“Does anyone in the Arab world care what is happening in Israel?” (& Iranian poet applies for asylum in Israel)

[Valin]

Tom Gross Media:

February 25, 2016

 

The gay Iranian poet and author Payam Feili (pictured above in Tel Aviv) has applied for political asylum in Israel, where he says he has finally found tolerance.

 

“ISRAEL HAS GIVEN ITS MINORITIES RIGHTS THAT MOST CITIZENS IN OUR ARAB COUNTRIES DO NOT EVEN DREAM OF”

 

[Notes by Tom Gross]

 

I attach two unusual op-eds. The first is published today in the Saudi paper Arab News, which is reportedly the most read English-language paper in the Arab world. The second, in Arabic from the Kuwaiti publication Al-Qabas, was published earlier this month. I prepared some extracts first (below) for those who don’t have time to read them in full.

(Snip)

 

EXTRACTS

 

“WE NOW JUST CALL THE ZIONIST ENEMY ‘ISRAEL’”

 

Abdulateef Al-Mulhim (Arab News):

 

“Does anyone in the Arab world know what is happening in Israel? … The answer to the above question is no… Israel has almost disappeared from headlines and many people no longer consider Israel as a threat. This is a reality that we have to learn to live with.

 

“The day the so-called Arab Spring erupted, Israel became invisible in the Arab media. Arabs are too preoccupied with so many issues plaguing their own lands…

 

“From referring to Israel as the Zionist enemy, the Arab media changed the tone by calling it the Israeli enemy, then we became aware of the term “hostile Israel” and then it was referred to as state of Israel and now Israel has simply vanished from the Arab media. It appears to be no longer on our radar.

 

(Snip)

 

“ISRAEL HAS KNOWN LAW AND ORDER SINCE ITS FIRST DAY, WHILE WE STILL TRY TO COMPREHEND THE MEANING OF BOTH THESE WORDS”

 

Kuwaiti Columnist Ahmad Al-Sarraf:

 

“For almost 70 years we have lacked, and continue to lack, all knowledge about Israel, and have learned nothing from it.

 

“Israel has outdone us in all fields – military, scientific, and cultural – but despite this we have refused to consider the reason for its obvious superiority to us, and have never stopped calling it ‘the monstrous entity’...

 

“Since its founding, Israel has been committed to democracy, while we refuse to even speak of democracy, let alone adopt it...

 

 

(Snip)