TEL AVIV – A surfeit of Arabic-language newspapers have recently published articles discussing Israel’s superiority over Arab states, saying Israel’s strong democratic ethos and its willingness to prosecute its leaders is partly why it the only stable country in the region, a Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) report released this week said.
The articles also cited Israeli education, innovation and its superior health service, as contributing factors to the its astounding success. The writers urged Arab countries to learn from Israel and warned that if they do not they will remain repressed societies.
Former Egyptian official Reda Abd Al-Salam wrote on the Egyptian news site the Nile Press that despite Muslim supplications, Allah has answered the prayers of the “sons of apes and pigs,” referring to the Koranic description of Jews, by giving them prosperity.
“Have we seen the wonders of Allah’s capabilities in carrying out judgment against the sons of Zion and the sons of apes and pigs, as we plead again and again in our prayers? No, not at all – the result has been great disappointment and shame for the Arab leaders, since the opposite happened!” he wrote, according to a MEMRI translation of the article.
“The Arab and Muslim peoples live under regimes that for decades have engaged not in developing their peoples and establishing themselves in economy, society, science and democracy but in establishing their [own] rule. … During this time, those we called ‘the sons of apes and pigs’ engaged in real building. They focused on education, health, economy and technology, and of course on the democratic process.”
He also slammed critics who say Israel’s progress is the result of aid and not of hard work.
Jordanian politician and intellectual Rahil Ghorayba said the fact that the Jewish state would willingly prosecute any official – no matter how senior – on charges of corruption was testament to the nation’s success.
“Investigating a prime minister is one of the manifestations of justice in any country – even an enemy country – that shows strength, not weakness. […] Moreover, we have seen the Israeli justice system prosecute, and sentence to prison, top influential figures, some of whom are still serving their sentences,” Ghorayba wrote last month in the Jordanian daily Al-Dustour.
He also lamented the fact that no Arab society will advance because there is not a single case of “a trial or investigation of this kind of any leader or influential figure.”
Writing for the London-based Arabic-language publication Al-Quds Al-Arabi in February, Palestinian writer Suhail Kiwan expressed similar sentiments:
“The [Israeli] judicial system is the final arbiter, because it remains an independent institution, despite all that is said and that we say against the racist apartheid anti-Arab Zionist regime,” Kiwan wrote.
“There is much corruption in Israel, [but also] a judicial system that can take the corrupt to task. This is one of the most important secrets of Israel’s power – not the advanced technology, the advanced aircraft, the sizeable army or the compulsory [military] service for young Jewish men and women, but the capability of the regime itself to identify and rectify flaws,” he emphasized.
“It is regrettable that some Arab media are victorious and gloating over the exposure of Netanyahu’s corruption – [instead], we should be crying about our own situation and about the pitiful state that our infallible leaders have come to.”
Lebanese journalist Abd Al-Rahman Abd Al-Mulla Al-Salah, writing for the Egyptian daily Al-Hayat in February, argued that Israel was the only stable country in the region.
“We stand before helpless regimes and, most unfortunately, Israel is, relative to them, the only stable one in the region. […] Israel is stable, and despite all its racism, it is a democracy for the Jews within it. Whether we like it or not, Israel is a country of institutions, law and a constitution, in which the transfer of power is carried out [in an organized fashion].”
“Israel’s stability draws its strength from its democracy and its regime, which is derived from respect for the Israeli citizen and his choices,” Abd Al-Mulla Al-Salah continued. “The situation in our Arab world will not stabilize unless the Arab citizen regains his respect and until his repression ends.”
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