Egyptian opposition icon and leading intellectual Abdel Wahab Al Messeri passed away early Thursday after a long battle with illness, his family reported. Messeri, 70, died at the Palestine Hospital due to complications from cancer. The professor of English literature at Cairo’s Ain Shams University, who received his Master’s degree and Doctorate in English and comparative literature in the US, was one of the Arab world’s leading experts on Jewish and Israeli affairs. He published an eight-volume encyclopedia on Jews, Judaism and Zionism in 1999. The works comprise nearly 4,000 pages and are among the most authoritative in the field. Messeri gained notoriety in 1999 when he became the leader of Egypt’s opposition Kefaya (Enough) movement, which calls for an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s rule. Established in 2004, Kefaya continues to be a voice for many of Egypt’s disenfranchised activists who feel the stranglehold on power by Mubarak has no boundaries. They have called for Gamal Mubarak, the president’s son, not to be allowed to take the helm when his father leaves office. Born in Damanhur, Egypt, in 1938, Messeri graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English literature from Alexandria University in 1959.
