{{Short description|Egyptian playwright and author (1936–2015)}} {{about|the Egyptian writer|the archer|Ali Ahmed (archer)}} {{Infobox person | name = Ali Salem | image = Ali Salem 1998 (Own).jpg | alt = 1998 | caption = A meeting in Cairo between Salem and representative of Mothers and Women for Peace from Israel, 1998. | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1936|2|24|df=y}} | birth_place = Damietta, Egypt | death_date = {{Death date and age|2015|9|22|1936|2|24|df=y}} | death_place = Mohandessin, Egypt | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = playwright | awards = Civil Courage Prize (2008) }}
'''Ali Salem''', also transliterated '''Ali Salim''' ({{langx|ar|على سالم}}, {{IPA|arz|ˈʕæli ˈsæːlem|IPA}}; 24 February 1936 – 22 September 2015), was an Egyptian playwright<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/international/africa/09egypt.html |title=Egypt's Metamorphosis: One Step Down the Open Road |author=Michael Slackman |date=9 March 2005 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=28 May 2011}}</ref> known for controversially endorsing cooperation with Israel.<ref name="LAT"/> The ''Los Angeles Times'' once described him as "a big, loud man known for his satiric wit".<ref name="LAT">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-10-adfg-peace10-story.html |title=Egyptian Writer Pays High Price for Visit to Israel |author=Nadia Abou El-Magd |date=10 November 2002 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=28 May 2011}}</ref>
==Career== From the premiere of his first play in 1965, he wrote 25 plays and fifteen books.<ref name="CCP">{{cite web |url=http://www.civilcourageprize.org/honoree-2008.htm |title=2008 Civil Courage Prize Honoree: Ali Salem of Egypt |author= |year=2008 |publisher=Civil Courage Prize |accessdate=28 May 2011 |archive-date=25 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725174022/http://civilcourageprize.org/honoree-2008.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> One of the best known, ''The School of Troublemakers'', debuted in 1971 and featured a rowdy class of children transformed by a kind teacher.<ref name="LAT"/> His plays ''The Phantom of Heliopolis'', ''The Comedy of Oedipus'', ''The Man Who Fooled the Angels'', and ''The Buffet'' have also become "classics of the Egyptian theater".<ref name="CCP"/> Salem's plays often include allegorical critiques of Egyptian politics with a strong vein of humor and satire.<ref name="CCP"/>
In 1994, he wrote a book entitled ''My Drive to Israel'' about a trip he took to the country to satisfy his curiosity about it following the signing of the Oslo Accords.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8285728.stm |title=Egyptians nervous of Israeli culture |author=Christian Fraser |date=12 October 2009 |work=BBC News |accessdate=28 May 2011}}</ref><ref name=NewYorker /> He later claimed that the trip was not "a love trip, but a serious attempt to get rid of hate. Hatred prevents us from knowing reality as it is".<ref name="LAT"/> He spent 23 nights in Israel and concluded that "real co-operation" between the two nations should be possible.<ref name="BBC"/> Though the book sold more than 60,000 copies, a bestseller by Egyptian standards, it provoked controversy, and Salem was subsequently ostracized from the Egyptian intellectual community and expelled from its Writer's Syndicate as a result of his "propaganda."<ref name="LAT"/> He did not have a play or movie script produced in Egypt after the book's publication,<ref name="BBC"/><ref name="reuters"/> though he continued to contribute columns to foreign media such as the London-based ''Al Hayat''.<ref name="LAT"/> Salem's memoir was later adapted by Ari Roth into the play ''Ali Salem Drives to Israel'', which had its world premiere in the US in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23781-2005Jan20_5.html |title=Forecast: Fun |author=Barry Barriere |date=21 January 2005 |newspaper=The Washington Post |accessdate=28 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=976&printerfriendly=yes|title=Association for Jewish Theatre members announce 2004-05 Season|publisher=jewish-theatre.com|accessdate=28 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420084858/http://www.jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=976&printerfriendly=yes|archive-date=2013-04-20|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2008, he won the Train Foundation's $50,000 Civil Courage Prize in recognition of his opposition to Islamic extremism and his support of cooperation with Israel.<ref name="reuters">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-prize-egypt-idUSTRE4AI02T20081119 |title=Egypt author Ali Salem receives courage award |date=18 November 2008 |work=Reuters |accessdate=28 May 2011}}</ref> He also received an honorary doctorate from Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2005.<ref name="CCP"/>
== Death == He died in Cairo on 22 September 2015, after a long illness.<ref name="NewYorker">{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/ali-salems-journey|title=Ali Salem's Journey|date=2015-09-28|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=2016-10-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/famous-playwright-ali-salem-dies-79|title=Famous playwright Ali Salem dies at 79 - Egypt Independent|work=egyptindependent.com|accessdate=23 September 2015}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Sources == * Hugi, Jacky. "Death of Egyptian author who drove across Israel leaves void in Israeli-Egyptian relations", ''Al-Monitor'' on-line magazine; 30 Sept. 2015. * Mikics, David. "The Muslim World's Intellectual Refuseniks Offer Enlightened Views on Islam and Israel", ''TabletMag.com'' on-line magazine; 3 Dec. 2013.
== External links == * [http://www.civilcourageprize.org/honoree-2008.htm Citation for the Civil Courage Prize] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725174022/http://civilcourageprize.org/honoree-2008.htm |date=2011-07-25 }} * [http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8762.htm "Egyptian Playwright Ali Salem, 1936-2015 – In Memoriam". MEMRI. September 24, 2015]
{{Civil Courage Prize laureates}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salem, Ali}} Category:1936 births Category:2015 deaths Category:Egyptian dramatists and playwrights Category:Egyptian male writers Category:Male dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century dramatists and playwrights Category:21st-century dramatists and playwrights Category:Writers from Cairo Category:20th-century Egyptian male writers Category:21st-century Egyptian male writers