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Rebuffed, Reinstated

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Egypt bans but then invites Israeli
cancer researchers to conference.

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October 29 • 2009

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srael has a peace treaty with Egypt.
Yet, Egypt was a prime point for

Hamas to smuggle arms into the
Gaza Strip for use against Israel, its arch
enemy. So it should surprise no one
that Egypt initially rescinded an invita-
tion to Israeli breast cancer researchers
and advocates to attend a breast cancer
awareness conference to be held in
Egypt. Ten Middle East
nations were invited to
send representatives to
the weeklong event, which
began Oct. 21.
The rebuff came in
the form of denying the
Israelis entry to Egypt.
That decision was later
reversed. It is yet another
extreme example of Arab
attempts at intimidating
Israel and its Zionist sup-
porters.
Israeli breast cancer experts plan-
ning to attend the conference learned
just before their scheduled departure
that Egypt's health minister ruled they
no longer could par-
ticipate despite already
having security clear-
ance, according to news
reports. The American-
based breast cancer
awareness and advocacy
group Susan G. Komen
for the Cure sponsored
the Alexandria confer-
ence.
The New York-based
Anti-Defamation League
was among the righteous
organizations rushing to
the front line the day before the con-
ference was to begin, urging Komen's
leadership to intervene on the Israeli
participants' behalf.
The exclusion of Israel's genius from
the conference presumably because the
Jewish state is somehow a pariah in
the Arab world is a disgrace. It also is
inimical, as the ADL put it, to Komen's
eternal hope to inspire regional coop-
eration in the Middle East to fight the
scourge of breast cancer. Komen sought
to elicit "unprecedented cooperation
aimed at elevating awareness of breast
cancer in the region and beyond."
Dr. Muhammad Shaalan, who chairs
the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt,

agreed. "This remarkable, intensive,
passionate, unprecedented cooperation
between nations is a message of unity,
peace and hope to win the battle against
breast cancer," he said in a statement.
Think about it: The conference
received the blessing of Egypt's first
lady, Suzanne Mubarak. Supporters
included the Suzanne Mubarak
Women's International Peace
Movement, the Egyptian
Ministry of Health and the
U.S. Agency for International
Development. But it was
Egypt's health minister,
Hatem el-Gebaly, who yanked
the invitation without expla-
nation. The order for that
baseless act must have come
from Egypt's highest levels
given the first lady's involve-
ment. How damning is that?
"The situation is very serious 'Yossi
Levy, spokesman for Israel's Foreign
Ministry told the Jerusalem Post just
before the conference was slated to
start. "Everything was taken care of." He
said the participants had
all the necessary docu-
mentation.
Equally mysterious,
the day the conference
was scheduled to begin,
the Susan G. Komen
Foundation was notified
that all registered guests,
regardless of their coun-
try of origin, would be
welcome.
The initial denial
marked the second time
in less than a week that
Egypt had blocked Israelis from enter-
ing the country to attend a conference.
In the first instance, the Egyptian
Foreign Ministry refused to grant
a visa to Yossi Gordon, who leads
the Association of Contractors and
Builders in Israel, according to the
Jerusalem Post.
In the pepperpot that is the Middle
East, Egypt is friendlier to Israel than
most other Arab League members. But
its outrageous rejection of Israel from
the Komen conference, rescinding the
ploy only under international pressure,
is a stark reminder of the paper-thin
quality of the Israeli-Egyptian rela-
tionship. Li

Excluding
Israel's genius
from the
breast cancer
confab would
have been a
disgrace.

