Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

BBC Editor: Everything's Israel's fault

A great find by Stephen Pollard (hat tip: Backspin) on an internal BBC memo that is a briefing on what lies ahead in 2007 for the Israel/PalArab conflict.

Here's part of the memo with my comments:

From: Jeremy Bowen
To: Editorial Board; Newsg World-Bureaux-Eds; Newsg World Asseds; News Leadership Group; Mark Byford & PA; Simon Wilson-NEWS; Jerusalem Bureau;
Newsg World-Affairs-Unit
Sent: Fri Jan 05 15:16:16 2007
Subject: FW: Mini briefing on the Israeli and Palestinians

2007 has started as unpromisingly as 2006 ended. The outlook is bleak because of fundamental instabilities and weaknesses on both sides.

Israel's major military incursion into Ramallah on Thursday, killing four Palestinians after a botched arrest operation, was a reminder of the non stop pressures of the Israeli occupation. [On the same day, some 9 Palestinian Arabs were killed by each other, but that is not a "reminder" for anything for Bowen. -EoZ]

What is new in the last year, and will be one of the big stories in the coming twelve months, is the way that Palestinian society, which used to draw strength from resistance to the occupation, is now fragmenting. [Notice how he is glamorizing the terrorists as being the unifying hope for Palestinian Arab society. -EoZ]

The reason is the death of hope, caused by a cocktail of Israel's military activities, land expropriation and settlement building – and the financial sanctions imposed on the Hamas led government which are destroying Palestinian institutions that were anyway flawed and fragile.

The result is that internecine violence between Hamas and Fatah is getting worse. On Thursday six people were killed in clashes between them in Gaza. The death of a major figure on either side would spark something much more serious. [Bowen is saying that Palestinian Arabs are unthinking animals who cannot be held responsible for their murderous actions. When they slaughter each other, it is because of Israeli policies - they have no choice, according to Bowen. - EoZ]

...
Olmert wants to replace Peretz at the defence ministry with Ehud Barak, the former Prime Minister. Barak is a retired general, former head of the Israeli army and its most decorated soldier. (Among his many exploits was disguising himself as a woman during a raid in Beirut to kill various Palestinians). The feeling in Israel is that 2007 will be a year of wars, so aside from coalition politics Olmert wants to have a warrior next to him when they make the tough decisions. The intray could include whether or not to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. [What an interesting example of Barak's experience - that he killed "various Palestinians" in 1973 who happened to be members of the PLO during its heyday of airline hijackings and terrorizing the West. - EoZ]

...
The political crises in Israel - and violent political disintegration among the Palestinians - are not just internal matters. They make it impossible for the Israelis and the Palestinians to engage in a meaningful political dialogue, assuming that their protestations that they want one are true. (The one meeting that Olmert has had with Mahmoud Abbas can hardly be called a process.) [One would imagine that the fact that the elected leader of the Palestinian Authority has said hundreds of times that he wants to see Israel destroyed is possibly a contributing factor to the lack of "meaningful political dialogue," but Bowen would say that it is only because of Israel's political crises and the PalArab political problems which we've already established were Israel's fault. - EoZ]

Only strong Israeli and Palestinian leaders would be able to make the tough choices necessary to relieve the serious pressures that are building up in the holy land. To persuade their people to make the necessary concessions, they would need a strong political base, which neither Olmert nor Abbas possess.

Because they are weak - many would say lame ducks - don't expect any progress. And since an uneasy status quo cannot hold, no political progress will equal more violence. [Again, worshiping at the altar of useless negotiations when one side has made it abundantly clear that they will never accept living permanently side-by-side with the other. - EoZ]

How Arabs Think (Kuwait Times)

From Dr. Sami Alrabaa of the Kuwait Times (excerpts):

Some of us Arabs are polemic and demagogic. Either we love or hate. There is nothing in between. We are selective. We are masters of distorting facts. We pick out those ideas that suit us and deliberately ignore those that do not match our line of thinking. Differentiated thinking is unknown to us. Westerners who disapprove of the death penalty are abused by both Arabs who love Saddam Hussain and those who hate him. Ali Al-Baghli in Al-Qabas, Jan 6, rightly indicated that while Westerners disapprove of the death penalty out of the conviction that humans must not kill their fellow humans, they also condemn Saddam's appalling atrocities.

