6/20/2012

"We have so much in common. Some of my Israeli friends are more Arab then a lot of Arabs I know," said Egyptian activist Ahmed Meligy.

"When I was a kid, I wondered why they told us that Adolph Hitler was a good guy and that he did good by the Holocaust," reminisced Ahmed Meligy, a self described Egyptian peace activist. "This sounded like pure racism and ignorance, but I couldn't speak my mind or say that out loud," he continued. Meligy has been making waves since publishing a series of editorial in the Jerusalem Post and other media outlets about his opposition to a more radicalized, less democratic Egyptian government.
"I cannot blame them," said Meligy, referring to anti-Jewish sentiment in Egyptian society. "Years ago while I was in school, we didn't have internet, or cable TV. We just had government TV and this was the only source of information we had," Meligy stated.

President Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt from 1981 until 2011 when he was ousted. The June elections in Egypt have caused Meligy and others concern that the new government will not allow any more freedoms then the old one.

"Our government was telling us whatever they wanted," continued Meligy. "We saw everything from their view. They were saying Israel is this very big monster. They were magnifying it."

Meligy said he has been seeking to communicate with non-Egyptians, specifically Israelis. He found Arutz Sheva - Israel National Radio show host Tamar Yonah through Facebook. "I was very curious about the Jewish people and wanted to know everything," he said.

Meligy said he does not blame the Egyptian people for being anti-Jewish because "they were fed propaganda and hatred toward the Jewish world."

Meligy expressed initial shock when he first communicated with real Israelis. "One of the things they were telling us was that the Israelis have nothing to do with the Middle East and Israelis are nothing but Europeans and Americans," he enthused. "I used to believe that, until I started to have Israeli friends who listened to the same music I listen to, who play the same video games I play, who love soccer. We have so much in common. They are some times that my Israeli friends are more Arab then a lot of Arabs I know. So this is why I started my activism. I have to give to show the truth to my people and show the truth to your people that we are not terrorists," said Meligy.

"Our government was telling us whatever they wanted," continued Meligy. "We saw everything from their view. They were saying Israel is this very big monster. They were magnifying it."

Hitler would be proud if he were alive today. He has countries like Iran, Syria and Egypt and groups like Hezbullah and Hamas following in his and Himmler's image.

Hmmm....sounds familiar.

we were tought to idolize Israel

once I started to read though, I realized it is full of people as flawed as any other place,,,,


not evil or perfect,,,

Yes, Israelis are only human. Their society is normal in every way.
They have freedom of the press, freedom of religion, full equality
for all their citizens, equal rights for women and despite their
tiny size have many leaders in medicine, the arts and literature,
historical scholarship, science and engineering.

The society in Israel contrasts sharply with intellectual and intolerant
squalor all around them in the Middle East.

That does not mean we should idolize the Israelis but we should
respect them. They are in a fight for their lives against the same
Islamic radical forces which brought US 911, the Bali bombings,
the Madrid and London subway attacks, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
Yet Israel perseveres and does so while preserving their core
principles of respecting basic human rights and freedoms.

Israel is not perfect but they are not bad either especially in
comparison with many other countries and societies around the
globe and Israel is certainly very worthy of our respect.

I give all human life my respect

and I suspect the islamic radicals are not a welcome part of other middle eastern countries either

but they dont quite get the financial and military support to fight and protect that Israel traditionally has,,,

and those living under those extreme conditions are not yet being offered a country of their own to flee to,,,,

I understand the turmoil and terror on all sides, and I think survivors on all sides are due respect

Israel is the ONLY regime in the Middle East which gives all human
life respect.

Israel's neighboring countries in the Mideast do not have freedom
of religion, do not have equal rights for women, do not have free
speech, do not have freedom of the press, do not allow political
dissent, have capital punishment for activities which are not even
crimes in most of the civilized world and support terrorism as a
legitimate form of attack against those politically opposed to them.

And your history is mistaken. The Palestinians currently have complete
political autonomy throughout the West Bank and Gaza. They could
teach peace there if they wanted. They could lay down their rockets
and prosper. They have been offered their own state before multiple
times. They reject this in their blind irrational hate of Jews and
instead continued to commit religious violence much to the detriment
to their own citizens and everyone else.

Yes all people are due respect for basic human rights and
Israel is the ONLY country in the region which extends this
respect of basic human rights to everyone.

I really do understand the turmoil and violence on all sides.
To understand it is to also comprehend the true nature of the
conflict and the sharp differences in the societies and cultures.

