Word: nasser
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Like Turkey's Kemal Atatürk, President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt has been determined to force his country into the 20th century by ridding it of the relics of the past. To an extent, he has succeeded. Skyscrapers have risen to replace block after block of slum huts in Cairo. Few city kids now roam the streets barefooted. At Nasser's behest, almost no one wears the little red fez any longer. He has even managed to reduce the number of beggars that once plagued tourists...
...galabiya, the loose, ankle-length cotton garment that looks like a nightshirt and acts as an air conditioner of sorts in Egypt's sweltering heat. Fellah (peasant) and townsman alike have worn the flowing gown since the days of the pharaohs, and no amount of cajoling by Nasser's Ministry of Culture and National Guidance has been able to convince Egyptians that they should switch to that restricting jacket-shirt-and-pants that those strange, perspiring foreigners seem to prefer...
...Nasser is a tenacious leader, and once again his government went on the attack against the galabiya. State-operated cooperative stores put on sale 420,000 officially approved cotton suits consisting of trousers and jacket, retailing from $1.50 to $3, half the price of the average galabiya. To make the new attire more enticing, the suits come in grey or blue, or gaudy, striped red. In support of the anti-galabiya campaign, the state-controlled TV, press and radio have started a Madison Avenue-style campaign, with songs and commercials extolling the virtue of jackets and pants: they...
...overthrow us. Beware of visiting African delegations that come to enjoy your hospitality and praise you to your face, but stir up insurrection behind your back." To the nervous titters of such practitioners of insurrection as Algeria's Ahmed ben Bella and Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, he took a cut at that African holy of holies, nonalignment. "We all say we are neutral, but we all favor anybody who helps us," Tsiranana said. "If you ask me the truth, I'll say mais oui, I am allied." Then he hit home with a telling blow...
Some of the holes in the boycott are winked at by the Arabs. Hilton hotels and Trans World Airlines go on operating in Egypt-even though both also operate in Israel-because President Nasser is aware that they bring in tourist dollars. Blacklisted firms are tolerated by some Arab states if their products are badly needed. Though both have been on the blacklist for some time, Continental Motors still ships parts to Jordan, and Fairbanks, Morse goes right on selling water pumps to Arab nations...