Mass Pigocide - Now Trash Heaps Overwhelm Cairo [Archive]

sd gross

10-16-2009, 05:39 PM

:piggy::sick1::piggy::sick1::piggy::sick1::piggy::sick1:

The Pigs Are Gone But the Trash Remains

On May 2nd, I posted an objection to Egypt's plan to off 300,000 quite innocent pigs as, they said, "a general health measure". This badly misguided attempt at combatting swine flu, was also a means of putting further economic pressure on Egypt's Coptic minority. Just another in a series of Really Bad Ideas.
If you'd like to check out "Kill the Pigs?!" take a peek at the following:

https://www.waccobb.net/forums/waccotalk/52438-kill-pigs.html

Strewn with heaps of steaming trash, Cairo is now wrestling with a garbage problem so severe, citizens are talking about forcing the local Bureau of Environmental Affairs' chief, Haitham Kamal to come down and eat it himself. The newly deceased pigs used to eat tons of organic waste, but they've all gone to Heaven and mountains of rotting food continue to pile up in middle-class, as well as poor neighborhoods. "The whole area is trash - when you open your window to breathe, you inhale garbage heaps", said one citizen. Turns out Egypt's rash, reactionary response to combatting the flu threat has turned into an environmental and political problem for the Arab world's most populous nation, and has exposed the failings of a government where decisions are made with little thought to their impact on the citizenry and no follow up or taking of responsibility when it comes to cleaning up messes which frequently affect the quality of life.
The government hired multinational companies to collect the trash, but they elected to place bins around a city of millions where people have grown accustomed to their trash being picked up by someone at the door.
For a half-century, the zabaleen, a community of Christians who live on the cliffs at Cairo's eastern end, collected the trash, sold the recyclables, and fed the organic waste to their pigs - which they slaughtered and ate.
Calling the mass pigocide "the stupidest thing they ever did - one more example of poorly informed decision makers", disgruntled and disgusted people dwell in streets awash in stinking trash and clouds of flies - and have stopped disposing most of the organic waste. Now they dump it wherever they can, or pile it beside overflowing bins. "They killed the pigs - let them clean the city" said a former garbage collector and pig owner. "Everything used to go to the pigs, now there are no pigs, so let it go to the Administration".
Meanwhile, the multinational workforce, armed with crude brooms and intended to take up the slack, stopped working because of a dispute with the city. Additionally, pre-emptive closing of schools, designed to give the government time to prepare for the massive flu outbreak, have folks asking why preparations weren't made over the last three months - during summer break. "Statesmen" are blaming each other for this governmental mismanagement, as the decision making processes continue to disintegrate. Said economist and writer Galal Amin, "They are ill-considered decisions taken in a bit of a hurray, either because you're trying to please the president, or because you're a weak government trying to please somebody. Now, instead of streets filled with happy kids and littered with trash, the pigs are gone, the schools are closed and the Pharaoh's children are less than happy campers.
Well, Cairo, don't say nobody told you.

sd gross

10-24-2009, 10:43 AM

You're absolutely right on both accounts.
And although you're probably aware of it, it's only fair to furnish others with a bit of background regarding what led up to the war.

The Six Day War occurred against the background of continuing Arab world hostility to the newly created state of Israel which had defeated the Arab armies that had invaded it, and expanded its territory. The war had created about 700,000 Palestinian Arab refugees, who fled or were expelled in 1948.
Officially, no Arab country recognized the armistice lines of 1949 as international borders, and no Arab country recognized Israel, diplomatically. Israel, according to Arab rhetoric, had no right to exist, and was referred to as "The Zionist entity." Defeating and destroying Israel and "reversing the results of 1948" became central goals of Arab political rhetoric. Prestige and leadership of the Arab world were based on leadership in confrontation of Israel.

