I continue today reading on behalf of Arab officials. Yesterday, I chose articles that reflect what Israel wants from Iran, written by pro-Israel commentators who served in or around the U.S. administration. Today, I continue with another set of articles that I believe tackle very important Arab matters. Ehud Yaari is an Israeli journalist who writes on the Arab-Israeli conflict. He now works at the pro-IsraelWashington Institute for Near East Policy. In the weekend, I read an important article he penned titled, "Israeli-Egyptian Peace: Forty Years After the 1973 War and Holding." It is a "cold peace," as Yaari and many other have asserted, that has not led to any social or political relations between the two sides, with the exception of the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ). Today, Israeli journalists are not given visas to Egypt, and El Al has suspended flights to Egypt, while Israeli tourism to Egypt has all but stopped. But Yaari wrote that military and security cooperation between the two sides reached unprecedented levels this year, and that there are almost daily meetings between Egyptian and Israeli officers. What is the reason? It is the fight against terrorism, especially in the Sinai. I say to the Muslim Brotherhood, congratulations to you, because the clumsy policy that unleashed terrorists from the Upper Egypt to the Delta and Sinai is the only reason for the strong relationship between Egypt and Israel, despite the "cold peace." David Pollock, also of the Washington Institute, wrote an article full of chutzpah titled, "Time to End Palestinian Incitement." The author complained that schoolgirls were singing praise of freedom fighters (whom he called terrorists), and that the Palestinian government was honoring their memory and glorifying them. I say nothing incites against Israel more than its own fascist government, which enforces apartheid and murders women and children. All we have to do to see this is review the number of Israeli and Palestinian casualties since the start of the second intifada on September 29, 2000, and until the end of that decade. I cite one figure: 1,500 Palestinian minors (below 15 years of age) were killed, compared to 133 Israeli minors, or nearly ten to one. This is a Nazi ratio. Who are the terrorists then? Israel. Where is Israel located? On the land of another country, Palestine. Who are the extremists? The members of the Israeli government. And who is lying? Everyone who defends the government of organized crime called the Israeli government. Matthew Levitt wrote an article titled "Hezbollah as a criminal organization." I immediately say that the government of Israel is a criminal organization, and Hezbollah is a national liberation movement – even as I have a thousand reservations over Hezbollah's recent actions, including its intervention in the civil war in Syria or in Bahrain. The article includes allegations by the author about money laundering, drug dealing, and trading in used cars and weapons, which the author relies on to make his conclusions about Hezbollah's accounts in Europe. Personally, all I care about when it comes to Hezbollah's work is its resistance against Israeli terrorism in south Lebanon. One of the best articles I read over the weekend was titled "The Rise of Persian Salafism," by Mehdi Khalaji, of the Washington Institute as well. This is a topic that I knew nothing about before. The article reflects high credibility and deserves to be translated in full. The author is an expert on the subject, and is well versed on events and people, and all the details he mentions are documented. In short, he says that the youths of Iran who are disillusioned with the Islamic Republic and its restrictions, especially from the Sunni minority, are turning to Salafism. Some of their groups are well-funded and have ties to Arab Salafists, and there is a war between them and extremist Shiites through television and other media. I have many other articles, but I will content myself with this much reading on behalf of the Arab official.
