Netanyahu's peace plan

The Financial Times publishes an extremely skeptical interview of Binyamin Netanyahu where he outlines his peace plan with Palestinian Arabs. I have italicized the bias and bolded the actual plan:

Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu grabs a green marker and jumps from his seat to sketch a map of the West Bank on a whiteboard. With vigorous strokes, the former Israeli prime minister and current leader of the rightwing Likud party outlines his plan for tackling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

What emerges is not what the Palestinians and almost the entire international community have in mind, which is a contiguous Palestinian state that follows broadly the borders in place before the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation. Instead, Mr Netanyahu wants to see the West Bank divided into a collection of disconnected economic zones with dedicated business projects.

The ancient town of Jericho, for instance, should capitalise on its proximity to the Jordan River to attract Baptist tourists from the US – a location which the hawkish leader of the Israeli opposition says is “easily worth tens of thousands of jobs”.

The Palestinians, Mr Netanyahu adds, would be allowed to hold on to their population centres. Other parts of the West Bank, such as the Judean desert and the Jordan Valley, should not leave Israeli control: “These areas are very significant for us because they are our strategic security belt,” he says.

Mr Netanyahu says he does not want to stop the current peace talks between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. But he would shift the emphasis away from a comprehensive settlement aimed at the creation of a Palestinian state towards practical steps designed to bolster living standards in the West Bank. “It is not so much that peace brings prosperity – it is that prosperity brings peace,” he says.

Such hawkish views, which run counter to current Israeli policy, infuriate Palestinian leaders, who reject Mr Netanyahu’s plan as an attempt to confine them into Bantustans – partially self-governing areas.

They may also exasperate many of Israel’s allies abroad, which overwhelmingly support the idea of an independent – and contiguous – Palestinian state.

Mr Netanyahu does not have the opportunity to put his plans into practice quite yet. For the moment, he has to contend with the indignities of life as an ordinary legislator in a tiny office.

It is from this modest perch that Mr Netanyahu has watched Israel’s current political crisis unfold, beginning with the publication of new corruption allegations against Ehud Olmert and his resignation as Israeli prime minister, right up to the current struggle of Tzipi Livni, his designated successor, to form a new government.

He makes clear that a second Netanyahu-led government would be guided by much the same worldviews that turned him into such a polarising figure in the first place: a Reaganesque belief in low taxes, small government and free markets, coupled with a Bushian commitment to defeat “radical Islam” as the shared enemy of Israel, the US and Europe.

Resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians – the focus of both Mr Olmert’s and Ms Livni’s attention – is a second-order issue for the Likud leader: “The issue for me is not the Palestinian problem. I think that conflict has been replaced by the battle between radical Islam and the western world,” he says.

Handing back control of the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the Palestinians as part of a peace deal, argues Mr Netanyahu, would simply strengthen the hand of Israel’s Iranian foe. “Any area we withdraw from will be taken over by Iran and its proxies,” he claims, pointing to the takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group, last year. “Both Lebanon and Gaza have become Iranian bases, and they would get a third one if we retreat from the West Bank.”

With the bias against Netanyahu dripping from the FT's pages, a reader would be tempted to dismiss Netanyahu's plans as just the ravings of an extremist lunatic.

Why, exactly, is emphasizing the ability for Palestinian Arabs to build their own economy - independent of Israel, to which it is now completely dependent - considered "hawkish?" What exactly is "rightwing" about emphasizing improving the lives of ordinary PalArabs to be much better than they are now after 15 years of a failed "peace plan" and roadmap to an inevitable - and inevitable failure - of a state? Why is it considered beyond the pale for an Israeli leader to prioritize the safety of Israelis?

(The "bantustan" argument is also absurd. The different economic areas would be no more disconnected than Manhattan is from Brooklyn, where oppressed New Yorkers are forced not only to go through manned checkpoints - but they have to pay for the privilege!)

