GOLDEN MUMMIES
violence that led to a tourist exodus
in the late 1990s back into everyday
life. The Building and Development
Party, which won 13 seats in the 2011
lower parliament election as part of
a coalition of conservative Salafist
groups, is the political wing of the El
Gama’a El Islamiyya movement. In
1997, it claimed responsibility for a
terrorist attack on foreigners visiting
Hatshepsut’s temple in Luxor that
claimed the lives of 48 tourists.
A MESSY HOME
The tourist drought is just as evident outside Egypt’s urban core.
Tribesmen and Bedouins have taken
to squatting in the half-built resort
complexes off the Halaieb We Shalafein highway, which runs down the
Red Sea coast. Inside the all-inclusives that have remained open, Russian women in string bikinis and British couples have their pick of poolside
lounge chairs. A creeping stillness is
the only sign of revolution.
Further north, in the Sinai, hotels
have been less affected by the turmoil.
Though occupancy rates remain low in
Sharm el Sheik, the Russians and Chinese have helped refill the nightclubs
and spas. The Sinai, after all, has been
a hot spot for decades.
“A tourist doesn’t care to participate
in regime change,” says Minister Abder
el Nour. “This is a society in crisis.”
It is not uncommon for Englishspeaking students and unemployed
HUFFINGTON
07.22.12
tourism workers to apologize, unsolicited, to foreigners about Cairo’s
now impenetrable traffic, slowed by
the roadblocks surrounding Tahrir,
and for the shouting on the streets.
Hospitality is not merely an industry
for Egyptians and though they are
proud of their revolution, they feel
embarrassed inviting strangers into
a messy home.
“It is not always like this,” a
friendly student named Alexander
told Huffington, near a burka store
in Cairo’s Islamic quarter. “We are
not an angry people.”
Though a student can’t personally
deliver that message to the Western
world, Zahi Hawass can.
“I used to tell them that if they
need money, our heritage was a way
“PEOPLE ARE JEALOUS
OF SUCCESS.”
to get it,” says Hawass. “If Good
Morning America needs five minutes
about pyramids, it can make a billion
dollars for this country.”
There’s a genius to Hawass’s costuming. By never stepping out of character, he has avoided stepping into
the muck of regional politics. Despite
being unceremoniously fired, Hawass
has emerged from the revolution with