A Muslim, A Jew and a Christian

A Muslim, a Jew and a Christian have been cooking together for 17 years. The food they make combines their unique backgrounds, traditions and culture into a common culinary treat.

Watch and discover the incredible story of the three chefs and their food.

More on "Great Return March"

According to Hamas,this week  30,000 Hamas soldiers participated in “Steadfastness and Challenge”, a large-scale two-day military maneuver in the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas "military wing" is most certainly not a ragtag collection of amateur terrorists. They are both well equipped and well trained. And they benefit from the ongoing advice and support of professionals from Iran and elsewhere.

Bottom line: the last thing that Israeli decision makers should do is assume that Hamas has a transparent simple minded plan for the coming weeks.

The biggest fear?

Hamas is deploying troops to ostensibly prevent marchers from reaching Israel this Friday.

If the day passes with only minor incidents, Israeli decision makers may be lulled into doing what they almost always do:  assume that what happened today is going to repeat itself tomorrow.

Hamas troops defend our border? Fantastic.

Time to reinstate cancelled holiday leave.

And this goes on for a week. And another week.

So by the time we reach Israel Independence Day all the talking heads are discussing how we should reward Hamas and IDF preparations start winding down.

And then it happens.

A surge of tens of thousands towards Israel.

There could even be some Arab gunfire blamed on "radicals" trying to undermine Hamas. But then it happens.

After we quickly exhaust our non-lethal tools, we start shooting.

And those Hamas troops that have been deployed all this time on the line do the obvious:  start attacking Israeli forces.

And then? 

Suffice it to say that Hamas today has the men, equipment and training to do a lot more than just cross the line and murder some Israelis or drag back hostages.

It is sincerely hope that our security people have thought out of the box when considering what Hamas may do and how to prepare to foil these possible operations.

As for the obvious challenge of tens of thousands - or more - streaming over the line, here's one cynical but possibly critical observation:  the international consequences of killing 20 people or 2,000 is almost virtually identical.

The troops in the field need to be prepared to implement a devastatingly bloody "Plan B'  if sharpshooters neutralizing key leaders fail to halt the surging mob.

And that "Plan B" has got to be so ferociously effective that we will be able to honestly justify it for its efficacy.

MDA Creates Breast Milk Bank

While Magen David Adom is Israel's national blood bank, in charge of collecting, testing, and processing 97% of Israel's blood each year, MDA will be soon opening a breast milk bank to allow nursing mothers to donate surplus milk for babies who do not have access to it. Science has shown that breast milk protects babies from disease and helps build the immune system better than artificial formula.

Similar to the processing of blood donations, MDA will test and analyze the milk before being pasteurized and stored for future distribution.

Creating a milk bank is another way Magen David Adom is helping ensure Israel's future stays healthy and strong. 

“Great Return March”

Preparations continue in the Gaza Strip for a mass march to Israel’s border (the “great return march”). To that end the Palestinian organizations operating in the Gaza Strip have organized a “national committee” which in turn appointed professional committees to promote events in the internal Palestinian and international arenas. The organizers’ objective is to extend the scope of the events beyond the Gaza Strip and to promote marches not only in Gaza Strip but in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. According to the organizers, they are currently coordinating with Palestinians abroad and with Israeli Arabs. One of the activists involved in media preparations is Zaher Birawi, a Palestinian activist based in Britain who is affiliated with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and who in the past played a central role in organizing convoys and flotillas to the Gaza Strip.

Timing of the events

·       According to the plan currently being formulated, there will be a series of ongoing events which will take place over the course of six weeks, between March 30 (Land Day) and May 15 (Nakba Day). The plan includes the erection, on Land Day, of a tent camp (or camps) near the security fence on the Israeli border, where thousands of Palestinian families will stay. The campaign will peak with a march of thousands of Palestinians to the Israeli border, probably on Nakba Day (no time table is not final).

For more detail on this action read http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/preparations-great-return-march-update/  

New Israeli Technology Replaces Surgeon's Knife With No-Cut Alternative

 Judy Siegel-Itzkovich – February 15     https://tinyurl.com/ybx67ox7  

People who have to undergo surgery but fear the scalpel will have a less-frightening alternative, the enzymatic “blade.” Researchers at the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering at Haifa’s Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed a device that replaces the surgeon’s knife with natural biological materials.

