The Price of Arab Lies
YNET NEWS: Culture of lies good for Israel, leaves Arabs mired in cesspool of misery

Dishonesty and deceit have become part and parcel of current-day politics worldwide. Yet even within this reality, the culture of lies prevalent throughout the Arab world goes far beyond the “norm.” The utterance of lies by Arab leaders and politicians has become so deeply rooted, blatant, and irrational that it cannot be compared to the usual manipulation of information we see elsewhere.

While the sight of club-wielding “activists” claiming to be “peace lovers” or Knesset Member Zoabi insisting that IDF troops were not met with violence on board the Marmara – in the face of unequivocal video footage – may be infuriating at first, these and similar examples are in fact good news for Israel.

Indeed, the culture of lies and web of deceit that has taken root in Arab political life is a source of great weakness; Arabs are paying the price for it every day and will continue to do so as long as this mentality persists.

In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “You can't fool all of the people all the time." While global public opinion has been largely receptive to Arab lies, their sheer scope and ludicrousness have left many shaking their heads. When one lies so much and so blatantly, one is bound to get caught. In this respect, it would be worthwhile to pay less attention to online talkbacks and more to actual political developments. >>> Yigal Walt | Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Arabs Fighting for Israel

Swiss Tourism Website Goes Arabic
ARAB NEWS: JEDDAH: Switzerland Tourism on Tuesday launched an Arabic version of its website for the benefit of the large number of people from the Middle East who wish to visit the country.

"This has been done to meet the requirement of our growing number of tourists from the Middle East and Arab world," Jorg P. Krebs, Switzerland Tourism's director markets for Gulf, India, Russia, Nordic countries, the Czech Republic and Poland, told a press conference at the Jeddah Hilton.

The country has been receiving a great number of inquiries about education and health care facilities, aside of course from tourism. "It is against this background that Swiss Tourism now provides all information in Arabic," Krebs said, adding that the website already provides information in 30 other world languages.

Krebs added that the country's "comprehensive, elaborate and excellent" facilities for education and health care in particular have been attracting a large number of Saudis and expatriates from the Kingdom. Demand for Switzerland's language schools, high schools and universities is growing from this part of the world. Also, the GCC visitors favor our destinations because of the country's solid tourism infrastructure and facilities that suit the Muslim world, he said. "We have tailor-made facilities for Ramadan with chalets, holiday apartments and starred hotels," he said, adding that the country today boasts 45,000 holiday apartments and 3,500 starred hotels for tourists. >>> K. S. Ramkumar, Arab News | Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Why do Arab Men Hold Hands?

Words Aren’t Enough
YNET NEWS: Obama has failed to sweep Israelis, Arabs because his message has remained vague

WASHINGTON – Barak [sic] Obama has been unable to sweep public opinion in Israel, and not because he did not bother to travel to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem or directly address the people. He has failed because his message is vague and it does not enable Israelis to understand what his next steps are, and how exactly we will be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Obama was elected US president mostly because he knew how to produce what the American public so direly needed: Hope. Yet among Middle East residents, Obama has been unable to produce hope, because he has not presented an orderly plan accompanied by a timetable. Obama said that the two-state vision is the solution. President Bush also said it before him, yet for eight years nothing happened.

Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, boasts that he spent his summer vacations on the beach in Tel Aviv. Yet even he cannot explain to his boss the essence of Israeliness: When you push Israelis into a corner, their response is reflected by two constitutive statements: "I won't be a sucker" on the one hand, and "I'll show you who's the boss" on the other hand.

When Obama pressured Israel and demanded that it curb settlement construction without indicating what the other side needs to do, he failed to move Israelis to his side; not even the ones who support his policy and automatically applaud any peace plan. The more he presses, the more assertive they'll become, while also showing him they won't be the neighborhood's sucker.

This Israeli disdain can easily turn into willingness to face a challenge, even if the price is heavy: Israelis only want to know there's a reason to do it.

Meanwhile, Obama also failed to give hope to the Palestinians and to Arab residents of east Jerusalem: He did not present a message that would prompt people to rally around it, such as what the Palestinian state will look like, what will its relationship with Israel be like, what will security guarantees be like, and what will Mideastern residents gain by backing Obama. >>> Orly Azoulay | August 04, 2009