In an interesting development today, General Pervez Musharraf announced that he would resign as army chief before the next Presidential elections.
In addition, former President Benazir Bhutto, currently in exile, while announcing this, also announced that charges against her had been dropped.
The first thing this does is take the fear (to some degree) of military reprisals off of the population should they not vote for Musharrraf.
In addition, it may indicate that Bhutto will be able to run, safely, again.
If either of these things do happen, it will be a great step forward and an end to Musharraf's military coup.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Double Secret Probation
I happen to believe that Congress frequently overreaches with respect to asking members of an administration to testify under oath in public. Remember, all Congressional hearing become part of the public record unless otherwise specifically designated secret.
In fact, I believe that frequently the conflict could be overcome by an offer of secrecy by Congress, or even testimony being given in front of top members who already have levels of clearance.
The reason for this is the catch all Executive Privilege.
It is frequently overused, but in fact, the founders did recognize that the President needs to be given information and advice that is not going to be made public.
However, the Bush administration has taken this WAY too far, and no, I don't mean things like the spying issue.
But totally absurd secrets like the make up of Cheney's Energy commission.
Now, however, the administration is actually claiming that the Office if Administration is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.
This would be comical if the OIA didn't have their own Freedom of Information Act OFFICER. That's right, by law, the Office has a position whose sole duty is to grant FOI act requests.
Secrecy is one thing, obstruction for the sake of obstruction is another.
In fact, I believe that frequently the conflict could be overcome by an offer of secrecy by Congress, or even testimony being given in front of top members who already have levels of clearance.
The reason for this is the catch all Executive Privilege.
It is frequently overused, but in fact, the founders did recognize that the President needs to be given information and advice that is not going to be made public.
However, the Bush administration has taken this WAY too far, and no, I don't mean things like the spying issue.
But totally absurd secrets like the make up of Cheney's Energy commission.
Now, however, the administration is actually claiming that the Office if Administration is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.
This would be comical if the OIA didn't have their own Freedom of Information Act OFFICER. That's right, by law, the Office has a position whose sole duty is to grant FOI act requests.
Secrecy is one thing, obstruction for the sake of obstruction is another.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
CNN - Caliph News Network?
I have been waiting, fearfully, for some time for a series to be broadcast on CNN this week hosted by Christian Amanpour.
The series, titled "G*d's Warrior's" was a three part series featuring a two hour show on Christians, Jews and Muslims.
CNN is noted for it's rabid anti-Israel stance, much of which I won't get into here, but done in both obvious and subtle ways (choice of images, refusal to use the word "terrorist" in reference to Islamic acts, etc).
Worse, Amanpour is one of the most rabid anti-Israeli reporters ever to have gained mainstream acceptance.
An Iranian, she has long been noted for her biased reporting when it comes to Israel, and so I was fearful of the report.
I assumed that the report about Jews would repeat the usual canards about Jewish control of the media (funny that she would be able to repeat that lie on her network, owned by one of the three main media conglomerates in the world run by a black Christian, Dick Parson's, but that logic escapes all those in the conspiracy camp).
At the same time, I was curious as to how she would fit "Christian Warrior's into the theme.
I assumed it might be about Opus Dei, the Jesuits, or quite frankly, I just didn't know!
Well, after watching the series, it was so far worse than I could have ever imagined I literally don't know what to do.
Briefly: The part on "Jewish Warriors" of course focused on Israel. Each "war" was of course solely an Israeli responsibility. There have basically been two acts of Jewish terror since the 1967 war.
One of these, Baruch Goldstein, was a psychotic lunatic who went into the "Tomb of the Patriarchs" where Abraham is buried, and opened fire on Muslims at prayer.
He killed 20+ and injured dozens more.
He was beaten to death by the people in the tomb.
Some background. Abraham is a patriarch of all three major monotheistic religions. The tomb is revered by both Jews and Muslims. It lies in Hebron, which Israel ceded to the Palestinians but which retains a Jewish population which needs to be protected at all times by the IDF.
The next thing she focused on was a radical group of Jewish settlers whose total population is 2. That's right, 2. In retaliation for a suicide bombing in Israel, they decided they were going to blow up a Palestinian girls school in East Jerusalem.
They were caught, by ISRAELI security, tried and sentenced to 15 years for attempted murder.
I highlite this because, as you will see, this stands in such contrast to the next show.
The overarching feel of the show, however, was the constant video of blood and guts, Israeli tanks and weapons.
In fact, there was a lot of video of the IDF moving against the Jewish settlers in Gaza when Ariel Sharon declared the unilateral pullout.
There was not a single "mainstream" Israeli intellectual, or Jewish pundit describing the "Jewish" point of view. No mainstream American rabbis, no Israeli politicians, nothing.
More interesting of course, is the fact that, as many of us have said, Israel, and Jewish, were interchangeable. This is so important because the new antisemitism masquerades as anti Israel sentiment.
OK, I thought, the next part will be about Muslim "warriors". There is SO MUCH video to show about Muslim terrorism that "equal time" will be easy to fill.
Funny, but there was not a SINGLE MINUTE of video of muslim terror.
There were very attractive Muslim women explaining how the laws were not oppressive, or if they were, the discussions were calm and intellectual.
There was quiet footage of marketplaces in Iran, Egypt, etc.
Even 9/11, which, thank goodness, was laid at Bin Laden's feet, was shown only in still pictures of a few of the "missing" posters in NY.
Even her interview with a British Muslim who had been radicalized into the worst of the Muslim radical groups in Britain, was calm, with little anxiety.
It was fascinating to see. Even Bin Laden was humanized by an interview with a childhood friend who described how he used to quiz his friends on religious issues.
OK, I thought, so it was just a really bad extension of what CNN is always up to.
Well, I knew there were no videos of rampaging Christians rioting over cartoons of Jesus so what could they show?
I figured there would be discussions of creationism, and Supreme Court issues. Of course there were.
But what we also saw were plenty of videos of fire and brimstone preachers, spit flying from their mouths, head banging Christian rockers, etc.
The entire series was a truly fascinating look into how dangerous images are in today's world.
What was, of course, never pointed out, is what I highlited above.
You don't have Jews and Christians blowing themselves up all over the world for their "causes".
You had suicide bombers equated with the Christian right, trying to effect change through the electoral process, not murdering thousands.
Worse, you have the Muslim murderers who name streets and schools after the suicide bombers, paralleled to Israelis who were captured by their own, and not celebrated, but tried and convicted in their own courts.
Find ONE Muslim nation that has convicted and jailed a Muslim for killing a non Muslim.
Moral equivalence was bad enough, but moral superiority? Unbelievable.
I didn't think it could get worse.
Wake up America.
The series, titled "G*d's Warrior's" was a three part series featuring a two hour show on Christians, Jews and Muslims.
CNN is noted for it's rabid anti-Israel stance, much of which I won't get into here, but done in both obvious and subtle ways (choice of images, refusal to use the word "terrorist" in reference to Islamic acts, etc).
Worse, Amanpour is one of the most rabid anti-Israeli reporters ever to have gained mainstream acceptance.
An Iranian, she has long been noted for her biased reporting when it comes to Israel, and so I was fearful of the report.
I assumed that the report about Jews would repeat the usual canards about Jewish control of the media (funny that she would be able to repeat that lie on her network, owned by one of the three main media conglomerates in the world run by a black Christian, Dick Parson's, but that logic escapes all those in the conspiracy camp).
At the same time, I was curious as to how she would fit "Christian Warrior's into the theme.
I assumed it might be about Opus Dei, the Jesuits, or quite frankly, I just didn't know!
Well, after watching the series, it was so far worse than I could have ever imagined I literally don't know what to do.
Briefly: The part on "Jewish Warriors" of course focused on Israel. Each "war" was of course solely an Israeli responsibility. There have basically been two acts of Jewish terror since the 1967 war.
One of these, Baruch Goldstein, was a psychotic lunatic who went into the "Tomb of the Patriarchs" where Abraham is buried, and opened fire on Muslims at prayer.
He killed 20+ and injured dozens more.
He was beaten to death by the people in the tomb.
Some background. Abraham is a patriarch of all three major monotheistic religions. The tomb is revered by both Jews and Muslims. It lies in Hebron, which Israel ceded to the Palestinians but which retains a Jewish population which needs to be protected at all times by the IDF.
The next thing she focused on was a radical group of Jewish settlers whose total population is 2. That's right, 2. In retaliation for a suicide bombing in Israel, they decided they were going to blow up a Palestinian girls school in East Jerusalem.
They were caught, by ISRAELI security, tried and sentenced to 15 years for attempted murder.
I highlite this because, as you will see, this stands in such contrast to the next show.
The overarching feel of the show, however, was the constant video of blood and guts, Israeli tanks and weapons.
In fact, there was a lot of video of the IDF moving against the Jewish settlers in Gaza when Ariel Sharon declared the unilateral pullout.
There was not a single "mainstream" Israeli intellectual, or Jewish pundit describing the "Jewish" point of view. No mainstream American rabbis, no Israeli politicians, nothing.
More interesting of course, is the fact that, as many of us have said, Israel, and Jewish, were interchangeable. This is so important because the new antisemitism masquerades as anti Israel sentiment.
OK, I thought, the next part will be about Muslim "warriors". There is SO MUCH video to show about Muslim terrorism that "equal time" will be easy to fill.
Funny, but there was not a SINGLE MINUTE of video of muslim terror.
There were very attractive Muslim women explaining how the laws were not oppressive, or if they were, the discussions were calm and intellectual.
There was quiet footage of marketplaces in Iran, Egypt, etc.
Even 9/11, which, thank goodness, was laid at Bin Laden's feet, was shown only in still pictures of a few of the "missing" posters in NY.
Even her interview with a British Muslim who had been radicalized into the worst of the Muslim radical groups in Britain, was calm, with little anxiety.
It was fascinating to see. Even Bin Laden was humanized by an interview with a childhood friend who described how he used to quiz his friends on religious issues.
OK, I thought, so it was just a really bad extension of what CNN is always up to.
Well, I knew there were no videos of rampaging Christians rioting over cartoons of Jesus so what could they show?
I figured there would be discussions of creationism, and Supreme Court issues. Of course there were.
But what we also saw were plenty of videos of fire and brimstone preachers, spit flying from their mouths, head banging Christian rockers, etc.
The entire series was a truly fascinating look into how dangerous images are in today's world.
What was, of course, never pointed out, is what I highlited above.
You don't have Jews and Christians blowing themselves up all over the world for their "causes".
You had suicide bombers equated with the Christian right, trying to effect change through the electoral process, not murdering thousands.
Worse, you have the Muslim murderers who name streets and schools after the suicide bombers, paralleled to Israelis who were captured by their own, and not celebrated, but tried and convicted in their own courts.
Find ONE Muslim nation that has convicted and jailed a Muslim for killing a non Muslim.
Moral equivalence was bad enough, but moral superiority? Unbelievable.
I didn't think it could get worse.
Wake up America.
Friday, August 24, 2007
A History Lesson
As much as I don't like Colin Powell, this story was too amazing not to pass on.
A History Lesson
The South Bronx in 1950 was the home of a large and thriving community, predominantly Jewish. In the 1950s the Bronx offered synagogues, mikvas, kosher bakeries, and kosher butchers -- all the comforts one would expect from an observant Orthodox Jewish community.
The baby boom of the postwar years happily resulted in many new young parents. As a matter of course, the South Bronx had its own baby equipment store, Sickser's. Sickser's was located on the corner of Westchester and Fox, and specialized in "everything for the baby" as its slogan ran. The inventory began with cribs, baby carriages, playpens, high chairs, changing tables, and toys.
It went way beyond these to everything a baby could want or need. Mr. Sickser, assisted by his son-in-law Lou Kirshner, ran a profitable business out of the needs of the rapidly expanding child population.
The language of the store was primarily Yiddish, but Sickser's was a place where not only Jewish families but also many non-Jewish ones could acquire the necessary for their newly arrived bundles of joy.
Business was particularly busy one spring day, so much so that Mr. Sickser and his son-in-law could not handle the unexpected throng of customers. Desperate for help, Mr. Sickser ran out of the store and stopped the first youth he spotted
on the street. "Young man," he panted, "how would
you like to make a little extra money? I need some
help in the store. You want to work a little?"
The tall, lanky black boy flashed a toothy smile back.
"Yes, sir, I'd like some work."
"Well then, let's get started."
The boy followed his new employer into
the store. Mr. Sickser was immediately impressed
with the boy's good manners and demeanor.
As the days went by and he came again
and again to lend his help, Mr. Sickser and Lou both became increasingly impressed with the youth's diligence, punctuality, and readiness to learn. Eventually Mr. Sickser made him a regular employee at the store. It was gratifying to find an employee with an almost soldier-like willingness to perform even the most menial of tasks, and to perform them well.
From the age of thirteen until his sophomore year in college, this young man put in from twelve to fifteen hours a week, at 50 to 75 cents an hour. Mostly, he performed general labor: assembling merchandise, unloading trucks and preparing items for shipments. He seemed, in his quiet way, to appreciate not only the steady employment but also the friendly atmosphere Mr. Sickser's store offered.
Mr. Sickser and Lou learned in time about their helper's Jamaican origins, and he in turn picked up a good deal of Yiddish.
In time the young man was able to converse fairly well with his employers, and more importantly, with a number of the Jewish customers whose English was not fluent. At the age of seventeen, the young man, while still working part-time at Sickser's, began his first semester at City College of New York . He fit in just fine with
his, for the most part Jewish classmates, hardly
surprising, considering that he already knew their
ways and their language.
But the heavy studying in the engineering and later geology courses he chose proved quite challenging. The young man would later recall that Sickser's offered the one stable point in his life those days.
In 1993, in his position as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- two years after he guided the American victory over Iraq in the Gulf War, General Colin Powell visited the Holy Land. Upon meeting Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
in Jerusalem , he greeted the Israeli with the word "Men kent reden Yiddish" (We can speak Yiddish).
As Shamir, stunned, tried to pull himself together, the current Secretary of State continued chatting in his second-favorite language. Colin Powell never forgot his early days working at Sickser's.
A History Lesson
The South Bronx in 1950 was the home of a large and thriving community, predominantly Jewish. In the 1950s the Bronx offered synagogues, mikvas, kosher bakeries, and kosher butchers -- all the comforts one would expect from an observant Orthodox Jewish community.
The baby boom of the postwar years happily resulted in many new young parents. As a matter of course, the South Bronx had its own baby equipment store, Sickser's. Sickser's was located on the corner of Westchester and Fox, and specialized in "everything for the baby" as its slogan ran. The inventory began with cribs, baby carriages, playpens, high chairs, changing tables, and toys.
It went way beyond these to everything a baby could want or need. Mr. Sickser, assisted by his son-in-law Lou Kirshner, ran a profitable business out of the needs of the rapidly expanding child population.
The language of the store was primarily Yiddish, but Sickser's was a place where not only Jewish families but also many non-Jewish ones could acquire the necessary for their newly arrived bundles of joy.
Business was particularly busy one spring day, so much so that Mr. Sickser and his son-in-law could not handle the unexpected throng of customers. Desperate for help, Mr. Sickser ran out of the store and stopped the first youth he spotted
on the street. "Young man," he panted, "how would
you like to make a little extra money? I need some
help in the store. You want to work a little?"
The tall, lanky black boy flashed a toothy smile back.
"Yes, sir, I'd like some work."
"Well then, let's get started."
The boy followed his new employer into
the store. Mr. Sickser was immediately impressed
with the boy's good manners and demeanor.