Human rights for Palestinian Arabs, who have been screwed by the entire world for decades, are important. Those who are stuck in so-called "refugee camps" in Lebanon and Syria and Jordan should be integrated as full citizens into the countries they have lived in for two generations. The ones in the territories should have the ability to live in dignity - with their own jobs and their own independent economy. They should have control over their day-to-day affairs.

However, an independent "Palestine" which is likely to be co-opted by radical Islamists is not a human right. And the human rights of Israelis who would be the victims of another Iranian-backed Hamastan in the West Bank are no less important than the human rights of West Bank Arabs. (Neither, for that matter, are the human rights of the Jews who have also raised families in the West Bank to live in peace and security in their homes.)

There is nothing hawkish about emphasizing real human rights for Palestinian Arabs, in pushing for them to become prosperous and no longer dependent on billions of dollars from the international community. And given the track record of Oslo and its progeny, a prestigious economic newspaper should not be so dismissive of a plan that focuses on building an independent economy where none exists today.

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Prisoners get expensive operations for free, PalArabs upset

Usually, a newspaper story will say something and then back it up with some background information.

Instead, Ma'an says something that demolishes its background information:

Bethlehem – Ma’an – A Palestinian sentenced to life imprisonment in an Israeli jail underwent his third major operation since his sentencing 16 years ago.

Relatives of prisoner Rizaq Salah, who is from the town of Al-Khadr near Bethlehem, said doctors performed a cholecystectomy on the man as treatment for severe stomach pain.

Doctors performed an appendectomy on the prisoner in 1995, which was shortly after they extracted liquids from his knee.

Sounds pretty humane, doesn't it? But wait:

Bethlehem-based Prisoners’ Society demanded in a statement received by Ma’an that Israel release Palestinians suffering from serious illness. The society estimated that around 1,000 Palestinians need urgent operations or are disabled as the result of being shot by Israeli soldiers during apprehension.

If the Prisoners' Society wants to see prisoners get needed surgery, they should want them to stay in Israeli jails!

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The latest make-out spot: Al Aqsa Mosque!

Sheikh Raed Salah, publicity-hungry radical head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, regularly comes out with statements accusing Israel of secret plans to build huge synagogues on the Temple Mount or of digging a huge network of tunnels underneath it. Since these stories get old, though, he is forced to constinuously embellish them further in order to keep grabbing headlines.

So it is amusing to see his latest accusations.

According to Ramattan (Arabic), Salah is accusing Israeli Jewish police of drinking - and committing adultery - in the Al Aqsa Mosque!

Not too many salacious details are available but it will be sure to attract many more tourists to Al Aqsa; any new pick-up joint in Jerusalem will become instantly popular.

In addition, Saleh accuses Israel of building museums and synagogues underneath the Temple Mount. I'd love to know where they are, and how they manage to find tourists and worshippers if they are such a big secret.

Thanks to Salah, many more Jews will flock to Jerusalem to partake of the new cultural, religious and social opportunities that he has nicely informed us about!

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Today's PalArab press roundup

It took a couple days longer than expected, but Hamas finally blamed the world economic crisis on those Jewish bankers and the Jewish lobby.

Hamas also took over a mosque in Beit Hanoun and replaced its imam with a Hamas sympathizer. I think they're getting this politics thing down pat.

As if to stress the point, Hamas militia entered the Beit Hanoun camp and tore down pictures of Yasir Arafat, replacing them with posters of Hamas "martyrs."

An Egyptian convoy that was the Muslim Brotherhood's version of "Free Gaza" made it relatively close to Egyptian Rafah and was to be greeted with a nice reception. However, that reception ended up being Egyptian police who arrested them.

Palestinian Arab newspapers noticed the "secular Neturei Karta" group I wrote about yesterday. No doubt these assimilated anti-Zionist Jews would be aghast to see the picture that Palestine Today used to illustrate its story.

But you can't blame them. After all, don't all Jews look the same?

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Saudi Vice, episode 21: Marriage is no defense

Our heroes at the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice know well how devious sinners can be. Some unmarried couples who may want to spend time together alone - which is the grievous sin of khulwa - will pretend to be married in order to keep the virtuous vice police off their backs.