In an article just published in ACS Nano of the American Chemical Society, the researchers present the application of this technology in a surgical procedure in the mouth. This application significantly reduces the pain associated with orthodontic surgery and significantly accelerates tissue restoration.

The research was conducted by Prof. Avi Schroeder, a nanotechnology expert who is head of the targeted drugs laboratory and personalized medicine technologies at the faculty. The “blade” is based on the intelligent use of enzymes – biological molecules by which the body restores itself – as well as nanoparticles and technology for controlled release of drugs.

Every year, about five million people in the US alone undergo orthodontic treatment; to speed up the treatment, which can take as long as two years, many of them undergo an invasive procedure in which the collagen fibers that connect the tooth to the bone tissue that holds it are cut for the laying of an orthodontic bridge.

The technology developed at the Technion softens the collagen fibers by means of a controlled release system of collagenase, an enzyme that breaks down the collagen. In methods developed in Schroeder’s lab, the collagenase is packed into liposomes – nanoscale particles with a spherical shape – that as long as they are there, cause the collagenase particles to be inactive. But when the gel is applied to the target site, the enzyme gradually begins to leak out of the liposome and soften the collagen fibers.

Dr. Assaf Zinger, who conducted his research emphasizes that the new approach can be applied in a variety of other surgical procedures. “For thousands of years, the surgeon’s scalpel has become more sophisticated, but the paradigm has not changed,” he said. “In our study we present a significant paradigmatic change – the replacement of a mechanical-physical process with a biological process.”

The researchers conducted a series of experiments in which optimal collagenase concentration was determined for the procedure and subsequent tissue rehabilitation.

In a preclinical study, the researchers compared the efficacy of the controlled-release system (combined with a bridge) to that of conventional orthodontic therapy. The conclusion is that the unique system shortens the time needed to straighten teeth by about two-thirds. The study was conducted in rats, using a special bridge built for the experiment.

The research included physicians from Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center; physicians and dentists from Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center; and the Moriah Veterinary Center.

Palestinians to claim Dead Sea Scrolls at next UNESCO meeting

The request to include the Qumran Caves and Dead Sea Scrolls as their own may be made at the next UNESCO meeting this July, the Simon Wiesenthal Center predicts.

The next “prize” the Palestinians will likely claim as their own at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will probably be the archeological site of Qumran and its Dead Sea Scrolls, Shimon Samuels of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said Wednesday, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Addressing a panel on the denial of Jewish history in international organizations at the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem, Samuels listed the Palestinians’ “success” at falsely claiming ownership of biblical and cultural sites, the Post reported.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has ascribed to “Palestine” Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity in 2012; the agricultural terraces of Battir, site of the ancient Jewish fortress at Betar, in 2014; and Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs in 2017, the Post noted.

In October 2016, the Committee voted in favor of a resolution denying the millennia-old Jewish connection to Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

“This is yet another absurd resolution against the State of Israel, the Jewish people and historical truth,” Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen stated at the time. “There is no connection of another people to another place in the world that comes close to the strength and depth of our connection to Jerusalem from a religious, historical and national perspective, a connection that has stood the test of 2,000 years.”

The request to include the Qumran Caves and the Dead Sea Scrolls may be made at the next World Heritage Committee meeting this July in Bahrain, Samuels told the conference, the Post reported.

Already in November 2016, Israel Radio reported that the Palestinians were planning the next stage in their attempted denial of Israel’s history and heritage by preparing to lay claim to the Dead Sea Scrolls at UNESCO.

The scrolls, mostly Hebrew writings from the Second Temple period, were discovered in the Qumran Caves in the environs of the Dead Sea. They include many biblical texts and are believed to have been written by members of a Jewish sect known as the Essenes.

Europeans funding illegal Arab construction on Israeli land?

Arabs are using European Union funding to violate court orders and continue their illegal building near Hebron.

Arabs in the Hirbet Z’nutah outpost have apparently defied a court order by continuing to illegally build structures at the location. Hirbet Z’nutah is located in the middle of an archaeological site in the southern Hebron Hills region of Judea. This time, the Arabs’ illegal construction was reportedly completed using funding from the European Union (EU).

Just six months ago, the High Court suspended demolition of the outpost provided that no additional construction take place. Allegedly flouting that commitment, the Arabs responsible for construction in Hirbet Z’nutah apparently used EU funds to build yet another illegal structure, reported Arutz 7.