As the days went by and he came again
and again to lend his help, Mr. Sickser and Lou both became increasingly impressed with the youth's diligence, punctuality, and readiness to learn. Eventually Mr. Sickser made him a regular employee at the store. It was gratifying to find an employee with an almost soldier-like willingness to perform even the most menial of tasks, and to perform them well.
From the age of thirteen until his sophomore year in college, this young man put in from twelve to fifteen hours a week, at 50 to 75 cents an hour. Mostly, he performed general labor: assembling merchandise, unloading trucks and preparing items for shipments. He seemed, in his quiet way, to appreciate not only the steady employment but also the friendly atmosphere Mr. Sickser's store offered.
Mr. Sickser and Lou learned in time about their helper's Jamaican origins, and he in turn picked up a good deal of Yiddish.
In time the young man was able to converse fairly well with his employers, and more importantly, with a number of the Jewish customers whose English was not fluent. At the age of seventeen, the young man, while still working part-time at Sickser's, began his first semester at City College of New York . He fit in just fine with
his, for the most part Jewish classmates, hardly
surprising, considering that he already knew their
ways and their language.
But the heavy studying in the engineering and later geology courses he chose proved quite challenging. The young man would later recall that Sickser's offered the one stable point in his life those days.
In 1993, in his position as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- two years after he guided the American victory over Iraq in the Gulf War, General Colin Powell visited the Holy Land. Upon meeting Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
in Jerusalem , he greeted the Israeli with the word "Men kent reden Yiddish" (We can speak Yiddish).
As Shamir, stunned, tried to pull himself together, the current Secretary of State continued chatting in his second-favorite language. Colin Powell never forgot his early days working at Sickser's.
It doesn't get worse than this....
Hitting shelves in NY today were a new series of Yankees Caps from the New Era Cap company.
One was white with a Red bandana with a NY logo; one was a white one with a blue bandana around it and a NY on it, and the final one was black with a crown slightly askew above the NY.
For those that don't know, these hats were designed specifically to appeal to the Crips, Bloods and Latin Kings and were being sold primarily in the South Bronx and Northern Manhattan, fertile gang territory.
It is simply incredible that these companies allowed this to happen, and worse, that they got the Major League Baseball "officially licensed" product seal.
Thankfully, there was enough of an uproar that supposedly they were pulled from distribution.
If you see these offensive "lids" in your area, please, call or write MLB or the New Era Cap Company.
One was white with a Red bandana with a NY logo; one was a white one with a blue bandana around it and a NY on it, and the final one was black with a crown slightly askew above the NY.
For those that don't know, these hats were designed specifically to appeal to the Crips, Bloods and Latin Kings and were being sold primarily in the South Bronx and Northern Manhattan, fertile gang territory.
It is simply incredible that these companies allowed this to happen, and worse, that they got the Major League Baseball "officially licensed" product seal.
Thankfully, there was enough of an uproar that supposedly they were pulled from distribution.
If you see these offensive "lids" in your area, please, call or write MLB or the New Era Cap Company.
The New Economy of the Middle East
Two interesting recent developments.
First, and as a result of the second, is that MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) one of my favorite organizations and websites recently started an economic blog.
This is as a result of the development in the Middle East of a "new" economy. Of course, like most trends, it is far from new, but has been accelerating, and has become very evident in the last two or three years and even more so with the credit crunch here in the states. That is the diversification of the economies of several countries in the Middle East, most notably the emirates, in particular Dubai, with massive investments in their own infrastructure, real estate and in particular, foreign investment vehicles.
What is of note to me, and should be a lesson to all, is that the countries involved in the new "boom" have largely remained uninvolved in terror, and the spread of the new jihadist strain of Islam, Wahhabbism.
It was for this reason that I had mixed feelings about the Congressional action to prevent the approval of the Dubai Ports deal last year. Yes, there is always a greater danger of infiltration by radical Islamic elements into Islamic companies, as Congress alleged here (the allegations were that Al Qaeda had laundered money through Ports World without the government of Dubai knowing).
I understood the "appearance of impropriety" argument, but ultimately thought Bush was right, and giving these companies access to growth in the West, rather than having them invest exclusively in the Far East and Asian peninsula was smart.
So, what appears below is an article that appeared in the new MEMRI economic blog which can easily be googled for anyone interested.
Changing Patterns of Investment in the Gulf Region: The Case of Dubai
Bianca Gersten*
Introduction
The massive increase in oil revenues in most of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait—has created unprecedented opportunities for the building of infrastructure, the provision of social services and, at the same time, for investments overseas.
These investments have been channeled through two principal pipelines—acquisition of assets and the purchase of shares in high quality financial and industrial firms. According to the London daily al-Sharq al-Awsat of August 13, the Gulf countries have channeled $140 billion into overseas investments in the last three years. In a relatively short time, some of the Gulf countries have become respectable actors on the international financial scene.
At the same time, a hospitable investment environment, the privatization of state-owned entities and the prospects of mutually profitable deals have attracted a massive influx of Western financial services and industry to the Gulf region. The opening of the real estate market for foreign investors, particularly in Dubai, has created a massive construction boom which is fueling economic growth at a rapid rate.
The purpose of this article is to shed light on the investment activities of Dubai, and how an enlightened and entrepreneurial leadership has turned what was a small desert outpost just a few decades ago into a bustling metropolis with a vigorous economy that is subject to both envy and emulation.
Increased Investment Power
Economies in the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] in general have grown by more than 5% in each of the last three years on account of substantial oil revenues. As the main suppliers of oil in the region, the Gulf countries—and, chiefly among them, the United Arab Emirates [UAE]—have experienced unprecedented levels of growth.
In contrast to the earlier oil booms of the 1970’s and 1980’s, however, these countries are not squandering their oil revenues on spending sprees, but rather are focusing on diversifying their assets and buttressing their fiscal solvency through massive investment schemes.
Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, in particular, exemplifies the investment trends of the Middle East, mostly on account of the fact that it is an investment powerhouse out of necessity. The emirate seeks to open itself to and extend its reach within international markets in order to hedge any risk it faces due to the steady decline of its oil and gas reserves, which are expected to reach depletion within twenty years. Dubai currently has a strong penchant for the real-estate sector, but is learning to thoroughly diversify its assets in its search for some high-yielding financial instruments.
Large current account surpluses have allowed much of this investment to take place through sovereign funds, which, in the past, were traditionally held only to protect domestic currencies and banks. Sovereign fund investment is a trend not limited to Gulf countries; the global total of sovereign funds[1] may be $2.5 trillion by the end of this year, and could reach $12 trillion by 2015 on account of capital appreciation.[2] Sovereign wealth funds may soon become the most important buyers of stocks and bonds, and oil countries account for about two-thirds of such assets globally.
[www.memrieconomicblog.org will soon present a more detailed discussion of sovereign fund investment and some possible complications of their proliferation.]
Attracting Western Industries
The current generation of economic and industry ministers in the Gulf region is largely composed of men who began their careers in the private sector. This correlates with efforts in almost all MENA countries to increase the privatization of state-owned entities in an attempt to create an “open market” atmosphere. As the Middle East daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reported on August 8, 2007, an international investment firm in Kuwait noted that privatization trends in Gulf countries—which are competing amongst themselves to become the next global “financial capitol”—are reflected in the flow of private capital into publicly traded stocks and other financial instruments. In 2006 this amount totaled $7.07 billion, which was a 61.6% increase over the previous year.
As regional investment levels skyrocket, from both private and public sources, local private investment funds are scrambling to attain access to European and American markets so that shareholders can enjoy even higher returns on their assets. In the end, this has pulled many Western services and industries, attracted to the copious amount of funds that proximity to potential investors can yield, into the Gulf region.
The Carlyle Group LP says that the Middle East is now the “hot spot” for private equity deals, and HSBC reports that as much as one third of all project finance involves Middle Eastern projects.[3] Dubai is a particular hub of this activity. The chief executive of oil services company Halliburton has recently opted to relocate at least part of the company’s corporate and executive headquarters from Houston to Dubai. Other prospective buyers of property in the emirate include Oracle, Cisco and Microsoft.[4]
Indeed, Dubai has made itself fertile ground for a Western economic presence with its free trade zones, in which companies are not held to the standard UAE requirement that all entities be majority-owned by a UAE national. Various information technology firms, investment banks and media corporations have holed themselves up in these territories, and officials expect finance alone to quadruple its contribution to the emirate’s GDP to $15 billion by 2015.[5]
Low tariffs, low currency risk, the absence of restrictions on repatriation of profits, a small national bureaucracy, and UAE laws that forbid corporate and sales taxes helped the number of Greenfield projects [certain types of investment ventures] within Dubai alone to rise from 88 in 2002 to 215 in 2005. As such, non-oil growth has average 10.6% annually over the past five years. [6] In turn, state-oriented investment facilities such as Dubai International Capital, Istithmar [investment holding company] and DIFC Investments have taken stakes in HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Blackstone [private equity fund] and Deutsche Bank.
Qatar is following in Dubai’s footsteps, announcing on July 16, 2007 the unification of its regulatory system, and its intention to rewrite outdated legal codes for commercial and financial transactions that may act as barriers to entry for international firms.
On a smaller scale, many US companies are moving into the region to bolster the sugar industry, which has had to quickly develop after the World Trade Organization capped exports of sugar from the EU in July, 2006. With the Gulf’s large number of transport vessels, it is a magnet for much of the half-billion dollars being invested in sugar output production.
A Mastercard survey also indicated that consumer confidence in the region is at an all time high, and so spending is soaring in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Owing to this and the decline of the dollar, to which all of the Gulf currencies are pegged with the exception of Kuwait’s, some American products are getting a boost. For instance, June was the best month for General Motors in the Persian Gulf because its cars were enjoying an advantage over Japanese and European cars.[7] If the spending trend continues, other Western manufacturing may be pulled into the Gulf’s orbit.
Expanding Horizons
While Western banking, financial and information technology industries are rapidly being drawn to the Gulf countries, Gulf investment is not necessarily giving preferential treatment to the Western hemisphere that has largely responsible for its explosion of financial power.
While it is true that various emirate companies invested $3.5 billion in the US last year[8], many of those same companies are also shifting their interest to Asian markets on account of the falling dollar and for the sake of diversification:
- Dubai International Capital and DIFC Investments are working to extend their reach into Pakistan, India and South Korea.
- Istithmar’s real estate arm, which is part of the Dubai World group of companies, plans to increase the 5% of its assets it has invested in Asia to 30% within five years.[9]
- The Dubai government firm Emaar is responsible for the housing boom taking place across Asia, most recently securing a deal to construct a 1,200-hectare project, set on the pristine Mandalika Beach, estimated at $600 million in worth.[10]
- Remaining oil exports in the Dubai are being used to help launch the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, a joint venture with Nymex that is to create a futures market for Mideast crude oil exported to Asia.
- Dubai Ports World, in its attempt to double its capacity in 10 years, is developing terminals in China, India, Vietnam and Pakistan.
There has also been a trend of increased cross-border investment within the Gulf and larger MENA regions. Part of the reason behind this trend is a post-9/11 sentiment in the Arab world that the West, and especially the US, is unwelcoming of Arab investment. This fear did not seem entirely unfounded in 2006, when the House of Representatives passed legislation forbidding Dubai Ports World from gaining operations of ports in major American cities, citing that al-Qa’ida funding had passed through UAE banks, albeit unbeknownst to the government, prior to 9/11. [This caused a showdown between Congress and the White House, which supported the deal, and much controversy ensued.]
As an example, construction company Emaar’s most recent press releases discuss not Western development, but a $500 million deal to build Samara Dead Sea Golf and Beach resort in Jordan, and a memorandum on understanding with a Saudi energy company on plans for the construction of an open-cycle gas turbine power plant for King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Arabic satellite television has allowed Gulf companies to develop strong regional brands, and then take their business to a global level. The substantial revenues produced by this trend have enabled more mergers and acquisitions to take place. For example, Qatar Telecommunications Co. paid $3.7 billion for a 51% stake in Kuwait’s National Mobile Telecommunications Co., while Abraaj Capital, MENA’s largest private equity firm, paid around $1.4 billion for Egypt’s largest private sector fertilizer manufacturer.[11]
The Gulf’s stepped up trans-shipment and trading hub status means that it is also increasing its trading links with Iran. Each year, chemicals, oil production equipment and computer technology enter into Iran via the UAE, and especially the ports of Dubai. This, in theory, assists Iran in its quest to develop its industry and become more economically autonomous. The US also suspects that some equipment transshipped through Dubai ports may have been used by Iran for its nuclear program.
Conclusion
These investment patterns place the Gulf region, and especially Dubai, in a unique position. As relationships increase in number and depth within certain markets, namely Iran and China, diplomatic ties with Washington and Europe will probably occasionally feel a squeeze.
Sovereign wealth funds are set to grow in the short and medium-term at least, and as they do so it is inevitable that the economic sway held by Gulf countries, by nature of their voracious appetite for foreign investment, will increase dramatically. Of course, there will be repercussions to this new scheme of sovereign investment. But one should expect Western industries, especially financial services, to continue to converge upon and cater to the burgeoning market of the Gulf. At the same time, Asian markets—especially real-estate sectors—will be able to count on continued attention from oil-producing asset powerhouses such as Dubai.
First, and as a result of the second, is that MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) one of my favorite organizations and websites recently started an economic blog.
This is as a result of the development in the Middle East of a "new" economy. Of course, like most trends, it is far from new, but has been accelerating, and has become very evident in the last two or three years and even more so with the credit crunch here in the states. That is the diversification of the economies of several countries in the Middle East, most notably the emirates, in particular Dubai, with massive investments in their own infrastructure, real estate and in particular, foreign investment vehicles.
What is of note to me, and should be a lesson to all, is that the countries involved in the new "boom" have largely remained uninvolved in terror, and the spread of the new jihadist strain of Islam, Wahhabbism.
It was for this reason that I had mixed feelings about the Congressional action to prevent the approval of the Dubai Ports deal last year. Yes, there is always a greater danger of infiltration by radical Islamic elements into Islamic companies, as Congress alleged here (the allegations were that Al Qaeda had laundered money through Ports World without the government of Dubai knowing).
I understood the "appearance of impropriety" argument, but ultimately thought Bush was right, and giving these companies access to growth in the West, rather than having them invest exclusively in the Far East and Asian peninsula was smart.
So, what appears below is an article that appeared in the new MEMRI economic blog which can easily be googled for anyone interested.
Changing Patterns of Investment in the Gulf Region: The Case of Dubai
Bianca Gersten*
Introduction
The massive increase in oil revenues in most of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait—has created unprecedented opportunities for the building of infrastructure, the provision of social services and, at the same time, for investments overseas.
These investments have been channeled through two principal pipelines—acquisition of assets and the purchase of shares in high quality financial and industrial firms. According to the London daily al-Sharq al-Awsat of August 13, the Gulf countries have channeled $140 billion into overseas investments in the last three years. In a relatively short time, some of the Gulf countries have become respectable actors on the international financial scene.
At the same time, a hospitable investment environment, the privatization of state-owned entities and the prospects of mutually profitable deals have attracted a massive influx of Western financial services and industry to the Gulf region. The opening of the real estate market for foreign investors, particularly in Dubai, has created a massive construction boom which is fueling economic growth at a rapid rate.
The purpose of this article is to shed light on the investment activities of Dubai, and how an enlightened and entrepreneurial leadership has turned what was a small desert outpost just a few decades ago into a bustling metropolis with a vigorous economy that is subject to both envy and emulation.
