Saddam does Comedy Central
Arab-Jewish Humor:
On another light note, and I think we need some humor these days, the Saudi daily al-Riyadh, claims (July 18) that the Rabbinical Council (Council of Rabbis?) in the occupied West Bank has asked the Israeli government to allow the ‘killing of civilians, including children and women’. The Saudi newspaper claims that the Torah permits such killings during war. The paper reports that some organization or another of Moslem scholars has dutifully, perhaps gleefully, condemned all this.
Hizballah, Sunnis, and Joe Biden:
Mainstream Arab media, mostly state-0wned or controlled, are these days emphasizimg the fact that Hizballah is a Shi'a (Shiite) organization, with close ties to the mullahs in Iran, which is true. And all this time we thought it was just a regional branch of the DAR!
Some claim that it is an outright agent of Iran, which is perhaps an exaggeration. However, before this summer Hizballah was glorified in the Arab press, and always referred to as 'the Lebanese resistance', with no mention of the organization's name or its sectarian affiliations. Or its role as an agent of the mullahs. This new emphasis on sectarianism is probably part of a media war being waged for the minds and hearts of the Arab peoples (mostly Sunnis) between the moderate Arab regimes and the Iranian regime.
Some U.S. politicians have also put in their two cents in encouraging this dangerous sectarian divide. Senator Joe Biden, normally a level-headed man, yesterday openly stressed the need to get the "Sunni Arabs" to oppose Shi'a movements. The problem with this approach, besides the obvious, is that Arab regimes are helpless to do anything beyond issuing statements. They have all been suffering from the deer-in-the-headlights syndrome for years now, and they seem to like it that way.
In a noticeable shift, Sunni fundamentalist writers are now increasingly taking a pro-Hizballah stance, while Sunni secularist writers-there are a few of those- have criticized the foolishness of the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers.
Some have even strongly criticized the timing of the incident during the peak tourist season in Lebanon. So tell me again, when did you say it was okay to cross the border and kidnap two Israeli teenagers?
Egypt, Again:
Egypt's Mubarak repeated during a press interview that he has never chosen a Vice President because he does not want to impose a VP on the Egyptian people. Come again? What about imposing yourself for twenty five years and counting? Clearly he wants mayhem after he goes- if he intends to go wherever it is that Arab leaders and potentates go when they finally ride into the sunset. Most Arab leaders do not ride into the sunset. They do not ride anywhere- they usually have to be carried out of office, feet first. (I wonder if dyed hair changes color after.....after one is gone, I mean really gone). Most likely Old Husni (78 years) has a sneaky plan that the docile ruling party will choose his son as president.
Cheers
Mohammed
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