The Curse of Oil Wealth:Dubai's Dramatic Drop
by Daniel Pipes
FrontPageMagazine.comFebruary 25, 2009
http://www.danielpipes.org/6190/dubais-dramatic-dropSendCommentRSS
As the Muslim world settled into ever-deeper decline over the past decade, mired in political extremism, religious sickness, economic irrelevance, WMD, anarchy, dictatorship, and civil wars, Dubai stood out as a happy anomaly.Burj Al Arab claims to be the world's only 7-star hotel.
Under the leadership of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai (one of seven polities within the United Arab Emirates) invited peoples from around the world to come make money and they did; about 83 percent of its population of 1.4 million is foreign. The emirate intelligently exploited the energy boom surrounding it and had the ambition not just to globalize but to become a leader at globalization. Dubai became renowned for the world's only tropical desert ski slope, the world's only 7-star hotel, and the world's very highest building, all done with a new-agey twist. (Publicity for the skyscraper, for example, presents it as "an unprecedented example of international cooperation" and "a beacon of progress for the entire world.")But if Dubai seemed to be an exception to the general Muslim trajectory, it was only temporary.In three distinct arenas – economics, culture, and sports – very recent developments show how much the statelet has in common with the impoverishing and separating Muslim world.
Economics
Dubai was the froth of the early 2000s, the purest example of a bubble economy based on rising prices and boosterism, a Ponzi scheme among the nations. Already in 2006, financial writer Youssef Ibrahim dissected its trompe d'oeil economy:The huge oil revenues that have been pouring in for two years have nowhere else to go but into more and more real estate speculation. It makes for great business for the developers and their Western and Asian contractors, as well as for the owners - the sheiks, kings, emirs, and their big businessmen friends who own the deserts on which these mirage-like projects are being erected.The formula from their perspective is straightforward: Sell desert land to investors at a premium. Then double the profits by financing the construction of artificial islands, lakes, and massive air-conditioned shopping malls, alongside pie-in-the-sky projects like the largest ski slope in the desert, a Jurassic Park complete with mechanical dinosaurs right out of the movie, and millions of housing units. Then get the hell out and let them eat cake.Burj Dubai is the world's highest building; but will it be inhabited?
Dubai's leadership, Ibrahim notes, invested its profits "from selling Disneyland desert fantasies in enduring assets outside the Gulf," such as port facilities and hotel properties.When the music stopped last fall, with a world-wide recession and the price of oil tumbling over two-thirds, no one got harder hit than the Dubai dream machine. Just as it ascended with panache, so it now sinks con brio. One example, as reported by Robert F. Worth in the New York Times:With Dubai's economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield.This unique abandoned-car syndrome results in part from the emirate's stringent work rules. As Worth explains, "jobless people here lose their work visas and then must leave the country within a month. That in turn reduces spending, creates housing vacancies and lowers real estate prices, in a downward spiral that has left parts of Dubai — once hailed as the economic superpower of the Middle East — looking like a ghost town."Signs of the new penury abound:real estate prices, which rose dramatically during Dubai's six-year boom, have dropped 30 percent or more over the past two or three months in some parts of the city. …
So many used luxury cars are for sale, they are sometimes sold for 40 percent less than the asking price two months ago, car dealers say. Dubai's roads, usually thick with traffic at this time of year, are now mostly clear.Expatriates in Dubai are now so down on the country, Worth explains, some see it "as though it were a con game all along."There is every reason to think that the economic descent has just begun and has a long way to go. As this happens, foreigners are fleeing. Christopher Davidson, a specialist on the UAE at Durham University, notes that "When Dubai was rich and successful, everyone wanted to be its friend. Now that it has no money in the pocket, nobody wants to be pals anymore.