So it is simple Muttawa logic that any man and woman who are alone must be unmarried!

This is why the Commission dispatched one of their ubiquitous white SUVs to Al-Jurf, west of Medina, to chase a couple in a car who were acting suspiciously - by being alone with each other at 1 AM.

As the Arab News reports:

“As we were driving home, my husband and I realized we were being followed by three men in a car,” said the woman, who did not want her name published. “They were coming from both sides of the car and (at one point in the chase) were also in front of our car. I was afraid of having an accident. The whole scene looked just like something in a movie.”

She also said that because no police officer was accompanying the three members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, her husband was afraid to stop. Eventually, the commission vehicle got in front of the car they were pursuing and forced the couple to stop, according to the woman.

Abdullah Al-Zahrani, the head of the Madinah branch of the commission, confirmed to Arab News yesterday that the commission was tailing the couple, but he maintains that the three commission members did not abuse the suspects. He also claims that the two are not married.

“The woman is neither his wife nor his cousin,” said Al-Zahrani.

According to the woman, she and her husband had been visiting her husband’s family and decided to return home late at night.

After the two were pulled over, said the woman, “one of them pulled my arm and was shouting at me, telling me to get into their car. I was shocked. How could a man from the commission touch a woman when he is not her mahram (a woman’s legal male escort or guardian)? He ordered me to get into the commission car and said they would keep everything secret in order to protect my reputation.”

The commission considers unrelated men and women in cars to be committing the moral crime of khulwa.

The woman said that her husband objected to her treatment, and asked the men to take him in custody instead. At that point, the woman said an older man who happened to be passing by intervened and protested against the commission members touching a woman, “but the commission member told him that I had forced him to do so.”

The woman says that two of the commission members got into her husband’s car with her and accused her of being an immoral woman for being out late at night with an unrelated man. The members of the commission also said that the woman had committed a crime and that she therefore deserved to be punished.

“This is the first time I have seen anything like this,” she said. “The members refused to come to the police during the investigation and said that I had insulted them. I did no such thing; I simply told them over and over: ‘I swear to God that I am this man’s wife.’”

The woman said that after hearing what had happened, her brothers went to the commission branch in Al-Jurf, furious and telling the commission members to stay away from their sister.

She said a commission member then hit one of her brothers and broke his nose.

“My brother became unconscious and an ambulance came and took him to the hospital,” she said.

Stupid unmarried woman! Doesn't she realize that the Commission is allowed to break Islamic law in order to uphold Islamic law?

It would be outrageous to think that Muttawa members go into that profession because they are a bunch of perverts who want to project their own desires and actions on others. Injuring, lying, khulwa, touching women - all are perfectly allowed for Commission members in their zeal to stop others from khulwa and touching women.

Our heroes have prevented another moral crime, and Saudi Arabia is a better place today because of their love of Sharia.

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Open thread

It's been a while....post links to any interesting stories you've seen.

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Yemen blames Mossad for US Embassy attack

Last month there was a deadly attack against the US Embassy in Yemen, killing 18.

Now, Yemen authorities are claiming that they found the bombers, and guess what - they were Israeli spies!

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on Monday the dismantling of a "terrorist cell" which he said was linked to Israeli intelligence services.

Saleh gave no details but sources close to the investigation said he was apparently referring to a six-member cell arrested on suspicion of involvement in a deadly attack against the US embassy in the Yemeni capital last month.

"A terrorist cell was arrested five days ago and will be referred to the judicial authorities for its links with the Israeli intelligence services," Saleh was quoted as saying by the official Saba news agency.

He said the group operated under the "slogan of Islam."

The Yemeni president made the statement during a meeting with politicians, tribal leaders, security and military officials at Al-Mukalla University in the southeastern province of Hadramawt.

Saleh did not say how many people were arrested or detail his allegation that the cell was linked to Israeli intelligence.

