Diplomatic Spouses League of Their Own Couple Works to Advance Arab Understanding in America by Gail Scott With her wide smile and signature pageboy hairstyle, Nevine Hassouna and her husband, Hussein Hassouna, ambassador of the League of Arab States, have become fixtures in many diplomatic circles. After having represented the league’s 22 Arab nation members for five years at the United Nations and seven years here in Washington, the couple has also experienced the tumultuous roller-coaster ride of U.S.-Arab relations. Things were definitely on an upswing when Hussein Hassouna — a distinguished career diplomat from Egypt and a member of the U.N. International Law Commission — was on his first posting in Washington as political counselor for the Egyptian Embassy in the late 1970s. The Middle East peace process was finally moving forward, the Israelis and Egyptians were on the verge of a major peace accord, the relationship between Egypt and the United States was extremely positive, and the Hassounas were newlyweds. “Everything was wonderful then,” Nevine said. “We were witnesses to history. We were here during the peace talks at Camp David and the signing of the peace treaty on the White House lawn. “My husband was working around the clock and I seldom saw him. It was also the beginning of the King Tut exhibits in America, which brought so much excitement. But that was 32 years ago.” Nevine smiled and paused as her mood changed. “Now, things are very different.” She nodded “yes” when asked if the events of Sept. 11, 2001, made the difference. “On 9/11, we were here in Washington attending a U.S.-Arab relations conference, not in New York where Hussein represented the Arab League at the United Nations. He had been shuttling back and forth between the two cities before the league decided that they needed two ambassadors, one for each city. We were staying at the Mayflower Hotel where his conference was,” Nevine recalled. “Hussein was dressing when he first saw something on TV. He called for me to turn on the big TV and that’s when we saw it all happen … then, they announced that these terrorist acts were committed by Arabs. We felt shocked and saddened. “The strange thing is that I wanted to go back to New York immediately because that was my home,” she added, vividly remembering that awful morning. “We traveled by train to Penn Station. Once we reached the streets of Manhattan, the saddest thing was seeing all those lampposts covered with notices about the missing — not one lamppost was empty. “As president of New York’s Islamic Heritage Society and the wife of the Arab League ambassador to the United Nations, I felt terrible. We both did,” Nevine continued. “On behalf of the society, I wrote a letter to the New York Times which was published saying that we share the grief of the American people and that those terrorists do not represent all Muslims and Arabs.” Since then, Nevine and Hussein have worked tirelessly to repair the tarnished Arab image created by 9/11 and the subsequent “war on terror.” When asked what it’s been like to live in the United States after 9/11, she admitted, “It is probably easier for me than other Arabs and Muslims because I don’t look very Egyptian or Arab. But I strongly feel very Egyptian and Arab and I’m proud of it. Often people tell me, ‘You look just like one of us’ and I tell them that many Egyptians have a mixed heritage.” Both natives of the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria, Nevine attended English schools and graduated from the city’s Fine Arts University while her husband attended a French primary school, receiving his law degree from Cairo University and his doctorate in international law from the University of Cambridge. She was working as a graphic designer at Al-Ahram newspaper when she met the young Egyptian career diplomat “on the beach” in Alexandria. They were introduced by friends and married a year later, setting off for the United States. After his four years in Washington, Hussein Hassouna was called to Paris to become minister counselor, serving as head of the Egyptian Press Bureau from 1983 to 1986. Then the Hassounas returned to Cairo, where he served as chief of staff to the foreign minister. In 1989, they moved to Belgrade where he became an ambassador for the first time, representing Egypt to what was then Yugoslavia. There, Nevine learned the Serbo-Croatian language, which her husband said helped him “to understand the people and their culture. Knowing the native language not only helps you communicate better and open the minds of the people but also opens many doors too.” Yet, they would not stay for long. The first-time ambassador and his wife were recalled, as were the ambassadors of many other major countries, to protest Slobodan Milosevic’s brutal regime. “It was sad when we had to abruptly leave Yugoslavia,” Nevine said. “I remember it was a Saturday night when we got word that we had less than 24 hours to catch the last plane. There was no way we could do that. We still had to pack all our furniture, rugs, clothes and artwork and have it shipped. When we did leave, we didn’t know if we’d ever see our stuff again. Maybe it would just rot all summer in the heat! 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