The Arab League will be the guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year. Arab culture will be the main theme of this year’s fair. For people who appreciate culture and know what it means to a nation’s well-being, Arab participation in one of the most important cultural events in the world, must be outstanding. If it is a chance to prove and show the world the beauties of Arab culture and to contradict stereotypes of terrorism, then this is a golden opportunity.
Yet this golden opportunity is being wasted as is always the case in Arab countries. The Arab League has come under fire from writers for not being able to make a serious schedule and prepare for the fair. Writers say if the Arab League is not able to organize summits and get the Arab countries to join in a meeting, then it surely won’t be able to do so for a much smaller event. The league did, however, manage to offer $3 million of the estimated $6 million that participation will cost.
Apart from blaming the Arab League, it seems that the Arab countries are unable to achieve unity in this matter as in all others. Only six countries have agreed to pay the costs — other countries have problems understanding the importance of such events. It is strange that when it comes to football, the Arab world is always ready; the money is there and we are bombarded with slogans about its vitality and importance. Football always comes before books here — but is it a question of money or mentality?
How many millions of dollars do we spend on recreational projects, shopping centers and stadiums? If we have money for those things, it is only logical that we have it for a cultural event concerned with our image abroad. We have to face it: we do need to change our image. The Arab is associated with terrorism these days, and this negative image is used against us by others so when it comes into our hands to present another image of our culture, we sit down and blame each other. If the Arab League needs help in organizing such a participation, should not all the cultural bodies in the Arab world help?
The League got the Arab Publisher’s Association to organize the participation which makes sense since the publishers know best about these events. Yet as the chairman of the association acknowledges in a report published on a German website, there are “problems with the financing and the stalled preparations.” He emphasizes that the ministers of culture in the different countries are now doing everything in their power to make the event a success. The chairman seems a bit optimistic since from reading writers’ comments in other papers, they do not believe that the ministers are doing very much. As an example of what is not being done, in January the Arab League selected 170 works of Arabic literature to be translated into German and English. Six months remain until the fair and we don’t yet know that a single one has been done.
Such countries as Morocco and Lebanon are taking it into their own hands to participate in the fair as individual countries rather under the banner of the Arab League. They cannot be blamed for doing so since they are eager to be there and take part. The main question remains: Are we going to take advantage of this opportunity or just sit around complaining of the bad image we have in the West?
