Shas rabbi prays for Palestinians to perish

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas party, which has four ministerial seats in the current Israeli government, has prayed for the destruction of the Palestinians. While delivering a sermon, Yosef said "Abu Mazen and all these evil people should perish from this world. God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians."

In 2001, Yosef said, regarding the Arabs, that "it is forbidden to be merciful to them." He called on Israel to "send missiles to them and annihilate them", because "they are evil and damnable". After a controversy arose regarding these statements, Yosef claimed that he had only meant Arab terrorists, and not all Arabs.

Yosef was born in Basra, and was originally named Abdullah Youssef.

The Palestinian Authority and the US State Department have condemned Yosef's latest remarks. The Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has described Yosef's statement as an "incitement to genocide".

Far-right march provokes riot in Israeli Arab town

Young Arab demonstrators have rioted and attacked the police in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, after a march on the outskirts of the town by around 100 far-right Jewish Israeli activists bearing Israeli flags. The Jewish marchers were protected by 2,500 policemen. The Arab counter-demonstration was largely peaceful, but the rioters injured 15 policemen. The right-wing march was partly organised by Baruch Marzel, the leader of the banned anti-Arab Kach movement.

A marcher named Michael Ben-Ari said, "All we are doing is waving the Israeli flag. All we are demanding is loyalty to the state.... The State of Israel is the Jewish people's state. We are here to voice our truth and not to create provocations."

However, views such as those expressed by Ben-Ari are seen by Arab Israelis as racist. According to Jamal Zahalka, the leader of the Israeli Arab Balad party and a member of the Knesset, "Racism is not freedom of expression, it's a criminal act and the law should punish it."

Jewish leaders from towns around Umm Al-Fahm have also condemned the march. Some Jews joined the Arab counter-demonstration (BBC).

So the remnants of Kach seem to be taking a page out of the book of the Orange Order. Not the best path to be going down, certainly, unless they actually want to turn Israel proper into another Northern Ireland.

BBC's Simpson displays prejudices on Iraq

In an article on Tariq Aziz, who has recently been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his contribution to the execution of 42 Iraqi flour merchants in 1992, the BBC's long-serving correspondent John Simpson has made two statements that I find quite surprising because of the outright prejudices contained in them.

First of all, according to Simpson, "although [Aziz] comes from a Christian family, this is a matter of historical chance rather than an indication of his opinions." This statement is, obviously, problematic on a number of levels. Would Simpson say this of a British politician with an unsavoury reputation? Would he take the pains to point out that such-and-such European or North American politician was born into a Christian family and had then gone astray? Moreover, what does it mean to say that the fact that he's a Christian is no indication of his opinions? Can Simpson tell us what opinions a Christian, as understood by him, does hold or should hold? Can he tell us which is the Christian opinion: invading Iraq as the Christians Bush and Blair did, or not invading it, as several different churches (including the Catholic Church, to which Aziz belongs, and which later accepted Blair into its fold) urged? Are Bush and Blair not Christians? If they are, why is Tariq Aziz any less a Christian? And, further, is Simpson trying to say here that Aziz's Baath Party membership would have been more understandable had he come from a Muslim family? If he is saying that, what is that but a calumny?

Secondly, according to Simpson, "Tariq Aziz changed his name from Mikhail Yuhanna... to something much more Arab-sounding, in order to fit in better with his Baathist colleagues". Now, pray tell me, what is not "Arab-sounding" about the name Mikhail Yuhanna? Again, it seems that Simpson is trying to equate "Arab" and "Muslim", and to try to portray the Christians as an anomaly in the Arab world. The fact is, Christian Arabs were present in the Middle East long before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had been born. Mikhail Yuhanna is certainly not a non-Arab-sounding name. On the other hand, it is an identifiably Christian name. By renaming himself Tariq Aziz, Yuhanna did not Arabise his name; he secularised it. There is a big difference between the two, which a man of John Simpson's experience ought to be aware of.

Bahrain appoints Jewish ambassador

Bahrain broke several barriers at once in late May by appointing a Jewish woman to be its new ambassador to the US. Houda Nonoo, a member of the Shura Council for three years before the appointment, has thus become Bahrain's and the entire Arab world's first Jewish ambassador. Nonoo is also the first female Bahraini ambassador to the US, and the third woman to become a Bahraini ambassador to any country.

