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Lifestyle BY GAIL SCOTT The Washington Diplomat

Arab League Envoy Bids Farewell

After almost a decade in Washington as ambassador of the League of Arab States, and the previous five years as the body’s top representative to the United Nations, Hussein Hassouna and his wife Nevine are officially leaving U.S. soil after their long posting. Their tenure in Washington has spanned the devastating lows of 9/11 and the exhausting but exhilarating highs of the Arab Spring.

“I don’t call it retiring,” Hassouna said a few days before a big farewell party at the Bethesda, Md., home of Omar and Yasmine Ghorbal. “I will be ‘moving on,’ going back to Egypt and being a political activist, making whatever contributions I can to the new Egypt.”

Ambassador Hassouna served as political officer here from 1978 to 1982, under Omar’s father, Egyptian Ambassador Ashraf Ghorbal, when President Carter successfully brought Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Camp David for 13 days of meetings that led to the famous Camp David Accords in September 1978.

“I was immediately involved,” said Hassouna, proud to be part of that legendary peace process. “We had just arrived in Washington as newlyweds. After one week, I remember being locked up for six months at those follow-up meetings at Blair House. We worked all day and into the night. I kept going home to my new bride late at night — even as late as 2 a.m.”

Despite the personal inconvenience, times were sweet then in Washington for this Arab couple. He and Nevine fondly remember being on the White House lawn on March 26, 1979, for the historic signing ceremony and, pipes in Nevine, “dancing at the White House. We did lots of dancing then. The atmosphere was very friendly here for Arabs.”

After 9/11, things of course changed. The Hassounas worked hard to make sure Americans understood that “those terrible terrorists attacks were attacks on all of us,” Hassouna said.

“Those terrorists who attacked the U.S. didn’t represent the Muslim or the Arab world. We strongly condemned their acts; they were attacks on humanity, not only Americans. They killed Christians, Jews and Muslims from a variety of nationalities. The only way for us to counter these terrorists is to work together. This should not divide us. On the contrary, it should make us more determined to corroborate.”

As for the Arab Spring that is redefining life back home, Hassouna called the movement “a source of hope and pride. The region is becoming more democratic, more respectful of universal human needs. I had a feeling it was going to happen but I thought that the change would be an evolution, not a revolution.”

Hassouna’s immediate plans returning to Egypt involve supporting his candidate for the Egyptian presidency, Amr Moussa, most recently secretary-general of the Arab League until June of last year.

“I think Amr Moussa is the right man to be president now. I will be one of his advisors during the campaign. He is a man of experience, a liberal to guide Egypt in a new path. He was foreign minister and secretary-general of the Arab League and we have been colleagues for 40 years,” Hassouna said, adding that he hopes Egypt will become even more of a secular state.

Although Hassouna will be leaving diplomatic life, he looks forward to teaching at the university level and “sharing what I have learned with the leaders of tomorrow.” He will also continue his work with the United Nations International Law Commission, to which he was just re-elected to a new five-year term, winning more votes than any other candidate among his African and Arab group.

During his tenure with the Arab League, Hassouna created several new initiatives. What Washingtonians may remember best is the fantastic three-week “Arabesque” $10 million program at the Kennedy Center in February 2008, when 800 participants from all over the Arab world came to Washington to inspire, thrill and inform Americans about the depth of Arab culture.

Despite the costs, Hassouna says, “Arabesque should be repeated — culture brings people together.”

On the economic front, through the Arab League he initiated the U.S.-Arab Economic Forums in Washington, Detroit and Houston “to bring Arab and American business people together for their own common interest.” Hassouna has also organized interfaith dialogues in Washington, as he did when he was Egypt’s ambassador to Morocco between 1992 and 1996. The ambassador has been busy outside of Washington too.

“I have been working closely with the Arab-American community in the U.S., which is about 3 million people, in creating the first Arab American Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, as well as other joint cultural activities aimed at promoting Arab culture and heritage of the community all over the United States.”

Mostly, this Cambridge-trained lawyer said he wants the United States, and the American president, to become more “hands on” in helping Egypt recover economically and in breaking the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

“I hope that the new U.S. administration will play a leadership role after the presidential elections in bringing about a just settlement of the Palestinian problem…. The American president, like President [Jimmy] Carter did, must be personally involved,” Hassouna said.

“I also hope that the U.S. president, who will preside in 2012 over the Group of Eight industrial countries, will lead an international collective effort to support Egypt economically,” he added. “Last summer [at the G8 summit] in Deauville, we received a lot of promises, pledges of $11 billion, but now it is time to deliver. We have a real economic challenge after this year of instability. We are looking for tourism and foreign investment.

“From the U.S. we need debt forgiveness and to negotiate a free trade agreement,” Hassouna continued.

