The Layalina Review
VOL. V NO. 10, April 24-May 7, 2009 Some say the recent swine flu pandemic has encouraged cross-cultural unity in the Middle East, while others see the threat as fuel for existing ethnic divisions, according to conflicting analyses by the Jerusalem Post and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The Jerusalem Post points to a meeting in Israel that drew representatives from the Palestinian Health Ministry and nearby Arab countries, including Jordan and Egypt, as an indication of unity between Israel and its neighbors. The newspaper also reports that Israel’s Tel Hashomer Hospital is being made available to Palestinians, Egyptians and Jordanians who are suspected of contracting swine flu. Contrarily, in a recent press release the ADL has criticized Arab daily newspapers for publishing “editorial cartoons that demonize the Jewish state and its leaders.” The ADL says that some cartoons feature, “Israeli leaders with faces of pigs.” The release also quotes the ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman as accusing the Arab media of using the cartoons to, “[exploit] the swine flu epidemic in an effort to rile up anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment in the Arab street.” The ADL also indicates that the cartoons have appeared in Arab newspapers in Qatar, the UAE and the UK. Another source of tension over swine flu in the Middle East has emerged from Egypt’s decision to slaughter nearly all of the country’s swine population in an attempt to reduce the risk of flu, says the Christian Science Monitor. The government’s actions have prompted protest and accusations of discrimination from the country’s Christian minority, which owns and raises nearly all of the pigs in Egypt and partially depends on them for their livelihood. Other sources highlight the misperceptions surrounding swine flu among many Arabs who have been engaging in “a heated debate in the streets, the cafes and the internet,” according to Al-Bawaba. Some Muslims “are certain they are safe and immune” from swine flu because most Muslims avoid consuming pork due to Islamic dietary restrictions, continues the site. Al-Bawaba also reports that this misconception has been a common theme on Muslim-centered online forums recently, although swine flu is not known to be transmitted to humans from cooked pork. |
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