Gamal Abdul Nasser and his fellow officers had taken power in Egypt, in order they claimed, to modernize the country and undo the shame of the lost 1948 war. However, in 1956, after Nasser closed the straits of Tiran and Suez canal to Israeli shipping and moved terror squads into the Sinai peninsula, Israel, Britain and France attacked Egypt. Israel captured the entire Sinai peninsula in 100 hours. Before agreeing to withdraw, Israel got an Aide de Memoire from the US that it would support Israel's right to unrestricted access to the straits of Tiran, in accordance with international law, and the UN agreed to station an emergency force in Sinai (UNEF).*
Nasser claimed a "victory" in that he had gotten Israel, Britain and France to withdraw, but the UNEF and the free access of Israeli shipping* were a constant shameful reminder. Nasser bid to lead the Arab world, but his plans foundered in economic woes and a failed war in Yemen, evoking inter-Arab rivalry. Constant taunts dared Nasser to dismiss the UNEF and close the straits of Tiran.

Tension began developing between Israel and Arab countries in the 1960s. Israel began to implement its National Water Carrier plan, which pumps water from the Sea of Galilee to irrigate south and central Israel. The project was in accordance with a plan proposed by US envoy Eric Johnston in 1955, and agreed to by Arab engineers. Arab governments refused to participate however, because of the implied recognition of Israel. In secret meetings, Israel and Jordan agreed to abide by the water quotas set by the plan.

The newly formed Palestinian Fatah movement seized on the Israeli diversion as an "imperialist event" that would catalyze their revolution, and Yasser Arafat began calling for war to eliminate Israel. In the Fatah newspaper, Filistinunah, ("our Palestine") Arafat ridiculed Egyptian President Nasser and other Arab leaders for their impotence, and called for effective action against Israel. Nasser decided to found the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as a "tame" alternative to the Fatah, and placed Ahmed Shukhairy, an ineffective and bombastic diplomat at its head.
The Syrians, who had broken with Nasser's pan-Arabism, countered by supporting Fatah and attempted to take over the Fatah group. Syrian army intelligence* recruited terrorists for actions against Israel, giving credit for the operations to Fatah. The first of these actions was announced on December 31, 1964, an attack on the Israel water carrier at Beit Netopha, but in fact no attack had taken place. A second attempt was made on January 2, 1965, but the explosives charge was disarmed. However, successful attacks soon followed on January 14 and February 28. In the 18 months preceding the war, there ware 120 terror attacks, resulting in 11 fatalities.* These minor terrorist activities received great publicity in the Arab world, and were contrasted with the lack of action and bombastic talk of Gamal Nasser, challenging Nasser's leadership. This ferment is considered the catalyst of the events that brought about the Six day war. It is a moot point whether it is to be attributed to Syrian rivalry with Nasser, or as Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians claim, to the Fatah movement. Faced with the "heroic" deeds of the Palestinians under Syrian tutelage, Nasser was pushed to an increasingly bellicose stance.

In several summit conferences beginning in 1964, Arab leaders ratified the* establishment of the PLO, declared their resolve to destroy Israel, and decided to divert the sources of the Jordan river that feed the Sea of Galilee, to prevent Israel from implementing the water carrier plan. The Syrians and Lebanese began to implement the diversions. Israel responded by firing on the tractors and equipment doing the work in Syria, using increasingly accurate and longer range guns as the Syrians moved the equipment from the border. This was followed by Israeli attempts to cultivate the demilitarized zones (DMZ) as provided in the armistice agreements. Israel was within its rights according to the armistice agreements, but Moshe Dayan claimed many years later that 80% of the incidents were deliberately provoked. In reality, the incidents were provoked in order to draw artillery fire, so that Israel would have an excuse to fire on the equipment being used by the Syrians for diversion of the headwaters of the Jordan. The Syrians responded by firing in the DMZs (Click here for a map of the demilitarized zones). When Israelis responded in force, Syria began shelling Israeli towns in the north, and the conflict escalated into air strikes.* The USSR was intent on protecting the new Ba'athist pro-Soviet government of Syria, and represented to the Syrians and Egyptians that Israel was preparing to attack Syria. As tension rose, Syria appealed to Egypt, believing the claim of the USSR that Israel was massing troops on the Syrian border. The claim was false and was denied by the UN.