“We need help and we need it fast — the same from the Europeans. The revolution has not yet achieved all its goals; we have democracy and freedom, there are no more jobs, not better health care or housing. This is quite serious. It is a critical stage in our history. Without help, people will be angrier and when they are angry and hungry they will go to the streets again. This instability can lead to violence and violence can spread. “We cannot be passive or just complain. We must be pro-active. If we fail, our neighbors will fail. If we succeed, it will have implications for the whole region,” Hassouna warned.

As for his time in Washington, Hassouna says he is proud of his record. “I have always tried to be a voice for the Arab world at a difficult time. Nevine and I have made good friends with the American people and have enjoyed American arts and culture at the Kennedy Center, Strathmore and the intellectual life at universities and Washington think tanks,” he said.

“Most importantly, I want to continue to be a bridge between the United States and the Arab world. After all these years, I have good contacts in both worlds. I want to strengthen those ties for even better understanding. After traveling all over the United States — speaking in business centers, universities, churches, mosques and synagogues — I realize, more than ever, that we have common interests and we need mutual respect foremost.”

Britain’s Big Show

Calling the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics “the greatest show on Earth,” Britain’s Deputy Chief of Mission Philip Barton celebrated the beginning of the official 200-day countdown until the 2012 London Summer Games with two of America’s hopeful competitors: Olympic Silver Medalist and U.S. National Fencing Champion Tim Morehouse and cyclist Justin Widhalm, who’s also a recovering Iraq War veteran. Members from the British School of Washington’s student leadership team were also on hand at the British Embassy reception on Jan. 6 to pick up hints from the athletes and catch “Olympic fever.”

“Let me just say what a tremendous honor it is for London to become the first city to host the modern Olympic Games three times,” Barton told the audience, “and to welcome the Paralympics back to the city where sport for the disabled began.”

It was in 1948 when a small group of British World War II veterans began the Paralympics for the disabled. This original competition grew into one of the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century. Now, the Paralympics is the largest sporting event in the world after the Olympics. In the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, more than 4,000 athletes participated, while 11,028 competed in the Summer Olympics that year.

Paralympic hopeful, retired American army sniper Justin Widhalm, who was severely injured in Iraq in 2006, is quite an inspiration. He earned a silver medal in shooting and placed sixth in his first mass-start cycling road race in Colorado Springs during the 2010 Warrior Games, part of the USO Wounded Warrior Program for which Widhalm is now a manager.

Despite his serious, multiple injuries and years of rehabilitative, athletic training, Widhalm is a prime example of determination and resilience. “I named my little daughter ‘London’ to inspire me. Participating in London is my goal and I want to remind myself of my goal every time I think of her or say, ‘I love you London.’

“I have set myself up not to fail,” Widhalm told the students. “I am not training for the trails. I am training to win!” Along with London 2012, he hopes to qualify for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games as well.

Olympic-hopeful Tim Morehouse, an American fencer who took home a Silver Medal at the 2008 Beijing Games and was the U.S. National Champion in 2010 and 2011, also told his personal story, showing the students his medals and giving the students a few practice bouts with their plastic “swords.” Another “student” of Morehouse was President Obama when Morehouse “taught” America’s president to fence during a White House lawn promotion in support of Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. However, Rio de Janeiro won the right to host those Games.

Morehouse explained to the British School students how the history of fencing, one of the four original Olympic sports, first got him hooked on the sport. “Originally, it was the sport of kings and nobility who fought over honor. I liked that image. In fact, to this day, the queen still has an official dualist to stand in for her.”

Involving children is one of the main success stories for these London Games whose signature program, “International Inspiration,” has already reached 12 million young people in 19 countries — including Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, South Africa, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda and Zambia.

This groundbreaking program seeks to encourage young people worldwide to choose a sport and participate in physical education to create a personal, long-term transformational change long after these Games are over. For example, in Bangladesh, a country plagued by regular floods, 250,000 children are learning how to swim. The Indian program encourages more girls to participate in sports, while Jordan’s sports curriculum is being tailored to include more marginalized children such as refugees and the disabled.

London’s multiyear build-up campaign to the 2012 Olympics has been planned to showcase a modern Britain capable of producing the most sustainable and greenest Olympics in history.

The Olympic Park itself has called for a huge ecological cleanup to create 250 acres of new parklands on formerly contaminated industrial land in East London that will become the largest new urban park in the U.K. in over 100 years. More than 220 buildings were demolished and almost all the materials were recycled. The land itself was “washed” by five huge soil-washing machines, which decontaminated the land of oil, petrol, tar, cyanide, arsenic and lead. In addition, 4,000 new trees will take root and the River Lea and its banks have been cleaned up to create new animal habitats.