The Yemen Observer adds:

The network was comprised of 40 people from different Arab nationalities spying for Mossad, the Israeli international intelligence said sources from National and Political Security Units. The members of the espionage network entered Yemen on the premise of conducting business, tourism and even for preaching in mosques. Saleh said that the suspected spies form a terrorism cell that uses also Islam to reach their targets.Members were arrested individually and found to be in possession of detailed maps for sensitive security sites, intelligence telecommunication units and advanced tracking devices.

This is pretty funny, considering that last month Yemen was blaming al-Qaeda:

Yemeni authorities have arrested six people believed to have issued statements claiming responsibility for the last week's car bombing against the US embassy in Sanaa, the defence ministry has said.

In a statement posted on its web site on Sunday, the ministry said that among the detained suspects was a man identified as Abu al-Ghaith al-Yamani, who signed two statements claiming responsibility for the bombing, which killed 18 people, and threatening more attacks.

The ministry said that al-Yamani and five other people were arrested for disseminating statements "in the name of the Jihad Organisation, threatening to target Arab and Western embassies in Sanaa".

A group calling itself the Jihad Organisation in Yemen said on Thursday that it was behind the bombing outside the US embassy and threatened to attack the British and Saudi embassies.

The police have said the statements could not be authenticated.

Sixteen people including six suspected al-Qaeda attackers were killed at the scene of the attack on the embassy compound, in which two car bombs and automatic weapons were used. The attackers were unable to penetrate the embassy wall.

Apparently, the six people arrested last month, who were apparently from al-Qaeda, "admitted" being Mossad agents!

Which just goes to prove how you can't trust the Mossad - they'll become Islamic preachers, turn people into Islamic fanatics and attack US interests, just to make Yemenis look bad.

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Another remarkable archaeological find

From Arutz-7:

Archaeologists excavating north of Jerusalem have found a piece of a sarcofagus - a stone coffin - belonging to a son of a High Priest. The visible inscription reads, "the son of the High Priest" - but the words before it are broken off. It thus cannot be ascertained which High Priest is referred to, nor the name or age of the deceased.

Many other findings in the excavation are from the late Second Temple period, and archaeologists assume that the High Priest in question lived between 30 and 70 C.E.

The sarcophagus cover fragment - 60 centimeters (2 feet) long by 48 centimeters (19 inches) wide - is made of hard limestone, is meticulously fashioned, and bears a carved inscription in Hebrew letters that are both similar to today's script and typical of the Second Temple period.

AFP adds:

The discovery was made along the West Bank separation barrier north of Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement.

"It seems that the fragment was plundered from its original location approximately one thousand years ago and was used in the construction of a later Muslim building that was erected atop the ruins of the houses from the Second Temple period," the statement said.

The use of the "k'tav ashuri" proves that it is from the Second Temple period.

But Muslims plundering ancient Jewish cemeteries to build their own buildings on top of Jewish cities? Nah.....

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10,000 Israeli medical permits for Gazans this year

The JCPA has an enlightening table:

Table 1 Referrals and Permits to Enter Israel for Medical Care, Gaza, 2006-2008
Month	No. of patients applied for permits	No. of patients given permits	Proportion of patients given permits
2006
January	741	719	97.0%
February	769	716	93.1%
March	562	485	86.3%
April	274	209	76.3%
May	453	404	89.2%
June	474	400	84.4%
July	185	171	92.4%
August	293	267	91.1%
September	438	402	91.8%
October	380	345	90.8%
November	509	455	89.4%
December	392	359	91.6%
Total 2006	5470	4932	90.2%
2007
January	506	452	89.3%
February	595	540	90.8%
March	681	607	89.1%
April	515	460	89.3%
May	737	665	90.2%
June	412	368	89.3%
July	859	765	89.1%
August	985	787	79.9%
September	715	591	82.7%
October	1103	850	77.1%
November	654	422	64.5%
December	1041	669	64.3%
Total 2007	8803	7176	81.5%
2008
January	2590	1618	62%
February	2324	1670	72%
March	2569	1747	68%
April	1959	1263	64%
May	1908	1346	70%
June	1851	1152	62%
Total (6M) 2008	13201	8796	66%
Sources: COGAT and WHO, Jerusalem Office 2008. Data from Jan. 2008 ff not yet confirmed by WHO.

