only now begin
ming to take shape.
The same thing applies to
the organization of the State
itself. Over the past 10 years
- and especially in recent
months-a way of life, an eco
nomic system and a small but
dominating social class have
been Systematically destroyed.
And the outlines of what is
being built in its place can be
only dimly perceived.
1t is also undoubtedly true
that the failures and mistakes
of the past decade have often
been more spectacular than the
successes.
Original Aim Achieved
The original aim of the revo-
luton, to drive the imperial
lists out of Egypt" has been
achieved. But it also led to
the near catastrophe of Suez
and a psychological blow from
which Mr.. Nasser still has not
recovered. Subsequent repres-
Sive measure against various
national minorities - French,
English. Greek. Italian, Jewish
and Lebanese - have certainly
"Egyptianized" the landscape.
But the mass exodus OF CneSe
foreign groups in recent months
has also deprived Egypt of a
major resource in human tai
ent and energy.
On the international level,
things have not gone much bet
ter. The role of Mr.. Nasser
as the self appointed scourge of
Israel has led to little except
an excessive military establish
ment which the country can
not afford. His pretentions as
the champion of Arab unity"
collapsed humiliatingly last
September with the abrupt ex-
plosion of the United Arab Re-
public.
On the other hand, in the
eyes of his countrymen = and
others as well-Mr. Nasser has
shown real talent in his cold