the paradox of Egyptian-Israeli relations
Reader comment on item: Learning Hebrew in Unlikely Places

Submitted by Rebecca Moulds (United States), Dec 23, 2007 at 16:00

I find it very odd that Egyptians wish to learn Hebrew, from my experience of living in Cairo for ten years. I wouldn't get too excited about it, although I did fly directly from Cairo to Tel Aviv this summer, and was surprised such a flight even existed.

In the Cairo suburb of Ma'adi where I lived, the Israeli Ambassador also lived, and the roads around his residence were blocked with concrete blocks. My driver would emit expletives whenever he forgot about the road blocks, and his hatred of Israel and the Ambassador was obvious. He even told me that he "hated Israel" and I felt this emotion stemmed from Egypt losing the 1967 and 1973 wars. After all, what had Israel to do with an Egyptian driver?

Like London taxi drivers, Egyptian drivers are also very opinionated in their politics. I never told him that my grandfather was Jewish, he might have kicked me out of the car! Yes, the roads were blocked, but the US and British Embassies also have road blocks around them, as do most of the more important embassies. Evidently the Egyptian government feels it is important to protect the diplomatic community, even the Israeli one.

"Know thy enemy" is an old phrase, and by learning the language of your enemy, you may be able to infiltrate into that society, although it is not a guarantee that you will really know or understand them.

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