Can Egypt, tourism, alcohol and bikinis survive?

Woman in bikini on an Egyptian beach.

CAIRO: Worries are abounding in Egypt that the rise of Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative al-Nour Salafist Party will mean an end to alcohol, bikinis and ultimately tourism to the North African country.

Over the past few months, conservative Islamic leaders have spoken out against the booze and bikinis, and have called for the country to crackdown on beach life in the country and demanded women in Egypt should don the headscarf in accordance with Islamic traditions.

Leading the charge is the al-Nour Party, which has already secured 24 percent of the votes in the first two rounds of the parliamentary election, with third round results expected in the near future. Speaking late last month at a tourism conference, they called for “beaches to be segregated, to bar the selling of alcohol inside Egypt” and said bikinis were “un-Islamic.”

Their statements echoed that of firebrand conservative Islamist and potential presidential candidate Hazem Saleh Abu Ismail, who called for bikinis to be banned and all women to wear the hijab, or veil.

All of these issues are hitting a head in today’s Egypt, a compilation of political and social tendencies. Many of which battle one another based on a person’s socio-economic background.

In a nutshell, the wealthier one is, the less likely that person is to support bans on women’s attire, or alcohol for that matter. Head to any of the dozens of local bars in downtown Cairo and there are few empty chairs to be found. Egypt, despite many interpretations, is not an ultra-conservative society.

However, it is among the poorer segment of society that conservatism has a strong pull. The latest elections revealed a startling reality facing the young, largely middle-class activists, who took to the streets in January 2011 and who have continued to pressure the military junta for change.

“I am not a rich person, but I do believe in the right of people to do what they want as long as it doesn’t hurt society,” Ahmed, a young protester, told me as we waited in late November to head back into the frontlines of the clashes between the police and protesters. “This is why we fight.”

The likes of Abu Ismail and others are growing steadily among the lower classes, and their message of Islam is resonating. The liberal groups in the country have been unable to create in roads into these segments of society, and the Islamists have taken advantage, purporting a brand of Islam that had for decades remained on the fringes of Egyptian society.

It is easy to fearmonger that the Islamists are coming, but this doesn’t deliver a larger, more nuanced picture of what Egypt is in terms of demographics.

Often, political analysts have pointed to the “Tahrir divide” – I’ve done it – and how their views and hopes for Egypt are not part of the mainstream and majority. While there is some truth to this argument, it fails to encompass those who went to Tahrir in January and who continue to return.

It is the middle-class. The silent majority, who when they come together and join forces with each other, can change dramatically the landscape of Egypt.

To blame for the rising diatribes on Islam, Islamists, bikinis and booze are media, who continue to press the issue, focusing on the “crazies” who tell the world Egypt wants no more bikinis, no more booze, no more tourists.

These arguments are countered by an elite upper-class who espouses a Western identity understood by most of Europe and North America. But these reports fail to discuss in detail the driving force behind Egypt’s January 25 revolution and the continued protests today: the middle-class.

This middle-class is a combination of western and Egyptian. It is a uniquely Egyptian experience that is glossed over by the international, and often the local, media. These individuals, for the most part, do not speak perfect English, are not creating buzz on social networks, but are the real engine for Egyptian society.

These mainly youthful Egyptians are growing in strength. Their fear is dissolving with time and they are at the frontlines of the “clashes” with the military and police.

At the end of the day, they are the future of Egypt and while conservative on many levels, they also head to the beach, in bikinis, drink alcohol and enjoy life. They will eventually, if the media give them a voice, be the winners of the Egyptian revolution.

We will see on January 25 if they can once more, show the world the strength of the people.

BM

Tags: Alcohol, Bikini, featured, Islam, Tourism

Section: Egypt, Latest News, Op-ed, Travel