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Jerusalem News 913. Views, Jews, Ten Tribes News
20 May 2010, 7 Sivan 5770
Contents:
1. Nazi Popularity amongst Iranians, Pakis, and Indians by Hasnain Kazim
2. Iran Prepared to Block Gulf Oil and Wreck Western Economies
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
3. Religious Observance in Israel: Statistics
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1. Nazi Popularity amongst Iranians, Pakis, and Indians
Germans Cringe at Hitler's Popularity in Pakistan
By Hasnain Kazim in Islamabad, Pakistan
http://www.spiegel.de/international/
zeitgeist/0,1518,683966,00.html
Extracts:
Germans are popular in India and Pakistan, but not always for the right reasons. Many in South Asia have nothing but admiration for Adolf Hitler and still associate Germany with the Third Reich. Everyday encounters with the love of all things Nazi makes German visitors cringe.
Pakistan is the opposite of Germany. The mountains are in the north, the sea is in the south, the economic problems are in the west and the east is doing well. It's not hard for a German living in Pakistan to get used to these differences, but one contrast is hard to stomach: Most people like Hitler.
I was recently at the hairdresser, an elderly man who doesn't resort to electric clippers. All he has is creaky pair of scissors, a comb, an aerosol with water. He did a neat job but I wasn't entirely happy.
I said: "I look like Hitler."
He looked at me in the mirror, gave a satisfied smile and said: "Yes, yes, very nice."
I decided not to challenge him, went home and tried to get rid of the strict parting he'd given me.
I was glad I avoided the usual Hitler conversation. Pakistanis always hone in on that topic whenever they talk to Germans. "We're Aryans too," they say, because there was an Indo-Germanic race, the Aryas. Besides, Hitler was a military genius, they add.
Sometimes it's better to keep quiet about one's German origins. It's embarrassing because people here think they're doing you a favor by expressing their admiration for the Nazi leader. I suspect most Indians and Pakistanis have no idea what this man did. They see him as the bold F'rer who took on the British and Americans.
In the Islamic world, not just in Pakistan but right across from Iran to northern Africa, anti-Semitic sentiment of course plays a role. Conversations with German visitors rapidly turn to the injustice being suffered by the Palestinians who were robbed of their land.
One can try to cut such conversations short, like a German acquaintance of mine did recently. He told a taxi driver in Iran he should stop talking nonsense because he as a dark-skinned person wouldn't have survived long in Nazi Germany. The taxi driver looked at him surprised and said: "But I'm Aryan!"
The alternative is just to wish the ground would swallow you up, like when German friends visited us while we were staying with our Pakistani relatives in London. Out of the blue, one uncle started talking admiringly about Hitler, his supposed military feats and how he led Germany out of economic misery. Our friends just sat there stony-faced and didn't know what to say. Later on my parents apologized to them.
I don't know where this fascination comes from, not just for the Nazis but for all things German. Most people don't realize that today's Germany is very different from the Third Reich. It's not surprising. Many have never even been to the next big city in their own country, so how should they know what things are like in Germany these days?
As a result, many Pakistanis easily switch from Hitler to Mercedes ("Very excellent car, but a little too expensive"). A few days ago a white Mercedes built in the 1970s was driving ahead of me in the center of Islamabad carrying a family of seven. On the back was a sticker bearing a black swastika in a white circle. Underneath it read: "I like Nazi."
It's not just Muslims who maintain this Nazi cult. A few years ago, a Hindu businessman in India opened a restaurant called "Hitler's Cross," complete with a portrait of the F'rer at the entrance. Another Hindu sold bed linen emblazoned with swastikas that had little to do with the Hindu swastika symbol for good luck. The sheets, pillow cases and bed spreads were advertised as being part of "The Nazi Collection." English editions of Hitler's "Mein Kampf" can be found in bookshops even in the most remote parts of India. And Indian schoolbooks have been known to celebrate Hitler as a great leader.
2. Iran Prepared to Block Gulf Oil and Wreck Western Economies
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
http://www.israelnationalnews.
com/News/News.aspx/137586
Extracts:
Iran's recently-concluded war games concentrated on preparations to block the Persian Gulf and wreck Western economies in the event that the United Nations Security Council tries to place harsh sanctions against it.
Forty percent of the world's oil and gas sails through the Persian Gulf, and an Iranian blockade would cause an inflationary spike in energy prices and a fuel shortage that could cause catastrophe for the West, which is dependent on Iranian crude to fuel their gas-hungry economies.
Iran's government and semi-official media reported that the Revolutionary Guards tested a new speedboat that can destroy enemy ships, sending a pointed reminder that it is capable of blocking the Gulf. Iran also successfully fired an anti-submarine torpedo during the war games, Iran's Press TV reported. 'The submarines had managed to enter the waters of the hypothetical enemy and pass the enemy's linking lines,' it stated.
Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the war games aimed to demonstrate that Iran has full control over shipping activities in the Gulf area.
Armed Forces Commander Major General Ataollah Salehi announced Tuesday that two medium-range cruise missiles were launched from Iran's southern coast and hit mock targets that were moving on the sea. Iranian news agencies said the missile also can evade radar systems because it flies at a low altitude.
"It's past the epoch when America would change the regime in a country by just dispatching a warship,' Salehi added. 'We have been able to challenge the U.S. not only in the sea but also in all international arenas.'
Israel Aerospace Industries chairman Yair Shamir commented that the cruise missile 'is an extremely serious danger." He noted that the missile was supplied by Ukraine before being upgraded in Iran.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)
3. Religious Observance in Israel: Statistics
Israel 2010: 42% of Jews are secular
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/
0,7340,L-3890330,00.html
Extracts:
The Central Bureau of Statistics report published Sunday reveals that 8% of Israel's Jewish population defines itself as haredi, 12% as religious, 13% as traditional-religious, 25% as traditional and 42% as secular, on a descending scale of religiosity.
Among the Jewish population, the percentage of haredim is higher among younger people. In the age bracket 20-29, some 14% define themselves as haredi, compared to only 2% among those aged 65 and above. The percentage of those defining themselves as religious or traditional-religious is similar for the two age brackets. Some 38% of those aged 20-29 define themselves as secular, compared with 43% among those aged 65 and above. Among Jews, there is no outstanding difference in level of religiosity between men and women.
Some 60% of Jews aged 20 and above were born in Israel, and 40% abroad. Some 58% of secular and traditional, 61% of religious and 82% of haredi Jews were born in Israel.
Some 36% of secular Jews are of European or North American background (not including those arriving from former USSR countries from 1990 onwards), 23% are from the former USSR who came from 1990 onwards, 23% are at least second-generation native born, and just 19% are of Asian or African background.
Among the haredim, some 40% are at least second-generation native born, 29% of European or North American background, and 29% of Asian or African background. More than half of religious or traditional Jews (54% and 49% respectively) are of Asian or African background. Some 27% of religious and 19% of traditional are of European or North American background.
And who is most satisfied with life here' The report reveals that some 88% of Jews are satisfied with their lives: 96% of haredi, 91% of religious, 86% of traditional and 87% of secular Jews. However, only 82% of the Arab population is satisfied with their lives.
The survey also addressed the issue of religiosity among Arabs in Israel. Some 8% define themselves as very religious, 47% as religious, 27% as not very religious and 18% as not religious. Women define themselves as religious more than men ' more than half of Arab women (55%) define themselves as religious compared to 38% of men.
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