(CHAPTER V)
BEHIND THE CORRESPONDENTS
CURTAIN
"In what other country do you find eighty-five per
cent of the people illiterate? . . . Education means
social revolution. They don't want us to think, to
speak out, or ask questions."
Students of Fouad University, Cairo
AT TEN o'clock the next morning I met Gamal at the
trolley-stop in front of Fouad, Egypt's leading university. Together we walked toward the entrance. Here stood, side by
side, a solid phalanx of soldiers of the Royal Egyptian Army,
each armed with rifle, cartridge belt, metal helmet, and threefoot long bamboo staves filled with lead. Behind them were
arrayed another row of soldiers, armed and carrying extra-long
(I judged them to be about ten feet) black rawhide whips
tapering to wired points. There was also an assortment of
police in the usual black uniforms, and a number of political
police and plainclothesmen. Every student had to show his
credentials to the commanding officer, then successively had
to run the gauntlet of checkpoints to the classrooms.
I began to understand what Gamal meant when he said:
"We must be careful." The guards looked at my papers and
shook their heads. For clearance we had to go to the Agouza
Police Station, located conveniently near by. A few paces