The country has also the enlisted the help of a wide range of Britons to help in the Olympic endeavor. Britain’s richest man, for example, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is contributing heavily to Anish Kapoor’s signature red, 377-foot-high “Orbit” tower in the Olympic Park, London’s innovative and permanent version of the Eiffel Tower. British fashion designer Zandra Rhodes is leading a Cultural Olympiad project in Coventry to create a 30-foot Lady Godiva puppet, while BAE systems is using cutting-edge methods to improve Paralympic wheelchair performance.

Some of the most intriguing elements of the London Games will be the transformation of the historic Horse Guards Parade — the setting for the wedding parade of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge last year — into a contemporary sandy area to host beach volleyball competitions, as well as the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s task to record 205 national anthems with original, new scores. By March, more than 8,000 people, each with inspirational stories of their own personal triumphs or history of helping their communities, will have been chosen to be the official Olympic torch bearers from all over the United Kingdom.

And after the Games are over, the Olympic Village, built to house 17,000 athletes and officials, will be transformed into 2,800 new homes and over 1,350 affordable homes.

“The U.K. is committed to building a long-term legacy from the Games,” said Barton in closing, “laying a foundation of growth and opportunity that will reach far beyond the 28 days of competition next summer.”

Tunisia Celebrates Revolution’s
First Anniversary

With strong words of praise and support, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock joined Tunisian Ambassador Mohamed Salah Tekaya and Tunisian Minister of Finance Jaloul Ayed to celebrate the first anniversary of Tunisia’s revolution at a Kennedy Center concert on Jan. 9.

“One year ago, the singular actions of Mohamed Bouazizi sparked a revolution in Tunisia,” Stock said. “Inspired by his sacrifice, the people of Tunisia stood up. Soon, protesters throughout the region demanded democratic transitions in their countries.”

Bouazizi, the 26-year-old Tunisian fruit vendor desperate because of lack of opportunity under the 23-year iron rule of Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, set himself on fire in protest, which led to his death and the history-changing protests.

“That the actions of one person,” Stock said, “could catalyze the Arab Spring, affect millions, and lead to change based on the will of the people, is the very essence of democracy.”

Stock also praised how “Tunisia and its neighbors are building new governments — of the people, by the people, and for the people. That’s a challenge that we in the United States still work at, every single day. We understand the complexity of maintaining a free and fair democracy — and we also understand its value.”

“The United States is committed to supporting democratic transitions throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and wherever people yearn for honesty, transparency and justice from their leaders,” she added. “We are particularly committed to supporting Tunisia in its journey to democracy.”

She also noted that more than two centuries ago, Tunisia was among the first nations to recognize a young, democratic United States of America. “Today, we are proud to return that favor.”

“In the last year, the Tunisian people have sacrificed so much, but they have also achieved the seemingly impossible. Their revolution and their sacrifice have opened the door to an exciting present and a promising future. Tunisia is to be lauded for its progress toward democracy. Looking forward, the road to democracy isn’t without challenges, but we have great confidence that the Tunisian people will meet and overcome them.”

She concluded: “The Tunisian people have reinforced the free world’s faith in the power of democracy and in the voice of the people.”

For the first anniversary, Tunisian Ambassador Tekaya wanted “to demonstrate the friendship between the United States and Tunisia and a chance for Americans and Tunisians to celebrate together.”

“Since the revolution had been achieved to fulfill aspirations of dignity and freedom, a cultural evening seemed to be the most appropriate” he explained. “And with the Kennedy Center’s prestige, what better location to do something special to present the new image of Tunisia.”

“Hannibal Barca,” a symphony by Tunisian Finance Minister Ayed, who is also a well-known composer, was a natural choice for the evening. Ayed, present for the American premiere of his work conducted by Jean-Charles Biondi, reminded this audience full of proud Tunisians how one single person could change history. Not lost on the performers or the audience were the similarities of events that took place centuries earlier when Hannibal Barca, a childhood hero of Ayed and the legendary military commander of Carthage, lived during another period of tremendous tension.

“Hannibal left an amazing impact on Tunisia and the world,” Ayed told the said, “and so has Mohamed Bouazizi.”

Ayed’s music, in three movements, celebrates Hannibal’s victorious march when he took his army, with war elephants, from Iberia over the Pyrenees and the Alps into Northern Italy. The music tells the incredible saga of Hannibal, his mythical perseverance, the incredible challenges he encountered, the anguish of his mountain crossing and, finally, the emotion of his victory.

Ayed pointed out how meaningful it was to have the 25 musicians who had traveled from Tunisia for the occasion “woven together” — seated and playing not separately from the Americans but amid the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, side by side, on stage.

Stock closed her remarks by also emphasizing America’s support for Tunisia’s future.

“As you continue to build a bright future for Tunisia, the American people will stand by you every step of the way,” she said. “We congratulate you and are inspired by you.”