Increased Investment Power
Economies in the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] in general have grown by more than 5% in each of the last three years on account of substantial oil revenues. As the main suppliers of oil in the region, the Gulf countries—and, chiefly among them, the United Arab Emirates [UAE]—have experienced unprecedented levels of growth.
In contrast to the earlier oil booms of the 1970’s and 1980’s, however, these countries are not squandering their oil revenues on spending sprees, but rather are focusing on diversifying their assets and buttressing their fiscal solvency through massive investment schemes.
Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, in particular, exemplifies the investment trends of the Middle East, mostly on account of the fact that it is an investment powerhouse out of necessity. The emirate seeks to open itself to and extend its reach within international markets in order to hedge any risk it faces due to the steady decline of its oil and gas reserves, which are expected to reach depletion within twenty years. Dubai currently has a strong penchant for the real-estate sector, but is learning to thoroughly diversify its assets in its search for some high-yielding financial instruments.
Large current account surpluses have allowed much of this investment to take place through sovereign funds, which, in the past, were traditionally held only to protect domestic currencies and banks. Sovereign fund investment is a trend not limited to Gulf countries; the global total of sovereign funds[1] may be $2.5 trillion by the end of this year, and could reach $12 trillion by 2015 on account of capital appreciation.[2] Sovereign wealth funds may soon become the most important buyers of stocks and bonds, and oil countries account for about two-thirds of such assets globally.
[www.memrieconomicblog.org will soon present a more detailed discussion of sovereign fund investment and some possible complications of their proliferation.]
Attracting Western Industries
The current generation of economic and industry ministers in the Gulf region is largely composed of men who began their careers in the private sector. This correlates with efforts in almost all MENA countries to increase the privatization of state-owned entities in an attempt to create an “open market” atmosphere. As the Middle East daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reported on August 8, 2007, an international investment firm in Kuwait noted that privatization trends in Gulf countries—which are competing amongst themselves to become the next global “financial capitol”—are reflected in the flow of private capital into publicly traded stocks and other financial instruments. In 2006 this amount totaled $7.07 billion, which was a 61.6% increase over the previous year.
As regional investment levels skyrocket, from both private and public sources, local private investment funds are scrambling to attain access to European and American markets so that shareholders can enjoy even higher returns on their assets. In the end, this has pulled many Western services and industries, attracted to the copious amount of funds that proximity to potential investors can yield, into the Gulf region.
The Carlyle Group LP says that the Middle East is now the “hot spot” for private equity deals, and HSBC reports that as much as one third of all project finance involves Middle Eastern projects.[3] Dubai is a particular hub of this activity. The chief executive of oil services company Halliburton has recently opted to relocate at least part of the company’s corporate and executive headquarters from Houston to Dubai. Other prospective buyers of property in the emirate include Oracle, Cisco and Microsoft.[4]
Indeed, Dubai has made itself fertile ground for a Western economic presence with its free trade zones, in which companies are not held to the standard UAE requirement that all entities be majority-owned by a UAE national. Various information technology firms, investment banks and media corporations have holed themselves up in these territories, and officials expect finance alone to quadruple its contribution to the emirate’s GDP to $15 billion by 2015.[5]
Low tariffs, low currency risk, the absence of restrictions on repatriation of profits, a small national bureaucracy, and UAE laws that forbid corporate and sales taxes helped the number of Greenfield projects [certain types of investment ventures] within Dubai alone to rise from 88 in 2002 to 215 in 2005. As such, non-oil growth has average 10.6% annually over the past five years. [6] In turn, state-oriented investment facilities such as Dubai International Capital, Istithmar [investment holding company] and DIFC Investments have taken stakes in HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Blackstone [private equity fund] and Deutsche Bank.
Qatar is following in Dubai’s footsteps, announcing on July 16, 2007 the unification of its regulatory system, and its intention to rewrite outdated legal codes for commercial and financial transactions that may act as barriers to entry for international firms.
On a smaller scale, many US companies are moving into the region to bolster the sugar industry, which has had to quickly develop after the World Trade Organization capped exports of sugar from the EU in July, 2006. With the Gulf’s large number of transport vessels, it is a magnet for much of the half-billion dollars being invested in sugar output production.
A Mastercard survey also indicated that consumer confidence in the region is at an all time high, and so spending is soaring in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Owing to this and the decline of the dollar, to which all of the Gulf currencies are pegged with the exception of Kuwait’s, some American products are getting a boost. For instance, June was the best month for General Motors in the Persian Gulf because its cars were enjoying an advantage over Japanese and European cars.[7] If the spending trend continues, other Western manufacturing may be pulled into the Gulf’s orbit.
Expanding Horizons
While Western banking, financial and information technology industries are rapidly being drawn to the Gulf countries, Gulf investment is not necessarily giving preferential treatment to the Western hemisphere that has largely responsible for its explosion of financial power.
While it is true that various emirate companies invested $3.5 billion in the US last year[8], many of those same companies are also shifting their interest to Asian markets on account of the falling dollar and for the sake of diversification:
- Dubai International Capital and DIFC Investments are working to extend their reach into Pakistan, India and South Korea.
- Istithmar’s real estate arm, which is part of the Dubai World group of companies, plans to increase the 5% of its assets it has invested in Asia to 30% within five years.[9]
- The Dubai government firm Emaar is responsible for the housing boom taking place across Asia, most recently securing a deal to construct a 1,200-hectare project, set on the pristine Mandalika Beach, estimated at $600 million in worth.[10]
- Remaining oil exports in the Dubai are being used to help launch the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, a joint venture with Nymex that is to create a futures market for Mideast crude oil exported to Asia.
- Dubai Ports World, in its attempt to double its capacity in 10 years, is developing terminals in China, India, Vietnam and Pakistan.
There has also been a trend of increased cross-border investment within the Gulf and larger MENA regions. Part of the reason behind this trend is a post-9/11 sentiment in the Arab world that the West, and especially the US, is unwelcoming of Arab investment. This fear did not seem entirely unfounded in 2006, when the House of Representatives passed legislation forbidding Dubai Ports World from gaining operations of ports in major American cities, citing that al-Qa’ida funding had passed through UAE banks, albeit unbeknownst to the government, prior to 9/11. [This caused a showdown between Congress and the White House, which supported the deal, and much controversy ensued.]
As an example, construction company Emaar’s most recent press releases discuss not Western development, but a $500 million deal to build Samara Dead Sea Golf and Beach resort in Jordan, and a memorandum on understanding with a Saudi energy company on plans for the construction of an open-cycle gas turbine power plant for King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Arabic satellite television has allowed Gulf companies to develop strong regional brands, and then take their business to a global level. The substantial revenues produced by this trend have enabled more mergers and acquisitions to take place. For example, Qatar Telecommunications Co. paid $3.7 billion for a 51% stake in Kuwait’s National Mobile Telecommunications Co., while Abraaj Capital, MENA’s largest private equity firm, paid around $1.4 billion for Egypt’s largest private sector fertilizer manufacturer.[11]
The Gulf’s stepped up trans-shipment and trading hub status means that it is also increasing its trading links with Iran. Each year, chemicals, oil production equipment and computer technology enter into Iran via the UAE, and especially the ports of Dubai. This, in theory, assists Iran in its quest to develop its industry and become more economically autonomous. The US also suspects that some equipment transshipped through Dubai ports may have been used by Iran for its nuclear program.
Conclusion
These investment patterns place the Gulf region, and especially Dubai, in a unique position. As relationships increase in number and depth within certain markets, namely Iran and China, diplomatic ties with Washington and Europe will probably occasionally feel a squeeze.
Sovereign wealth funds are set to grow in the short and medium-term at least, and as they do so it is inevitable that the economic sway held by Gulf countries, by nature of their voracious appetite for foreign investment, will increase dramatically. Of course, there will be repercussions to this new scheme of sovereign investment. But one should expect Western industries, especially financial services, to continue to converge upon and cater to the burgeoning market of the Gulf. At the same time, Asian markets—especially real-estate sectors—will be able to count on continued attention from oil-producing asset powerhouses such as Dubai.
Revealing article in today's Jerusalem (formerly Palestine) Post
Civil Fights: Surreal diplomacy
Evelyn Gordon, THE JERUSALEM POST
Aug. 8, 2007
To understand just how surreal all the talk of Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic momentum is, two recent polls suffice.
One is the latest Peace Index poll, published this week, which found that for the first time in years, a majority of Israeli Jews oppose a broad West Bank withdrawal, even under an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty. Asked whether they would quit the entire West Bank, except the settlement blocs, for such a treaty - something most Jewish Israelis previously supported - 53 percent said no; only 42 percent said yes. The other is the latest Pew Global Attitudes poll, published two weeks ago. It found dramatic, almost across-the-board drops in Muslim countries' support for suicide bombings. Only 34 percent of Lebanese, for instance, backed such bombings, down from 74 percent in 2002; in Jordan, the figure fell from 43 to 23 percent. Indeed, in 15 of the 16 Muslim countries surveyed, majorities deemed suicide bombings rarely or never justified. The sole exception was the Palestinian Authority - where a whopping 70 percent considered suicide bombings sometimes or often justified. Only 6 percent of Palestinians said they were never justified. Obviously, these polls are closely connected: It is precisely because Palestinian enthusiasm for murdering Jews remains undimmed after 14 years of "peace process" that Jewish Israelis have stopped believing territorial concessions will bring peace. This process has included five signed agreements in which Palestinians pledged to halt terror, Israeli withdrawals from all of Gaza and parts of the West Bank, the complete dismantling of 25 settlements and Israel's offer of Palestinian statehood on about 95 percent of the territories, including east Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Yet not only has none of this dampened Palestinian enthusiasm for killing Jews; it has stoked it.
For Israelis, every stage of the "peace process" has produced less actual peace. In the two and a half years following the 1993 Oslo Accord, Palestinians killed more Israelis than during the entire preceding decade. In the four years following Ehud Barak's statehood offer at Camp David in 2000, Palestinians killed more Israelis than during the preceding 53 years. In 2006, the first full year following the August 2005 disengagement, the number of rockets launched from Gaza at pre-1967 Israel more than tripled compared to 2004 (the last full year pre-disengagement).
IN SHORT, the Palestinians have used every bit of territory they received as a launching pad for more attacks on Israelis. Moreover, they have sacrificed their own economic well-being to do so: In response to this escalating terror, Palestinian workers were barred from Israel, formerly their main employer; other Israeli defensive measures, such as checkpoints and border closures, have strangled internal and external Palestinian commerce. Consequently, Palestinian gross domestic product plummeted while unemployment soared. Yet as the Pew poll shows, none of this dampened Palestinian enthusiasm for suicide bombing. Economic distress is evidently a price they are willing to pay for the privilege of killing Israelis. Thus the astonishing thing is not that Israelis have concluded the obvious: that more territorial withdrawals would merely create more launching pads for terror, no matter what the Palestinians promise, and that quitting most of the West Bank would therefore be suicidal. The astonishing thing is that it took them 14 years to do so. It is a testimony to Israelis' desperate longing for peace that they ignored the evidence for so long.
BUT THE talk of diplomatic momentum becomes, if possible, even more surreal when another issue is considered: the refugees. Israel's one nonnegotiable condition for a final-status agreement is that Palestinian refugees and their descendants not relocate to Israel. Yet in 14 years of "peace process," successive Israeli retreats on other issues (borders, Jerusalem) have yet to produce even a hint of reciprocal Palestinian concessions on this issue. Professional peace processors blithely declare this adamancy a mere negotiating tactic, not the "real" Palestinian position. Ordinary Palestinians, unfortunately, are still not in on this secret: Polls consistently show large majorities opposing any concession on the "right of return." But last week, for the first time, an actual test case arose: Israel agreed to allow 41 Palestinian refugees from Iraq into the PA if they turned in their UN refugee cards, thereby declaring their refugee status ended. This was supposed to bolster the Mahmoud Abbas-Salam Fayad government: Palestinian Iraqis, whose support for Saddam Hussein made them loathed by other Iraqis, suffered greatly after Saddam's fall; thus Abbas, Fayad and Ehud Olmert all naively concluded that the Palestinian public would applaud an asylum offer for their wretched countrymen. Instead, Abbas and Fayad were assailed for this deal - not only by Hamas, but also by senior members of Abbas's own Fatah party, the Fatah-controlled Palestinian press and smaller Palestinian factions. Why? Because, opponents explained, he forfeited these refugees' "right of return" to Israel. Against this backdrop, the recent talk by Olmert, Abbas and Condoleezza Rice about concluding a "framework document" of "agreed final-status principles" before this fall's international peace conference cannot be defined as anything but surreal. These principles, as all veteran peace processors agree, must include an Israeli withdrawal from most of the West Bank, which most Jewish Israelis oppose; a Palestinian halt to anti-Israel terror, which most Palestinians oppose; and a concession of the "right of return" for 4.4 million Palestinians (UNRWA's figure), which Abbas cannot even concede for 41 wretched Iraqi refugees without a public outcry. Even in the unlikely event that Olmert and Abbas actually sign such a document, how, under these circumstances, would it be worth even as much as the paper on which it is printed?
If the world wanted actual progress rather than the mere illusion of momentum, it would have to address Palestinians' twin addictions: to murdering Israelis (which turns Israel against territorial withdrawals) and to the "right of return." Unlike "framework documents" and international conferences, that would actually contribute to solving the conflict. But it would produce no instant photps; the fruits would be reaped only years later. And given a choice between genuine progress and a photo op , Olmert, Abbas and Rice evidently prefer the latter.
Evelyn Gordon, THE JERUSALEM POST
Aug. 8, 2007
To understand just how surreal all the talk of Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic momentum is, two recent polls suffice.
One is the latest Peace Index poll, published this week, which found that for the first time in years, a majority of Israeli Jews oppose a broad West Bank withdrawal, even under an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty. Asked whether they would quit the entire West Bank, except the settlement blocs, for such a treaty - something most Jewish Israelis previously supported - 53 percent said no; only 42 percent said yes. The other is the latest Pew Global Attitudes poll, published two weeks ago. It found dramatic, almost across-the-board drops in Muslim countries' support for suicide bombings. Only 34 percent of Lebanese, for instance, backed such bombings, down from 74 percent in 2002; in Jordan, the figure fell from 43 to 23 percent. Indeed, in 15 of the 16 Muslim countries surveyed, majorities deemed suicide bombings rarely or never justified. The sole exception was the Palestinian Authority - where a whopping 70 percent considered suicide bombings sometimes or often justified. Only 6 percent of Palestinians said they were never justified. Obviously, these polls are closely connected: It is precisely because Palestinian enthusiasm for murdering Jews remains undimmed after 14 years of "peace process" that Jewish Israelis have stopped believing territorial concessions will bring peace. This process has included five signed agreements in which Palestinians pledged to halt terror, Israeli withdrawals from all of Gaza and parts of the West Bank, the complete dismantling of 25 settlements and Israel's offer of Palestinian statehood on about 95 percent of the territories, including east Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Yet not only has none of this dampened Palestinian enthusiasm for killing Jews; it has stoked it.
For Israelis, every stage of the "peace process" has produced less actual peace. In the two and a half years following the 1993 Oslo Accord, Palestinians killed more Israelis than during the entire preceding decade. In the four years following Ehud Barak's statehood offer at Camp David in 2000, Palestinians killed more Israelis than during the preceding 53 years. In 2006, the first full year following the August 2005 disengagement, the number of rockets launched from Gaza at pre-1967 Israel more than tripled compared to 2004 (the last full year pre-disengagement).