"Culture"
When it comes to cultural extravagance, Dubai cedes first place to its neighbor, Abu Dhabi, which in early 2007, announced the "Cultural District of Saadiyat Island" to include satellites of the Guggenheim (costing US$400 million) and Louvre ($1.3 billion) museums, plus about two dozen other museums, performing arts centers, and pavilions.Still, Dubai has ambitions, if more modest ones and the first Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature, opening on Feb. 26, is to serve as its literary coming-out party. A welcoming message from the director of the festival, Isobel Abulhoul, explains:EAIFL is the first true literary Festival in the Middle East celebrating the world of books in all its infinite variety, with over 50 events featuring authors whose books range from some of the finest contemporary literary fiction to inspirational lifestyle titles, via the magical worlds of children's, fantasy and science fiction writing. We invite you to share and enjoy their company in a relaxed Festival atmosphere, made even richer by our vibrant fringe which showcases the wonderful and diverse talents from our very special city, Dubai.British author Geraldine Bedell was disinvited from Dubai because her novel The Gulf Between Us tells about a gay sheikh.
The festival boasts authors from twenty countries, including such big names as Frank McCourt and Louis de Bernières.All good, but the EAIFL hit a bump before it even opened, one that threatens to overshadow the event itself. Never mind "the world of books in all its infinite variety"; the festival banned British author Geraldine Bedell because Sheik Rashid, one of the minor characters in her novel The Gulf Between Us (Penguin), is a homosexual Arab with an English boyfriend; to make matters worse, the plot is set against the background of the Kuwait War.As Abulhoul wrote to Bedell, disinviting her. "I do not want our festival remembered for the launch of a controversial book. If we launched the book and a journalist happened to read it, then you could imagine the political fallout that would follow." As for the Kuwait War, that "could be a minefield for us."Bedell responded that her novel "is incredibly affectionate towards the Gulf. I feel very warmly towards it, except when things like this happen. It calls into question the whole notion of whether the Emirates and other Gulf states really want to be part of the contemporary cultural world ... You can't ban books and expect your literary festival to be taken seriously."Indeed, the biggest name of the Dubai event, Canadian author Margaret Atwood, stayed away in protest at Bedell's exclusion ("I cannot be part of the festival this year."), eventually agreeing to appear via video link-up in a debate on censorship to be staged by International PEN at the festival.
Sports
Shahar Peer is the Israeli tennis star excluded from a tournament in Dubai because of her nationality.
Nor can you ban one of the game's finest players and expect your tennis tournament to be taken seriously. But Dubai did that earlier this month when it banned Shahar Peer, 21, ranked 45th among female players globally, from its $2 million women's Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.Why? Well, she is Israeli. Organizers of the event cited security fears as their reason to bar Peer.In consultation with Peer, the Women's Tennis Association decided to continue with the Dubai tournament. "She didn't want to see her fellow players harmed the same way she was being harmed," said Larry Scott, CEO of the WTA.
Still, Peer's exclusion had immediate repercussions for Dubai. The Tennis Channel canceled coverage of the event; The Wall Street Journal Europe revoked its sponsorship; event organizers were fined US$300,000 ($44,250 of which will go to Peer); and American star Andy Roddick said he would boycott the male championship in Dubai. During the trophy ceremony, tournament winner Venus Williams discomfited the hosts by mentioning Peer's exclusion.
Not only was Scott bombarded with messages from upset fans ("It's an issue that obviously touches a nerve") but he reported "a real snowballing effect": "I've been contacted by representatives of other businesses, academic institutions, cultural institutions that equally would only have invested in being in the UAE if they had the same assurances we had that Israelis could participate in the activities."As a result of the Peer fiasco, Andy Ram, an Israeli ranked 11th among male tennis players was granted a "special permit" to enter Dubai and will play this week in the male Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships. To stay on the tour schedule in 2010, the Dubai organizers must guarantee Peer a wild-card entry, so she gets to play there even if she fails to qualify, and must grant qualifying Israeli players visas eight weeks in advance.In other words, Dubai must accept international rules or it excludes itself from championship play
. That is no small matter in a statelet that has gone into top-tier sports in a big way as a way to attract tourism; the Associated Press notes that it "hosts the world's richest golf tournament and horse race, is home to the world governing body for cricket and is building a $4 billion Dubai Sports City to house stadiums, sports academies and one of several lush golf courses.