“Construction of a school on a protected archaeological site, with EU funding, is a gross and blatant violation of the High Court’s decision, as well as a violation of the European Convention on the Protection of Archaeological Heritage,” said Yishai Hemo to Arutz 7. Hemo serves as Field Coordinator for Judea and Samaria for the Regavim organization, a watchdog that monitors illegal Arab construction

As a result of the latest violation, the NGO Regavim plans to file another petition with the High Court of Justice in the following days.

“The offenders have sharpened their tactical skills, and have managed to pull the wool over the Court’s eyes. They never intended to uphold their commitments in this matter. We will also be petitioning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand that decisive action is taken in light of the European Union’s illegal conduct,” Hemo explained.

While the illegal Arab outpost is located in Area C, and is thus under Israeli control and not subject to Palestinian Authority administration, the new structure flies PA flags.

It remains to be seen whether Israeli authorities will be required to remove the most recent structure, a course of action that has been required several times since the illegal outpost was first started several year ago. In 2012, for example, Israeli authorities had to eliminate makeshift stables and tents set up there.

UN Health Chief Praises Israeli Cancer Treatment and Care

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General made an impromptu visit to Israel over the weekend offering high praise for Hadassah Medical Center’s work in the fight against cancer.

Over the weekend, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who serves as the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director General, landed in Israel for a surprise visit. The WHO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that monitors and addresses public health issues throughout the world.

Ghebreyesus toured Hadassah Medical Center’s Ein Kerem facility with Israeli Health Ministry Chief Moshe Bar Siman Tov. Among the Director General’s stops in the hospital was the pediatric hemato-oncology ward, where he spoke with patients, their parents, and various members of the staff.

In addition to speaking with nurses and social workers, Ghebreyesus also met with Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Department Head Dr. Gal Goldstein, who provided an overview of the advanced treatments doctors administer there.

Impressed by what he saw at Hadassah, Ghebreyesus commetented, “I am amazed by the level of dedication and the staff’s impressive devotion to the patients, as well as by the continuous thought which goes into treatment. [The thought is] not just about the sick children, but also about their families. I am impressed by the level of involvement of every staff member in the patients’ treatment,”

“Hadassah is proof that medical treatment creates a bridge between people, and a center of hope,” Ghebreyesus concluded.

New Palestinian Jihad to Obliterate Israel

by Bassam Tawil  March 16, 2018 https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12037/palestinian-jihad-obliterate-israel

        If and when Hamas is ever removed from power in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) will most likely seize control of the coastal enclave, where nearly two million Palestinians live.

        PIJ's new "political document" exposes the Palestinian terror group's plan for "real peace" in the Middle East. This "real peace," according to the jihadi group, can be achieved by eliminating Israel after "liberating Palestine, from the river to the sea, and after the original owners of the land return to their homes."

        This genocidal "peace" plan appears to be shared by other Palestinian terror groups, such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and even certain parts of Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group is the second-largest terror group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas. Like Hamas, PIJ does not recognize Israel's right to exist and believes that violence and terrorism are the only way to "liberate all Palestine, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River."

Like Hamas, in the past three decades PIJ has carried out thousands of terror attacks against Israel, including suicide bombings.

Recently, the PIJ wished to remind us again of its dangerous and poisonous ideology. This reminder came in the form of a new "political document"published by the Iranian-backed terror group in the Gaza Strip.

The document contains important information about the group's strategy to destroy Israel and provides insight into the role Islam plays in the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Some may argue that there is nothing new in the PIJ document. However, PIJ is not just another Palestinian "resistance" faction, as some Middle East experts tend to describe it. Rather, it is one of the most dangerous Palestinian terror groups. It aspires to eliminate Israel and kill as many Jews as possible.

Western journalists often ignore the power and threat of PIJ, mainly because the representatives of the terror group rarely give interviews to the foreign media.

Besides, it is easier for Western journalists to take the short trip from Jerusalem to Ramallah to interview a Palestinian Authority official, who uses his or her fluent English to lie about the Palestinians' desire for peace and coexistence with Israel.

Western journalists rarely, if ever, present to their readers and viewers what the terrorists preach to their own people.

That is precisely why there is a need to bring the main points of the PIJ document to the attention of the international media and decision-makers around the world. The PIJ is a major player in the Palestinian arena, and its political and military power can be ignored only at great peril.