Which means that during this horrible "siege," Israel has been doubling and re-doubling the number of patients allowed from Gaza to Israel or the PA for treatment.

While the percentage of permit approvals has dropped, the number of permits has increased dramatically, despite these salient facts:

During this period there were some 30 foiled attempts at terrorist infiltration, including at least 20 incidents where Palestinians used medical missions to attempt terror attacks. In June 2006, a female suicide terrorist was arrested at the Erez crossing while on her way to carry out an attack on an Israeli hospital. In May 2007, two female bombers received permits but were caught after slipping through security checks.⁷ On May 22, 2008, a truck loaded with 4.5 tons of explosives exploded just before reaching the crossing.

The ISA published reports on 11 individuals, including those just cited, who used permits for medical care or for family visits to patients already in Israel for the purpose of carrying out terror-related activities. At Erez, three patients admitted under questioning that they had purchased referral notes with bogus medical information from doctors in Gaza. According to the ISA, terror organizations were making a special effort to recruit women, including those who are pregnant, who are less likely to be closely examined and whose heavy clothing more readily conceals suspicious objects.⁸ PHR-I forwarded these patients for approval, unaware of their true status.

Another point is that the number of patients traveling to Israel via Gaza dwarfs the number who go to Egypt.

Here we have another example where Israel's humanitarianism towards a hostile Gaza population, which is is under no obligation to provide, is used as a weapon against it.

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The secular Neturei Karta

What do you do if you are ethnically Jewish, hate Israel but hate the Jewish religion too?

You make your own tiny, ineffective organization to find people like you so you can kvetch about Israeli crimes!

The "International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network" just started and it is a funny case study on wacky Israel bashers:

For the past two years, we have been building an international network of anti-Zionist Jews to support existing and seed new Jewish anti-Zionist organizing in solidarity with Palestinian resistance. The enemy we face is international, and what we can do is limited unless we find ways to work together across boundaries and regions.

We are building an international voice which challenges Zionism and its claim to speak on behalf of Jews worldwide. As an international force, we can contribute to the movement to defeat Israeli colonialism. Click here to read more about the history of IJAN.

The site, which has more than its share of broken links, naturally has nothing "Jewish" about it, as to these people the only purpose of Judaism is to use it to gain legitimacy in their joining the masses of anti-semites in their quest to destroy Jewish self-determination.

Just like the Neturei Karta, only without the black hats.

So you will not find reference to anything Jewish at all on this site; nor will you find anyone who also wants to fight for human rights in the Arab world (for Jews or anyone else.) Although they will pretend to have a vague sort of "spirituality."

It used to be called the "International Jewish Solidarity Network" but apparently that was too generic for these wackos, plus it is easier to pronounce IJAN than IJSN or IJAZN.

But the funniest part of this organization is the new niche in Jewish Israel-bashing that it attempts: it pretends to be fighting for the rights of Mizrachi Jews (from Arab countries) in Israel!

Yes, the IJAN is dredging up Israeli racism from five decades ago in an attempt to say that Israel is racist against some Jews today.

We are a network of Mizrahi Jews (Jews of Arab and African descent), Jews from the global South, and Jews of Color living in Western countries. The IJAZ Network is committed to challenging the white racism within Jewish communities and the privileging of Ashkenazi Jewish traditions, history and culture.

As such, the JoC-Mizrahi Network seeks to promote the voices, cultural work, writing and activism of Jews of Color, Jews from the global South and Mizrahi Jews. IJAZ is committed to confronting the role of white anti-Zionist Jewish activists and activism in undermining alliances between Mizrahi Jews and Palestinians in their struggles against Zionism.

