You should. It will give you some insight into the culture and politics of Cairo in the early 20th Century.
This was a time when the Muslim Brotherhood was gaining political power in response to the British control of Egypt.
It was also a time when Egyptian wives were told that the only time that they should be allowed to leave there homes was upon their marriage and their death.
Egypt, like so many African and Middle Eastern countries, decolonized and advanced during the 20th Century. While some other African countries went to hell after they gained their independence, Egypt did the opposite.
Mid-Century Egypt had growing wealth and was culturally rich with a thriving film, television and music industry bringing us among other things, the amazing Oum Kalsoum or Kalthoum...it translates different ways...The Diva of Arabic music.
And don't you find these photos of graduating classes of Cairo University interesting?
University of Cairo 2004 - All but a couple of the women are veiled
It's like the unveiled Oum Kalsoum never existed.
(hat tip Phyllis Chesler for the photos)
So now there are thousands in the streets, looting, the internet turned off, the banks closed, travel shut down and tourists trapped, will President (for Life) Hosni Mubarak step down?
After decades of giving billions per year in foreign aid to Egypt, I assume that Mubarak has hidden away hundreds of millions in his Swiss bank accounts....don't they all. At some point he will have to leave, but will the Egyptian revolution lead to another Iran, we shall see.
