A review, and links to other information about and reviews of The Question by Henri Alleg.

Bits from the media war on Algeria

أرأيتم أشباه المطربين المصريين الذين ظهروا أول أمس يبكون كالنساء، مع احترامي للنساء طبعا، في فضائيات العهر الإعلامي؟ أرأيتم ذاك البدين المدعو محمد فؤاد، الذي بدا من هيأته البشعة وكأنه حمال في ميناء وليس كمطرب؟

What’s interesting about Algeria and Egypt is that these are two very similar countries in terms of social identity, religion, economic status, oppression, etc. Which means that the Us vs The Unknown Other – the bogey man - element which is so often a theme in the Egyptian media has been more difficult to manufacture this time. The emphasis has been on the violent history of Egypt vs. Algeria encounters and on the suggestion that “our Algerian brothers” have somehow betrayed their Arab identity.

Epidemiological survey conducted between 1997 - 1999 among survivors of war or mass violence (aged >16 years) who were randomly selected from community populations in Algeria (n=653), Cambodia (n=610), Ethiopia (n=1200), and Gaza (n=585).