IN SHORT, the Palestinians have used every bit of territory they received as a launching pad for more attacks on Israelis. Moreover, they have sacrificed their own economic well-being to do so: In response to this escalating terror, Palestinian workers were barred from Israel, formerly their main employer; other Israeli defensive measures, such as checkpoints and border closures, have strangled internal and external Palestinian commerce. Consequently, Palestinian gross domestic product plummeted while unemployment soared. Yet as the Pew poll shows, none of this dampened Palestinian enthusiasm for suicide bombing. Economic distress is evidently a price they are willing to pay for the privilege of killing Israelis. Thus the astonishing thing is not that Israelis have concluded the obvious: that more territorial withdrawals would merely create more launching pads for terror, no matter what the Palestinians promise, and that quitting most of the West Bank would therefore be suicidal. The astonishing thing is that it took them 14 years to do so. It is a testimony to Israelis' desperate longing for peace that they ignored the evidence for so long.
BUT THE talk of diplomatic momentum becomes, if possible, even more surreal when another issue is considered: the refugees. Israel's one nonnegotiable condition for a final-status agreement is that Palestinian refugees and their descendants not relocate to Israel. Yet in 14 years of "peace process," successive Israeli retreats on other issues (borders, Jerusalem) have yet to produce even a hint of reciprocal Palestinian concessions on this issue. Professional peace processors blithely declare this adamancy a mere negotiating tactic, not the "real" Palestinian position. Ordinary Palestinians, unfortunately, are still not in on this secret: Polls consistently show large majorities opposing any concession on the "right of return." But last week, for the first time, an actual test case arose: Israel agreed to allow 41 Palestinian refugees from Iraq into the PA if they turned in their UN refugee cards, thereby declaring their refugee status ended. This was supposed to bolster the Mahmoud Abbas-Salam Fayad government: Palestinian Iraqis, whose support for Saddam Hussein made them loathed by other Iraqis, suffered greatly after Saddam's fall; thus Abbas, Fayad and Ehud Olmert all naively concluded that the Palestinian public would applaud an asylum offer for their wretched countrymen. Instead, Abbas and Fayad were assailed for this deal - not only by Hamas, but also by senior members of Abbas's own Fatah party, the Fatah-controlled Palestinian press and smaller Palestinian factions. Why? Because, opponents explained, he forfeited these refugees' "right of return" to Israel. Against this backdrop, the recent talk by Olmert, Abbas and Condoleezza Rice about concluding a "framework document" of "agreed final-status principles" before this fall's international peace conference cannot be defined as anything but surreal. These principles, as all veteran peace processors agree, must include an Israeli withdrawal from most of the West Bank, which most Jewish Israelis oppose; a Palestinian halt to anti-Israel terror, which most Palestinians oppose; and a concession of the "right of return" for 4.4 million Palestinians (UNRWA's figure), which Abbas cannot even concede for 41 wretched Iraqi refugees without a public outcry. Even in the unlikely event that Olmert and Abbas actually sign such a document, how, under these circumstances, would it be worth even as much as the paper on which it is printed?
If the world wanted actual progress rather than the mere illusion of momentum, it would have to address Palestinians' twin addictions: to murdering Israelis (which turns Israel against territorial withdrawals) and to the "right of return." Unlike "framework documents" and international conferences, that would actually contribute to solving the conflict. But it would produce no instant photps; the fruits would be reaped only years later. And given a choice between genuine progress and a photo op , Olmert, Abbas and Rice evidently prefer the latter.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Update on Farfur the Mouse from Al Aqsa TV
If you search back in my blog, you will see a few entries about a Mickey Mouse look alike that aired on AL Aqsa TV, the network of Hamas.
Farfur appeared as the main character on a TV show that taught children how to martyr themselves and kill Israelis.
Under threat of lawsuit from Disney and worldwide condemnation the character of Farfur was "eliminated".
As I described earlier, the show introduced a new character, Nahul the Bee, who described Farfur's murder at the hands of the Israeli's, defending the "homeland".
Nahul the Bee told the children that it was their duty to seek revenge for Farfur's murder by the "murdering, terrorist" Israelis.
Well, now the video of the "murder" is available on Youtube.
I URGE YOU TO WATCH IT.
What you will see, and what is as important as the way it portrays the alleged Israeli, is what is told to Farfur by his "grandfather".
The so called Palestinians tell the Western media that it is about occuppied "territories".
Those of us seeking to expose the truth have continually tried to inform the West that the Arabs have never given up their claim of "from the river to the sea" i.e. the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. i.e that there will be NO ISRAEL.
That the entire area will be Arab.
Well, in the video, you see Farfur's grandfather describing how TEL AVIV, was occupied by the Israelis in 1948.
Not, 1967, not Jerusalem, not "the Green Line" or the "territories" but Tel Aviv which no one has ever dared claim to be in dispute.
The truth will out.
Farfur appeared as the main character on a TV show that taught children how to martyr themselves and kill Israelis.
Under threat of lawsuit from Disney and worldwide condemnation the character of Farfur was "eliminated".
As I described earlier, the show introduced a new character, Nahul the Bee, who described Farfur's murder at the hands of the Israeli's, defending the "homeland".
Nahul the Bee told the children that it was their duty to seek revenge for Farfur's murder by the "murdering, terrorist" Israelis.
Well, now the video of the "murder" is available on Youtube.
I URGE YOU TO WATCH IT.
What you will see, and what is as important as the way it portrays the alleged Israeli, is what is told to Farfur by his "grandfather".
The so called Palestinians tell the Western media that it is about occuppied "territories".
Those of us seeking to expose the truth have continually tried to inform the West that the Arabs have never given up their claim of "from the river to the sea" i.e. the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. i.e that there will be NO ISRAEL.
That the entire area will be Arab.
Well, in the video, you see Farfur's grandfather describing how TEL AVIV, was occupied by the Israelis in 1948.
Not, 1967, not Jerusalem, not "the Green Line" or the "territories" but Tel Aviv which no one has ever dared claim to be in dispute.
The truth will out.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The shame of Ohlmert (again)
Over the last few years, with the horrors in Darfur, many Sudanese have become refugees, principally in Chad. That is why there is now a crisis with the rampaging Muslim Janjaweed in that country as well.
However, several thousand refugees managed to make their way to Egypt.
Many of these, then crossed into Israel.
There are roughly 1500 Sudanese refugees in Israel.
In addition, there are about 2500 other African refugees in Israel, classified as "economic refugees". These are people who have been determined ran away in hopes of better jobs, etc, much like the border issues between the US and Mexico.
This does not include the tens of thousands of what are known as the "Falosh Mora" or the Ethiopians who became identified as Jews and were persecuted and then airlifted into Israel over the last two decades.
900 of these Sudanese have been given asylum and are being integrated into Israeli society. Israel has a unique ability to help refugees, having dealt now with 2 separate and distinct large scale refugee arrivals.
First, the Soviet "refusniks" and then the Ethiopians. In both cases "absorption" centers were set up to help with language and cultural training.
The issues with the Ethiopians were much greater and are still being dealt with today (one of my charitable projects).
Of course, there was also the influx of Holocaust survivors in the late '40's and early '50's as well.
What is of great concern is that apparently Prime Minister Ohlmert, who is hanging on by a thread, with approval ratings in the SINGLE digits, has made a deal with President Mubarak of Egypt, to return the "economic" refugees to his country.
This has caused an almost universal outcry from the Israeli population who recognize the refugee nature of Israel and are demanding that Ohlmert rescind this agreement which was worked out last week.
Why Egypt wants these refugees back, I don't know. What Ohlmert hopes to accomplish, I also don't know.
Now, under international law, they should have been absorbed by Egypt, but now in Israel, they should be allowed to stay.
Ohlmert has once again proven his lack of political IQ, even worse because his own wife has been directly responsible for lobbying for them.
The sooner Israel is rid of Ohlmert, the better.
As an additional note: Several years ago there was a huge rally in Washington in support of Israel. Several hundred thousand people showed up.
I went down in a group of about 30 buses that parked at RFK stadium, about 2 miles from the capitol mall, where most of these types of events are held.
As we approached the mall, the din of the crowd could be heard. As we circled around to the back of the capitol building toward the mall, the first site I was greeted with was a group of Sudanese holding up signs saying "Residents of the Southern Sudan support Israel".
I'll never forget that site, and never forget them.
It is just right to fight for the millions in Darfur, and now Chad, that are being killed, raped and displaced, but that THEY got it, they recognized that there was one country fighting the type of Muslim atrocities that they were experiencing, makes it all the more important.
However, several thousand refugees managed to make their way to Egypt.
Many of these, then crossed into Israel.
There are roughly 1500 Sudanese refugees in Israel.
In addition, there are about 2500 other African refugees in Israel, classified as "economic refugees". These are people who have been determined ran away in hopes of better jobs, etc, much like the border issues between the US and Mexico.
This does not include the tens of thousands of what are known as the "Falosh Mora" or the Ethiopians who became identified as Jews and were persecuted and then airlifted into Israel over the last two decades.
900 of these Sudanese have been given asylum and are being integrated into Israeli society. Israel has a unique ability to help refugees, having dealt now with 2 separate and distinct large scale refugee arrivals.
First, the Soviet "refusniks" and then the Ethiopians. In both cases "absorption" centers were set up to help with language and cultural training.
The issues with the Ethiopians were much greater and are still being dealt with today (one of my charitable projects).
Of course, there was also the influx of Holocaust survivors in the late '40's and early '50's as well.
What is of great concern is that apparently Prime Minister Ohlmert, who is hanging on by a thread, with approval ratings in the SINGLE digits, has made a deal with President Mubarak of Egypt, to return the "economic" refugees to his country.
This has caused an almost universal outcry from the Israeli population who recognize the refugee nature of Israel and are demanding that Ohlmert rescind this agreement which was worked out last week.
Why Egypt wants these refugees back, I don't know. What Ohlmert hopes to accomplish, I also don't know.
Now, under international law, they should have been absorbed by Egypt, but now in Israel, they should be allowed to stay.
Ohlmert has once again proven his lack of political IQ, even worse because his own wife has been directly responsible for lobbying for them.
The sooner Israel is rid of Ohlmert, the better.
As an additional note: Several years ago there was a huge rally in Washington in support of Israel. Several hundred thousand people showed up.
I went down in a group of about 30 buses that parked at RFK stadium, about 2 miles from the capitol mall, where most of these types of events are held.
As we approached the mall, the din of the crowd could be heard. As we circled around to the back of the capitol building toward the mall, the first site I was greeted with was a group of Sudanese holding up signs saying "Residents of the Southern Sudan support Israel".
I'll never forget that site, and never forget them.
It is just right to fight for the millions in Darfur, and now Chad, that are being killed, raped and displaced, but that THEY got it, they recognized that there was one country fighting the type of Muslim atrocities that they were experiencing, makes it all the more important.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
A Grounbreaking Study
The NYPD (NY Police Department) released a study yesterday outlining several years of research into domestic terrorism, particularly as it relates to NY.
Some quick background. I have done work with several agencies, as I have described before. The universal response of all of them, is that within NY, at least, the NYPD has the best intel, and is the best agency in the world with regard to identifying, and dealing with threats.
In fact, I was told directly by Secret Service agents, that everywhere else in the world they take over the security in any area but in NY they allow the NYPD to take the lead in any security arrangements, or area prep, etc.
What makes the study so interesting and useful are two things. First is it's purpose. Unlike the National Intelligence Estimate or any think tank documents, this is a paper that is very results driven. i.e. the practical need for NYC to prevent attacks. There is no politics being played here as everyone in the department underneath the commissioner are non political. There is also the local law enforcement tendency to be non "PC" so to speak.
The second interesting thing is the reaction to the study, which is what I will get into below.
They used several dozen cases to study the development of the radical ideology, how recruits were "turned" or brought into the sphere, etc.
They described 4 phases of the process: pre-radicalization, self-identification, indoctrination and jihadization. Pre-radicalization, it said, “describes an individual’s world — his or her pedigree, lifestyle, religion, social status, neighborhood and education — just prior to the start of their journey down the path of radicalization.” Self-identification, it said, marks the point where people begin to explore militant Islam “while slowly migrating away from their former identity.” Personal crises — such as losing a job or suffering from racism — can serve as a catalyst for this “religious seeking,” the report said. While people can move gradually through the early phases, over two or three years, they can pivot quickly toward violence, the report said. The Internet, it said, can enable them.
As part of the self identification phase, the study talks about tell tale signs like adoptin traditional Muslim dress, or giving up things like drinking, smoking etc.
So, immediately groups labeled the report as racist. Saying that those things would be considered positive developments in anybody else.
Of course this is true. But this is where the rush to PC is absurd. The immediate charge is racial profiling.
Of course, this can be a danger. But when someone who is not political suddenly changes their lifestyle, and it is NOT just with these things, as the study makes clear, the police, whose job it is to PREVENT, should always err on the side of caution.
Much is made of the "humiliation" that Palestinians suffer at the border crossings with Israel. I won't get into the fact that they are international borders no different than anywhere in the world, and at ALL borders you are subject to searches, etc, particularly crossing borders of states at war; but rather, NEVER is it mentioned that everyone, I repeat everyone, in Israel is subject to this on a daily basis.
The Israelis have learned that to prevent, you must actually do something.
When I go into the big mall in Jerusalem, I must walk through a metal detector, and if I have a bag, guards search it. Fact of life.
Agencies who have their "feet on the ground" so to speak, as opposed to politicians, rarely play these types of PC games, worrying about racial profiling, etc.
That is why, the FBI did, in fact, note Arab nationals taking flying lessons, before 9/11. Unfortunately, interagency squabbling prevented anything from being done.
But what if they had been told that you couldn't identify them as Muslims? What is the point of the report then?
There is a fine line to walk here, however, patterns must be studied.
The NYPD was careful to note the difference between potential terrorists here at home, versus anywhere else in the world. In fact, describing the fact that they could not really comment on that situation.
I sleep better at night knowing the NYPD has the biggest and best anti-terrorist force in the world, and know for a fact of dozens of attacks that have been stopped before they happened.
Some quick background. I have done work with several agencies, as I have described before. The universal response of all of them, is that within NY, at least, the NYPD has the best intel, and is the best agency in the world with regard to identifying, and dealing with threats.
In fact, I was told directly by Secret Service agents, that everywhere else in the world they take over the security in any area but in NY they allow the NYPD to take the lead in any security arrangements, or area prep, etc.
What makes the study so interesting and useful are two things. First is it's purpose. Unlike the National Intelligence Estimate or any think tank documents, this is a paper that is very results driven. i.e. the practical need for NYC to prevent attacks. There is no politics being played here as everyone in the department underneath the commissioner are non political. There is also the local law enforcement tendency to be non "PC" so to speak.
The second interesting thing is the reaction to the study, which is what I will get into below.
They used several dozen cases to study the development of the radical ideology, how recruits were "turned" or brought into the sphere, etc.
They described 4 phases of the process: pre-radicalization, self-identification, indoctrination and jihadization. Pre-radicalization, it said, “describes an individual’s world — his or her pedigree, lifestyle, religion, social status, neighborhood and education — just prior to the start of their journey down the path of radicalization.” Self-identification, it said, marks the point where people begin to explore militant Islam “while slowly migrating away from their former identity.” Personal crises — such as losing a job or suffering from racism — can serve as a catalyst for this “religious seeking,” the report said. While people can move gradually through the early phases, over two or three years, they can pivot quickly toward violence, the report said. The Internet, it said, can enable them.
