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The Freest Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East

Compare Freedom Score of Israel (Free)
versus 22 Arab regimes & Iran (18 Not Free, 5 Partly Free), Source: Freedom House (PDF, 187 KB)

Compare Human Development Index of Israel (0.905), 22 Arab regimes (0.662) & Iran (0.719) (PDF, 670 KB) Source: United Nations Human Development Report 2003

Compare Corruption Index of Israel (7.3), Germany (7.3) and USA (7.7)
versus 22 Arab regimes & Iran (1.7 - 5.5), Source: Transparency International (PDF, 1.8 MB)

99.5% of U.S. Congress Commends Israeli Democracy (Feb 11, 2003) ( PDF, 31 KB) The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to “commend the people of Israel for reaffirming their dedication to democratic ideals”. The resolution, which passed 411-2, also reaffirms the “close bonds of friendship” that have “bound the people of the United States and the people of Israel together through turbulent times for more than half a century,” and urges the Palestinian leadership to act on President Bush’s June 24, 2002, call to elect new leaders, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, end incitement and embrace democracy.99.5% of U.S. Congress Commends Israeli Democracy (Feb 11, 2002)

Why Arabs love Israel (Joseph Farah, WND, Apr 9, 2003): "Arabs in Israel vote. They elect leaders to the Knesset [Israeli parliament]. They have their own political parties. They have their own newspapers. They have full rights to citizenship. They are free to speak their minds. As an Arab-American journalist who has spent a good deal of time covering the region, I can tell you there is more freedom for Arabs in Israel than in any Arab state."

The freest Arabs in the Middle East: List of 12 Arab members of 15th Israeli Parliament (out of 120 MPs in the 15th Knesset).

The sole Arab parties in the Middle East participating in free elections send members to the Israeli parliament (where they use the Western freedom of speech to criticize Israel and can praise Iran and 22 Arab police regimes). The only freely elected Arab parliamentarians in the Middle East are members of the Israeli Parliament - in Jerusalem. The only court in the Middle East from which an Arab or a Muslim can expect justice is the Israeli Supreme Court - in Jerusalem - which is one of the most highly regarded in the world. Israel is the only place in the Middle East where an Arab or Muslim can freely criticize his government.

List of 28 parties running in the elections for the 16th Israeli Parliament (Jan 28, 2003), including 4 Arab parties and other parties with an "Arab" agenda or Arab candidates

The Jerusalem Times is published by Palestinians in Jerusalem - under Israeli rule. So are Al-Quds, Palestine Report, and others. Ironically, the only free Arab press in the Middle East is published in Israel. The Israeli freedom of speech allows Palestinian journalists to criticize Israel and praise Arab police states, tyrannies and theocracies.

Israel: religious freedom for all - including Moslems

Moslems at Al-Aksa Mosque in Israeli capital Jerusalem

Christian churches in Jerusalem/Israel (Israeli Yellow Pages)

Compare freedom for all religions in Israel
vs. religious apartheid in Saudi Arabia and Palestinian Autonomy:

Saudi and Palestinian religious apartheid against Non-Moslems
Palestinian National Authority Official Website, Jul 2, 2003: "President Arafat Condemns Israeli Decision to Allow Non-Muslims into Al-Aqsa ... Officials from the Waqf—the Islamic trust running the site—banned Jews and other non-Muslims from visiting the site ..."

A mosque in Rome? Sure. A non-Muslim in Mecca? No. (Jonathan V. Last, Wall Street Journal, Aug 29, 2003): "If you judge by the pictures, the Makkah Hilton is a nice place to stay. There's just one catch, as the Web site notes. The five-star hotel 'is exclusively sited within the Holy City which, by national and religious law, is only accessible to visitors of the Muslim Religion.' This law is something of a singularity among major religions, because it isn't merely the Grand Mosque that is off-limits to nonbelievers, the way, for instance, a Mormon Temple is. It's a city--a major city with hotels, supermarkets, schools and a population of 1.2 million people. (The city of Medina, population 700,000, also forbids non-Muslims.) ... The ban sometimes creates logistical woes. Companies that rely on skilled workers often resort to using auxiliary offices outside the city. Ms. Mackey tells of the building of a hotel designed by a Western architect. The Saudis refused to allow him into the city and, she writes, 'insisted that he stand on a hill outside of town and direct the work through a telescope.' ... But even at the State Department, the ban rankles. 'Every religion needs to have its own freedom of assembly and be able to protect the integrity of its holy places,' said one State Department expert. 'But it's just absurd that it goes to these great lengths. . . . Even if you don't care about lofty ideals like religious freedom or openness, we're starting to see some real connections between religious intolerance and terrorism.'"

Official website of Makkah Hilton Hotel, Saudi Arabia (Aug 30, 2003): "... this hotel is only accessible to visitors of Muslim religion."
Official website of Madinah Hilton Hotel, Saudi Arabia (Aug 30, 2003): "... this hotel is only accessible to visitors of Muslim religion."

Saudi Arabia's Apartheid (Colbert I. King, Washington Post, Dec 22, 2001): "He said he and his wife were amused to read early press reports from Afghanistan about the oppression of women and religious minorities. 'Virtually everything described there was taking place in Saudi Arabia, with the exception that at least the Taliban permitted other religions to exist in their country. This is absolutely forbidden in Saudi Arabia.' .... One of the (still) untold stories, however, is the cooperation of U.S. and other Western companies in enforcing sexual apartheid in Saudi Arabia. McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and other U.S. firms, for instance, maintain strictly segregated eating zones in their restaurants. The men's sections are typically lavish, comfortable and up to Western standards, whereas the women's or families' sections are often run-down, neglected and, in the case of Starbucks, have no seats. Worse, these firms will bar entrance to Western women who show up without their husbands. My wife and other [U.S. government affiliated] women were regularly forbidden entrance to the local McDonald's unless there was a man with them."

