The push is on to translate important Western and other non-Arab works into Arabic.  Egyptian Karim Nagy initiated a non-profit agency, Kalima, to undertake this work, and the Abu Dhabi government’s Authority for Culture and Heritage is supplying the bulk of the funding.  Publishers are on board, with Beirut being a prime location. Translations are being undertaken from sixteen languages, with the aim of producing a hundred books by the end of 2008.  An effort is being made to include a wide variety of viewpoints, so that, as well as a radical free enterpriser like Milton Friedman, the project will tackle John Maynard Keynes. Also on the list are Stephen Hawkings’ “A Briefer History of Time” and a collection of stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer, translated from Yiddish.   As well, ancient and other early works are planned for translation. Working against this effort at intellectual enlightenment in the Arab world are the censors.  Freedom of the press is not widely respected in that part of the world, and many books are banned in some countries for political or religious reasons.  Yet, books have a way of getting seen.  No censorship is completely effective these days.