The Passover holidays have come and gone. The country is gearing itself for Independence Day preceded by Holocaust Day and Rememberence Day for the Fallen in Israel's Wars. The Government is busy with the logistics of the future disengagement plan to withdraw from
The kids were on vacation until the end of the Passover holidays. Their boredom was felt as many of them went on a rampage of national vandalism destroying and damaging everything in their path. People who have bought new cars this time of the year, will find their cars badly scratched wherever they park. Those who are less fortunate will also have their car badges removed. It does not matter where one parks in the city, one has to contend with this vandalism on a daily basis. After a hard day's work, one has to dig into one's pocket to have one's car repaired because of damage done.
There is no patrolling police officer in the street and the kids have a field day damaging and destroying public and private property in their path. This phenomenon becomes more widespread during school vacations. There is no way to prevent the vandalism that costs the country much money. Park benches are set alight or simply have the planks ripped off for use as firewood.
What has happened to much of
The 11th Passover plague is the vandalism caused by much of
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b Lack of Development in the Middle East
There seems to be many theories about the lack of development in the Middle East. This subject is so vast and at the same time very complex. A question that ought to be asked is how does one define lack of development? Is it cultural, industrial, civil, relationships between people and tolerance? So many aspects of this can take pages to fill.
Explanations for the "lack of development" in the Middle East will usually prompt many western-oriented people to give explanations that would satisfy their own prejudices and ignorance concerning people of the Middle East, which includes the two main warring factions – the Israelis and the Arabs. Where does this "lack of development" really occur and how? What standard or yardstick must one use in order to measure "lack of development" and in whose eyes?
On the one hand, there are the Arab countries whose energies are spent – not in finding a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but in finding every excuse not to come to terms with Israel's existence. The term "illegal occupation" which includes the areas occupied after the Six Day War of June 1967 as well as the armistice agreements signed in 1949 since Israel's establishment. So much energy is spent in promulgating hate towards Israel by "groping at straws" to exacerbate the Palestinian refugee problem. This problem has been maintained as a "festering sore" since Israel's establishment and there has been no desire from any of the Arab countries to solve this sad problem with Israel by negotiation. The Palestinian refugee problem had been used as an excuse for many problems common to many Arab countries and the blame has been laid on "Zionists" for the dire straits and poor economic situation of many Arab citizens in their countries.
True, there has not been much industrial productivity on the part of the Arab states which could compete with the West in its development. The West is totally dependent on Arab oil and this gives a substantial income to the Arab states which unfortunately does not filter down to many Arab citizens who are living in severe poverty and are also illiterate. Many Arab countries are ruled in a quasi-feudalistic way where there has not been much development or education of the poverty-stricken. The wealth in these countries is found in the hand of the Arab Royal families that rule their countries in an autocratic manner.
A well-known phenomenon is the lack of development of agriculture, which could possibly be blamed on the tough desert climatic conditions in the countries of the Middle East. The heat is oppressive in the long hot summers that are not conducive to productivity of any kind.
Islam is a relatively young religion and is still in the process of evolvement. If one were to examine the history of Christianity, one would observe that Christianity was intolerant and its followers were imbued with great zeal to convert the world to Christianity. Kings, such as Richard the Lionhearted, and warriors involved in the ancient Crusades to the Holy Land were motivated in converting the world. This occurred over 900 years ago. Islam is now undergoing a similar stage of development. Only now the reasons are totally different. When Islam chronologically reaches the age of Christianity and Judaism, this zealousness in its various missionary forms - "Jihad (Holy War)" may cease as Islam matures. Al Qaeda with its leader Osama bin Laden, (whose belief in Jihad has reached extreme proportions) whose nature is rather nebulous and its members are mysteriously hidden in various cells all over the world have one thing in common – hatred of western values and see the West as a threat to their beliefs. The infamous September 11th 2001 World Trade Centre Tragedy is an example of Islamist terror at its worst. This may also be compounded by the lack of achievements in their countries economically and socially which has resulted in this hatred of the west and its values that they see as the reason for their plight.
Poverty in the Middle East as a result of the exploitation by the feudal rulers has its repercussions. Naturally the establishment of Israel in 1948 was another obstacle in Islam's plan to convert the world. El Naqba - the Catastrophe, as the Arab nations called the establishment of Israel. This was a unifying factor and an ideal starting point to blame the Jews for everything that went wrong in the Arab world. The U.S. was seen more and more as a power that threatened the Arabs because of her support of Israel. The West failed to understand that Islam would never accept non-Moslem conquerors on their soil. This is Israel's problem and it is also the US's problem in its war with Iraq. Violence in Iraq against the US and its allies will never cease as these foreigners are viewed as infidels and, in Islamist eyes, are to be killed as they have occupied Moslem soil. The Bush Administration's lip service for establishing a "free and democratic Iraq" is a contradiction in terms and shows up the naivety of the US Administration. Democracy is not part of Middle Eastern lexicon. It cannot be instituted by US force.
The Arab World, and this includes the Palestinian Leadership as well (including their various Islamist terrorist groups) have spent much of their energies in promulgating hate for Israel, the West and almost everything else viewed as a threat to their existence. There have been massive re-arming programmes; terror attacks by various Islamist terror groups, some under the Al Qaeda umbrella. Many of the more educated Islamists living in the West have used the West as a stepping stone to their own ambitions of gaining power and influence amongst their own people by establishing various "madrasses (religious schools)" for the purposes of preaching hate and brainwashing the economically deprived of their people. Many of these educated Arab Islamists left their mother countries because of unemployment and lack of opportunity. Today they are part of the Al Qaeda cells, which have spread like a cancer under the eyes of the naïve Western World.
The attitude of many European countries towards these Islamist immigrants is apologetic and they seem to have lost control. By adapting an anti-Israel stance by condemning Israel's anti-terrorist war against the terrorist groups that threaten her citizens, they may gain time by being immune from Islamist terror.
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