"Conclusion"
Through a heady mix of speed and affluence, Dubai tried to vault over tough economic, religious, and political decisions. The establishment hoped that building big would substitute for a sound base. It hoped to finesse troublesome issues, that glitz would overwhelm substance. For example, it expected that patronizing prestigious events would permit it to change the rules; Dubai says no minor homosexual literary characters or no Israeli tennis players? So be it! Dubai rules, the globe follows.But that will not happen. The sharp drop in oil prices exposed the country's inescapable weakness, while Dubai's literary and tennis debacles confirmed the point. Instead, an entirely different model now tempts it – what I call the separation of civilizations. Unable to impose their way, Persian Gulf Arabs are retreating into a Muslim ghetto with its own economics (including Shar'i compliant tools), consumer goods, media, transportation, fast foods, sports competitions, search engines, and even systems of keeping time.
This course is doomed to failure. At a certain point, the issues at the center of Muslim life for the past two centuries – the tension between tradition and modernity, the opposition of Muslim identity to universal values, the strains of economic development – will have to be faced. Hucksterism and fast talk will not solve these problems. As Dubai's vacation from history abruptly ends, its hard work begins.
Related Topics: Persian Gulf : www.DanielPipes.org
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
VICTORIAN BUSHFIRES 2009.
BUSH FIRES TRAGEDY, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, February 7, 2009.
Initial Jewish Community Response
There has been an incredible out pouring of concern and a desire to help by the Australian Jewish community.Apart from important individuals who immediately donated on their own behalf,we were very quickly able to establish a common appeal that was supported by a broad section of the community (Jewish Community Council of Victoria, UIA, Rabbinical Council of Victoria, Union for Progressive Judaism, Shira Hadasha, National Council of Jewish Women of Australia ( and Vic), Magen David Adom Australia, Mazon, Jewish Emergency Management Plan (JEMP), Jewish Care, ACT Jewish community, Am echad association of Soviet Jewry and jewishaustralia.com) who are all asking their members and friends through the 3 organisations nominated to collect.
In particular, my organization, NCJWA around Australia is collecting money and goods to aid those who have been devastated by the terrible bushfires which hit our State of Victoria. It was an unbelievable conflagration which hit some communities in a way that has never happened before. We have annual bushfires, but they are usually contained away from habitation and only twice in the last 70 years was there any loss of life,- but never of the magnitude of this time. Everyone, everywhere is collecting money, individuals are offering goods, services, accommodation for thousands of homeless, -it's like a war zone in some communities. (They are even talking about building underground shelters for every house in the future!)
Many places where we usually go for holidays from Melbourne, in the cool mountains, have been completely razed to the ground. One particular guest-house in Marysville which many Orthodox people take over with a Kosher caterer annually for Pesach, has disappeared together with most of the township. Our friends and many holiday-makers spent Christmas and New Year's eve holidays there,- imagine if the fires had broken out then.
Everyone around the world has shown great concern and we are all very heartened by the support offered. Of course our Governments, State and Federal have set up a lot of assistance and aid facilities for the victims . It will be difficult to rebuild those burnt-out communities because many look like blackened moon-scapes at the moment while before this,they were lush, green forested environments.
That may be all due to global warming and climate change, or whatever,- so they warn us that we can look forward to more of the same in future. In the North of Australia, in the meantime,- they have huge floods and rain deluges! That's Australia!We live on a big continent with all the varieties of the world's climates in one country.
The environmentalists however,- it seems now in retrospect that they have a lot to answer for, because the homes in the bush are not allowed to clear enough land to ensure sufficient fire-break space between them and the trees which provide the fuel for the fires, - particularly in times of drought as we are experiencing at present in Victoria. Greenery is fine, forests are lovely,- but the land here regenerates regularly through burning down and regrowth. It seems that too many city-slickers have embraced the country-lifestyle without the experience of the local country-folk and farmers. Bureaucrats and the politics of the "Greens" seem to have dictated Councils' building regulations and flora conservation based on their ideology and city lifestyle experiences, ignoring the locals' expertise and going against the real experts' warnings and advice.
We shall see what the future brings for all those poor people who have been displaced from their homes. However, unlike the millions of displaced persons around the world, they won't be allowed to suffer for long, I am sure.
(Certainly not for 60 or more years so that they fester and become mortal enemies of the State, as some ended up in the ME through their own Arab and Islamic brethrens' cruel and fanatical intransigence.)
