''Al Muqattam'' () was a newspaper which was published in Cairo, Egypt, between 1888 and 1952. It was one of the leading papers until its closure by the Egyptian government in 1954. The title of the paper was a reference to a range of hills outside Cairo.

History and profile

''Al Muqattam'' was first published on 18 April 1888. The founders were three Christians: Faris Nimr, Khalil Thabet and Anton Najib Matar. The establishment of the paper was supported by

Lord Cromer Earl of Cromer is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, held by members of the British branch of the Anglo-German Baring banking family. It was created in 1901 for Evelyn Baring, 1st Viscount Cromer, long time British Consul-General ...

, colonial administrator of the British in Egypt. It produced only three issues until 14 February 1889 when it became a daily newspaper. The paper was affiliated with the Al Muqtafa Foundation. Its publishers were Syrian-origin Christians, Faris Nimr, Yaqub Sarruf and Shahin Makaryus. The latter also published a masonic journal entitled '' Al Lataif'' in Cairo between 1885 and 1896. Fares Nimr served as the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of ''Al Muqattam'' from its start to his death in 1951 and also edited its political content. In the early years Yaqub Sarruf edited the science content of the paper. ''Al Muqattam'' had 3,000 subscribers in 1893. It was nearly six thousands like those of ''

Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...

'' and '' Al Mu'ayyad'' in 1897. The last issue of the paper was published on 11 November 1952. It was banned by the Minister of National Guidance led by

Salah Salem Salah Salem () (September 25, 1920 – February 18, 1962) was an Egyptian military officer and politician who was a prominent member of the Free Officers Movement (Egypt), Free Officers Movement that orchestrated the Egyptian Revolution of 19 ...

on 26 May 1954.

Content and political stance

The paper initially produced news based on the translations of the telegraph messages sent by the major news agencies such as

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

and

Havas Havas NV () is a French multinational corporation, multinational advertising agency, advertising and public relations company, with its registered office and head office in Puteaux, France. Havas operates in more than 100 countries. The group ...

. In fact, ''Al Muqattam'' was the first Egyptian paper which obtained these messages from the leading news agencies, and its London correspondent was one of the editorial members of the British daily newspaper ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

''. Muhammad Al Muwaylihi's work entitled ''Ma Hunalik'' was first published in the paper and serialized between 28 June 1895 and 8 February 1896. During the British occupation of Egypt between 1892 and 1914, ''Al Muqattam'' held a pro-British political stance. Therefore, the paper was subject to frequent criticism and allegations that it was financed by the British authorities. Due to these criticisms there were tensions between ''Al Muqattam'' and another Cairo-based newspaper '' Al Muayyad'' which supported the independence of Egypt. A group led by ''Al Muayyad'' contributor

Mustafa Kamil Mustafa Kamil Pasha (, ) (August 14, 1874 ⁠– February 10, 1908) was an Egyptian lawyer, journalist, and nationalist activist. Early life and education Kamil was born in Cairo in 1874. His father was an engineer who first worked for the Egy ...

attacked the offices of ''Al Muqattam''. In addition, the publishers of ''Al Muqattam'' were frequently mocked by the political satire magazine '' Al Siyassa Al Musawwara''. ''Al Muqattam'' and ''Al Ahram'' which had a pro-Ottoman stance also became opponents from 1889. ''Al Muqattam'' supported another event which also caused criticisms: migration of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. In 1911 Nissim Malul, a Zionist activist, began to work as the correspondent of ''Al Muqattam'' in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. The paper had a regular column on Palestine of which the editor was anonymous, and the articles were signed as “senior Zionist”.

Salim Tamari Salim Tamari (; born 1945), is a Palestinian sociologist who is the director of the Institute of Palestine Studies and an adjunct professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said Pro ...

, a Palestinian sociologist and writer, argues that the editor of the column was possibly

Shimon Moyal Shimon Moyal (1866–1915) was a Zionist activist and physician. He worked for several newspapers and started a short-lived newspaper with his wife, Esther Moyal. He was the translator of the Talmud into the Arabic language. Early life and educ ...

, a Jaffa-born writer and

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. Following the end of the British rule in Egypt in 1914, ''Al Muqattam'' became known for its high-quality journalism and reformist stance. It was the first Arabic newspaper which published the text of the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

on 10 November 1917 which had been signed on 2 November. In the early 1920s, ''Al Muqattam'' frequently attacked Saudi ruler

Ibn Saud Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted as 1876, although a few sources give it as 1880. According to British author Robert Lacey's book ''The Kingdom'', ...

. These attacks had significant effects on Ibn Saud that he established a paper, '' Umm Al Qura'', in Mecca in 1924 to counterweigh the negative propaganda of ''Al Muqattam''. Nimr's son-in-law and British embassy official Sir Walter Smart published many pan-Arabist articles in the paper from the 1930s. The paper was among the publications which celebrated the termination of the construction of the Suez Canal Zone Barracks in March 1939 which had been demanded by the British authorities. Towards the end of its lifetime ''Al Muqattam'' had a relatively independent editorial approach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muqattam 1888 establishments in Egypt 1954 disestablishments in Egypt Defunct Arabic-language newspapers Defunct newspapers published in Egypt Banned newspapers Censorship in Egypt Daily newspapers published in Egypt Newspapers established in 1888 Newspapers published in Cairo Publications disestablished in 1954