European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 18, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ancient Egypt peace canal bedouins fear waterway will threaten lifestyle in �1 Arish Market the bedouin her Itaf offy it s Northern Sinai lives on. But for How Long a Gateway called the peace canal is being dug across the Region with the intention of turning hundreds of thousands of Barren acres into Farmland. A change in the bedouin lifestyle is sure to come. Bym Mimann the associated press it s Market Day in the town of Al Arish a bedouin stronghold along Egypt s Northern Sinai coastline. Surely one of the country s most colourful pageants going to Market Sinai style is Egypt s least heralded tourist attraction a treasure awaiting discovery. But it s an endangered treasure. Through 1 03 Miles of dunes along the Mediterranean coastline a canal is coming to turn what ancients called the land of Turquoise for its Turquoise mines into a land of Green. Pharaoh s armies have been replaced by new intruders construction engineers and labourers relentlessly digging their Way along an ancient caravan route North of Kantara at the Edge of the Suez canal to a Wadi South of Al Arish. Al Salam or peace canal envisioned by the late egyptian president Anwar Sadat will carry Nile Waters from the Delta port of Damietta to flood Sinai s famed wilderness. When the peace canal is finished four years from now Farmers will begin greening 500,000 Barren acres. Some of those Farmers will be bedouins traditional Kings of the desert whose caravan tracks have Given Way to highways their camels traded in for Toyota pickups their Black Goat hair tents Given up for Concrete houses. But in Al Arish Market the heritage of North Sinai and its bedouin keepers lives on. We Hope everything will stay the same but we fear it wont says carnal Mostafa gazar 30, who owns a bedouin handicraft store in downtown Al Arish. We like the Way it is. Quiet. Good people living Here. We dbl like strangers moving  an Early casualty of change could be the thursday Market where traditional handicrafts Likely will suffer in the face of outsiders a discriminating appetites. Already Silver and Gold bangles Are being replaced by plastic beads Rich embroidery by simple stitches Camel saddlebags by Woven Wall hanging letter holders. But the marketplace has withstood change before. Change say the locals has made it bigger and better. The thursday Market has been a local tradition for More than 1 00 years. First it was Small a few women Selling handicrafts to buy necessities. Under 1 5 years of israeli occupation that ended in 1982, the Market expanded to Welcome israeli tourists enamoured of the intricate stitches sewn into dresses or Pillow covers or purses hand Woven Wool turned into carpet dreams. In the last five years the thursday Market grew More offering commodities to please not Only the 35,000 bedouins living in the area but also new residents and a smattering of tourists. Items offered include everything from plastic buckets to homemade Goat cheese from chickens donkeys and goats to fresh vegetables Flowers used clothing and the heart of the Market Gold and Silver jewelry. It s 8 30 . And already the cry of the marketplace is shrill deafening. Donkey drawn wagons sometimes with goats and sheep alongside lumber into town Laden with bedouin families. Hawkers Call out their Trade walking the narrow lanes along ancient Al Arish fortress. Tomatoes cucumbers Ripe melons hot Tea by the cup. Most tradesmen yell at passers by from makeshift stalls animals Are tied in the midst of the mayhem. Buyers and Sellers Haggle until smiles cover Sun drenched faces. Deals Are closed with a handshake. The seller in Al Arish spreads her wares Over one Corner of the Market her rows of Gold evidence of Success bedouin women in Coin draped veils barter for new ornaments. The Market is an encyclopedia of colourfully garbed Sinai bedouins the Masaid Quatia Duwarka a Aida and terabit. On this Day Only four foreigners press their Way through the hordes. By comparison pharaonic monuments in Cairo or Luxor Beckon several thousand visitors daily. The Market s Best customers Are peacekeeping troops of the United nations and the  multinational Force and observers. With few duties they have Little else for entertainment few other ways to spend Money Burky Burky yells an aged bedouin Hawker As he Waves a veil Laden with Gold and Silver coins in the face of a foreign visitor. Swinging alongside him Are ropes of Amber beads More coins and Long Silver chains flowing into Diamond shaped pendants Duwarka women Wear red veils Quatia yellow Euzeina Black. Girls of the Duwarka and a Aida tribes Wear a Bonnet shaped Cap Sebeika or Wataya edged with rows of overlapping coins. More Are added each year until three full rows show the Young woman is Marriageable. Costume and jewelry Tell much about the bedouin woman. The color of her veil and the Way she hangs it reveals the tribe. The Richness of her dress the Type of embroidery and her jewelry signify social status. Prices at the Market depend on bargaining Power. A dress sewn with Cross stitched patterns Sells for $45. A Wataya costs a foreigner $13. Bedouin wares Are big business and dealers from Cairo prowl the Market. As tourism became one of Egypt s most lucrative industries in the past decade Strong armed buyers pillaged the Countryside for jewelry carpets and bedouin finery to sell at inflated prices in the capital s hotels and private shops. Despite that the variety of bedouin masterpieces still on show is stunning. One seller Shields her jewelry from a torrid Sun by hiding under an umbrella. The richest seller spreads her wares Over half a Side of one Corner of the Market her rows of Gold blatant evidence of Success. By 11 . The wagons pull out of downtown Al Arish and head slowly eastward toward Israel or Westward toward the Suez canal. A Long processional of Sinai tradition that will meet again on another thursday in the marketplace of Al a Briary 18f 1993 stripes Waga be if