VZCZCXRO1932
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #3058/01 2901258
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171258Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7214
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 003058 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PPD, ECA, IIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO PHUM KDEM SCUL SOCI EG
SUBJECT:  KING FAROUK:  NOSTALGIA FOR THE PAST OR LOATHING FOR THE 
PRESENT? 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  Rare is the iftar or sohour in Cairo these days 
where the topic does not quickly turn to the Ramadan soap opera 
series about King Farouk, which presents a view of Egypt's last 
monarch radically at odds with the image perpetrated by the official 
media and textbooks over the past 55 years since his overthrow. 
Long reviled and mocked in popular Egyptian lore as a fat puppet of 
the British with sick personal habits, the Farouk of this immensely 
popular serial makes an astonishing come-back.  He comes across as a 
sympathetic even attractive character who loves Egypt and struggles 
manfully against tragic circumstances.  What is most surprising is 
the reaction by Egyptians of all political and social backgrounds to 
the Saudi-financed production.  Rather than dismissing it as 
royalist revisionism, Egyptians are making their children watch the 
series so that they "see the real picture of King Farouk," rather 
than what the opposition Ad Dustour daily, which devoted an entire 
issue to the series, calls "the greatest distortion in modern 
Egyptian History."  End summary. 
 
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VINDICATING THE KING AND HIS TIMES 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Based on 10 years of research by Egyptian author Lamees Gaber 
with assistance from local historians, the Farouk of this series is 
far from the womanizing drunkard in the Nasserite narrative. 
Plunged upon his father's death in 1936 into court politics, the 
young King struggled with the complex emotions of his overbearing 
mother and her lover, the chamberlain, and a political maze in which 
he was torn between Wafdist patriots, British quislings and Nazi 
sympathizers.  The handsome young prince tries to do the right 
thing, showing compassion and some degree of political skill.  If he 
falters or succumbs to the wiles of the older politicians who 
manipulate him, he never betrays his love for Egypt's people, or 
resorts to ruthless measures. 
 
--------------------- 
INVIDIOUS COMPARISONS 
--------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Infallibly, as they extol the series, Egyptians compare the 
days of the King with the present - unfavorably.  "The King did not 
torture prisoners, imprison journalists or beat demonstrators," 
claims opposition daily Ad Dustor.  "We had a real parliament then 
with real political parties," commented a senior judicial official. 
Indeed, according to press commentaries, the cabinet and the 
Egyptian parliament exercised far greater powers than they do today, 
and King Farouk was beholden to them.  The serial shows him 
struggling to persuade the Wafdist leader Mustafa an-Nahas to form a 
government and walking a fine line between the various political 
factions, just to avoid being deposed. 
 
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EGYPTIAN TV:  FAROUK NOT FIT FOR PRIME TIME 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Not surprisingly, the leadership of state-run Egyptian TV was 
less than excited by the Farouk story.  When approached by the 
writer, they rejected the Ramadan serial.  Though they did not 
prevent Saudi-owned Middle Eastern Broadcasting Corporation from 
filming most of the footage in the state-owned and financially 
troubled Media City outside of Cairo, they refused to allow MBC to 
shoot in any of the government-owned palaces.  They also declined to 
air the series on any of the government-owned channels - not a 
showstopper for many Egyptians, however, who receive MBC through 
subscriptions or illegal hookups through dishes owned by local 
entrepreneurs. 
 
 
--------------------- 
A KINDER, GENTLER ERA 
--------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The idea that Egypt somehow took a wrong turn when it 
ousted Farouk is a seductive one for many commentators.  While few 
would bring back the monarchy, many argue that the appeal among 
Egyptians of this Saudi-made TV show whose main actor and director 
are Syrians, lies in the  nostalgia for what people see as a ruling 
elite that appreciated glamour and refinement typified by elegant 
palaces and monumental public buildings like Cairo University. 
These qualities, according to many Egyptians, are glaringly absent 
in the commercialized complexes of sprawling villas and megamalls 
favored by the rich and powerful of today.  Nor, as they see it, did 
Egypt's head of state rule the political institutions with the 
unchecked authority that President Mubarak commands.  When King 
Farouk wanted to refurbish the royal yacht or transfer a problematic 
ambassador, he had to cajole the Parliament and horse-trade with his 
Ministers - an exercise unthinkable in today's executive branch. 
"We had real politics in those days," commented one of our 
contacts. 
 
CAIRO 00003058  002 OF 002 
 
 
JONES