The Controversy in Qurna
Return to the Tour Egypt Feature Story, The Controversy in Qurna
There is controversy in the ancient village of Qurna on the West Bank of Luxor, as the residents face eviction from their homes.
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January 31st, 2006 at 12:44 pm
i,was heartbroken to read this,on their behalf,they were so kind to mum& me.i,dont know how dr.hawass can be so heartless.the valley will not be the same,with out them.i,dont know now,if i will want to return to valley after this,god bless you.xxx
January 31st, 2006 at 12:57 pm
to mr.mohammed snake& family,sir,my heart goes out to you & your family,at this sad& very worrying time for you.my thoughts & prayers will be with,you,sincerly yours,mary bernadette crowther& family.god bless xxx
January 31st, 2006 at 1:05 pm
Good Afternoon
Today is the very first time that I have opened this website and been sad for the reading. The people of the village and the Tombs have been balanced for more years than any reader has been alive. To tamper with this balance of life would cause great harm to the Tombs. As an old house falls into unrepair so will the Tombs if the village and good people are sent away. The village and the people ewho live there are the protection that has kept the Tombs inviting to the educator and the traveler alike. Please Sirs find the balance that will let me find my way to Eygpt, where the sign “Peace and welcome to all that enter here” can be found on the door of the hotel of the village in Qurna.
Thank You
Yolanda Hart
San Antonio TX
January 31st, 2006 at 4:30 pm
Please do not just comment. Write or call someone:
Dr Samir Farag fax +20 95 2387067
Zahi Hawass: DrZahiHawass@gmail.com
February 1st, 2006 at 11:58 am
i,have written to dr.hawass & e.maild,& tonight at our egypt club,members will be asked to write to dr.hawass.i,will take the writeing paper& envelopes,& will post them tomorow.the club will pay the postage.please do write,to dr.hawass.mary.b.xx
February 3rd, 2006 at 1:01 am
It is my understanding that this move has been in the works since the 1950s and most of the younger generation have already moved out. I have heard from other Luxor residents that considerable damage is indeed being done to the tombs. All across the world urban renewal is taking place and Egypt must protect it’s historic sites. It is not as if these people are being thrown out on the street, they are given new, modern homes with proper utilities and sanitation, which they do not have now. There are opinions on both sides and both are valid but I felt this article was completely one sided and not objective. Certainly not a journalistic effort. Let’s be fair - compensation is being given and no one is ever happy with the compensation they get.
February 3rd, 2006 at 3:28 pm
andrea,what a stuck up toffe nosed twit you sound.so full of scorn,for real human beings,who love their home& dont want to move.would you like it,if it happend to you!. i,can allmost see you sneering as you typed it.are you human?.
February 3rd, 2006 at 5:20 pm
Andrea
I feel that Jane’s article was a balanced as possible, we are all a little biased one way or another you would have to be an angel not to let your biases show! I am biased because it is my family that is involved and i see first hand the heartache and suffering it causes, but i also say i can see the other side and what i would like to see is a compromise that satisfied both sides.
Most of the homes on the hillside have sanitation, i know as i stay with my family for the month of Ramadan each year and they have a cesspit which collects all waste and is emptied by a wagon each week!
The families involved have lived in Qurna for generations and the temptation of not fetching water by donkey is obviously not greater than the modern comforts the new village offers, smaller houses, no work yeah much better!
As to the compensation, how much compensation is enough if it breaks down a family structure because the new homes they offer are too small to house all the family members? Not everyone thinks of the monetary gain, most people feel that family are far more important!
February 3rd, 2006 at 7:15 pm
Your personal remarks are uncalled for and most certainly untrue. If you have to attack the person for their views instead of finding valid agruments then you sound like an uneducated twit who has to throw out childess names rather than having a real argument to help the situation. Urban renewal happens all over the world and life is not always fair. But there are others with different points of view then yours and you are refusing to see all the facts. These poor people are living in slums and it sounds as if you want to keep them in their place just so you can enjoy how quaint it is. Change is never easy but many people who have been forced into change find it was for the best all along. I work for an international aid organization that provides food, sanitation, agricultural training, and medical care for people in Africa. These people need a hand up, not a push back. There was no scorn in my post, just a differing viewpoint from yours, so you felt the need to attack. That does no one any good.
February 4th, 2006 at 3:08 am
the truth hurts doesnt it?. ortherwise why be ” offended” by what i,say?. now your being patronising,”the poor people”.indeed!.have you been there& meet them?, i,have.theyDONT WANT TO MOVE.YOU DONT LIKE WHAT I,SAY?, TOUGH.
February 4th, 2006 at 6:22 am
Calm down people please.
I certainly am not a journalist and I didn’t attempt to be one in my article. I just talked to people in the area. The ones that live there are passionate and upset and totally against the move. The people work there are scientists and have an analytical view of the situation. That is what my article reflects.
whilst I agree that urban renewal is good what we are talking here is moving a man from a two story house with seven or eight rooms and a cellar approx 100ft long to a three roomed house which he will have to share with his brother and family, some 21 people in all, and the biggest room is 3mtrs by 3mtrs. Not only that it takes him away from the only work he knows. Owners of shops and rest houses will lose those and of course their livelihood and investment. So this will not be an improvement in their lives. It will be a push down, smaller accommodation, no work and against their wishes.
The article was entitled Controversy and these comments reflect that
February 4th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
ive got to agree with every thing you say there jane .
ive seen many changes on the west bank in the last 20 years and none of it for the better .they are just distroying the old culture of luxor and thats why people come to luxor (the culture)the people of the west bank are happy with the way they live they dont want change .
and if they do move the people out what will they put there ?problly a damn big car park for the tour company buses …..what a waste of time .leave the people alone they are happy with things the way they are .
ps well said mary .you tell em girl .
February 7th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
I would have thought that the subject matter would have provided a forum for objective debate, not a slanging match because someone else has a differing view point to your own. Please let a constructive debate begin so that other people can join in - most would have second thoughts at the moment - and give their views who ever they are and stop all this invective between each other. Or, to put it another way stop this infantile behaviour grow up and act like adults, then the people of Qurna might get some proper help on how to build a case one way or the other.
I find it absolutly appaling that certain people can see fit to use this forum to vent there own spleen under the disguise of having somebodies future at heart, as it is progress it is going nowhere at the moment.
February 19th, 2006 at 3:44 pm
may i say how sad i was to read the qurna article. i have personally met mohamed snake several times in his house and at a party. he was in fact the first real local egyptian that i was introduced to on my first visit to egypt in 2000. it was two weeks after 9/11 and to say i was petrified to go to egypt was an understatement. how wrong i was what a wonderful place and what a warm friendly and hospitable family they are . he had only just started with his plans for his hotel and he showed us his intentions, it is so good to see he has done well . and so sad that it will be taken away from him my heart goes out to him and his lovely family
December 3rd, 2006 at 8:27 am
It is now December, 2006. I just read about the tearing down of the “homes” of the villiage. What is going on now? If they HAD to be moved, why could they not been moved just a little further away, yet near the ruins?
Nancy