Arabs, whether they are democrats or totalitarians, wish their enemies to be smashed by all means. Our whole history has been stained by killing and murder. The four Caliphs after the death of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) were murdered. Pragmatism and compromise are alien to Arab culture. Either we love or we hate, and our enemy must be obliterated at all costs. Think of Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon. The Arab states have never been governed by the rule of law and established institutions. The constitution is not worth the papers it is written on.

...Having said all that, the Western dream toward establishing genuine democracy in Arab countries remains a dream, a project of gargantuan proportion. Paradigms of rationality do not work in the Arab world. Besides, history has shown that cultural transformations take generations if not centuries.

P.S. Soon I'm going to write an article about culture and success. Why are the Japanese, the South Koreans, and most recently, the Chinese and the Indians successful, wherever they are, but we Muslims are not?
drsami@kuwaittimes.net

In the interests of fairness I must say that the entire article is written very poorly and if it was bashing Israel I would have made merciless fun of his writing style. Nevertheless, it is a rare example of introspection in the Arab world and is welcome.

Bizarre stats and slanderous implications

The "Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics" just released a housing survey of the territories, and leads with a bizarre and highly suspicious statistic:

Housing Conditions Survey Data 2006 indicate that 29,314 of households in the Palestinian Territory lived in houses that had been completely or partly damaged during the period 28\09\2000 to 15\06\2006

That number would mean 14 houses damaged or destroyed, day in and day out, over six years.

Notice the start date they choose is the first day of the intifada, but they carefully do not say that Israel damaged all these houses, just that they were damaged or destroyed. The choice of start date makes the accusation while the bureau can claim accuracy. But in fact, how many of these houses were damaged by Israel and how many by Palestinian Arabs themselves? How many were torched by rival families, rocketed by rival militias or simply burned by bored arsonists?

Another implication of this statistic is that the homes damaged in 2001 have not been repaired since then. Obviously, most have, and the families are living in normal houses now. But this is more dramatic because it makes it sound like the families are not living in their houses today because of (implied) Israeli aggression.

The definition of "damage" is never described, either. A bullet hole? Smoke? A jealous husband knocking his wife's head through a wall?

Then comes this anomaly that may shed some light:

However, the number is higher for Gaza Strip at 28,997 than the West Bank at 317 household.

Nearly 99% of the houses reported damaged are in the Gaza Strip. Makes one think that perhaps the house damage has little to do with "occupation," doesn't it?

Now after the sensationalist findings are out of the way and the foreign press draws the proper anti-Israel conclusions, the survey finds some other facts that don't exactly jive with the "poor densely-populated starving Palestinian Arab territory" meme:

Results show that 55.6% of households in the Palestinian Territory live in a house, while 40.8% live in apartments, compared to rates of 58.0% and 39.9% at the end of year 2000.

Results show that the percentage of households living in owned housing units in the Palestinian Territory is 81.5%, where as 11.5% of households live in rented housing units.

According to the results the average of housing density in the Palestinian Territory in general is 1.8 persons per room, this average was nearly the same in comparing with the year 2000.

Not exactly the Third World that one would think with the billions in aid that the PalArabs have received over the past decade. Most families own their own homes and the homes are not crowded.

Just another example of how facts and half-truths can be easily twisted and turned into propaganda.

UPDATE: Sure enough, the PalArab media are saying explicitly that these are all Israeli "house demolitions."