Miriam M.
Melbourne
Initial Jewish Community Response
There has been an incredible out pouring of concern and a desire to help by the Australian Jewish community.Apart from important individuals who immediately donated on their own behalf,we were very quickly able to establish a common appeal that was supported by a broad section of the community (Jewish Community Council of Victoria, UIA, Rabbinical Council of Victoria, Union for Progressive Judaism, Shira Hadasha, National Council of Jewish Women of Australia ( and Vic), Magen David Adom Australia, Mazon, Jewish Emergency Management Plan (JEMP), Jewish Care, ACT Jewish community, Am echad association of Soviet Jewry and jewishaustralia.com) who are all asking their members and friends through the 3 organisations nominated to collect.
In particular, my organization, NCJWA around Australia is collecting money and goods to aid those who have been devastated by the terrible bushfires which hit our State of Victoria. It was an unbelievable conflagration which hit some communities in a way that has never happened before. We have annual bushfires, but they are usually contained away from habitation and only twice in the last 70 years was there any loss of life,- but never of the magnitude of this time. Everyone, everywhere is collecting money, individuals are offering goods, services, accommodation for thousands of homeless, -it's like a war zone in some communities. (They are even talking about building underground shelters for every house in the future!)
Many places where we usually go for holidays from Melbourne, in the cool mountains, have been completely razed to the ground. One particular guest-house in Marysville which many Orthodox people take over with a Kosher caterer annually for Pesach, has disappeared together with most of the township. Our friends and many holiday-makers spent Christmas and New Year's eve holidays there,- imagine if the fires had broken out then.
Everyone around the world has shown great concern and we are all very heartened by the support offered. Of course our Governments, State and Federal have set up a lot of assistance and aid facilities for the victims . It will be difficult to rebuild those burnt-out communities because many look like blackened moon-scapes at the moment while before this,they were lush, green forested environments.
That may be all due to global warming and climate change, or whatever,- so they warn us that we can look forward to more of the same in future. In the North of Australia, in the meantime,- they have huge floods and rain deluges! That's Australia!We live on a big continent with all the varieties of the world's climates in one country.
The environmentalists however,- it seems now in retrospect that they have a lot to answer for, because the homes in the bush are not allowed to clear enough land to ensure sufficient fire-break space between them and the trees which provide the fuel for the fires, - particularly in times of drought as we are experiencing at present in Victoria. Greenery is fine, forests are lovely,- but the land here regenerates regularly through burning down and regrowth. It seems that too many city-slickers have embraced the country-lifestyle without the experience of the local country-folk and farmers. Bureaucrats and the politics of the "Greens" seem to have dictated Councils' building regulations and flora conservation based on their ideology and city lifestyle experiences, ignoring the locals' expertise and going against the real experts' warnings and advice.
We shall see what the future brings for all those poor people who have been displaced from their homes. However, unlike the millions of displaced persons around the world, they won't be allowed to suffer for long, I am sure.
(Certainly not for 60 or more years so that they fester and become mortal enemies of the State, as some ended up in the ME through their own Arab and Islamic brethrens' cruel and fanatical intransigence.)
Miriam M.
Melbourne
WHO WON ISRAEL'S ELECTIONS?
Daniel Pipes
February 11, 2009
Who Won in Israel's Elections?
by Daniel Pipes
Wed, 11 Feb 2009
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2009/02/who-won-in-israels-elections.htmlSendCommentRSS
Tzipi Livni, the head of the Kadima party, can credibly claim victory in the elections on Tuesday because her party won the most seats. Binyamin Netanyahu of the Likud party can also claim victory as the head of the largest party in the larger of the two coalitions, the national camp.Both Livni and Netanyahu can plausibly claim "I won" the elections this week - but neither did.
But the real winner was the politically and personally unpredictable figure, Avigdor Lieberman, 50, of the Yisrael Beiteinu party. A Moldovan immigrant who started his career in Likud and as then served as director-general of Netanyahu's prime ministerial office, he founded Yisrael Beiteinu in 1999.Lieberman has introduced a new issue into Israeli domestic politics – the place of the country's Arab citizens. Noting their increasingly public disloyalty to the state, he has argued that they should lose their citizenship and their right to live in Israel unless they declare their loyalty to the Jewish state.This topic has clearly struck a nerve among the Israeli Jewish electorate and prompted responsible Arab voices to acknowledge that Israeli Arabs have "managed to make the Jewish public hate us." As I wrote in 2006, Israel's "final enemy" may finally, be joining the battle. The consequences of this for the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole could well be profound.
