The Huffington Post

Editor 

There are many frustrations between the US and Egypt which has been reflected in the experiences of Dr. Michelle Dunne and Egyptian responses such as expressed in a very sharp letter of Mr. Cherif Esmat Abdelmeguid, son of the late Esmat Abdelmeguid, former Foreign Minister in Egypt and Secretary General of the Arab League. I happen to know both Dr. Dunne and Mr. Cherif well. I respect both as people of great integrity. But what we need is communication. I do not think it was wise of Egyptian authorities to refuse entrée to Egypt to Dr. Dunne despite mistakes that may have been made in the visa application. Mr. Cherif writes about unpleasant historical experiences and voiced this in a letter to the editor of the New York Times who simply decided not to respond, let alone place his comments. Consequently this response was translated into Arabic and placed in Al-Ahram al-Iqtisadi. What good do all these expressions of frustrations do? I believe we should communicate. This is not a one-way process. I believe it is important Dr. Dunne would return to Egypt and engage in exchanges with Egyptian authorities and intellectuals and I also believe that the view of Mr. Cherif needs to be heard. Our Center for Arab-West Understanding wants to contribute towards better Egyptian-West relations and for this reason want Americans to heard about justified frustrations that do exist in Egypt. And Dr. Dunne we hope to meet in Egypt.

Sincerely Yours, 

Cornelis Hulsman

Deputy Chairman Center for Arab-West Understanding

Cairo, Egypt