And Soccer Dad rightly points out in the comments that we don't know if these numbers include the wholesale demolition of the thousands of Jewish-owned houses in the territories from Israel's abandonment of Gaza.

Hamas will get US weapons and money

As usual, Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily actually asks the terrorists questions, and they answer.

One wonders what the hundreds of other "reporters" in the area are doing with their time.

JERUSALEM – A portion of $86.4 million in aid the United States pledged last week to bolster security forces affiliated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party will fall into the hands of the Hamas terror group, Hamas officials told WND.

Also, a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, a terror group allied with Hamas, told WND his organization is planning attacks against Israel using weapons recently transferred to Fatah by the U.S. and Egypt.

The Popular Resistance Committees leader said attacks using the foreign weapons are meant "to prove the Zionist-American conspiracy to bolster forces against us won't work."

"We will obtain the U.S. weapons," the Committees leader said.

According to documents revealed Friday, the Bush administration will provide $86.4 million to strengthen security forces loyal to Abbas, including Force 17, Abbas' security detail, which also serves as de facto police units in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Some members of Force 17 also are openly members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization, Fatah's declared "military wing."

Abu Oubaida, a spokesman for Hamas so-called "military wing," told WND his terror group will obtain any weapons transferred to Fatah militias or purchased by Fatah using the incoming U.S. aid.

"I am sure that like in the past, this $86 million from America will find its way to the Hamas resistance via the honorable persons in the Fatah security organizations, including in Force 17. I can confirm 100 percent that this money and purchased weapons will find its way to Hamas," said Abu Oubaida.

The Hamas spokesman and other Hamas officials said "scores" of Fatah militants have switched over to Hamas in recent months.

Sources close to Hamas said the Fatah militants, including members of Force 17, worked with Hamas after receiving larger paychecks from the terror group.

"When they join Hamas, they bring along their new weapons," said a Hamas source.

A senior Fatah security official in the Gaza Strip, speaking on condition his name be withheld, confirmed to WND Fatah has a "significant problem" of its militia members in Gaza joining Hamas.
...
A Committees leader told WND his group is planning terror attacks using American and Egyptian weapons recently transferred to Fatah and obtained by the Committees.

He said when the attacks occur, the Committees will announce the foreign weapons were used.

The tiny minority of extremists

Today's cartoon in the Palestinian Arabic Maan News:

Maan is not an "extremist" news agency and their cartoonist is not the type that will put Nazi-like caricatures in the paper. It is the model of what would be considered mainstream and modern among the PalArabs by the West.

Although it has been pointed out countless times in the past, it is worth repeating and clarifying over and over again. This is what the cartoon signifies:

The mainstream Palestinian Arabs are not interested in living side-by-side with Israel; they are interested in eliminating Israel.
The mainstream Palestinian Arabs expect that their ultimate victory will be military.

One corrolary to these two statements is that any "peaceful" moves made by the mainstream PalArabs are tactical in order to get that much closer to their ultimate military victory over Israel.

Another corrolary is that those who are actually fighting now, namely terrorists targeting Israeli civilians, are the heroes in Palestinian Arab society.

Fatah and Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the other paramilitary groups may differ a bit over strategy, tactics and focus, but ultimately essentially nobody who calls themselves Palestinian nowadays would be the least bit offended by the cartoon above. On the contrary, it is quite mild and simply appears to be patriotic.

Yet its symbolism is clear - there is no room for Jews to control a single square inch of land in the Middle East.

When the mainstream adopts an extremist position, it is absurd to refer to some of them as "moderate." The fact that there are essentially no Palestinian Arabs who truly believe in a permanent peace with Israel mean that any concessions that Israel makes for "peace" are just small steps to Israel's destruction.

Turnabout is fair play

Very often you will hear the Israel-bashing crowd throw in their favorite keywords, like "apartheid" and "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" and "child killers" and on and on, ad nauseum.

