Wednesday, August 24, 2005
I thought this was a very clever observation noted in yesterday's Best of the Web...
Paper cups with Hebrew writing disturbed both employees and medical staff at King Khaled National Guard Hospital on Saturday. The catering subcontractor for the hospital coffee shops began using them on Saturday after their usual supply ran out.
"We were shocked and angry," said an employee. "How can Israeli products be allowed and how did they enter this hospital?" he asked...
The paper cups were quickly withdrawn from use but might there not be other, less obvious, Israeli products in our shops and marketplaces?
Hegel (not Hagel) once observed that history repeats itself, and Marx (Karl, not Groucho) added, the first time as tragedy and the second as farce. The Arab world today, with its eliminationist anti-Semitism but without a hint of German competence or efficiency, is not a bad example of this adage.
Maybe a press release should be put out proving that statistically even in the very heart of Mecca people are breathing in air that was once breathed in by Americans and Israelis alike. I wonder how long it they can hold their breath?