Middle East Facts Weblog

Changes in the Arab World?

May 30th, 2008

There are two positive pieces of news today from the Arab world that give us reason to smile. One is about Houda Nonoo, a Jewish Bahraini, who has been appointed by King Hamad Isa al-Khalifa as the country’s ambassador to the United States. Although Bahrain is considered to be quite moderate in circles, it’s still nice to hear that they’re willing to give a female and a Jew (in this case, the same person) a prestigious post. For more information, see the Jerusalem Post.

Another story in the Jerusalem Post has to do with Arab reactions to reports about Israeli Prime Minister’s Ehud Olmert’s corruption trial for receiving $150,000 in cash over 14 years. While it is clear that some of the posters don’t like Israel, it seems as though most of them respect the fact that Israel’s justice system works even against elected representatives in the highest positions of power. Some are even critical of Ehud Olmert for taking so little money! Many responders laud Israel as an example that Arab countries should use, as it’s clear that the Arabs realize the corruption that occurs in their countries. Comments include:

• “the reason why Israel has lasted for so long is because of its independent and fair judicial system. I challenge the Arabs to have such an independent judicial system.”
• “Only a few thousand dollars? What a fool! This is what an Egyptian minister gets in a day or what a Saudi CEO gets in 45 minutes, or a Kuwaiti government official in five minutes. This is what the physician of the emir of Qatar gets every 30 seconds.”
• “Unfortunately, this is the real democracy. Our enemies are very good in practicing democracy. In the Arab world, our leaders steal everything and no one ever dares to ask a question.”
• “I swear Israel is a state that will succeed. They are prosecuting their prime minister because of tens of thousands of dollars. What about the millions of dollars that Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority stole? How come the Palestinian people are still hungry?”

Is the Arab world finally seeing the virtues of Israel? Do these sentiments reflect the consensus in the Arab world? Unlikely. But given the Arab world distaste for Israel, to put it lightly, the fact that these opinions are shared in public forums (albeit online) could be a step in the right direction. Perhaps it’s no reason to be overly optimistic, but it is a step in the right direction. Let’s hope justified criticisms of leadership in the Arab world, by Arabs, continues - it shows that people are waking up to the reality that Israel is not their enemy - their own leadership is.

Birthright Palestine

April 16th, 2008

So, the Palestinians have noticed the success of the Birthright Israel program in getting young Jews excited in Israel and have launched their own program to “gather first-generation, western-born Palestinians (over the age of 18-years old) in their ancestral homeland, so that they can reunite and witness firsthand how their brethren are living under illegal Israeli military occupation.” According to their website (birthrightpalestine.com), the concept was created by the “Palestine Center for National Strategic Studies”. I don’t mind so much that Palestinian organizations are taking credit for the concepts that were though about by Jews and then adapted, but what I do worry about is the message that these kids will be getting. The PCNSS’s own website (pcnss.org) has in their symbol a map of a country that looks an awful lot like Israel - I’m guessing that this is the “Palestine” that they’re referring to.

So we’re going to jump to a conclusion here - these first generation non-Palestinians coming on their “Birthright” trip are NOT going to be taught about peace, tolerance and co-existence, and will likely be taught alot about “Israeli brutality”, the “illegal Israeli occupation”, etc. According to the birthrightpalestine.com website, the trip was “created to maintain Palestinian unity on an international level” and to “nurture relationships between participants of Palestinian ethnic
origin whom were born in different countries around the world”, with the hope of an exchange of ideas that will “possibly lead to a cohesive consensus on core issues of importance to the Palestinian Nation.”

Now, in the past we’ve been quite clear about our thoughts about the claim of “Palestinian Nationalism” - there is no Palestinian nation and there never was. The Arab Palestinian national movement began in the 1960s - before that, Arabs living in Palestine identified themselves as being South Syrian or simply as Arabs. In fact, before World War I, many of the Arab countries that exist now didn’t exist back then. Here’s a map:

So now, 100 years later, the Arabs who happened to live in “Palestine” when Jews began to move their, invent a nationalism that historically never existed and are using it as a cynical political tool. I expect this plan to run into some roadblocks, primarily getting people to come in the first place. To get to “Palestine”, the participants must fly into Tel Aviv, Israel, since there is no international airport in Palestine (for if there were, Israel would be in grave danger). In the FAQs on the site, the organizers site “security precautions” for not releasing a list of participants - surely the insinuation is that people participating have to be worried about their security from Israelis. They likely have a point - surely if a participant list was distributed ahead of time, Israel would get their hands on it and be able to investigate the participants before they land in Tel Aviv and deny entry to any with suspicious backgrounds.

Whatever the goal of “Birthright Palestine”, we don’t think it is going to be pushing for a two-state solution or a solution that leaves any Jewish presence in the Middle East. Surely peaceniks will love this concept, but will it bring about peace? Like everything the Palestinians do, that is unlikely.

As a follow-up to this story, we’d like to write about the “Palestine Center for National Strategic Studies”. Does anybody know anything about this organization and where it gets funding from?

World Jewish Congress Commends Prime Minister Stephen Harper for pulling out of ‘Durban II.’

January 31st, 2008

The following resolution passed unanimously today at the governing board of the World Jewish Congress in Jerusalem. Please follow the link provided to read the full document: WJC Resolution on 2009 Durban Review Conference.