A large part of this blog is of course dedicated to showing the truth and context behind what Israel does. But there is another way to look at these issues, which may be unusual but it also shows the hypocrisy of the bashers.

The other way is to find out exactly what the critic's definitions of these crimes are, and then to see whether they admit that even if they can twist words to mean that Israel is guilty of these crimes, that the side they support is far more guilty.

Genocide? No problem! Look at Hama, look at Black September, look at The Palestinian Arabs themselves. If Israel is guilty then Syria and Jordan and pretty much the entire Arab world is more guilty.

Ethnic cleansing? Sure! Look at how many Jews are in Arab countries nowadays and how many there were in, say, 1940. Look at what happened to Palestinian Arabs in Kuwait, and what's happening now to them in Iraq. (We're not even talking about European adventures.)

Apartheid? When Saudi Arabia doesn't allow churches to be built or Bibles to be seen? When Kurds and Copts are mercilessly persecuted? Go for it!

And of course, there are the children. When Israel kills a 16- or 17-year old who is shooting at them, it gets counted somberly as another "child" that Israel "murdered." But what is it when a child is the one being recruited to blow himself up - is there a word for that as well?

Israel Defense Forces soldiers arrested four members of the Fatah-aligned Tanzim movement in the West Bank city of Nablus early Sunday, in a raid that also yielded the discovery of two explosive belts.

The army said the operation had thwarted a suicide bombing planned in the coming days, and that the arrests included two masterminds of the attack. The would-be bomber, a 16-year-old boy, had been arrested previously, army officials said.

No matter how you want to frame the argument, Israel always comes out as being far more moral than the people that the Israel-bashers support - as long as they are being consistent.

Which, of course, they never are. It is much easier for them to compare Israel with some never-seen ideal, because that is the only way they can make Israel look bad. But if you ask them who they think is more moral, they shut up real fast. Otherwise, their heads might explode rather than their being forced to admit that they support some of the most sickening, immoral, murderous people in history.

Morning links

If you haven't checked it out yet, Esser Agoroth's Haveil Havalim 101 is a must read.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach throws cold water on some post-high school yeshiva/seminary programs. (hat tip Life in Israel)

Charles Morse has an interesting take on Saddam's "Palestine is Arab" statement. I'm not sure if his statistics are right (saying the majority of Israelis are full or partly Arab Jews) since the Russian Jews came in the 90s.

Israel Matzav has a good analysis of the Sunday Times piece claiming Israel is planning to use tactical nukes on Iran.

Daled Amos reviews the year in Islamic terror, over at Soccer Dad.

The Jewish History Channel came by here and gave me a compliment, and I am returning the favor.

A completely nonsensical and bizarre rant about Illuminati, Jews, Wahhabis is at EtherZone. I only mention it because this is another of those insane conspiracy sites that Google deems to be "news."

Abbas' support for terror

Reading a little between the lines of the news the past couple of days....

Mahmoud Abbas outlawed the Hamas militia (the "Executive Force") that have been fighting his Fatah-backed militias.

Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigades terrorist group hold a massive rally supporting Abbas and "national unity."

Al Aqsa, of course, is responsible for countless terror attacks againstIsrael, both bombings and rockets.

Abbas never outlawed Al Aqsa, even though he at the very least has more influence over them at at most he is their leader. They can walk the streets of Palestan with their ski masks and RPGs without any fear from the "security forces." They can also fire rockets without fear that Abbas will stop them (Hamas has taken no credit for the past month's rocket attacks; they've all been Al Aqsa and/or Islamic Jihad.)

Is there any other possible conclusion than to say that Abbas supports terror?

More chaos in Palestan

The Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights announced that 23 had been killed during the week, as of this afternoon (of course, their English site is silent.) So my count of 22 was close.

In addition, 3 more were killed today, all Hamas supporters from the same family, along with assorted kidnappings, house bombings and more of the usual acts we've all come to expect from this proud people. Not to mention the point-blank shooting of a lecturer at A-Najah university at his house, also a Hamas supporter, who is now in serious condition.