Bahraini Jews are said to number 37 people among about 530,000 Bahraini citizens (the country's total population is about 1,047,000 people). Bahrain is the only Gulf Arab country with any Jewish citizens. Manama has one synagogue, which was abandoned after the establishment of Israel, but is now once again in use.

Nonoo's ancestors moved to Bahrain from Iraq over a hundred years ago. Her family has been active in public affairs in Bahrain for several generations.

According to Nonoo, Bahraini Jews are religiously observant: "We keep Rosh Hashana and Pessah and the other holidays in our homes". It seems, though, that there are no rabbis within the community; Nonoo once flew a rabbi over from Britain for her son's bar mitzvah.

Nonoo said she would serve in her position "first of all as a Bahraini" (BBC, ArabianBusiness.com, Jerusalem Post).

I think this is a great step towards the re-normalisation of the role of Jews in Arab and Muslim society.

What would be even more impressive is if Israel had an Arab Muslim Israeli citizen serve as ambassador to Egypt or Jordan (it has already had two Arab Muslim consuls in the US).

Dunkin' Donuts gives in to anti-Palestinian prejudice

After pressure from the right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin, Dunkin' Donuts has cancelled an online ad featuring TV host Rachael Ray wearing a keffiyeh.

Malkin described the piece of Arab men's headdress as "a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists".

According to Dunkin' Donuts, "no symbolism was intended" by the silk keffiyeh. Malkin has praised the company for its decision, saying that the picture of the scarf could have led to "the mainstreaming of violence" (BBC).

So my question is: what was Timothy McVeigh wearing when he perpetrated his terrorist act? And if he was wearing a shirt and trousers, should everyone now stop wearing shirts and trousers? Come on now.

If you disagree with Dunkin' Donuts's decision, please contact them.

Govt-Hizbullah clashes break out in Lebanon

After years of peaceful confrontation, the standoff between the pro-Western Lebanese government and Hizbullah has turned violent. When the government sent in the Lebanese army to dismantle a phone network operated by Hizbullah, the militant movement decided to fight back.

According to the head of Hizbullah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, "This decision was a declaration of war and the start of war on the resistance and its weapons. Our response to this decision is that whoever declares or starts a war, be it a brother or a father, then it is our right to defend ourselves and our existence." However, Nasrallah said that his movement would stop fighting if the army withdrew from the streets.

There is a danger of the armed conflict spilling over into mixed Sunni-Shi'ite neighbourhoods in Beirut. In one such neighbourhood, Sunnis chanted "God is with the Sunnis," while Shi'ites responded with the words "The Shi'ite blood is boiling". Lebanese army soldiers acted as a barrier between the two sides.

This may be the closest Lebanon has come to a new civil war since the last one ended in 1990 (New York Times).

Let's hope it blows over. I think Hizbullah should know that the support it enjoys among Sunni Arabs would evaporate were it to start a real civil war against the government. I don't think it can afford to risk that.

Lebanon takes Nahr al-Bared camp

After over three months of clashes, the Lebanese army has taken the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, located near Tripoli. The rebel group Fatah al-Islam, which had been holed up in the camp, seems to be in disarray. Its leader, Shaker al-Abssi, has reportedly been killed, while its surviving members have fled the camp. In all, 37 rebels and five Lebanese soldiers were killed in a battle on 1 September.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has declared victory "over the terrorists, those who sought chaos, destruction and tragedies for Lebanon." The army has planted Lebanese flags over the camp, and Siniora has promised to reopen the camp, saying, however, that in future the camp would be run exclusively under Lebanese authority (BBC).

I hope the Lebanese army's success is permanent, and a clone of Fatah al-Islam does not appear in the camp in a few weeks' time. The best thing to do, of course, would be to give the refugees Lebanese citizenship, and integrate them into the local population. That is not, however, something that any Arab state other than Jordan has been willing to contemplate.

Muslim chaplain represents Islam to the Marines

US Navy LCDR Abuhena Saifulislam serves with the US Marine Corps as its only Muslim chaplain, and one of two Muslim chaplains in the Navy.

