In the face of wide spread disapproval, Egypt has decided not to go ahead with an attempt to expel Israel from P.E.N., the international writers’ movement, whose annual congress opened here today. In addition, it has sent only one of its original four-man delegation.
Earlier, the Egyptian P.E.N. center had announced that its team would be headed by Dr. Anis Mansour, a leading writer known for his anti-Jewish articles in the Cairo press, and would include Mursi Saadeddin, a director of the state information office. In reply to a complaint from the P.E.N. secretariat about Mansour’s writings, the Egyptians had also announced their intention of calling for the expulsion of the Israeli P.E.N. club from the world movement.
However, the only Egyptian present is Dr. Naim Salim, a playwright, short story writer and critic, who has impressed Israelis at previous P.E.N, congresses with his tolerance and friendliness.
EGYPTIAN NOTES CHANGE IN ISRAEL
Salim today told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he had no intention whatsoever of calling for the Israelis’ removal. He was here solely as a writer, he said, and did not engage in politics. He had been asked by his embassy to represent the Egyptian P.E.N. after the other delegates failed to turn up.
Asked for his general view of Middle East developments, he said that the Egyptian people’s morale had greatly improved since the Yom Kippur War. He also thought the Israelis had changed, and had become more broad-minded. The Egyptian people wanted peace and a good start would be made if Israel relinquished the territories captured in 1967, he contended.
A,B.Yaffe. one of the two Israeli delegates at the P.E.N. congress, expressed pleasure on hear ing of Salim’s assurance to the J.T.A. However, he added that even if the Egyptians had tried to expel the Israelis, they had little chance of succeeding. Even the East Germans to whom he had spoken were strongly opposed to such a move. The new president of P.E.N. International is Maria Vargas Yossa, one of Latin America’s leading writers.
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