Hamas is not standing still for this, and they announced that they're doubling the size of their now-illegal militia.

Our counts of PalArabs violently killed by each other, are now up to 231 dead since Summer Rains and 26 dead since January 1. (This death will not be counted by Mezan's methods above because this was a martyrdom operation, not from infighting.)

UPDATE: One of the people injured in a "work accident" in the end of December has gone on to meet his virgins in Paradise, because while he didn't manage to take any Jews with him, he gets credit for trying. So our count is now 232 and 27.

UPDATE 1/8: A 19-year old in Nablus playing with his gun got on the wrong end. 233 and 28.

UPDATE 1/9: Another died from injuries in the fighting last week. The AP story wrongly says that all the deaths were in Gaza - I documented one in the West Bank. 234 and 29.

UPDATE 1/10: A university student killed in a clan clash in a refugee camp north of Ramallah. 235 and 30.

Palestinian Arabs killing each other - in 1938

The hundreds of murders of Palestinian Arabs by other Palestinian Arabs that I have been documenting for the past six months is nothing new. A very similar situation occurred from 1936-39.

The Arabs of Palestine tried on a few occasions in the 1920s and 1930s to rise up and destroy the Jews of Palestine, and things were very bad in 1936. Yet no matter what they did, the Jewish influence on the area kept increasing, Jews kept arriving and Jewish institutions thrived.
They then started killing each other in earnest. I'm not sure why - perhaps it was frustration at their impotence, perhaps because an entire generation had been raised to praise Arab murderers as heroes and therefore bloodshed itself became considered desirable, or maybe they simply started misplacing their hatred for Jews and the British onto any Arab that was too Western for their tastes. Nationalism and religion seems to have played a part but more as excuses rather than as root causes.

Either way, the amount of lawlessness that ensued looks very familiar to those of us who have been following "clan clashes" and the Fatah/Hamas civil war. Especially notice how many Arabs were killed for not wanting to join in with the terrorists, or for speaking out against the terrorists. Also note the left column, dealing only with the terror crimes of the previous day.

There are three more columns of dead Arab victims of Arab violence I didn't reproduce.

Whatever psychological reason one wants to hypothesize, one thing is the same then as now: the most extreme elements of Arab society are not dealt with adequately by more moderate Arabs (either out of fear or out of ideology.) This apathy is treated as carte blanche to accelerate the terror.

This could explain why so many Arab societies are either chaotic messes or autocratic dictatorships. There seems to be no real internal mechanism within Islam or Arab thinking to limit the influence of the terrorists, so either go the route of Egypt/Syria and repress everybody, or go the route of the PA and Somalia and let the foxes run the henhouse.

And the "hits" just keep on coming!

Today's first fatal victim is Sheikh Adel Nassar, 50, who was shot many times after leaving a mosque where he gave a sermon. He was the "founder" of the Muslim Sunnis in Gaza, whatever that means, and it appears he was a critic of Hamas.

Also, here is a picture of the house that Hamas destroyed yesterday as they assassinated the PA security commander and much of his family:

Our counts of Palestinian Arabs violently killed by each other are now 227 since Operation Summer Rains and 22 since January 1.

Mubarak's Gaza fears (JPost)

From an analysis by the Jerusalem Post's Khaled Abu Toameh:

Mubarak's biggest fear is that the Gaza Strip, which is entirely under the control of armed militias, could turn into a major base for global jihad and other terrorist groups.

Reports about al-Qaida terrorists who have infiltrated the Strip through the border with Egypt have left Mubarak and his top security officials extremely worried. These terrorists, who apparently work in cooperation with elements in Egypt's banned but powerful Muslim Brotherhood, are said to be very active among the Beduin population in Sinai.

