http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com
July 2012/Tammuz 5772
The Jewish Voice and Opinion
Page - 7
The Current Crisis: “Even in Laughter, the Heart Can Ache”
Job Opportunity: In the Arabian Peninsula, employment
opportunities are booming for would-be suicide bombers eager to target (in this order): Americans, Israelis, French, or British. Internet ads which look like invitations to a barbecue, sponsored by Al-Qaeda, are asking enthusiastic volunteers to sign up for “training to continue with our brothers who are seeking to carry out operations that make for great killing and slaughtering [of] the enemies of Islam.” We suppose experienced suicide bombers need not apply. But at least Al-Qaeda knows which side it is on. Last month, an Israeli judge ruled that the family of a terrorist, whose actions were caught on camera, would, nevertheless, receive a pension from the State because, the judge said, it was just possible his actions were not “nationalistically motivated.” At the same time, however, the Israeli Jews who were harmed in his attack will receive benefits as recognized victims of terrorism. Jewish Home MK Zevulun Orlev’s solution is a bill which will stipulate that if an incident is characterized as a terror attack by the Israeli Defense system, the family of the terrorist who carried it out will not be eligible to receive a pension or any other government allowance. Does he think his bill will pass in the Knesset? He said he has more confidence in the left-wing “justice-seekers” who will try to thwart him than he has in those who will apply common sense. Some of those future terrorists might have been among the children being treated by the PA-supported NGO, the Burj Luq-Luq Social Center Society, to a puppet show promoting health lessons last month in eastern Jerusalem.
The purpose of the show was to convince the children of the folly of smoking cigarettes. To this end, according to Palestinian Media Watch, which translated and presented a clip from the show on its website, the puppets suggested the children try something less lethal, such as terrorism. As part of the show, one of the puppets told the children: “I wanted to stand before the audience and sing to Jerusalem, which is being kept from us. Jerusalem, whose youth are being killed by the Jews, and to say: ‘Jerusalem, we are coming, the time of death has arrived. Jerusalem, we will not surrender to the enemies or be humiliated.’” The second puppet, who had been holding a cigarette, then responded: “What am I doing to myself [by smoking]? I and many other youths like me think that through cigarettes we will be adults and men. Jerusalem doesn’t need youths who hold cigarettes. It needs men who hold machine guns, not cigarettes.” Well, gee, it’s better than smoking, right? But for these kids, even smoking would be better than eating…tomatoes. According to the Popular Egyptian Islamic Association, Muslims are warned not to eat the fruit-masqueradingas-a-vegetable, because it is “Christian food.” The association published the cautionary advice on its Facebook page along with a photo of a cross-cut tomato, revealing a cross-shaped interior and the alarming alert that “The tomato praises the cross instead of Allah.” After close to 3,000 comments were left by outraged readers, the Islamic Association backtracked. “We didn’t say you can’t eat tomatoes. We said don’t cut it in the cross shape.” Didn’t you know your salad could turn you into an infidel? Eat a tomato over the Nine Days and have an easy, meaningful fast. S.L.R.