This is terror
that surpasses words
that extends
the bounds of terrorism
beyond inexpressible
beyond unimaginable
beyond inconceivable

Unspeakable
unutterable
inexpressible

That they who endured so much
should, themselves, inflict so much
should inflict so much pain on others

Anguish beyond words

Israel
Palestine

Palestine

* Dennis Brutus is a veteran of the South African liberation struggle, a leading figure in the global justice movement and a world-renowned poet.
* Please send comments to or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

International campaign for freedom of thought and creativity and for solidarity with the Egyptian novelist and writer Nawal El Saadawi.

The Egyptian writer and novelist Nawal El Saadawi, well known both in the Arab world and internationally, is facing a political and religious campaign mounted against her by the authorities of Al-Azhar. Basing themselves on her play entitled God resigns at the Summit Meeting published during January 2007 in Cairo, they are accusing her of apostasy and disrespect for the principles of Islam.

The stage play is a work of fiction and should be judged by the men and women who read works destined for the theatre and not by religious dignitaries whose areas of concern are totally different. To bring a writer to trial before a court relying on dangerous accusations of this kind is a license for her assassination and can encourage any mad man who might cross her path to kill her.

Accusations such as this which remind us of the era of slavery and the Middle Ages, and which hardly correspond to the values which should hold sway in the 21st century are being levelled against a woman of letters, a woman from the medical profession who has given to the Arab world 45 works ranging from novels, plays, short stories, autobiography to scientific and intellectual studies, which have served the cause of women's liberation and that of men, and have been translated into 30 languages covering different regions of our globe.

This is not the first time that Nawal El Saadawi has had to face campaigns of this kind. A case was raised against her, attempting to separate her forcibly from her husband. The accusation here also was that of apostasy and her name figured for many years on a death list.

We the signatories of this petition demand that this repressive campaign come to an end immediately. We call upon all men and women of conscience all over the world, in the Arab countries and in Egypt, to take the action they see fit in order to defend freedom of thought and creativity. We call upon all the associations and organisations of civil society, unions of workers, journalists, all free women and men in the different countries, on the associations and organisations of women and on democratic progressive political parties to join us in our efforts to defend freedom.

To support our action you can:

-sign this petition and distribute it as widely as possible;
-send messages of protest to the Egyptian embassies in your country, to Sheikh Al Azhar, to the President of the Republic, the President of the Peoples Assembly, and the Prosecutor General in Egypt.

A further comment anent the great march from Alex to Sandton. The gathering of multiple voices, multiple concerns and multiple demands at Speakers Corner, Sandton, was the new face of the new struggle. It is the face of resistance that will confront the new corporate power which threatens us globally. It comes at the necessary time. European power theorists are discussing worriedly, as they did at a recent meeting during the World Summit, "The future of Multilateralism". But in the U.S. talk of a new and greater unilateralism (under terms as various as "the grand strategy" or "the breakout strategy") which will greatly diminish national sovereignty and give the United States, as the all over-ruling power the right of pre-emptive and preventive strikes anywhere in the world, not merely to terrorist threats but also to any power which might threaten the superiority of the United States. It is for this reason that the new face of resistance comes at a necessary time.