Here is what the preface to the terror group's document states:

"Palestine is the homeland of the Palestinian people, from the early days of history. Palestine is an integral part of the Arab and Islamic homeland, and it was usurped by the Zionist Jews with the support and encouragement of Western colonialist powers."

Explaining the timing of the publication of its document, PIJ said:

"To maintain a clear vision and the unity of our goals, away from intellectual chaos dominating the Palestinian landscape, Palestinian Islamic Jihad saw the need to formulate this document to explain and affirm the intellectual basis and features governing its jihad and policies."

Translation: the PIJ fears that it has fallen off the world's radar. It worries that its ideology and plans to destroy Israel may be lost amid the "intellectual chaos" plaguing the Palestinian arena.

Defining its ultimate mission, PIJ says in its new document:

"Our number-one priority and main task is to carry out the duty of jihad and resistance to liberate Palestine. We are an Islamic national liberation movement and part of the Palestinian people's and Muslim's jihad against invaders and colonialists. We see ourselves as being part of the general Islamic trend in the world, which regards Islam as the source of our power and pride."

The PIJ document, which the Western media is doing a fine job ignoring, states:

"Palestine is an Arab, Islamic land, where the Arabs and Muslims possess natural religious and historic rights. It is forbidden to give it up or compromise it under any pretext."

The Jews, the document emphasizes, "have no right in the land of Palestine." It says that the fact that some Arabs and Muslims have recognized Israel does not give the Jews any right to the land.

"The Palestinian people's right to all their lands and homeland, Palestine, is a comprehensive right that can't be fragmented. This includes our right to own the land, our right to resist and liberate it, and our right to return to it and live in it. No one is entitled to give up the right of the Palestinians to return to their homeland. This is a non-negotiable issue."

The PIJ document views Israel as a Zionist colonialist project imposed on Arabs and Muslims by Western powers. Revealingly, these are the same words that Israel's secular peace partner and the darling of the West, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, recently used in a speech he delivered in Ramallah, during a conference of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council:

The PIJ document, which serves as the group's "national charter," is a valuable text. Every word in the document reflects the true sentiments on the Arab and Islamic street, especially with regards to recognizing Jews' rights and history.

This is a document that is currently being taught in Islamic Jihad training bases, and schools and mosques. It is a document that will help raise another generation of Palestinians on the glorification of terrorism and anti-Semitism.

This is a document that deserves to be placed on the desks of all those Westerners who continue to tell us that peace is possible and that Israel just needs to make more concessions to achieve that goal.

Israeli Doctors Perform Complicated Delivery, Save Syrian Woman and her Baby

Yet another Syrian refugee has sought and received life-saving medical treatment in Israel. 

March 11, 23018

A pregnant Syrian woman was facing an impossible decision – her own death or the death of her unborn child.  She decided to save both by entering Israel to be treated at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.  The decision paid off when she returned home on Tuesday with a healthy baby boy, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

In Syria, the woman’s doctor performed an ultrasound and told her a normal birth would be impossible and that a C-section would be too risky because it could lead to her death or the baby’s. Due to previous cesarean deliveries, the baby’s placenta had become entangled in the mother’s uterine muscles.

She was given a few options, the first being that she could travel north to a Damascus hospital, which had more modern facilities, or travel to Israel.  She originally chose to go to Damascus but was blocked by the heavy fighting in the Syrian civil war.

Facing an impossible situation if she stayed in her village, the woman left her husband and children to travel to Israel for treatment.

A few days after her arrival, she was admitted to the maternity ward at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa under the care of Prof. Ido Solt, who praised the Syrian doctor’s diagnosis. Solt, an expert in high-risk-pregnancies, is head of the maternal-fetal medicine division in the hospital’s obstetrics/gynecology department.

“A normal caesarean would have been impossible, as you would have bled to death,” Solt told the mother, “We will have to do a more complicated procedure.”

Solt worked with doctors in the vascular surgery and transplantation department to plan a procedure that most likely could not have been performed in Syria. Two balloons were inserted into the mother’s uterine arteries to prevent hemorrhaging. Next, obstetricians performed a C-section, delivering a baby who was transferred to an incubator in the neonatology department. Other doctors then sutured the mother’s uterus without complications.

During the first few days in the maternity ward, the baby fought off infections. Though the mother was extremely thankful for the medical care she received, she missed her family back in Syria. She said her husband, whom she had not heard from since she left for Israel, had no idea if she survived the operation. “Now my husband will have a wonderful surprise,” she said.

