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You've Gotta be Kidding!

Egypt isn't one of those countries known for being a democracy or allowing freedom of expression.

Therefore the mind boggles when one learns that the Egyptians are pushing for its Cultural Minister to be appointed head of a UN agency promoting cultural diversity, UNESCO. But wait, it gets worse.....

Haaretz reports:

"Egypt is pushing hard to get its culture minister named as the head of the UN agency promoting cultural diversity. But as Farouk Hosni heads to Paris Wednesday to campaign for the job, he has to overcome controversy over his comments vowing to burn any Israeli books in Egypt's famed Library of Alexandria.

Hosni made the remarks in April 2008 to Egyptian lawmakers to defend himself against charges of being soft toward Israel - and Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel and Jewish activists seized on them, warning in late May that Hosni was "a danger" if named to the UNESCO post."

And:

"Last year, he raised a storm when he criticized the prevalence of the Muslim headscarf worn by women as a sign of "backwardness."

But he has also implemented censorship of some books and films in Egypt to assuage Islamic hard-liners. And he has stuck to the stance held by most artists in Egypt that the country should not improve ties with Israel - despite the two nations' peace treaty - until a wider Israeli-Arab peace is reached."

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