As part of the self identification phase, the study talks about tell tale signs like adoptin traditional Muslim dress, or giving up things like drinking, smoking etc.
So, immediately groups labeled the report as racist. Saying that those things would be considered positive developments in anybody else.
Of course this is true. But this is where the rush to PC is absurd. The immediate charge is racial profiling.
Of course, this can be a danger. But when someone who is not political suddenly changes their lifestyle, and it is NOT just with these things, as the study makes clear, the police, whose job it is to PREVENT, should always err on the side of caution.
Much is made of the "humiliation" that Palestinians suffer at the border crossings with Israel. I won't get into the fact that they are international borders no different than anywhere in the world, and at ALL borders you are subject to searches, etc, particularly crossing borders of states at war; but rather, NEVER is it mentioned that everyone, I repeat everyone, in Israel is subject to this on a daily basis.
The Israelis have learned that to prevent, you must actually do something.
When I go into the big mall in Jerusalem, I must walk through a metal detector, and if I have a bag, guards search it. Fact of life.
Agencies who have their "feet on the ground" so to speak, as opposed to politicians, rarely play these types of PC games, worrying about racial profiling, etc.
That is why, the FBI did, in fact, note Arab nationals taking flying lessons, before 9/11. Unfortunately, interagency squabbling prevented anything from being done.
But what if they had been told that you couldn't identify them as Muslims? What is the point of the report then?
There is a fine line to walk here, however, patterns must be studied.
The NYPD was careful to note the difference between potential terrorists here at home, versus anywhere else in the world. In fact, describing the fact that they could not really comment on that situation.
I sleep better at night knowing the NYPD has the biggest and best anti-terrorist force in the world, and know for a fact of dozens of attacks that have been stopped before they happened.
A Grounbreaking Study
The NYPD (NY Police Department) released a study yesterday outlining several years of research into domestic terrorism, particularly as it relates to NY.
Some quick background. I have done work with several agencies, as I have described before. The universal response of all of them, is that within NY, at least, the NYPD has the best intel, and is the best agency in the world with regard to identifying, and dealing with threats.
In fact, I was told directly by Secret Service agents, that everywhere else in the world they take over the security in any area but in NY they allow the NYPD to take the lead in any security arrangements, or area prep, etc.
What makes the study so interesting and useful are two things. First is it's purpose. Unlike the National Intelligence Estimate or any think tank documents, this is a paper that is very results driven. i.e. the practical need for NYC to prevent attacks. There is no politics being played here as everyone in the department underneath the commissioner are non political. There is also the local law enforcement tendency to be non "PC" so to speak.
The second interesting thing is the reaction to the study, which is what I will get into below.
They used several dozen cases to study the development of the radical ideology, how recruits were "turned" or brought into the sphere, etc.
They described 4 phases of the process: pre-radicalization, self-identification, indoctrination and jihadization. Pre-radicalization, it said, “describes an individual’s world — his or her pedigree, lifestyle, religion, social status, neighborhood and education — just prior to the start of their journey down the path of radicalization.” Self-identification, it said, marks the point where people begin to explore militant Islam “while slowly migrating away from their former identity.” Personal crises — such as losing a job or suffering from racism — can serve as a catalyst for this “religious seeking,” the report said. While people can move gradually through the early phases, over two or three years, they can pivot quickly toward violence, the report said. The Internet, it said, can enable them.
As part of the self identification phase, the study talks about tell tale signs like adoptin traditional Muslim dress, or giving up things like drinking, smoking etc.
So, immediately groups labeled the report as racist. Saying that those things would be considered positive developments in anybody else.
Of course this is true. But this is where the rush to PC is absurd. The immediate charge is racial profiling.
Of course, this can be a danger. But when someone who is not political suddenly changes their lifestyle, and it is NOT just with these things, as the study makes clear, the police, whose job it is to PREVENT, should always err on the side of caution.
Much is made of the "humiliation" that Palestinians suffer at the border crossings with Israel. I won't get into the fact that they are international borders no different than anywhere in the world, and at ALL borders you are subject to searches, etc, particularly crossing borders of states at war; but rather, NEVER is it mentioned that everyone, I repeat everyone, in Israel is subject to this on a daily basis.
The Israelis have learned that to prevent, you must actually do something.
When I go into the big mall in Jerusalem, I must walk through a metal detector, and if I have a bag, guards search it. Fact of life.
Agencies who have their "feet on the ground" so to speak, as opposed to politicians, rarely play these types of PC games, worrying about racial profiling, etc.
That is why, the FBI did, in fact, note Arab nationals taking flying lessons, before 9/11. Unfortunately, interagency squabbling prevented anything from being done.
But what if they had been told that you couldn't identify them as Muslims? What is the point of the report then?
There is a fine line to walk here, however, patterns must be studied.
The NYPD was careful to note the difference between potential terrorists here at home, versus anywhere else in the world. In fact, describing the fact that they could not really comment on that situation.
I sleep better at night knowing the NYPD has the biggest and best anti-terrorist force in the world, and know for a fact of dozens of attacks that have been stopped before they happened.
Some quick background. I have done work with several agencies, as I have described before. The universal response of all of them, is that within NY, at least, the NYPD has the best intel, and is the best agency in the world with regard to identifying, and dealing with threats.
In fact, I was told directly by Secret Service agents, that everywhere else in the world they take over the security in any area but in NY they allow the NYPD to take the lead in any security arrangements, or area prep, etc.
What makes the study so interesting and useful are two things. First is it's purpose. Unlike the National Intelligence Estimate or any think tank documents, this is a paper that is very results driven. i.e. the practical need for NYC to prevent attacks. There is no politics being played here as everyone in the department underneath the commissioner are non political. There is also the local law enforcement tendency to be non "PC" so to speak.
The second interesting thing is the reaction to the study, which is what I will get into below.
They used several dozen cases to study the development of the radical ideology, how recruits were "turned" or brought into the sphere, etc.
They described 4 phases of the process: pre-radicalization, self-identification, indoctrination and jihadization. Pre-radicalization, it said, “describes an individual’s world — his or her pedigree, lifestyle, religion, social status, neighborhood and education — just prior to the start of their journey down the path of radicalization.” Self-identification, it said, marks the point where people begin to explore militant Islam “while slowly migrating away from their former identity.” Personal crises — such as losing a job or suffering from racism — can serve as a catalyst for this “religious seeking,” the report said. While people can move gradually through the early phases, over two or three years, they can pivot quickly toward violence, the report said. The Internet, it said, can enable them.
As part of the self identification phase, the study talks about tell tale signs like adoptin traditional Muslim dress, or giving up things like drinking, smoking etc.
So, immediately groups labeled the report as racist. Saying that those things would be considered positive developments in anybody else.
Of course this is true. But this is where the rush to PC is absurd. The immediate charge is racial profiling.
Of course, this can be a danger. But when someone who is not political suddenly changes their lifestyle, and it is NOT just with these things, as the study makes clear, the police, whose job it is to PREVENT, should always err on the side of caution.
Much is made of the "humiliation" that Palestinians suffer at the border crossings with Israel. I won't get into the fact that they are international borders no different than anywhere in the world, and at ALL borders you are subject to searches, etc, particularly crossing borders of states at war; but rather, NEVER is it mentioned that everyone, I repeat everyone, in Israel is subject to this on a daily basis.
The Israelis have learned that to prevent, you must actually do something.
When I go into the big mall in Jerusalem, I must walk through a metal detector, and if I have a bag, guards search it. Fact of life.
Agencies who have their "feet on the ground" so to speak, as opposed to politicians, rarely play these types of PC games, worrying about racial profiling, etc.
That is why, the FBI did, in fact, note Arab nationals taking flying lessons, before 9/11. Unfortunately, interagency squabbling prevented anything from being done.
But what if they had been told that you couldn't identify them as Muslims? What is the point of the report then?
There is a fine line to walk here, however, patterns must be studied.
The NYPD was careful to note the difference between potential terrorists here at home, versus anywhere else in the world. In fact, describing the fact that they could not really comment on that situation.
I sleep better at night knowing the NYPD has the biggest and best anti-terrorist force in the world, and know for a fact of dozens of attacks that have been stopped before they happened.
Child abuse in Palestinian schools
The Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to glorify terrorists and to present them as role models for children. In a school in Tulkarem (West Bank) this week, a soccer tournament was named after Ziyad Da’as. Da’as planned the attack in which a gunman opened fire with an M-16 rifle at a Bat Mitzvah in Hadera in January 2002, killing six and wounding 30. He was also behind the kidnapping and murder of two Israelis in Tulkarem in 2001. Da’as, a Fatah-Tanzim city commander, was killed by Israel in August 2002. Significantly, the article indicated that the tournament took place in a Palestinian school and that the school administration was thanked "for providing the means for its success." Some Western governments have recently renewed funding of the Palestinian Authority, including its educational infrastructures, based on the assumption that schools are involved in positive education.
It should also be noted that in reporting the story, the PA daily glorified the terrorist as “one of the brave people of the Palestinian resistance." The daily Al Hayat Al Jadida is owned by the Palestinian Authority, and is therefore indirectly funded by Western money.
The following is an excerpt from the article:
Headline: "The team named after the Shahids (Martyrs) of the Southern Quarter wins the tournament cup named after the Shahid Ziyad Da’as. This tournament…commemorates one of the brave people of the Palestinian resistance, whom the Israeli occupation forces assassinated in cold blood…The committee that organized the tournament thanked the administration of the school... for hosting the tournament in the school yard and for providing the means for its success... At the end of the tournament, the viewers indicated that the tournament was in a level to suitably commemorate the brave Shahid (Martyr), the mercy of Allah be upon him, Ziyad Da’as, and that an annual tournament should take place on the anniversary of his death."
[Al Hayat Al Jadida, August 15, 2007]
It should also be noted that in reporting the story, the PA daily glorified the terrorist as “one of the brave people of the Palestinian resistance." The daily Al Hayat Al Jadida is owned by the Palestinian Authority, and is therefore indirectly funded by Western money.
The following is an excerpt from the article:
Headline: "The team named after the Shahids (Martyrs) of the Southern Quarter wins the tournament cup named after the Shahid Ziyad Da’as. This tournament…commemorates one of the brave people of the Palestinian resistance, whom the Israeli occupation forces assassinated in cold blood…The committee that organized the tournament thanked the administration of the school... for hosting the tournament in the school yard and for providing the means for its success... At the end of the tournament, the viewers indicated that the tournament was in a level to suitably commemorate the brave Shahid (Martyr), the mercy of Allah be upon him, Ziyad Da’as, and that an annual tournament should take place on the anniversary of his death."
[Al Hayat Al Jadida, August 15, 2007]
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Occassionally, the truth does leak out....
Over the last several years, we have begun to see occasional cracks in the Arab media. There have been a few instances of honest reporting getting through.
We have seen this in the Egyptian Press criticizing Mubarak for his changing the election rules just before the last legislative elections, in Pakistan in the criticism of Musharraf and his firing of the supreme court justice, etc.
There have even been a few articles decrying the falsity of the so called Palestinian issue. Arab writers taking to task their governments for "investing" in an issue in which they have no real interest, asking for a real resolution, i.e. recognition of Israel and a solution the the question.
In conjunction with the previous post, MEMRI's economic blog just published an interview with the former dean of law at Qatar University. He spoke on a number of these issues, condemning suicide bombing, discussing the importance of Western presence in the region, etc.
This was all done on Arab TV.
Following are excerpts from the interview:
The following are excerpts from an interview with former dean of Islamic law at Qatar University, Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari. The interview aired on Abu Dhabi TV on July 26, 2007.
To view this clip, please visit the MEMRI website
"We Still Repeat the Same Mistakes, to the Point That the Criteria of Victory and Defeat Have Been Distorted"
Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: "Unfortunately, the history of the Muslims has become confused with their religion. The Muslims are no different than other nations. Some actions of the Muslims are not in line with the teaching of their religion. Some traditions have dominated Islamic society for over a thousand years, although they run counter to the religion of Islam. The shura [consultation] is a lofty principle in Islam. Since the rule of the four Righteous Caliphs, which lasted 30 years, the shura has disappeared from the lands of the Muslims – even though we are in need of the shura, which nowadays is synonymous with democracy. The people of the nation have the right to elect their ruler, and to hold him accountable. All these values disappeared with the disappearance of the shura."
[...]
"In my opinion, the disappearance of critical thinking is what led to the disappearance of accountability. Why do we repeat mistakes? Despite the humiliating defeats we have suffered for half a century, we have not learned a thing. We have not learned any lesson from the nakba and from our defeats. We still repeat the same mistakes, to the point that the criteria of victory and defeat have been distorted. You are aware of what happened recently in Lebanon, for example – the Israeli war against Lebanon. A large part of the Arab people considered this to be a victory, but in my opinion, this was no victory. Why is that? Because of the absence of critical thinking and of accountability.
"Take Israel, for example. We say that Israel is the enemy and that we hate it, and so on, but let's ask ourselves why is Israel is always victorious. This is because it has a gradation of accountability. Would you believe that all the Israeli accomplishments in the last war – the destruction of Lebanon, and all these achievements – did not satisfy the Israelis, and they established a committee to hold the government accountable? Why? Because the government did not gain a full victory – 80%, instead of 100%. We, on the other hand, are still proclaiming from the rooftops that we won, just like we did in 1956. We are in a deep slumber for a decade, but kept saying we had won."[...]
"The Religious Scholar Has a Specific Role, From Which He Should Not Deviate"
"We teach history selectively. We take the glorious moments of religious Muslim scholars, who heroically confronted tyranny and injustice, but we fail to note that many religious scholars were not like that. On the contrary, they supported, justified, and legalized backwardness and tyranny."
[...]
"If you compare this to the advanced societies, you will see that their scientists – the doctors, economists, and people who achieve accomplishments – are the people whose role is prominent, and not the religious scholar."
[...]
"The religious scholar has a specific role, from which he should not deviate. He should not interfere in political matters or in the areas of expertise of others. Today, you see religious scholars issuing fatwas on economic matters – with regard to banks, the stock exchange, insurance, or medicine, for example. Religious scholars may say: 'I have a treatment for AIDS. Use blood-letting or burning.' Religious scholars may compete with astronomers regarding the time of appearance of the Ramadhan moon. If the astronomers say that the moon did not appear yet, the religious scholar says it did."[...]
"Everything That Women Have Gained is Due to the Efforts of The Reformists"
"For more than a thousand years of history, women have been marginalized in our heritage. They did not have any role in public affairs. She was denied the right to study, and was not allowed to have a role in society. The books of heritage..."
Interviewer: "But Dr. Al-Ansari, women in the Arab world, and especially in the Gulf, have begun to play a role in society."
Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: "This is true, and the political regimes should be thanked for this. If not for the intervention of the enlightened political leaders in the Gulf countries and in the Arab world in general, women would not have gained any rights. If we had pinned all our hopes on the development of our societies, which would give women their rights, we would have waited for a long time. Everything that women have gained is due to the efforts of the reformists, who have relentlessly demanded equal rights for women, and is due to the support of regimes and enlightened rulers, and one should also mention external encouragement, and rapprochement between peoples. If not for that, women would have gained anything."
[...]
"In the Gulf societies, the obstacle to marriage is not the high cost. The real obstacle is the social obstacle. What do I mean by this? I mean that there is no mixing of men and women. A guy from the Gulf cannot see the girl. Of course, I am talking about mixing in the Islamic, not the Western, sense. Islam does not forbid men and women from meeting at the workplace, at school, in the family setting, or when worshipping God. Yet this kind of mixing does not exist in our societies. There are barriers between the sexes, so how can a guy possibly choose his life partner? Then there is the niqab. The niqab is an obstacle. How can I possibly marry someone whose face I have never seen? Impossible."
