''Hiwar'' (, ) was an Arabic magazine published in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

between 1962 and 1967. The magazine was established and financed by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

during the cultural Cold War, under the cover of a front organization, the

Congress for Cultural Freedom The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist cultural organization founded on 26 June 1950 in West Berlin. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency w ...

History

The first issue of ''Hiwar'' appeared in October 1962 (but was dated November 1962), and its final issue was dated March/April 1967. Generous funding was provided by the CIA with the stipulation that it publish articles on the situation of

Soviet Muslims After it was established on most of the territory of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union remained the world's largest country until it was dissolved in 1991. It covered a large part of Eastern Europe while also spanning the entirety of the C ...

. Tawfiq Sayigh, a Palestinian poet based in Beirut, accepted an offer to edit the magazine, which he did for the duration of its existence. A foreword in the inaugural issue of ''Hiwar'' laid out the magazine's putative mission, stressing its Arab identity and falsely claiming that "it is not a foreign magazine published in an Arab country, but rather an Arab magazine at its core." The foreword went on to emphasize the importance ''Hiwar'' would place on freedom of speech and cultural freedoms in the Arab world, and claimed that it would pay its contributors well. In the same issue an article by

Albert Hourani Albert Habib Hourani, ( ''Albart Ḥabīb Ḥūrānī''; 31 March 1915 – 17 January 1993) was a Lebanese British historian, specialising in the history of the Middle East and Middle Eastern studies. Background and education Hourani was bo ...

Taha Hussein Taha Hussein (, ; November 15, 1889 – October 28, 1973) was among the most influential 20th-century Egyptian writers and intellectuals, and a leading figure of the Arab Renaissance and the modernist movement in the Arab world. His sobriquet ...

was featured which was later published in the magazines ''

Cuadernos ''Cuadernos'' () was a Spanish-language magazine that was published in Paris, France, in the period 1953–1965. Its full title was ''Cuadernos del Congreso por la Libertad de la Cultura''. It was one of the publications of the Congress for Cultu ...

'' and '' Preuves''. ''Hiwar'' was originally designed as a publication to improve modern

Arabic poetry Arabic poetry ( ''ash-shi‘r al-‘arabīyy'') is one of the earliest forms of Arabic literature. Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry contains the bulk of the oldest poetic material in Arabic, but Old Arabic inscriptions reveal the art of poetry existe ...

. ''Hiwar'' frequently published works by prominent Arab authors, including a serialization of

Tayeb Salih Tayeb Salih (; 12 July 1929 – 18 February 2009) was a Sudanese writer, novelist, cultural journalist for the BBC Arabic programme as well as for Arabic journals, and a staff member of UNESCO. He is best known for his novel ''Season of Migration ...

's classic novella ''

Season of Migration to the North ''Season of Migration to the North'' ( ) is novel by the Sudanese writer Tayeb Salih, first published serially in the Beirut journal '' Hiwâr'' in 1966. It became Salih's best known work and is considered a classic of postcolonial literature. T ...

'' in 1966. Although Salih's book was banned in Egypt, copies of ''Hiwar'' were likely smuggled into Cairo, where critic Raja' al-Naqqash, after reading it, described Salih as a "genius of the Arabic novel." ''Hiwar'', like other magazines funded by the Congress for Cultural Freedom, republished interviews originally appearing in ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'', whose co-founder

Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen (May 22, 1927 – April 5, 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher and onetime CIA agent. A co-founder of the literary magazine ''The Paris Review'', he is the only writer to have won the Nat ...

was a CIA operative as well as a novelist. For example, the May-June 1963 issue of ''Hiwar'' printed an interview with

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...

that was previously published in the September 1961 issue of ''The Paris Review''. According to Issa J. Boullata, ''Hiwar'' raised suspicions in the Arab world about its provenance, due to the "generous payments to its contributing writers and its relatively low price despite excellent production and slick appearance." In light of these rumors, Egyptian novelist

Yusuf Idris Yusuf Idris, also spelled Yusof Idris (; May 19, 1927 – August 1, 1991) was an Egyptian writer of plays, short stories, and novels. Biography Idris was born in Faqous. He originally trained to be a doctor, studying at Cairo University. He ...

declined to accept a prize that ''Hiwar'' had awarded him in November 1965, in the amount of 10,000 Lebanese lira. ''Hiwar'' drew skepticism even before it launched; Sayigh recounted that Palestinian writer

Ghassan Kanafani Ghassan Fayiz Kanafani (; 8 April 1936 – 8 July 1972) was a prominent Palestinian literature, Palestinian author and Palestinian militant, militant, considered to be a leading novelist of his generation and one of the Arab world's leading Pa ...

attacked the planned magazine because of its foreign funding. The financial support of the magazine by the CIA was uncovered by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in April 1966, prompting the magazine to stop publishing the following year. Sayigh left Lebanon as a result of this event, and moved to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. In addition to ''Hiwar'', the Congress for Cultural Freedom also targeted the Arab literary world by hosting conferences. In 1961, CCF sponsored a conference called "The Arab Writer and the Modern World" in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The attendees included Syrian poets

Adunis Ali Ahmad Said Esber (, Levantine Arabic, North Levantine ; born 1 January 1930), also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis ( ), is a Syrian people, Syrian poet, essayist and translator. Maya Jaggi, writing for The Guardian stated "He led a mod ...

and

Yusuf al-Khal Yusuf al-Khal (; December 25, 1917 – March 9, 1987) was a Lebanese poet, journalist, and publisher of Syrians, Syrian ethic origins. He is considered the greatest exponent of avant-garde, avantgardist prose poetry (''qaṣīdat al-natr'') ...

as well as other luminaries such as

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...

and

Ignazio Silone Secondino Tranquilli (1 May 1900 – 22 August 1978), best known by the pseudonym Ignazio Silone (, ), was an Italian politician, novelist, essayist, playwright, and short-story writer, world-famous during World War II for his powerful anti-fasci ...

Prominent contributors

* Layla Balabakki *

Badr Shakir al-Sayyab Badr Shakir al-Sayyab () (December 24, 1926 in Jaykur, Basra – December 24, 1964 in Kuwait) was an Iraqi poet, regarded as one of the most important contemporary Arab poets. Alongside Nazik Al Malaika, he is considered one of the founders of A ...

Ghada al-Samman Ghadah Al-Samman (; born 1942) is a Syrian writer, journalist and novelist born in Damascus in 1942 to a prominent and conservative Damascene family. Her father was Ahmed Al-Samman, a president of the University of Damascus. She is distantly rel ...

Jabra Ibrahim Jabra Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (28 August 1919 – 12 December 1994) () was an Iraqi-Palestinian author, artist and intellectual born in Adana in French-occupied Cilicia to a Syriac Orthodox Christian family. His family survived the Seyfo Genocide and f ...

* Suhayr al-Qalamawi

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hiwar 1962 establishments in Lebanon 1967 disestablishments in Lebanon Anti-communism in Lebanon Anti-communist propaganda Arabic-language magazines Congress for Cultural Freedom CIA and Islamism CIA activities in Lebanon Cold War propaganda Defunct literary magazines Defunct magazines published in Lebanon Magazines established in 1962 Magazines disestablished in 1967 Magazines published in Beirut Propaganda newspapers and magazines Poetry literary magazines

History

Prominent contributors

See also

References

External links