DanielPipes.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Y-NET
news .com
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3668921,00.html
(Responsible Arab voices)
Lieberman. 18 Knesset seats no longer a political game
We got what we deserve
Ali Zahalka slams Israeli-Arab leadership for radicalism that boosted Avigdor Lieberman
Ali Zahalka
The Arab-Israeli leadership is increasing pushing us into anti-Israel radicalism. This extremism climaxed with the “Death to the Jews” chants during Operation Cast Lead. Here is what I have to say to those leaders: Look at what you’ve done. We did not cry out in the face of rocket attacks on southern residents that went on for years. We did not cry out in the face of the suffering of our brethren, Gaza residents, who have been brutally repressed by Hamas. Yet we cried out, of all things, in the face of an onslaught against the most radical element in the Arab world. The Arab-Israeli leadership won’t connect, heaven forbid, to the moderate Arab elements such as Egypt, Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, or Jordan. These are of no interest to it. We saw Azmi Bishara, who left, and we saw where he went to. I don’t need to explain what Hamas is all about. The Egyptians and Palestinian Authority officials are doing it better than me. They ask Hamas how it can talk about victory when the war against Israel – which it sought and advanced – was managed on the backs and blood of thousands of Palestinians that were killed, wounded, or lost their property, while Hamas’ leadership stayed at fortified bunkers or in Damascus. So now we can accurately measure the result of this conduct: 18. Why 18? Because this is the number of Knesset seats that the polls predict for Avigdor Lieberman’s party, Yisrael Beiteinu. Apparently, we got what we deserve. If we, citizens of the State of Israel, which has a Jewish majority, connect to the worst enemies of the State, why are we surprised that this is what we get? Lieberman and his party are not a marginal political element such as Meir Kahane’s party, Kach. We are dealing with immense political power that constitutes tangible danger to Israeli Arabs. He hates us and incites against us, and we can see that it’s going very well for him: The more he incites against us, the stronger he gets. Moment of truth
That is, we managed to make the Jewish public hate us so much that many are willing to support a racist party. If a party was similarly inciting against Jews overseas, those same Lieberman supporters would probably cry out “anti-Semitism.” Our leadership, which for years had been leading us in a way that portrays us as the enemies of the State of Israel, while failing to take care of any of the real needs of Israel’s Arab residents, is now asking for our votes again. Yet we interest our leadership just about as much as the Gaza population interests Hamas. For this leadership, we are merely a political means that allows it to make its damaging voice heard again and again. I turn to Arab residents of Israel: This is a moment of truth for us. We are facing grave danger, and don’t say that you weren’t warned. Eighteen Knesset seats for Lieberman is no longer a political game. For us, it’s genuine trouble. We cannot stand by and watch on, as if this does not pertain to us. We must enlist and massively support the moderate parties that will weaken Lieberman.
We constitute 20% of the population in Israel and we have the ability to exert significant influence. We do not have the privilege to stay at home at this time and avoid the political game. If we fail to play it, others shall play it on our backs. Therefore, do not abstain from voting, and do not vote for the radical Arab parties. Rather, vote in a way that reduces the great danger we are facing today – Lieberman and his colleagues. In other words: Support parties that are still willing to give us the opportunity to integrate as citizens with equal rights.
The writer is the principal of an elementary school at Kfar Kara
[MM]
February 11, 2009
Who Won in Israel's Elections?
by Daniel Pipes
Wed, 11 Feb 2009
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2009/02/who-won-in-israels-elections.htmlSendCommentRSS
Tzipi Livni, the head of the Kadima party, can credibly claim victory in the elections on Tuesday because her party won the most seats. Binyamin Netanyahu of the Likud party can also claim victory as the head of the largest party in the larger of the two coalitions, the national camp.Both Livni and Netanyahu can plausibly claim "I won" the elections this week - but neither did.
