It is only natural for the press and the media to be interested in heated events, and there is enough heat in Egypt right now to attract journalists and reporters, busy chasing after the events of the parliamentary elections, what took place during the first round and what could happen in the second round next Sunday. Perhaps this was the reason for excluding other events, to which Egyptian media outlets found no appeal, despite their importance, the meaning they reflect or the significance they represent. Among such events was the quick visit made by the Emir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani to the Egyptian capital on Monday, which only lasted two hours. The visit did not take place for political, but rather for humane, reasons. It involved no talks being held or statements being issued, but rather was welcomed by ordinary Egyptians. Egyptian newspapers published the next day contained news of the visit, yet in quite a limited way – despite the fact that the issue of Egyptian-Qatari relations had continued to take up large spaces in most newspapers and television shows over the past few years for a simple reason, which is that relations were bad! Yet because things have improved, rapprochement has taken place and stances have been taken in which the two countries held common views, the Egyptian media has dealt with the visit as one of “Public Relations” and nothing more. Indeed, the Minister of Trade and Industry and acting Minister of Investment, Engineer Rachid Mohamed Rachid, headed the state delegation that accompanied the Emir during his visit, welcoming him and his delegation then seeing them off at Cairo Airport, which required, as sources in the Ministry of Trade and Industry stated, cancelling Rashid's scheduled meeting with the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce on Monday evening. Thus, without much noise, uproar or traffic obstruction that would accompany the comings and goings of the Egyptian capital's visitors, the Emir's motorcade traveled the streets of Cairo from the Airport to the Mohandiseen district, where he offered his condolences and sympathy to the sons of the late Ahmed Ali Mansour at the deceased's home, afterwards heading along with his escort straight to the airport, leaving an impression of kind-heartedness among those who learned of this humane gesture of his, who themselves had been reading in Egyptian newspapers and hearing on television shows criticism of everything Qatar does. Ahmed Ali Mansour was an Egyptian citizen who worked as a teacher and nothing more. He never held public office, became minister or was appointed to a high-ranking position, but only taught the Emir of Qatar during his elementary schooling. When the Emir learned of his death, he insisted on traveling to Cairo to offer condolences, out of devotion for his teacher. Of course, the international media found nothing in the event that would drive it to address it, but the issue is different for the Egyptian media. Indeed, the visit was to Cairo, to the home of an Egyptian citizen, and the visitor was the ruler of an Arab country – as if important news means only those that relate to Egyptian officials! For further detail, available information indicated that the Emir had offered his condolences to the sons of the deceased residing in the State of Qatar, namely: Doctor Mohamed Salah, Abdel Jawad, Mohamed Jamal and Doctor Khalid Ali Mansour. Certainly the visit, although unrelated to politics, will be politically beneficial. Indeed, the Emir of Qatar's last visit to Cairo was in 2007, after which Egyptian-Qatari relations became tepid at most levels, due to what Egypt's Foreign Ministry referred to at the time as “the policies of the Al-Jazeera network” towards Egypt and the lack of objectivity of its reports and of its coverage of the political situation in Egypt. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Libya have been exerting great efforts throughout the past two years to resolve these differences, and President Mubarak accepted Qatar's invitation to visit Doha. Moreover, Minister Rachid's visit to Doha in early November had a tremendous effect in terms of improving relations, removing tensions between the two countries and agreeing to return things to normal. The event seemed to the Egyptian media as if a mere visit of condolence, yet those concerned with the issue of Egypt's relations with Arab countries considered the visit to contribute to improving Egyptian-Qatari relations, especially at the popular level, as Egyptians have always kept a feeling of warmth towards humane stances they consider to be more important than political ones. Indeed, the state of affairs of Arab politics is no longer pleasing either to enemies or to friends, as Egyptians say. Furthermore, Egyptian citizens, who are always busy with the concerns and troubles of life, no longer find a pressing need for politics, yet they certainly remain sympathetic to any kind of humane behavior.