There is no Religious nor Historical Palestinian Claim for Jerusalem

(Guest posting from Peter Baum, member of TbT - Truth be Told)

The Palestinian and Islamic claim to Jerusalem is a false claim - it is nothing more than a land grab . Below are the facts .

1. Jerusalem is NEVER mentioned in the Koran. It is mentioned 669 times in the Old Testament and if one considers the use of the word Zion which sometimes means Jerusalem, then add another 154 to the 669. 

2. Jerusalem is always said in Jewish prayers, grace after meals, the Passover Festival ending etc. etc. It has no such significance in Islam.

3. Muslims actually turn their backs to Jerusalem when they pray - a sign of contempt. This as a result of the failed attempt by the prophet Mohammed to force Jews to convert to Islam. Many pretended to convert ( in order to stop paying taxes as it was not permitted for Muslims to tax other Muslims ) but maintained their  Judaism. Thus the Quib’la ( direction of prayer) which for some 9 months instructed Muslims to face Jerusalem was scornfully overturned ( Sura 2.14 ).

5. The world at large has been brainwashed to believe that irrespective of the 3 points above, Jerusalem is considered to be Islam’s third holiest city citing a connection that historically could not have happened. In the Koran ( Sura 17.1), The Night Journey the prophet Mohammed ascended to Heaven supposedly from The Sacred Mosque ( Mecca )to The Furthest Mosque. Lies and successfully spewing propaganda now assume that The Furthest Mosque is the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. This is impossible!! The historic timeline is that Mohammed died in 632 CE and the Al Aqsa Mosque was built between 705 and 715 CE. Therefore whatever Mosque the alleged night journey assumed was The Furthest Mosque it was certainly not The Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for that Mosque did not exist during the prophets lifetime.

6. Jerusalem was NEVER an Arab capital even during Islamic control over the City. Indeed there are numerous accounts from writers and biographers from the 7th to the 19th century ( Bishop Arculf, Thomas Shaw, Count Constantine, Flaubert, Melville,
Thackeray, Twain and others ) who all scribed about the absolute dilapidated condition of Jerusalem under Islamic control. Historically Islam allowed Jerusalem to deteriorate during every period when it was the controlling religion.

7. Jerusalem was NEVER mentioned in the PLO Charter of 1964. How is it so important to Palestinians now ?

8.The Arab word for Jerusalem is ‘Al Quds ‘ which is an abbreviation of ‘ Bayt al MAQDES’ translated means The Holy House. Both of these descriptions are a direct bastardised version of the original and still current Hebrew ‘ Beyt ha - MIKDASH ‘ - translated meaning The Holy Temple. But Islam has never had a Temple , only the Jews had one. Thus the Arabic name for Jerusalem has no connection to Mohammed’s heavenly ascendency but refers to the Jewish Temple.
7. Under Jordanian OCCUPATION ( capitals intended) between 1948 and 1967 not one Arab Head of State visited Jerusalem and

9.the Hashemites made a concerted effort to reduce the importance of Jerusalem both religiously and administratively. All Government Offices except for the Ministry of Tourism were closed and relocated to Amman - these included the Arab High Commission, the Supreme Muslim Council, the Treasury of the Waqf and Religious Endowment bureaus.

10. Even during Islamic / Arab control Jerusalem was never a City of Religious or administrative importance and was NEVER made a Capital. 

11. Jerusalem was made holy by the Jewish King David and has never been the capital of any other nation other than the nation of Judaism. It was historically the capital of Judah for over 1000 years, 2500 years before Islam was invented.

12. There are many instances of Palestinians defiling carpets, furniture, belongings etc. in the Temple Mount . Irrespective of ones religion, places of worship are treated with respect- unless of course you are Muslim and have no respect or connection to the place of worship.

13. Paradoxically there are numerous Suras in the Koran that the land of Israel was given by Allah to the Jews - 5.20 -21 and 17:100 - 104 are just two of many. 59:2 and between 2.40 / 47/ 63 / 65 / 83/ 85/ 87 are others.

Those Muslims claiming Jerusalem, the historic capital of Israel for Islam and / or Palestinians are actually in contempt of the Koran.

It may be worth noting that the only time in the last 3000 years that Jerusalem was ‘ Jew free ‘ was when TransJordan invaded in 1948 and ethnically cleansed East Jerusalem & Judea / Samaria of all Jews renaming it the West Bank and from here grew the MYTH of Arab East Jerusalem. During this period of Arab Nazi type OCCUPATION, Jerusalem was defiled and gravestones used for paving.