Growing up in Bangladesh, Saifulislam was fascinated with US Navy uniforms that he saw in World War II movies. After immigrating into the US in the 1980s, he decided to join the Navy instead of working in the world of finance in New York, which had been his original plan.

Saifulislam is often interviewed by the media, and tries to point out that there is nothing incompatible between being Islam and the US Armed Forces.

While working as a Muslim chaplain, he has obtained prayer space for Muslims at Marine Corps Base Quantico (located in Virginia), and started regular Muslim calls to prayer at the detention centre at Guantánamo Bay.

Saifulislam also teaches non-Muslim Marines about Islam.

On relations between the US and the Arab world, Saifulislam says, "Don't see the entire religion, or judge it, through one set of eyes. The Arabs shouldn't generalise (either)...The majority of Americans may not approve of many things that we do outside, but it doesn't mean that we don't love the country (BBC).

Definitely not the most typical place for a Bangladeshi to end up in. Saifulislam is doing good work, and the US Armed Forces need more people like him, both to combat an image of their being an anti-Islamic force, and to teach American soldiers to be respectful to Islam and Muslims.

Iraqi Israelis long for homeland

Jewish Israelis of Iraqi origin still retain strong emotional ties to Iraq, even after 50 years after much of the Iraqi Jewish community immigrated to Israel.

Yakov Reuveni, originally from the southwestern Iraqi city of Amara, fondly remembers joining Shi'ite processions commemorating the Battle of Karbala in his childhood.

Eli Mizrakhi, who was born in Israel but whose family came from Iraqi Kurdistan, says, "most of us still feel connected to the country where we or our ancestors came from. Our parents and our grandparents still remember many things from their Iraqi past and they bring them to us, with food, music, language."

As for life in Iraq before the migration to Israel, Reuveni observes that "we never thought of who was Jewish and who was Arab, until 1947. It all suddenly changed. The people that you knew as good people turned into bad people for you and you became bad for them. It was very sad" (BBC).

So while the founding of Israel on what used to be Arab land set off repercussions that forced almost the entire Iraqi Jewish community out of Iraq, the community's continuing sense of attachment to Iraq may one day, perhaps, be used as a way to build bridges between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Iraqi Israelis could be great ambassadors for their adopted country if peace is established in the region.

Bosnia strips foreign fighters of citizenship

Bosnia-Herzegovina has revoked the citizenship of 367 foreign-born Muslim men who had fought for it in the Bosnian War. Those affected were originally from several Arab and European countries.

Several hundred foreign Muslims volunteered to fight for Bosnia-Herzegovina during the war, which lasted from 1992 to 1995. Many of them married Bosnian women and remained in the country after the war. Those who stayed were granted Bosnian citizenship.

Bosnia-Herzegovina has recently come under pressure from the US to re-examine the citizenship files, in order to make sure that the foreign-born Muslim community did not become a support base for terrorism (BBC).

Just another example of American diktat playing out in Central and Eastern Europe, with the countries of the region only too willing to oblige. First came "extraordinary rendition", i.e., the state-approved abduction of Muslims by the Americans and their handing over to foreign governments to interrogate under torture (a process in which several countries in the region seem to have cooperated). And now this.

I have no problem with proven terrorists having their citizenship revoked. But have any of these 367 men been found guilty of anything?

Talabani: Mahdi Army stops reprisals

The Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, has announced that the Mahdi Army, a Shi'ite militia loyal to the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, has stopped attacking Sunnis. The group is suspected of carrying out punitive raids on Sunnis, including the summary execution of Sunni men, following suicide bombings in Shi'ite areas, allegedly carried out by Sunnis. According to Talabani, the new security plan championed by the US (involving an increased American presence in Baghdad and confrontations with both Sunni and Shi'ite militias) has forced "brother Moqtada Sadr" to ask his followers to stop attacking "brother Sunni Arabs" (BBC).

If this is true, the news certainly represents a major success for the new US policy. However, if previous experience is a guide, we are likely to see more of Sadr and his militants. In 2003 or 2004, I watched Danielle Pletka, the American Enterprise Institute's supposed expert on Iraq, say that Sadr should be treated "as the irrelevancy he is". For better or worse, though, the man has proven himself nothing if not relevant since then.