[Al Arabiya Latest] Egypt's Culture Minister Faruq Hosni, a candidate to become UNESCO's director general, has gone back on a 2008 comment he made that he would burn Israeli books in Egyptian libraries "I want to solemnly say that I regret the words that I used," Hosni said in a commentary published by Le Monde newspaper on Wednesday, ahead of Saturday's closure of the UNESCO candidates' list.
| Regret a year later smacks awfully of the farmer's apology to the pig. |
Following a question by an opposition deputy in parliament, Hosni said on May 10 last year: "I'd burn Israeli books myself if I found any in libraries in Egypt."
The comment, which Hosni at the time said had been taken out of context, sparked an official protest from Israel's ambassador in Cairo Shalom Cohen to the foreign ministry.
He said in the commentary that the statement had not been premeditated and was made to show "indignation" over the plight of Palestinian people. "If my words have sometimes been very hard, they have to be placed in the context of this tragedy," he said, adding that he abhorred "racism, negating others or any move to harm Jewish culture or any culture."
| "I was just posturing to the hate-filled crowd, y'r honor. It's part of our culture, like belly dancing and ripping off tourists." |