Mubarak's merciless crackdown on al-Qaida cells in Sinai has forced some of the terrorists to flee to Gaza, where they have been welcome to use the training camps established on the ruins of some former settlements. The Egyptians fear that these terrorists will eventually return to Egypt to carry out attacks.

The absence of IDF troops along the Philadelphi Corridor, the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, has put Mubarak's regime at risk. The weapons smuggling industry that has flourished there in the aftermath of disengagement poses a serious threat, not only to Mubarak's regime but also to that of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Some PA security commanders are convinced the Egyptians are not doing enough to combat the smuggling. According to these commanders, the main reason for this is Mubarak's fear that the weapons, including tons of explosives, could end up in Cairo if they don't make their way to the Gaza Strip.

Notice the throwaway phrase "training camps established on the ruins of some former settlements."

The entire world never ceases to describe Israeli settlements as "obstacles to peace." Yet those horrendous Gaza settlements plus the Israeli investment in the industrial zone in Gaza gave thousands of Palestinian Arabs money and jobs.

Their being replaced by terrorist training camps is not the fodder of the thousands of pundits, politicians and reporters who could not bear the existence of Jews in Gaza. No one is coming forward and saying that perhaps the Palestinian Arabs' lives were better when the Jews were there. No one is describing the replacement of beautiful communities with grenades and rockets as a step backwards. There may be some tsk, tsking at what a shame it is that PalArabs can't get their act together but no one will admit that Israel's presence in Gaza was the golden age for average Palestinian Arabs there.

No, these know-it-alls learn nothing from the disintegration of Gaza and still insist that Israel must leave the West Bank as well.

For whose benefit? Certainly not for the average Arab there. Because Gaza today is what the West Bank will become if Israel leaves. Yet the only Arab voices that are being heard are the politicians and the terrorists. For a regular Arab who just wants to provide for his family to say otherwise makes him a "collaborator" subject to instant deadly "justice."

True peace can only come from a complete overhaul of Palestinian Arab society, from the corrupt and terrorist government through the inciteful media and the hate taught in schools, a complete change from the culture of death that celebrates mayhem and murder. The idea that Israeli concessions will bring peace while the society is so thoroughly screwed up is a joke.

But the West likes to solve problems quickly, and this penchant together with the virulent Jew-hatred endemic throughout Arab societies combine to create pressure on the only entity whose presence stabilizes the situation. This is, as can be seen in Gaza, a recipe for disaster, far worse than the "evil" of Jews living their lives in territories that Jews have held sacred for millenia.

Who in the West is willing to admit it?

UPDATE: See TCSDaily for a similar point.

More Arabic/English dichotomy at Maan

I only recently discovered Maan News, which appears to be so far the best place to see breaking news in the territories.

But only in Arabic.

The English site was down during 'Eid and the New Year and only came back up today. But the English site contains very different news and opinions than the Arabic site.

First, look at the main picture on the Arabic site, which reflects the major news of the day - Hamas and Fatah killing each other and dozens dead and injured:

Now look at picture on the English site:

Israeli oppressors!

The Arabic site details the deaths of at least 7 people from infighting, the English site mentions only one.

The Arabic site includes a nonsensical editorial extolling Saddam and blaming the Zionists/"Chosen People" who control America for his death. (It also has a poem about him.) The article adds that the Jews are encouraging Shiite/Sunni violence.

The English site doesn't mention a word about Saddam or the PalArab grief over his death.

In other words, the Arabic site reflects the true way that Palestinian Arabs think, and the English site is nothing but propaganda.

Just like Wafa. Just like the Palestine News Network.

Jefferson's Koran

Boker Tov, Boulder points to a news story from yesterday that Keith Ellison will swear on a Koran that belonged to Thomas Jefferson. Anne points out that in all probability, Jefferson read the Koran to learn how to combat the Barbary Pirates, who he had been informed followed the Koran.