I dont believe that

I dont know that ISrael even has a CONSTITUTION but it is considered a JEWISH state so I doubt there is true freedom of religion there, let alone those other freedoms you mention

I also dont believe there is any country which unilaterally respects 'all' of anything,,,

it isnt respectful to take over where others live and push them out regardless of how good the intentions are,,,

blood is on both sides of the israel palestine conflict

I'm sorry but you are wrong about your "beliefs".

Although Israel does not have a Constitution like ours, they do
have a Declaration of Independence and also a series of public
laws which hold for all in Israel. It is these laws which give
everyone in Israel essentially the same rights and privileges
and freedoms we enjoy here in the US.

All you need to do is look it up or visit Israel. People there
observe every religion openly. Jews, Muslims and Christians.
People are free to choose any religion they wish, marry whomever
they want and convert to any religion they wish. The press is
protected and many different groups in Israel openly and vocally
protest any and all govt policies with which they disagree.

To not believe this simply means you don't know. For example,

After the war in 1967, Israel guaranteed that mosques churches
would be protected including of course the Al-Aqsa mosque on the
temple mount. They have kept this promise even during times of
strife and war. A law entitled "Protection of Holy Sites Law"
protects all holy sites including non-Jewish sites
although they leave the administration of these sites to their
respective religious groups. It is inaccurate to suggest that Israel
does not protect non-Jewish sites. In particular Israel has gone
out of their way to protect the Al-Aqsa mount from attacks by
non-Muslim groups.

Marriage in Israel is a religious event but they also recognize
common law marriage.

Israeli law explicitly incorporates the UN International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, which says in part "no one
shall be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment". and "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether
a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability
or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of
torture."

That is just the way it is in Israel. You can look it up.
It is NOT the same in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia,
Iran and Iraq.

Israel did not take the land either. Most of it was purchased and
at exhorbitant prices. Vacated land was captured during defensive
wars and a land mass larger than the current state of Israel which
was won during these wars has already been given back (Gaza and
the Negev). The rest could've been negotiated a dozen times over if
the Palestinians really wanted peace. But they don't.

Palestinian reject peace and chase victory.
Palestinians and their Islamic jihadist friends seek to rid the region of Jews.

That my friend is the real agenda of ethnic cleansing.

Indeed there is blood on both sides but the sides but only the
Jewish Israeli side protects these rights and freedoms we all
expect.

Yes he would indeed. , but you left out Ireland.

I've been brought up to feel sorry for the poor persecuted Jews.

I still do.

thats my attitude also, because they live surrounded by enemies that just want all Jews dead. I worked at a carpet store in Dallas that was owned by a Jordanian and he employed a lot of muslims there (this was before 9-11 also). Every day, they would tell me how much they hated the Jews and Bush sr. before that, i lived in Miami Beach in a community of Hasidic Jews from Israel. in four years, i never heard any of them utter a bad word about anyone, and in 2 years at the carpet store, the hate never stopped. thats the main reason i will always side with the Jews, because of the widespread hate from the muslims.

Why did you not just leave it at.....thats my attitude also,

nobody forced you to read it...why the dumb comments?

Nothing says it better than first hand experience...great post....

Tell you the truth I think this is a good development.
The Jews deserve our support in their struggle to live free from
religious and ethnic persecution. Particularly in Israel where
about half of the remaining Jews in the world live. They have
built a fine society there and we should all support the
Palestinians accepting the permanent Jewish state of Israel.
The international community should excoriate the use of terrorist
tactics and there is no reason why Palestinians could not have their own
official demilitarized state tomorrow in areas they already
govern including most of the West Bank and Gaza. Fini.

Then everyone could live in peace for a very long time.

Slohand Said This

The Palestinians currently have complete political autonomy throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

Now if any statement deserved ROTFLMAO Emoticons that does but they would take from the stupidity of the statement.

thank you. every muslim i have talked to about this has nothing good to say about Jews. they all might not hate them, but 99% of muslims do not like Jews. and not one has told me why the hate, either. the Jews, on the other hand, do not like to talk about it, so if the hate is there, they keep it to themselves. the hasdics did tell me that the main reason for the hostility over there is because of a spot in Israel where each of them has built a temple, that was torn down by the other and rebuilt numerous times. each lay claim to the 'holy' lands, and neither will compromise about it.

the terrorists in palestine should stop doing this if they want thier own nation.

http://mingle2.com/topic/show/330233

just one of many, many stupid acts from the terrorist muslims over there...