One can analyse from the FACTS above that any Islamic or Palestinian claim to Jerusalem is a myth.

We can study how the Islamic world has ethnically cleansed Christians and Jews from lands where both religions had inhabited since time immemorial. And their churches and synagogues destroyed. Similar is now happening in Muslim countries to mosques by Muslims depending on which brand of Islam is in control. 

The claim to Jerusalem by Palestinians is a false claim and is just the start of a land grab with the purpose of controlling the whole of the Middle East . 

Unfortunately Israel and her supporters have been overwhelmed by an opposition only too willing to exploit myths and propagate hate through myths to a silent, uninformed majority who through inertia, ignorance and bigotry have promoted such propaganda to Israel’s detriment.

Why Mass Shootings Don't Happen in Israel

With the mass shootings that have happened across America, most recently in a Florida school where 17 were gunned down, a CBS reporter traveled to Israel to find out why this type of tragedy is almost unheard of in Israeli schools.

What is Israel doing differently than America?

Watch now and learn all about Israel’s creative policies and intensive gun training to keep students safe.

Lebanese Journalist: Israel Excels and Arabs Failed a Century After Balfour

Feb 22, 2018

A Lebanese journalist has conceded that looking back at a century of history in the Middle East, the Arab world has failed where Israel has shined.

In a November 25, 2017 article marking the 100^th  anniversary of the Balfour Declaration published in the London-based daily Al-Hayat, Lebanese journalist Karam Al-Hilu compared the meager accomplishments of the Arab world in the past century with those of the rest of the countries of the world, and particularly Israel.

The Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that “His Majesty’s government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”

Al-Hilu noted that Israel’s supremacy in the areas of science, economy, society, and politics is the source of its strength, as well as the source of the Arabs’ failure in confronting it.

“A century after the Balfour Declaration the Arabs have not managed to build a [a single] state that possesses knowledge, justice, and the economic, social, and human capability for confronting Zionism,” al-Hilu wrote, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) recently published,

Arab Lack of Achievements

“One hundred years have been squandered [by the Arabs], in all aspects; during them, the Arabs have been confronting Israel while their cultural infrastructure was in crisis – in the areas of knowledge, politics, economy, society and thought,” he charged.

According to a 2014 Arab Knowledge Report published by the United Nations (UN), despite the existence of 500 Arab universities, with an enrollment of nine million students and faculties of 220,000 lecturers, scientific achievements are meager in the Arab world, which has failed to adapt to digital culture and other basic aspects of human progress.

Expenditure on scientific research for its part is negligible.

Scientists and research output are a rarity in the Arab world, and the research that is published there constitutes only 0.8 percent of the global average. The number of patents registered to the Arabs in the past 50 years does not exceed the number of those registered by Malaysia alone.

“Not a single Arab university ranks among the 500 best in the world, while Israel supersedes the Arabs at an astronomical rate, in inventions and in hi-tech export. Israel has completely wiped out illiteracy  [among its citizens], while among the Arabs, 23 percent remain illiterate,” he further noted.

Arab Law and Justice

The Arabs have also not succeeded in building a single state of law and justice, he pointed out.

Transparency.org’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2016, published January 2017, shows that six of the 10 most corrupt countries in the world are Arab. Countries such as Egypt and Tunisia are ranked 108^th in corruption, and Lebanon is 136^th, while Israel takes 33^rd place, which places it with the developed countries.

“[The Arabs] have not managed to establish a country [in which there is] economic justice; the class gaps [among the Arabs] are very great and unemployment, particularly among young people, tops out at 35.7 percent in Egypt, 32.1 percent in Iraq, and 45.3 percent in Mauritania,” he added.

For the Arabs to change the course of history and rectify this situation, as part of the “resistance to Israel,” they must start by “reading these numbers and these facts,” claimed al-Hilu.

While the Arab world has “spared no blood, martyrdom, or [self-]sacrifice” in its fight against Israel, “it has been negligent in the areas of science, economy, society, and politics that are the source of Israel’s strength – just as they are the source of our failure in confronting it,” he concluded.

Arab and Muslim journalists and commentators have previously expressed envy over Israel’s success in various realms, especially compared to the stagnation of the Arab and Muslim world.