This may or may not be true - Jefferson was a very well-read man and he owned a large number of books about religion. But what we do know is that he owned the Koran translated by George Sale around 1741. An 1881 edition is available on Google Books and it is fairly interesting.

Sale wrote essentially an entire book as an introduction to the Koran's translation, and while he is sympathetic with Islam he by no means subscribed to it: his commentary was written as a believing Christian.

So for example we can see this passage, where Sale looks upon Islam's being spread by the sword as proof that it is not a divine religion: (p. 35)

So while it may be a very smart move politically for Ellison to swear on Jefferson's historic Koran, one wonders if he knows what is actually in the text that he will be placing his hand on.

Pakistani columnist on Arabs vs. Israel

From "The News" (Pakistan):

By Farrukh Saleem
Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb: "If God were to humiliate a human being He would deny him knowledge"

The League of Arab States has 22 members. Of the 22, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman are 'traditional monarchies'. Of the 22, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria and Somalia are 'Authoritarian Regimes' (Source: www.freedomhouse.org). Of the 22, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Morocco and Somalia are among the 'world's most repressive regimes' (Source: A special report to the 59th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights). Of the 330 million Muslim men, women and children living under Arab rulers a mere 486,530 live in a democracy (0.15 per cent of the total).

A mere two hundred and fifty miles from the 'League of Dictators' HQ in Cairo is the only 'parliamentary democracy' in the region; universal suffrage, multi-party, multi-candidate, competitive elections. Israel's 6,352,117 residents are 76 per cent Jewish and 23 per cent non-Jewish (mostly Arab).

Israel spends $110 on scientific research per year per person while the same figure for the Arab world is $2. Knowledge makes Israel grow by 5.2 per cent a year while "rates of productivity (the average production of one worker) in Arab countries were negative to a large and increasing extent in oil-producing countries during the 1980s and 90s (World Bank; Arab Development Report)."

Facts cannot be denied: The state of Israel now has six universities ranked as among the best on the face of the planet. Hebrew University Jerusalem is in the top-100. Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv University and Weizmann Institute of Science are in the top-200. Bar Ilan University and Ben Gurion University are in the top-300. The Arab League does not have a single university in the top-400 (http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ranking.htm). One in two Arab women can neither read nor write (remember, "If God were to humiliate a human being He would deny him/her knowledge").

Israel's universities are producing knowledge. Israeli society is applying that knowledge plus diffusing knowledge produced by others. On the other hand, within the Arab League, repressive regimes have erected religious, social and cultural barriers to the production as well as diffusion of knowledge.

Look at how knowledge is abandoning the Arab world: Between 1998 and 2000 more than 15,000 Arab physicians migrated. According to the World Bank, "roughly 25 per cent of 300,000 first degree graduates from Arab universities emigrated. Roughly 23 per cent of Arab engineers, 50 per cent of Arab doctors and 15 per cent of Arab BSc holders had emigrated."

Israel, on the other hand, has more engineers and scientists per capita than any other country (for every 10,000 Israelis there are 145 engineers or scientists). Israel ranks among the top-7 countries worldwide for patents per capita.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Israel's pharmaceutical giant, is the world's largest producer of antibiotics (Teva developed Copaxone, a unique immunomodulator therapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, the only non-interferon agent available).

Facts are hard to deny: Most members of the Arab League grant Muslim women fewer rights -- with regards to marriage, divorce, dress code, civil rights, legal status and education. Israel does not. Spain translates more books in a year than has the Arab world in the past thousand years (since the reign of Caliph Mamoun; Abbasid, caliph 813-833).

Six million Israelis buy 12 million books every year making them one of the highest consumers of books in the world. Israel has the highest number of university degrees per capita in the world; the Arab world has the lowest. Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other country (109 per 10,000 Israelis); the Arab world -- next to nothing.

Results are for everyone to see: The average per capita income in Israel is $25,000 while the average income within the League of Arab States is $5,000.

The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist. Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com