Prelude
Nasser's Opening Moves
Beginning in May 1967, unprovoked actions by Nasser and other Arab leaders created a feeling of impending disaster in Israel. Actions by the United States and UN, and lack of action, gave every reason to believe that the world intended to abandon Israel to whatever aggressive plans Nasser might have. Nasser, motivated by the need to re-assert leadership in the Arab world, was "pushing the envelope." It was felt that inaction by by Israel in the best case would result in dangerous concessions, and in the worst case would goad Nasser and his allies into a devastating first strike attack. Hindsight has shown that the Arabs were no match for Israel. However it is also clear from the record that the feeling that the US would not honor its commitments was probably justified, and that had Israel not acted, it is almost certain that Egypt would have been able to close the Straits of Tiran permanently to Israeli shipping. It is probable, according to several sources,* that the Egyptians were planning to attack Israel, though pressure from USSR forced them to abandon the plan.**
On May 14, Israeli intelligence noted that Nasser had moved considerable forces into the Sinai desert. On the same day, Egypt asked for withdrawal of the UNEF forces. Secretary General U Thant stalled for time.* On May 16, 1967, a Radio Cairo broadcast stated: "The existence of Israel has continued too long. We welcome the Israeli aggression. We welcome the battle we have long awaited. The peak hour has come. The battle has come in which we shall destroy Israel." Egypt repeated the request to withdraw UNEF forces on May 16, and UN Secretary General U Thant agreed to remove the troops on May 18. Formally, the troops could only be stationed in Egypt with Egyptian agreement. However, it had been believed believed that Nasser had really hoped U Thant would not remove the troops, and that he could use the presence of the UN troops as an excuse to do nothing.
Since the reaction to removal of UN troops was tepid, Nasser surmised that neither Israel nor the US would obstruct his ambitions. On May 23, Nasser closed the straits of* Tiran to Israeli shipping. The United States failed to live up to its guarantees of freedom of the waterways to Israel. A torrent of rhetoric issued from Arab capitals and Arab representatives to the UN. In the Arab world, Nasser, previously chided for inaction, was widely hailed as a liberator.
Cartoons showed jackbooted Egyptian soldiers crushing caricatures of ghetto Jews. (see attached files below)

Six Day War: Al-Farida, Lebanon, showed Nasser kicking the "Jew," Israel, into the sea,* with the armies of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq supporting him.
June 5, 1967, Roz El Youseff shows Israeli midget being crushed in the hands of Syria and Egypt.

At the UN, PLO Chairman Ahmed Shukhairy announced that "if it will be our privilege to strike the first blow" the PLO would expel from Palestine all Zionists who had arrived after 1917 and eliminate the state of Israel. In a speech to Arab Trade Unionists on May 26, 1967, Nasser justified the dismissal of the UNEF, and made it clear that Egypt was prepared to fight Israel for Palestinian rights. He also attacked the Jordanians as tools of the imperialists, stepping up the constant pressure on Jordan's King Hussein.

As far as the Liberty, here's what transpired:
The Liberty - On June 8, 1967, Israelis attacked and crippled a US CIA intelligence ship, the Liberty, that had been stationed off the coast of Gaza. Apparently, it was a case of mistaken identity, though Liberty survivors insist that it was deliberate. The Liberty had been ordered to move 100 miles off shore, but it never received the order. Israelis claim they were unable to identify the ship, and lacking the close liaison, they had repeatedly requested from the Americans, they were unaware of the ship's position. They had correctly identified the ship on the morning of June 8 as American, but had lost contact by the afternoon. Americans claim the ship was flying an American flag, but Israeli pilots and a torpedo boat were unable to see any flag.

And, Mr. Compost....
I read a lot of vitriol and anti-Israeli sentiment in your postings, and that of many others. I think part of what makes America great is our right to express ourselves, and develop our own opinions and points of view. But I think it behooves clear thinking women and men to fairly and unemotionally evaluate as much information as they can, and make their decisions based on compassion as well as common sense.
stephen

Egypt didn't launch the 6-day war.

Israel did.

the US had a spy boat in the Mediterranean watching the whole thing, the USS Liberty. Israel also attacked that, killing about 34 Americans.

However the news did still get out. Israel's claim that they were responding in defense was quite false.