NGO and Individual Support

Letter from two Duke University Professors

July 2, 2001

Honorable Hosni Mubarak
President Arab Republic of Egypt

Your excellency:

I am writing to protest the attempt to annul the marriage of Nawal Elsaadawi and Sherif Hetata , on the grounds that the views expressed by Dr. Nawal Elsaadawi, medical doctor, writer and active defender of the rights of women, place her outside the boundaries of Islam. Drs. Elsaadawi and Hetata are my former faculty colleagues at Duke University.

My colleagues and I are deeply concerned that such a measure can only produce an extremely negative image of Egypt and the Arab and Islamic world. This intended legal action against Dr. Elsaadawi and her husband, Sherif Hetata will be considered to be a basic infringement of human rights, and political and religious freedoms.

We ask you to do all that is within your power to be certain that justice and intellectual freedom prevail in Egypt.

Sincerely,

Stephen Jaffe Mary and James H. Semans
Professor of Music Duke University