[...]
Interviewer: "Do you mean that you deem it permitted for women to be rulers? Could a woman be the president of an Arab republic one of these days?"
Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: "I hope so. As far as I understand the religious texts and principles, there is no text that categorically – and I stress 'categorically' – bans women from being president or prime minister, or from having some other leadership role. Absolutely not."
[...]
"All the political, economic, administrative, and scientific issue of our times were unknown to the Prophet's companions. They did not sit on chairs in front of cameras, they had no media, no satellite TV. Does this prove that we are not allowed to use them? The fact that something did not exist in the past does not mean that it is forbidden."
The Superpowers, Especially America, Are "Defending the Gulf [and] Developing Our Prosperous Economy"
Interviewer: "'America's Muslim friend' – that is what the New York Sun called you, when it included you in a list of the world's most prominent thinkers. Are you pleased to be called 'America's Muslim friend?'"
Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: "Why shouldn't I be, when our countries, our regimes, and our governments declare day in and day out that our alliance with America and the other superpowers is strategic? Who is defending the Gulf? Who is developing our prosperous economy? If not for our close ties with these superpowers – especially America – we would not enjoy such economic prosperity. Look at the countries that lead the enmity towards America. Look at their economies and their currencies. Their currencies are worthless."
We have seen this in the Egyptian Press criticizing Mubarak for his changing the election rules just before the last legislative elections, in Pakistan in the criticism of Musharraf and his firing of the supreme court justice, etc.
There have even been a few articles decrying the falsity of the so called Palestinian issue. Arab writers taking to task their governments for "investing" in an issue in which they have no real interest, asking for a real resolution, i.e. recognition of Israel and a solution the the question.
In conjunction with the previous post, MEMRI's economic blog just published an interview with the former dean of law at Qatar University. He spoke on a number of these issues, condemning suicide bombing, discussing the importance of Western presence in the region, etc.
This was all done on Arab TV.
Following are excerpts from the interview:
The following are excerpts from an interview with former dean of Islamic law at Qatar University, Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari. The interview aired on Abu Dhabi TV on July 26, 2007.
To view this clip, please visit the MEMRI website
"We Still Repeat the Same Mistakes, to the Point That the Criteria of Victory and Defeat Have Been Distorted"
Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: "Unfortunately, the history of the Muslims has become confused with their religion. The Muslims are no different than other nations. Some actions of the Muslims are not in line with the teaching of their religion. Some traditions have dominated Islamic society for over a thousand years, although they run counter to the religion of Islam. The shura [consultation] is a lofty principle in Islam. Since the rule of the four Righteous Caliphs, which lasted 30 years, the shura has disappeared from the lands of the Muslims – even though we are in need of the shura, which nowadays is synonymous with democracy. The people of the nation have the right to elect their ruler, and to hold him accountable. All these values disappeared with the disappearance of the shura."
[...]
"In my opinion, the disappearance of critical thinking is what led to the disappearance of accountability. Why do we repeat mistakes? Despite the humiliating defeats we have suffered for half a century, we have not learned a thing. We have not learned any lesson from the nakba and from our defeats. We still repeat the same mistakes, to the point that the criteria of victory and defeat have been distorted. You are aware of what happened recently in Lebanon, for example – the Israeli war against Lebanon. A large part of the Arab people considered this to be a victory, but in my opinion, this was no victory. Why is that? Because of the absence of critical thinking and of accountability.
"Take Israel, for example. We say that Israel is the enemy and that we hate it, and so on, but let's ask ourselves why is Israel is always victorious. This is because it has a gradation of accountability. Would you believe that all the Israeli accomplishments in the last war – the destruction of Lebanon, and all these achievements – did not satisfy the Israelis, and they established a committee to hold the government accountable? Why? Because the government did not gain a full victory – 80%, instead of 100%. We, on the other hand, are still proclaiming from the rooftops that we won, just like we did in 1956. We are in a deep slumber for a decade, but kept saying we had won."[...]
"The Religious Scholar Has a Specific Role, From Which He Should Not Deviate"
"We teach history selectively. We take the glorious moments of religious Muslim scholars, who heroically confronted tyranny and injustice, but we fail to note that many religious scholars were not like that. On the contrary, they supported, justified, and legalized backwardness and tyranny."
[...]
"If you compare this to the advanced societies, you will see that their scientists – the doctors, economists, and people who achieve accomplishments – are the people whose role is prominent, and not the religious scholar."
[...]
"The religious scholar has a specific role, from which he should not deviate. He should not interfere in political matters or in the areas of expertise of others. Today, you see religious scholars issuing fatwas on economic matters – with regard to banks, the stock exchange, insurance, or medicine, for example. Religious scholars may say: 'I have a treatment for AIDS. Use blood-letting or burning.' Religious scholars may compete with astronomers regarding the time of appearance of the Ramadhan moon. If the astronomers say that the moon did not appear yet, the religious scholar says it did."[...]
"Everything That Women Have Gained is Due to the Efforts of The Reformists"
"For more than a thousand years of history, women have been marginalized in our heritage. They did not have any role in public affairs. She was denied the right to study, and was not allowed to have a role in society. The books of heritage..."
Interviewer: "But Dr. Al-Ansari, women in the Arab world, and especially in the Gulf, have begun to play a role in society."
Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: "This is true, and the political regimes should be thanked for this. If not for the intervention of the enlightened political leaders in the Gulf countries and in the Arab world in general, women would not have gained any rights. If we had pinned all our hopes on the development of our societies, which would give women their rights, we would have waited for a long time. Everything that women have gained is due to the efforts of the reformists, who have relentlessly demanded equal rights for women, and is due to the support of regimes and enlightened rulers, and one should also mention external encouragement, and rapprochement between peoples. If not for that, women would have gained anything."
[...]
"In the Gulf societies, the obstacle to marriage is not the high cost. The real obstacle is the social obstacle. What do I mean by this? I mean that there is no mixing of men and women. A guy from the Gulf cannot see the girl. Of course, I am talking about mixing in the Islamic, not the Western, sense. Islam does not forbid men and women from meeting at the workplace, at school, in the family setting, or when worshipping God. Yet this kind of mixing does not exist in our societies. There are barriers between the sexes, so how can a guy possibly choose his life partner? Then there is the niqab. The niqab is an obstacle. How can I possibly marry someone whose face I have never seen? Impossible."
[...]
Interviewer: "Do you mean that you deem it permitted for women to be rulers? Could a woman be the president of an Arab republic one of these days?"
Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: "I hope so. As far as I understand the religious texts and principles, there is no text that categorically – and I stress 'categorically' – bans women from being president or prime minister, or from having some other leadership role. Absolutely not."
[...]
"All the political, economic, administrative, and scientific issue of our times were unknown to the Prophet's companions. They did not sit on chairs in front of cameras, they had no media, no satellite TV. Does this prove that we are not allowed to use them? The fact that something did not exist in the past does not mean that it is forbidden."
The Superpowers, Especially America, Are "Defending the Gulf [and] Developing Our Prosperous Economy"
Interviewer: "'America's Muslim friend' – that is what the New York Sun called you, when it included you in a list of the world's most prominent thinkers. Are you pleased to be called 'America's Muslim friend?'"
Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: "Why shouldn't I be, when our countries, our regimes, and our governments declare day in and day out that our alliance with America and the other superpowers is strategic? Who is defending the Gulf? Who is developing our prosperous economy? If not for our close ties with these superpowers – especially America – we would not enjoy such economic prosperity. Look at the countries that lead the enmity towards America. Look at their economies and their currencies. Their currencies are worthless."
Thursday, August 9, 2007
A Quick Refresher
According to the Random House unabridged dictionary occupation is "possession, settlement, or use of land or property"; "the seizure and control of an area by military forces, esp. foreign territory" or finally,
"the term of control of a territory by foreign military forces"
What may not be known is that Israel has no government in what is known improperly as the "occupied territories". They do not have a permanent military presence, except surrounding Israeli villages that are under attack, and the Palestinian Authority has full autonomous control over the institutions and land in the territories.
Of course, there is now no presence whatsoever in the Gaza Strip by Israel.
What even Israeli's fail to understand is that the Hebrew word for settlement is "yishoov". Unfortunately, it's real translation is town, village or city. There is really no direct translation.
So, even Israelis will call something a settlement that elicits a vision in the West of a few crazies on a hill in a trailer or a tent fighting an advancing tide of so called Palestinian civilization.
But 99% of those termed "settlements" most closely resmeble what we in the US we call suburbs.
They are suburban enclaves surrounding, principally Jerusalem, but other cities as well.
Now, even more important is this.
The Palestinian mandate was created on land taken from the TURKS. Not any particular country but the Turkish empire prior to and before WWI. This was done because of the Turks siding with the Germans during the war. Of course, this was the losing side.
The area was not taken by Israel, but by the French and British, the primary allied powers of the time.
The Turkish empire had ruled the entire region including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan for four hundred years before Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan were artificially created by the English and the French. Jordan -- a state whose majority is Palestinian -- occupies 80% of the Palestine Mandate.
After the War, these countries were created. In 1967, Israel recaptured territory that it had lost in the 1948 war, when the entire Arab world attacked it.
It recaptured the "West Bank" from Jordan. It recaptured the Golan Heights from Syria, and it recaptured Gaza and the Sinai from Egypt.
As a result of the Camp David accords, Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt. The Egyptians refused to take back the Gaza strip.
Before 1967, nobody asked the Egyptians, Jordanians, or Syrians to give up these lands to a nebulous group of Sunni Arabs now calling themselves Palestinians.
So, what is being occupied? Who is occupying it? And why didn't Yasser Arafat and his cronies ever ask King Hussein, Gamel Nasser or Hafez Assad for these lands?
"the term of control of a territory by foreign military forces"
What may not be known is that Israel has no government in what is known improperly as the "occupied territories". They do not have a permanent military presence, except surrounding Israeli villages that are under attack, and the Palestinian Authority has full autonomous control over the institutions and land in the territories.
Of course, there is now no presence whatsoever in the Gaza Strip by Israel.
What even Israeli's fail to understand is that the Hebrew word for settlement is "yishoov". Unfortunately, it's real translation is town, village or city. There is really no direct translation.
So, even Israelis will call something a settlement that elicits a vision in the West of a few crazies on a hill in a trailer or a tent fighting an advancing tide of so called Palestinian civilization.
But 99% of those termed "settlements" most closely resmeble what we in the US we call suburbs.
They are suburban enclaves surrounding, principally Jerusalem, but other cities as well.
Now, even more important is this.
The Palestinian mandate was created on land taken from the TURKS. Not any particular country but the Turkish empire prior to and before WWI. This was done because of the Turks siding with the Germans during the war. Of course, this was the losing side.
The area was not taken by Israel, but by the French and British, the primary allied powers of the time.
The Turkish empire had ruled the entire region including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan for four hundred years before Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan were artificially created by the English and the French. Jordan -- a state whose majority is Palestinian -- occupies 80% of the Palestine Mandate.
After the War, these countries were created. In 1967, Israel recaptured territory that it had lost in the 1948 war, when the entire Arab world attacked it.
It recaptured the "West Bank" from Jordan. It recaptured the Golan Heights from Syria, and it recaptured Gaza and the Sinai from Egypt.
As a result of the Camp David accords, Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt. The Egyptians refused to take back the Gaza strip.
Before 1967, nobody asked the Egyptians, Jordanians, or Syrians to give up these lands to a nebulous group of Sunni Arabs now calling themselves Palestinians.
So, what is being occupied? Who is occupying it? And why didn't Yasser Arafat and his cronies ever ask King Hussein, Gamel Nasser or Hafez Assad for these lands?
The Sunny Side
OK, it may be tough to see when you read this article. But keep going and note the last paragraph.
One of the greatest failings of the Bush administration has been its' ignoring of the nascent democracy movement in Iran.
I have often said to people that the irony of the Middle East is that the countries with the so called "moderate" governments, have the most radical populations (e.g. Egypt) while those with the most radical governments, like Iran, have the most moderate populations.
As you read the post though, pay attention to the sheer numbers of victims.
The following was printed in Dow Jones.
Domestic Terror in Iran
Iran has just carried out the largest wave of executions since 1984.
BY AMIR TAHERI
Monday, August 6, 2007 12:01 a.m.
It is early dawn as seven young men are led to the gallows amid shouts of "Allah Akbar" (Allah is the greatest) from a crowd of bearded men as a handful of women, all in hijab, ululate to a high pitch. A few minutes later, the seven are hanged as a mullah shouts: "Alhamd li-Allah" (Praise be to Allah).
The scene was Wednesday in Mashad, Iran's second most populous city, where a crackdown against "anti-Islam hooligans" has been under way for weeks.
The Mashad hangings, broadcast live on local television, are among a series of public executions ordered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month as part of a campaign to terrorize an increasingly restive population. Over the past six weeks, at least 118 people have been executed, including four who were stoned to death. According to Saeed Mortazavi, the chief Islamic prosecutor, at least 150 more people, including five women, are scheduled to be hanged or stoned to death in the coming weeks.
The latest wave of executions is the biggest Iran has suffered in the same time span since 1984, when thousands of opposition prisoners were shot on orders from Ayatollah Khomeini.
Not all executions take place in public. In the provinces of Kurdistan and Khuzestan, where ethnic Kurdish and Arab minorities are demanding greater rights, several activists have been put to death in secret, their families informed only days after the event.
The campaign of terror also includes targeted "disappearances" designed to neutralize trade union leaders, student activists, journalists and even mullahs opposed to the regime. According to the latest tally, more than 30 people have "disappeared" since the start of the new Iranian year on March 21. To intimidate the population, the authorities also have carried out mass arrests on spurious grounds.
According to Gen. Ismail Muqaddam, commander of the Islamic Police, a total of 430,000 men and women have been arrested on charges related to drug use since April. A further 4,209 men and women, mostly aged between 15 and 30, have been arrested for "hooliganism" in Tehran alone. The largest number of arrests, totaling almost a million men and women according to Mr. Muqaddam, were related to the enforcement of the new Islamic Dress Code, passed by the Islamic Majlis (parliament) in May 2006.
Most of those arrested, he says, spent a few hours, or at most a few days, in custody as "a warning." By last week, 40,000 were still in prison. Of these, 20,363 men and women are held on charges related to violating the Islamic Dress Code. According to the Deputy Chief of Police Gen. Hussein Zulfiqari, an additional 6,204 men and women are in prison on charges of "sexual proximity" without being married.
The wave of arrests has increased pressure on the nation's inadequate prison facilities. At a recent press conference in Tehran, the head of the National Prisons Service, Ali-Akbar Yassaqi, appealed for a moratorium on arrests. He said Iran's official prisons could not house more than 50,000 prisoners simultaneously while the actual number of prisoners at any given time was above 150,000. Mr. Yassaqi also revealed that each year on average some 600,000 Iranians spend some time in one of the 130 official prisons.
Since Mr. Ahmadinejad ordered the crackdown, work on converting 41 official buildings to prisons has started, with contracts for 33 other prisons already signed. Nevertheless, Mr. Yassaqi believes that, with the annual prison population likely to top the million mark this year, even the new capacities created might prove insufficient.
There are, however, an unknown number of unofficial prisons as well, often controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or militias working for various powerful mullahs. Last week, human rights activists in Iran published details of a new prison in Souleh, northwest of Tehran, staffed by militants from the Lebanese branch of Hezbollah. According to the revelations, the Souleh prison is under the control of the "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi, and used for holding the regime's most "dangerous" political foes.