Purpose and goals: Some of the project ideas have included:

• Increase visibility of the voices, cultural work, writing and activism of Jews of Color, Jews from the global South and Mizrahi Jews

• Support the building of joint Mizrahi-Palestinian struggles against Zionist colonialism and racism

• Support the inclusion of Mizrahi anti-Zionist voices and perspectives in anti-imperialist movements

Current projects: Building of off interest from our Mizrahi Jewish organizers in Israel, there is interest in an international digital storytelling project to capture the histories and perspectives of Mizrahi anti-Zionists, anti-Zionist Jews of Color and anti-Zionist Jews from the global South.

As far as I can tell, this "network" has approximately one person, give or take one.

If any segment of Jewish society in Israel is anti-Arab, it is the Jews from Arab countries. They are the ones who know what it is like living as real second class citizens in Arab countries and the idea that they would prefer to live in an Arab-dominated "Palestine" is beyond absurd.

There are, unfortunately, no shortage of Jews who care nothing about their own culture except to use it as ammunition against their own people. Watching them flail is amusing but ultimately these people end up sinking and disappearing in their own sea of hate.

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Lebanon to sue Israel for selling falafel, hummus and tabouleh

A few years ago, Greece won a motion in the EU's highest court saying that only Greek feta cheese may be called "feta" in Europe.

The Palestinian Arabic media is reporting that Lebanon is trying to sue Israel for selling traditional Lebanese foods as well.

The autotranslation is a little muddled, but it appears that Lebanon is upset over Israel marketing hummus, falafel, tabouleh and fattoush.

The president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association claims that Lebanese losses over Israel selling these foods rather than Lebanese is in the tens of millions of dollars annually.

For the record, falafel is supposed to have been invented in Egypt, the earliest verifiable use of hummus was in Syria, and tabouleh and fattoush are both from the Levant as well.

So, will Lebanese food manufacturers be suing any other Arab or Levantine countries who market these foods as well?

Apparently not. The articles about this refer to this lawsuit as a new type of "resistance" - meaning it is just like terrorism against Israel, but meant to take place in various legal venues for the purpose of hurting Israelis economically rather than physically.

(We've seen Arabs upset over Israelis making falafel in the past, and it is always good for a laugh.)

UPDATE: I scooped YNet.

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Iran's interior minister faked his degrees

I had missed this article in the NYT (h/t EBoZ):

Iran’s interior minister admitted Tuesday that a doctorate he said he had earned from Oxford was a fake, and said that he was pressing charges against an intermediary who had forged it without his knowledge.

Later on Tuesday, the leader of a parliamentary investigation of the matter said it appeared that the minister, Ali Kordan, had lied about his bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well, the ILNA news agency reported.

In a letter released to the public, Mr. Kordan informed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he doubted the validity of the degree only after members of Parliament raised questions about it during a vote of confidence in August, the state newspaper, Iran, reported.

Mr. Kordan said he had been victimized by a man who introduced himself eight years ago as a representative of Oxford and had given him the fake degree in return for a thesis he had written previously. “My degree was issued, based on my management and executive experience and in return for a thesis, by a man who had opened an English-language school in Tehran,” Mr. Kordan wrote.

Mr. Kordan said that he reacted with “utter disbelief” when he discovered that his doctorate was a fake. He said that he had filed a complaint against the man, but had not been able to trace him. He did not give the man’s name.

Mr. Ahmadinejad appointed Mr. Kordan as the interior minister in August. But one of the president’s opponents in Parliament, Ahmad Tavakoli, later posted on his Web site a letter from Oxford denying that it had granted Mr. Kordan a degree, honorary or otherwise.

A member of Parliament, Ali Abbaspour, who was in charge of the investigation, told reporters that a decision on Mr. Kordan’s status was the responsibility of the speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, and other members of the presiding board.

Mr. Abbaspour added that Mr. Kordan, who has taught at the university level, had taken courses at Iran’s Open University, but that the dean there said Mr. Kordan had not been granted the bachelor’s and master’s degrees he claimed he had, ILNA reported.

I found a copy of the "degree" online and it is a hilariously poor forgery, filled with grammatical and typographical mistakes:
Let's hope that Iran's nuclear scientists have similar qualifications as their interior minister.

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