TREATMENT OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS (AND OTHER INFIDELS) IN SAUDI ARABIA, SPIRITUAL CENTER OF ISLAM (World Travel Guide):

Arabic is one of the official languages of the State of Israel.
Look at: Israeli stamps, Israeli money,
Israeli Supreme Court web site, Israeli Parliament web site

Friday Sermons on Palestinian Authority Television (MPG, 4.2 MB): "... I pray to Allah that we live to see the usurping Knesset [Israeli Parliament] collapse on the heads of the Jews ..."

The Arab Population of Israel (Israel Central Bureau of Statistics) (PDF, 201 KB):
"8 times its size in 1948." - one of the world's highest annual growth rates (3.92 p.a.).

If you're a headstrong Arab or Iranian, bent on protest, Israel is in every respect a paradise compared with any other state in the Middle East:
In Lebanon, don’t try speaking out against the Syrian occupation. You won’t live long.
In Saudi Arabia, don’t try converting from Islam. You won't live long.
In Iraq, don’t try saying the regime has got WMD. You won’t live long.
In Somalia, don’t try refusing sexual mutilation of your sister. She and you won't live long.
In Tunisia, don’t try saying the government is corrupt. You won't live long.
In Egypt, don’t try being a homosexual. You won't live long.
In Sudan, don’t try being a separatist. You won’t live long.
In Iran, don’t try having an affair. You won’t live long.
In Algeria, don’t try fomenting revolutionary jihadism. You won't live long.
In Libya, don’t try asking about her role in international terrorism. You won’t live long.
In Mauritania, don’t try helping a slave run away. He and you won’t live long.
In Syria, don’t try throwing stones at police. You won't live long.
In Oman, don’t try demonstrating for women rights. You won’t live long.
In Morocco, don’t try saying Arab Saharawis have been displaced. You won’t live long.
In Yemen, don’t try apostasy. You won’t live long.
In the Palestinian Authority, don’t try supporting democratic Israel. You won’t live long.

Compare: Palestinians in Lebanon (Julie Peteet, World Refugee Survey 1997): "Despite international law governing the treatment of refugees, the Lebanese state implemented laws to restrict Palestinians in a variety of ways. In 1962, legislation placed Palestinians on a par with foreigners so that their gaining employment required a work permit. While Palestinians circumscribed this requirement for nearly two decades, the post-1982 period has witnessed its vigorous implementation. For example, Decision no. 289/1, issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs on December 18, 1982, set out the categories of employment closed to foreigners, which range from banking to barbering. The ministry also issued a circular detailing the arenas of work open to foreigners, with work permits, as: 'construction workers and workers in ancillary tasks, excluding electrical installations, sanitation facilities and glass mounting; agricultural workmen; tanning and leather workers; excavation workers; textile and carpet workmen; smelters; sanitation workers; nannies, nurses; servants and cooks; car wash and ubrication workers.' In other words, Palestinians are forbidden to work in all but the most menial of positions."

The Legal Status of Palestinian Refugees and their Relation with the Lebanese State (Nasri Saleh Hajjaj, Shaml, the Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Center)

Palestinians are driven from homes by armed Iraqis (Jack Fairweather, The Daily Telegraph, Jun 9, 2003): For all its golden words in support of the Palestinian cause, the [Iraqi] government refused to let them own their homes and restricted their employment to manual labour ... While the Palestinian cause may stir the passions of Arabs across the Middle East, Palestinians themselves are often regarded with suspicion. Palestinian militants were involved in civil wars in Jordan and Lebanon. In 1991, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were evicted from Kuwait after the emirate was liberated from the Iraqis. And in 1993 and 1994, hundreds were evicted from Libya on the grounds that Yasser Arafat had supported Saddam. Now it is the Palestinians in Baghdad who are the victims of the political upheaval."

Palestinians Expelled by Libya Stranded (Salma Shawa, Washington Report, Aug/Sep 1996)

Who Cares about Palestinians? (Arab-American journalist Joseph Farah, Aug. 23, 2001): "Who really cares about the human rights of Palestinian Arabs? Syria, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other Muslim nations have warned Israel, in various ways and with different degrees of intensity, over the Jewish state's alleged mistreatment of Palestinian Arabs. There's one major problem with these threats. These nations have done far less for Arab Palestinians than Israel has."

The Jews took no one's land (Arab-American journalist Joseph Farah, WND, Apr 23, 2002)

Kill a Jew for Allah. The Mideast problem. (John Derbyshire, NRO, Mar 22, 2002): "Look: Possibly there would be some abstract justice in closing down the settlements, I don't know. I don't see it myself, I must admit. Why should Jews not live among Arabs? Lots of Arabs live in Israel, and do very well there. There are rich Israeli Arabs; there are Israeli-Arab pop stars and comedians; there are Israeli-Arab intellectuals, teachers, writers, businessmen, athletes. Why, when the whole thing gets sorted out, should there not be Jews living in Arab territory — as there were for centuries past? What, exactly, is wrong with the settlements? I don't see it."

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