The regime especially fears the growing free trade union movement. In the past four months, free trade unionists have organized 12 major strikes and 47 demonstrations in various parts of the country. They showed their muscle on International Labor Day on May 1 when tens of thousands of workers marched in Tehran and 18 provincial capitals. The regime retaliated by arresting scores of trade unionists and expelling many others.
According to Rajab-Ali Shahsavari, leader of the Union of Contractual Workers, 25,795 unionists have been fired since April. He estimates that now over 1,000 workers are losing their jobs each day, as the regime intensifies its crackdown.
Worse still, the number of suspicious deaths among workers has risen to an all-time high. According to Deputy Labor Minister Ibrahim Nazari-Jalali, 1,047 workers have died in "work-related accidents" since April. Labor sources, however, point out that none of the accidents have been investigated and, in at least 13 cases, the workers who died may have been killed by goons hired by the regime.
The biggest purge of universities since Khomeini launched his "Islamic Cultural Revolution" in 1980 is also under way. Scores of student leaders have been arrested and more than 3,000 others expelled. Labeling the crackdown the "corrective movement," Mr. Ahmadinejad wants university textbooks rewritten to "cleanse them of Infidel trash," and to include "a rebuttal of Zionist-Crusader claims" about the Holocaust. Dozens of lecturers and faculty deans have been fired.
The nationwide crackdown is accompanied with efforts to cut Iranians off from sources of information outside the Islamic Republic. More than 4,000 Internet sites have been blocked, and more are added each day. The Ministry of Islamic Orientation has established a new blacklist of authors and book titles twice longer than what it was a year ago. Since April, some 30 newspapers and magazines have been shut and their offices raided. At least 17 journalists are in prison, two already sentenced to death by hanging.
The regime is trying to mobilize its shrinking base by claiming that the Islamic Republic is under threat from internal and external foes. It was in that context that the four Iranian-American hostages held in Tehran were forced to make televised "confessions" last month about alleged plots to foment a "velvet revolution."
Over 40 people have been arrested on charges of espionage since April, 20 in the southern city of Shiraz. Khomeinist paranoia reached a new peak last week when the authorities announced, through the Islamic Republic News Agency, the capture of four squirrels in the Western city of Kermanshah and claimed that the furry creatures had been fitted with "espionage devices" by the Americans in Iraq and smuggled into the Islamic Republic.
Mr. Ahmadinejad likes to pretend that he has no worries except "Infidel plots" related to the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions. The truth is that, faced with growing popular discontent, the Khomeinist clique is vulnerable and worried, extremely worried. The outside world would do well to carefully monitor and, whenever possible, support the Iranian people's fight against the fascist regime in Tehran.
Iran today is not only about atomic bombs and Iranian-American hostages. It is also about a growing popular movement that may help bring the nation out of the dangerous impasse created by the mullahs.
One of the greatest failings of the Bush administration has been its' ignoring of the nascent democracy movement in Iran.
I have often said to people that the irony of the Middle East is that the countries with the so called "moderate" governments, have the most radical populations (e.g. Egypt) while those with the most radical governments, like Iran, have the most moderate populations.
As you read the post though, pay attention to the sheer numbers of victims.
The following was printed in Dow Jones.
Domestic Terror in Iran
Iran has just carried out the largest wave of executions since 1984.
BY AMIR TAHERI
Monday, August 6, 2007 12:01 a.m.
It is early dawn as seven young men are led to the gallows amid shouts of "Allah Akbar" (Allah is the greatest) from a crowd of bearded men as a handful of women, all in hijab, ululate to a high pitch. A few minutes later, the seven are hanged as a mullah shouts: "Alhamd li-Allah" (Praise be to Allah).
The scene was Wednesday in Mashad, Iran's second most populous city, where a crackdown against "anti-Islam hooligans" has been under way for weeks.
The Mashad hangings, broadcast live on local television, are among a series of public executions ordered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month as part of a campaign to terrorize an increasingly restive population. Over the past six weeks, at least 118 people have been executed, including four who were stoned to death. According to Saeed Mortazavi, the chief Islamic prosecutor, at least 150 more people, including five women, are scheduled to be hanged or stoned to death in the coming weeks.
The latest wave of executions is the biggest Iran has suffered in the same time span since 1984, when thousands of opposition prisoners were shot on orders from Ayatollah Khomeini.
Not all executions take place in public. In the provinces of Kurdistan and Khuzestan, where ethnic Kurdish and Arab minorities are demanding greater rights, several activists have been put to death in secret, their families informed only days after the event.
The campaign of terror also includes targeted "disappearances" designed to neutralize trade union leaders, student activists, journalists and even mullahs opposed to the regime. According to the latest tally, more than 30 people have "disappeared" since the start of the new Iranian year on March 21. To intimidate the population, the authorities also have carried out mass arrests on spurious grounds.
According to Gen. Ismail Muqaddam, commander of the Islamic Police, a total of 430,000 men and women have been arrested on charges related to drug use since April. A further 4,209 men and women, mostly aged between 15 and 30, have been arrested for "hooliganism" in Tehran alone. The largest number of arrests, totaling almost a million men and women according to Mr. Muqaddam, were related to the enforcement of the new Islamic Dress Code, passed by the Islamic Majlis (parliament) in May 2006.
Most of those arrested, he says, spent a few hours, or at most a few days, in custody as "a warning." By last week, 40,000 were still in prison. Of these, 20,363 men and women are held on charges related to violating the Islamic Dress Code. According to the Deputy Chief of Police Gen. Hussein Zulfiqari, an additional 6,204 men and women are in prison on charges of "sexual proximity" without being married.
The wave of arrests has increased pressure on the nation's inadequate prison facilities. At a recent press conference in Tehran, the head of the National Prisons Service, Ali-Akbar Yassaqi, appealed for a moratorium on arrests. He said Iran's official prisons could not house more than 50,000 prisoners simultaneously while the actual number of prisoners at any given time was above 150,000. Mr. Yassaqi also revealed that each year on average some 600,000 Iranians spend some time in one of the 130 official prisons.
Since Mr. Ahmadinejad ordered the crackdown, work on converting 41 official buildings to prisons has started, with contracts for 33 other prisons already signed. Nevertheless, Mr. Yassaqi believes that, with the annual prison population likely to top the million mark this year, even the new capacities created might prove insufficient.
There are, however, an unknown number of unofficial prisons as well, often controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or militias working for various powerful mullahs. Last week, human rights activists in Iran published details of a new prison in Souleh, northwest of Tehran, staffed by militants from the Lebanese branch of Hezbollah. According to the revelations, the Souleh prison is under the control of the "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenehi, and used for holding the regime's most "dangerous" political foes.
The regime especially fears the growing free trade union movement. In the past four months, free trade unionists have organized 12 major strikes and 47 demonstrations in various parts of the country. They showed their muscle on International Labor Day on May 1 when tens of thousands of workers marched in Tehran and 18 provincial capitals. The regime retaliated by arresting scores of trade unionists and expelling many others.
According to Rajab-Ali Shahsavari, leader of the Union of Contractual Workers, 25,795 unionists have been fired since April. He estimates that now over 1,000 workers are losing their jobs each day, as the regime intensifies its crackdown.
Worse still, the number of suspicious deaths among workers has risen to an all-time high. According to Deputy Labor Minister Ibrahim Nazari-Jalali, 1,047 workers have died in "work-related accidents" since April. Labor sources, however, point out that none of the accidents have been investigated and, in at least 13 cases, the workers who died may have been killed by goons hired by the regime.
The biggest purge of universities since Khomeini launched his "Islamic Cultural Revolution" in 1980 is also under way. Scores of student leaders have been arrested and more than 3,000 others expelled. Labeling the crackdown the "corrective movement," Mr. Ahmadinejad wants university textbooks rewritten to "cleanse them of Infidel trash," and to include "a rebuttal of Zionist-Crusader claims" about the Holocaust. Dozens of lecturers and faculty deans have been fired.
The nationwide crackdown is accompanied with efforts to cut Iranians off from sources of information outside the Islamic Republic. More than 4,000 Internet sites have been blocked, and more are added each day. The Ministry of Islamic Orientation has established a new blacklist of authors and book titles twice longer than what it was a year ago. Since April, some 30 newspapers and magazines have been shut and their offices raided. At least 17 journalists are in prison, two already sentenced to death by hanging.
The regime is trying to mobilize its shrinking base by claiming that the Islamic Republic is under threat from internal and external foes. It was in that context that the four Iranian-American hostages held in Tehran were forced to make televised "confessions" last month about alleged plots to foment a "velvet revolution."
Over 40 people have been arrested on charges of espionage since April, 20 in the southern city of Shiraz. Khomeinist paranoia reached a new peak last week when the authorities announced, through the Islamic Republic News Agency, the capture of four squirrels in the Western city of Kermanshah and claimed that the furry creatures had been fitted with "espionage devices" by the Americans in Iraq and smuggled into the Islamic Republic.
Mr. Ahmadinejad likes to pretend that he has no worries except "Infidel plots" related to the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions. The truth is that, faced with growing popular discontent, the Khomeinist clique is vulnerable and worried, extremely worried. The outside world would do well to carefully monitor and, whenever possible, support the Iranian people's fight against the fascist regime in Tehran.
Iran today is not only about atomic bombs and Iranian-American hostages. It is also about a growing popular movement that may help bring the nation out of the dangerous impasse created by the mullahs.
Daniel Pearl, Bertrand Russell and Moral Relativism
I have debated posting this article written by Daniel Pearl's father at the beginning of this month to coincide with the release of the film "A Mighty Heart" the supposed story of Daniel and Marianne Pearl championed by Angelina Jolie.
It is not the contents of the article that caused me to delay posting it, but rather the idea of giving additional publicity, however limited in my blog, to the film which, to me, exemplifies everything that is wrong with the confrontation with the murderous ideology currently rampaging through the world.
The article brilliantly sums up the problems, but does not quite go far enough on one point. More on that at the bottom of the article.
Moral relativism and A Mighty Heart.
Back to Focus
by Judea Pearl
Only at TNR Online
Post date: 07.03.07
I used to believe that the world essentially divided into two types of people: those who were broadly tolerant; and those who felt threatened by differences. If only the forces of tolerance could win out over the forces of intolerance, I reasoned, the world might finally know some measure of peace.
But there was a problem with my theory, and it was never clearer than in a conversation I once had with a Pakistani friend who told me that he loathed people like President Bush who insisted on dividing the world into "us" and "them." My friend, of course, was taking an innocent stand against intolerance, and did not realize that, in so doing, he was in fact dividing the world into "us" and "them," falling straight into the camp of people he loathed.
This is a political version of a famous paradox formulated by Bertrand Russell in 1901, which shook the logical foundations of mathematics. Any person who claims to be tolerant naturally defines himself in opposition to those who are intolerant. But that makes him intolerant of certain people--which invalidates his claim to be tolerant.
The political lesson of Russell's paradox is that there is no such thing as unqualified tolerance. Ultimately, one must be able to expound intolerance of certain groups or ideologies without surrendering the moral high ground normally linked to tolerance and inclusivity. One should, in fact, condemn and resist political doctrines that advocate the murder of innocents, that undermine the basic norms of civilization, or that seek to make pluralism impossible. There can be no moral equivalence between those who seek--however clumsily--to build a more liberal, tolerant world and those who advocate the annihilation of other faiths, cultures, or states.
Which brings me to my son, Daniel Pearl. Thanks to the release of A Mighty Heart, the movie based on Mariane Pearl's book of the same title, Danny's legacy is once again receiving attention. Of course, no movie could ever capture exactly what made Danny special--his humor, his integrity, his love of humanity--or why he was admired by so many. For journalists, Danny represents the courage and nobility inherent in their profession. For Americans, Danny is a symbol of one of our very best national instincts: the desire to extend a warm hand of friendship and dialogue to faraway lands and peoples. And for anyone who is proud of their heritage or faith, Danny's last words, "I am Jewish," showed that it is possible to find dignity in one's identity even in the darkest of moments. Traces of these ideas are certainly evident in A Mighty Heart, and I hope viewers will leave the theater inspired by them.
At the same time, I am worried that A Mighty Heart falls into a trap Bertrand Russell would have recognized: the paradox of moral equivalence, of seeking to extend the logic of tolerance a step too far. You can see traces of this logic in the film's comparison of Danny's abduction with Guantánamo--it opens with pictures from the prison--and its comparison of Al Qaeda militants with CIA agents. You can also see it in the comments of the movie's director, Michael Winterbottom, who wrote on The Washington Post's website that A Mighty Heart and his previous film The Road to Guantánamo "are very similar. Both are stories about people who are victims of increasing violence on both sides. There are extremists on both sides who want to ratchet up the levels of violence and hundreds of thousands of people have died because of this."
Drawing a comparison between Danny's murder and the detainment of suspects in Guantánamo is precisely what the killers wanted, as expressed in both their e-mails and the murder video. Obviously Winterbottom did not mean to echo their sentiments, and certainly not to justify their demands or actions. Still, I am concerned that aspects of his movie will play into the hands of professional obscurers of moral clarity.
Indeed, following an advance screening of A Mighty Heart, a panelist representing the Council on American-Islamic Relations reportedly said, "We need to end the culture of bombs, torture, occupation, and violence. This is the message to take from the film." The message that angry youngsters are hearing is unfortunate: All forms of violence are equally evil; therefore, as long as one persists, others should not be ruled out. This is precisely the logic used by Mohammed Siddiqui Khan, one of the London suicide bombers, in his videotape on Al Jazeera. "Your democratically elected government," he told his British countrymen, "continues to perpetrate atrocities against my people ... . [W]e will not stop."
Danny's tragedy demands an end to this logic. There can be no comparison between those who take pride in the killing of an unarmed journalist and those who vow to end such acts--no ifs, ands, or buts. Moral relativism died with Daniel Pearl, in Karachi, on January 31, 2002.
There was a time when drawing moral symmetries between two sides of every conflict was a mark of original thinking. Today, with Western intellectuals overextending two-sidedness to reckless absurdities, it reflects nothing but lazy conformity. What is needed now is for intellectuals, filmmakers, and the rest of us to resist this dangerous trend and draw legitimate distinctions where such distinctions are warranted.
My son Danny had the courage to examine all sides. He was a genuine listener and a champion of dialogue. Yet he also had principles and red lines. He was tolerant but not mindlessly so. I hope viewers will remember this when they see A Mighty Heart.
Judea Pearl is president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, an organization committed to interfaith dialogue, and co-editor of I am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl.
One thing that Judea Pearl does not go quite deep enough into is what else that Daniel Pearl said just before he was beheaded, in addition to his statement that "I am Jewish".
Judea Pearl is an observant Jew. Daniel Pearl was not. In fact, his wife Marianne is not Jewish at all.
Most Diaspora Jews, or non Israeli Jews, particularly those living in the United States, and even more so those in the 2 largest communities in NY and LA are left wing Democrats.
This has been true since the days of FDR. Despite predictions that Jews would favor the Republicans in the last election because of the pro Israel stance of George Bush, this did not happen.
In fact, most American Jews know little or nothing about Israel.
Worse, many mouth the typical apologist view of antisemitic incidents or statements around the world.
In my conversations with them, as one of them, I have constantly tried to explain that no matter who they support, no matter how removed they are from the practice of Judaism, no matter what causes they champion, when the Jews are rounded up again, none of that will matter.
This was the world that Daniel Pearl lived in. He simply could not imagine a situation where his Jewish lineage would cause him harm.