But the real winner was the politically and personally unpredictable figure, Avigdor Lieberman, 50, of the Yisrael Beiteinu party. A Moldovan immigrant who started his career in Likud and as then served as director-general of Netanyahu's prime ministerial office, he founded Yisrael Beiteinu in 1999.Lieberman has introduced a new issue into Israeli domestic politics – the place of the country's Arab citizens. Noting their increasingly public disloyalty to the state, he has argued that they should lose their citizenship and their right to live in Israel unless they declare their loyalty to the Jewish state.This topic has clearly struck a nerve among the Israeli Jewish electorate and prompted responsible Arab voices to acknowledge that Israeli Arabs have "managed to make the Jewish public hate us." As I wrote in 2006, Israel's "final enemy" may finally, be joining the battle. The consequences of this for the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole could well be profound.
DanielPipes.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Y-NET
news .com
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3668921,00.html
(Responsible Arab voices)
Lieberman. 18 Knesset seats no longer a political game
We got what we deserve
Ali Zahalka slams Israeli-Arab leadership for radicalism that boosted Avigdor Lieberman
Ali Zahalka
The Arab-Israeli leadership is increasing pushing us into anti-Israel radicalism. This extremism climaxed with the “Death to the Jews” chants during Operation Cast Lead. Here is what I have to say to those leaders: Look at what you’ve done. We did not cry out in the face of rocket attacks on southern residents that went on for years. We did not cry out in the face of the suffering of our brethren, Gaza residents, who have been brutally repressed by Hamas. Yet we cried out, of all things, in the face of an onslaught against the most radical element in the Arab world. The Arab-Israeli leadership won’t connect, heaven forbid, to the moderate Arab elements such as Egypt, Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, or Jordan. These are of no interest to it. We saw Azmi Bishara, who left, and we saw where he went to. I don’t need to explain what Hamas is all about. The Egyptians and Palestinian Authority officials are doing it better than me. They ask Hamas how it can talk about victory when the war against Israel – which it sought and advanced – was managed on the backs and blood of thousands of Palestinians that were killed, wounded, or lost their property, while Hamas’ leadership stayed at fortified bunkers or in Damascus. So now we can accurately measure the result of this conduct: 18. Why 18? Because this is the number of Knesset seats that the polls predict for Avigdor Lieberman’s party, Yisrael Beiteinu. Apparently, we got what we deserve. If we, citizens of the State of Israel, which has a Jewish majority, connect to the worst enemies of the State, why are we surprised that this is what we get? Lieberman and his party are not a marginal political element such as Meir Kahane’s party, Kach. We are dealing with immense political power that constitutes tangible danger to Israeli Arabs. He hates us and incites against us, and we can see that it’s going very well for him: The more he incites against us, the stronger he gets. Moment of truth
That is, we managed to make the Jewish public hate us so much that many are willing to support a racist party. If a party was similarly inciting against Jews overseas, those same Lieberman supporters would probably cry out “anti-Semitism.” Our leadership, which for years had been leading us in a way that portrays us as the enemies of the State of Israel, while failing to take care of any of the real needs of Israel’s Arab residents, is now asking for our votes again. Yet we interest our leadership just about as much as the Gaza population interests Hamas. For this leadership, we are merely a political means that allows it to make its damaging voice heard again and again. I turn to Arab residents of Israel: This is a moment of truth for us. We are facing grave danger, and don’t say that you weren’t warned. Eighteen Knesset seats for Lieberman is no longer a political game. For us, it’s genuine trouble. We cannot stand by and watch on, as if this does not pertain to us. We must enlist and massively support the moderate parties that will weaken Lieberman.
We constitute 20% of the population in Israel and we have the ability to exert significant influence. We do not have the privilege to stay at home at this time and avoid the political game. If we fail to play it, others shall play it on our backs. Therefore, do not abstain from voting, and do not vote for the radical Arab parties. Rather, vote in a way that reduces the great danger we are facing today – Lieberman and his colleagues. In other words: Support parties that are still willing to give us the opportunity to integrate as citizens with equal rights.
The writer is the principal of an elementary school at Kfar Kara
[MM]
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