It was this shocking revelation that caused him to "find religion" in those final moments.
Even more than his statement that "I am Jewish" was an acknowledgment that he had been kidnapped and was about to be killed exactly BECAUSE he was a Jew, the same way Hitler's Nuremberg laws made him a Jew (it is for this reason that Israel uses the definition of a Jew put forth in the Nuremburg laws to define who is a citizen).
So what else did Pearl say as the knife was beginning to saw through his throat? He recited the "Shema", the prayer that all Jews are required to say 4 times every day. "Hear O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One".
It is this prayer that is the foundation for all western monotheistic religions. The first statement that there is one god. It has been said by Jews facing death for 5000 years.
It took a knife at his throat for Daniel Pearl to recognize evil. I hope it doesn't take that for the rest of us.
It is not the contents of the article that caused me to delay posting it, but rather the idea of giving additional publicity, however limited in my blog, to the film which, to me, exemplifies everything that is wrong with the confrontation with the murderous ideology currently rampaging through the world.
The article brilliantly sums up the problems, but does not quite go far enough on one point. More on that at the bottom of the article.
Moral relativism and A Mighty Heart.
Back to Focus
by Judea Pearl
Only at TNR Online
Post date: 07.03.07
I used to believe that the world essentially divided into two types of people: those who were broadly tolerant; and those who felt threatened by differences. If only the forces of tolerance could win out over the forces of intolerance, I reasoned, the world might finally know some measure of peace.
But there was a problem with my theory, and it was never clearer than in a conversation I once had with a Pakistani friend who told me that he loathed people like President Bush who insisted on dividing the world into "us" and "them." My friend, of course, was taking an innocent stand against intolerance, and did not realize that, in so doing, he was in fact dividing the world into "us" and "them," falling straight into the camp of people he loathed.
This is a political version of a famous paradox formulated by Bertrand Russell in 1901, which shook the logical foundations of mathematics. Any person who claims to be tolerant naturally defines himself in opposition to those who are intolerant. But that makes him intolerant of certain people--which invalidates his claim to be tolerant.
The political lesson of Russell's paradox is that there is no such thing as unqualified tolerance. Ultimately, one must be able to expound intolerance of certain groups or ideologies without surrendering the moral high ground normally linked to tolerance and inclusivity. One should, in fact, condemn and resist political doctrines that advocate the murder of innocents, that undermine the basic norms of civilization, or that seek to make pluralism impossible. There can be no moral equivalence between those who seek--however clumsily--to build a more liberal, tolerant world and those who advocate the annihilation of other faiths, cultures, or states.
Which brings me to my son, Daniel Pearl. Thanks to the release of A Mighty Heart, the movie based on Mariane Pearl's book of the same title, Danny's legacy is once again receiving attention. Of course, no movie could ever capture exactly what made Danny special--his humor, his integrity, his love of humanity--or why he was admired by so many. For journalists, Danny represents the courage and nobility inherent in their profession. For Americans, Danny is a symbol of one of our very best national instincts: the desire to extend a warm hand of friendship and dialogue to faraway lands and peoples. And for anyone who is proud of their heritage or faith, Danny's last words, "I am Jewish," showed that it is possible to find dignity in one's identity even in the darkest of moments. Traces of these ideas are certainly evident in A Mighty Heart, and I hope viewers will leave the theater inspired by them.
At the same time, I am worried that A Mighty Heart falls into a trap Bertrand Russell would have recognized: the paradox of moral equivalence, of seeking to extend the logic of tolerance a step too far. You can see traces of this logic in the film's comparison of Danny's abduction with Guantánamo--it opens with pictures from the prison--and its comparison of Al Qaeda militants with CIA agents. You can also see it in the comments of the movie's director, Michael Winterbottom, who wrote on The Washington Post's website that A Mighty Heart and his previous film The Road to Guantánamo "are very similar. Both are stories about people who are victims of increasing violence on both sides. There are extremists on both sides who want to ratchet up the levels of violence and hundreds of thousands of people have died because of this."
Drawing a comparison between Danny's murder and the detainment of suspects in Guantánamo is precisely what the killers wanted, as expressed in both their e-mails and the murder video. Obviously Winterbottom did not mean to echo their sentiments, and certainly not to justify their demands or actions. Still, I am concerned that aspects of his movie will play into the hands of professional obscurers of moral clarity.
Indeed, following an advance screening of A Mighty Heart, a panelist representing the Council on American-Islamic Relations reportedly said, "We need to end the culture of bombs, torture, occupation, and violence. This is the message to take from the film." The message that angry youngsters are hearing is unfortunate: All forms of violence are equally evil; therefore, as long as one persists, others should not be ruled out. This is precisely the logic used by Mohammed Siddiqui Khan, one of the London suicide bombers, in his videotape on Al Jazeera. "Your democratically elected government," he told his British countrymen, "continues to perpetrate atrocities against my people ... . [W]e will not stop."
Danny's tragedy demands an end to this logic. There can be no comparison between those who take pride in the killing of an unarmed journalist and those who vow to end such acts--no ifs, ands, or buts. Moral relativism died with Daniel Pearl, in Karachi, on January 31, 2002.
There was a time when drawing moral symmetries between two sides of every conflict was a mark of original thinking. Today, with Western intellectuals overextending two-sidedness to reckless absurdities, it reflects nothing but lazy conformity. What is needed now is for intellectuals, filmmakers, and the rest of us to resist this dangerous trend and draw legitimate distinctions where such distinctions are warranted.
My son Danny had the courage to examine all sides. He was a genuine listener and a champion of dialogue. Yet he also had principles and red lines. He was tolerant but not mindlessly so. I hope viewers will remember this when they see A Mighty Heart.
Judea Pearl is president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, an organization committed to interfaith dialogue, and co-editor of I am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl.
One thing that Judea Pearl does not go quite deep enough into is what else that Daniel Pearl said just before he was beheaded, in addition to his statement that "I am Jewish".
Judea Pearl is an observant Jew. Daniel Pearl was not. In fact, his wife Marianne is not Jewish at all.
Most Diaspora Jews, or non Israeli Jews, particularly those living in the United States, and even more so those in the 2 largest communities in NY and LA are left wing Democrats.
This has been true since the days of FDR. Despite predictions that Jews would favor the Republicans in the last election because of the pro Israel stance of George Bush, this did not happen.
In fact, most American Jews know little or nothing about Israel.
Worse, many mouth the typical apologist view of antisemitic incidents or statements around the world.
In my conversations with them, as one of them, I have constantly tried to explain that no matter who they support, no matter how removed they are from the practice of Judaism, no matter what causes they champion, when the Jews are rounded up again, none of that will matter.
This was the world that Daniel Pearl lived in. He simply could not imagine a situation where his Jewish lineage would cause him harm.
It was this shocking revelation that caused him to "find religion" in those final moments.
Even more than his statement that "I am Jewish" was an acknowledgment that he had been kidnapped and was about to be killed exactly BECAUSE he was a Jew, the same way Hitler's Nuremberg laws made him a Jew (it is for this reason that Israel uses the definition of a Jew put forth in the Nuremburg laws to define who is a citizen).
So what else did Pearl say as the knife was beginning to saw through his throat? He recited the "Shema", the prayer that all Jews are required to say 4 times every day. "Hear O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One".
It is this prayer that is the foundation for all western monotheistic religions. The first statement that there is one god. It has been said by Jews facing death for 5000 years.
It took a knife at his throat for Daniel Pearl to recognize evil. I hope it doesn't take that for the rest of us.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
First, ... about Israel.
Despite the second Lebanon war, the divestments, and the boycotts, Israel's economy enjoyed the largest growth in its GNP of any Western country at 8% for the last quarter of 2006. Foreign investment hit a remarkable high of over US $13 billion and the budget deficit was under 1%. Industrial exports, excluding diamonds, rose 11% to $29.3 billion in 2006 with the hi-tech sector leading the surge, according to the Manufacturers Association of Israel. Israel's hi-tech industry exported $14.1 billion in goods last year,
growing 20% from 2005.
What follows is a selection of Israel's achievements in the first month of 2007:
1. Scientists in Israel found that the brackish water drilled from underground desert aquifers hundreds of feet deep could be used to raise warm-water fish. The geothermal water, less than one-tenth as saline as sea
water, free of pollutants, and a toasty 98 degrees on average, proves an ideal environment.
****************************
2. Israeli-developed designer eyeglasses promise mobile phone and iPod users a personalized, high-tech video display. Available to US consumers next year, Lumus-Optical's lightweight and fashionable video eyeglasses feature a large transparent screen floating in front of the viewer's face that projects their choice of movie, TV show, or video game.
****************************
3. When Stephen Hawkings visited Israel recently, he shared his wisdom with scientists, students, and even the prime minister. But the world's most renown victim of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, also learned something - due to the Israeli Association for ALS' advanced work in both embryonic and adult stem cell research, as well as its proven track record with neurodegenerative diseases, the Israeli research community is well on its way to finding a treatment for this fatal disease which affects 30,000 Americans.
****************************
4. Israeli start-up Veterix has developed an innovative new electronic capsule that sits in the stomach of a cow, sheep, or goat, sending out real-time information on the health of the herd to the farmer via email or
cell phone. The e-capsule, which also sends out alerts if animals are distressed, injured, or lost, is now being tested on a herd of cows in the hopes that the device will lead to tastier and healthier meat and milk
supplies.
****************************
5. The millions of Skype users worldwide will soon have access to the newly developed KishKish lie detector. This free Internet service, based on voice stress analysis (a technique commonly used in criminal
investigations), will be able to measure just how truthful that person on the other end of the line really is.
****************************
6. Beating cardiac tissue has been created in a lab from human embryonic stem cells by researchers at the Rappaport Medical Faculty and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's biomedical engineering faculty.
The work of Dr. Shulamit Levenberg and Prof. Lior Gepstein has also led to the creation of tiny blood vessels within the tissue, making possible its implantation in a human heart.
****************************
7. Israel's Magal Security Systems is a worldwide leader in computerized security systems with products used in more than 70 countries around the world protecting anything from national borders to nuclear facilities, refineries, and airports. The company's latest product, DreamBox, a state-of-the-art security system that includes intelligent video, audio and sensor management, is now being used by a major water authority on the US East Coast to safeguard the utility's sites.
****************************
8. It's common knowledge that dogs have better night vision than humans and a vastly superior sense of smell and hearing. Israel's Bio-Sense Technologies recently delved further and electronically analyzed 350
different barks. Finding that dogs of all breeds and sizes bark the same alarm when they sense a threat, the firm has designed the dog bark-reader, a sensor that can pick up a dog's alarm bark and alert the human operators. This is just one of a batch of innovative security systems to emerge from Israel, which Forbes calls "the go-to country for anti-terrorism technologies."
****************************
9. Israeli company BioControl Medical sold its first electrical stimulator to treat urinary incontinence to a US company for $50 million. Now it is working on CardioFit, which uses electrical nerve stimulation to treat congestive heart failure. With nearly five million Americans presently affected by heart failure and more than 400,000 new cases diagnosed yearly, the CardioFit is already generating a great deal of excitement as the first device with the potential to halt this deadly disease.
****************************
10. One year after Norway's Socialist Left Party launched its boycott of Israel, the importing of Israeli goods has increased by 15%, the strongest increase in many years, Statistics Norway reports.
***************************************************************
And now about the Arabs accomplishments:
The Quassam rockets filled with nails etc. and specifically directed towards civilians can now travel 15% further due to special funded efforts by the Arab research institutes for improved living (or dying).
Despite the second Lebanon war, the divestments, and the boycotts, Israel's economy enjoyed the largest growth in its GNP of any Western country at 8% for the last quarter of 2006. Foreign investment hit a remarkable high of over US $13 billion and the budget deficit was under 1%. Industrial exports, excluding diamonds, rose 11% to $29.3 billion in 2006 with the hi-tech sector leading the surge, according to the Manufacturers Association of Israel. Israel's hi-tech industry exported $14.1 billion in goods last year,
growing 20% from 2005.
What follows is a selection of Israel's achievements in the first month of 2007:
1. Scientists in Israel found that the brackish water drilled from underground desert aquifers hundreds of feet deep could be used to raise warm-water fish. The geothermal water, less than one-tenth as saline as sea
water, free of pollutants, and a toasty 98 degrees on average, proves an ideal environment.
****************************
2. Israeli-developed designer eyeglasses promise mobile phone and iPod users a personalized, high-tech video display. Available to US consumers next year, Lumus-Optical's lightweight and fashionable video eyeglasses feature a large transparent screen floating in front of the viewer's face that projects their choice of movie, TV show, or video game.
****************************
3. When Stephen Hawkings visited Israel recently, he shared his wisdom with scientists, students, and even the prime minister. But the world's most renown victim of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, also learned something - due to the Israeli Association for ALS' advanced work in both embryonic and adult stem cell research, as well as its proven track record with neurodegenerative diseases, the Israeli research community is well on its way to finding a treatment for this fatal disease which affects 30,000 Americans.
****************************
4. Israeli start-up Veterix has developed an innovative new electronic capsule that sits in the stomach of a cow, sheep, or goat, sending out real-time information on the health of the herd to the farmer via email or
cell phone. The e-capsule, which also sends out alerts if animals are distressed, injured, or lost, is now being tested on a herd of cows in the hopes that the device will lead to tastier and healthier meat and milk
supplies.
****************************
5. The millions of Skype users worldwide will soon have access to the newly developed KishKish lie detector. This free Internet service, based on voice stress analysis (a technique commonly used in criminal
investigations), will be able to measure just how truthful that person on the other end of the line really is.
****************************
6. Beating cardiac tissue has been created in a lab from human embryonic stem cells by researchers at the Rappaport Medical Faculty and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's biomedical engineering faculty.
The work of Dr. Shulamit Levenberg and Prof. Lior Gepstein has also led to the creation of tiny blood vessels within the tissue, making possible its implantation in a human heart.
****************************
7. Israel's Magal Security Systems is a worldwide leader in computerized security systems with products used in more than 70 countries around the world protecting anything from national borders to nuclear facilities, refineries, and airports. The company's latest product, DreamBox, a state-of-the-art security system that includes intelligent video, audio and sensor management, is now being used by a major water authority on the US East Coast to safeguard the utility's sites.
****************************
8. It's common knowledge that dogs have better night vision than humans and a vastly superior sense of smell and hearing. Israel's Bio-Sense Technologies recently delved further and electronically analyzed 350
different barks. Finding that dogs of all breeds and sizes bark the same alarm when they sense a threat, the firm has designed the dog bark-reader, a sensor that can pick up a dog's alarm bark and alert the human operators. This is just one of a batch of innovative security systems to emerge from Israel, which Forbes calls "the go-to country for anti-terrorism technologies."
****************************
9. Israeli company BioControl Medical sold its first electrical stimulator to treat urinary incontinence to a US company for $50 million. Now it is working on CardioFit, which uses electrical nerve stimulation to treat congestive heart failure. With nearly five million Americans presently affected by heart failure and more than 400,000 new cases diagnosed yearly, the CardioFit is already generating a great deal of excitement as the first device with the potential to halt this deadly disease.
****************************
10. One year after Norway's Socialist Left Party launched its boycott of Israel, the importing of Israeli goods has increased by 15%, the strongest increase in many years, Statistics Norway reports.
***************************************************************
And now about the Arabs accomplishments:
The Quassam rockets filled with nails etc. and specifically directed towards civilians can now travel 15% further due to special funded efforts by the Arab research institutes for improved living (or dying).
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