The most privileged in Israeli society are mostly Ashkenazi, no?
Joanna
Joel Schalit wrote:
> uhh, yeah. i was about to ask, aren't jews kinda considered brown
> folks as well? hence last weekends missives about not ethnically
> stereotyping israelis.....
>
>
> On Sep 10, 2006, at 1:08 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
>> On 9/10/06, joanna <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> ...while we're on the subject...
>>>
>>> How hi-tech Hezbollah called the shots
>>> By Iason Athanasiadis
>>>
>>> BEIRUT - Hezbollah's ability to repel the Israel Defense Forces
>>> during the
>>> recent conflict was largely due to its use of intelligence techniques
>>> gleaned from allies Iran and Syria that allowed it to monitor encoded
>>> Israeli communications relating to battlefield actions, according
>>> to Israeli
>>> officials, whose claims have been independently corroborated by the US
>>> Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
>>
>>
>> Now, I completely agree that Hizballah, the Iranians, and the Syrians
>> are smart people, but I'd have to say that they are among the palest
>> in the denizens of the Middle East. . . .
>>
>> And if the Iranians are really smart, they'll come up with a better
>> Iraq policy than this:
>>
>> <http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?
>> type=topNews&storyID=2006-09-09T140905Z_01_COL948663_RTRUKOC_0_UK-
>> IRAQ.xml>
>> Iraq's PM to visit Iran next week for key talks
>> Sat Sep 9, 2006 3:09 PM BST
>>
>> By Ibon Villelabeitia
>>
>> BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will make his
>> first official visit to Iran on Monday, a trip that will bring into
>> focus key security and political issues at a time when Baghdad is
>> battling to avert a civil war.
>>
>> Iraq and non-Arab, Shi'ite Iran fought a war in the 1980s under Saddam
>> Hussein's Sunni-dominated rule. But relations have been warmer since
>> Iraq's Shi'ite majority won national elections, unsettling Iraq's
>> minority Sunni Arabs and many Sunni-dominated states distrustful of
>> Tehran's influence.
>>
>> Washington, pushing for international sanctions against Tehran over
>> its atomic ambitions, accuses Iran of providing logistical and
>> financial support to Shi'ite militias in Iraq. Tehran denies this.
>>
>> Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said on Saturday Maliki, a
>> Shi'ite, would discuss with fellow Islamist leaders in Iran, including
>> President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the "principle of no interference in
>> internal affairs" during his two-day visit.
>>
>> "The purpose of the visit is to discuss political and security
>> issues," Dabbagh told Reuters.
>>
>> Though Maliki has brought Sunnis into his national unity government
>> since he took over in May and conspicuously chose Sunni Gulf Arab
>> states for his first foreign trip, his visit to powerful Iran will
>> likely upset Sunnis.
>>
>> Analysts have pointed out Iran's increasing influence in post-war Iraq
>> since the empowerment of its Shi'ite majority.
>>
>> This influence, analysts say, is particularly stronger in the mainly
>> Shi'ite south, where a top Shi'ite leader this week renewed demands
>> for an autonomous Shi'ite region.
>>
>> "Iran views Iraq as its own backyard and has now superseded the U.S.
>> as the most influential power there; this affords it a key role in
>> Iraq's future," a report by the London-based Chatham House think-tank
>> said last month.
>>
>> It also said Tehran had an "unparalleled ability to affect stability
>> and security across most of the country".
>>
>> The announcement of Maliki's visit follows a dispute between the two
>> countries in which Iranian border guards this week detained Iraqi
>> guards after accusing them of crossing into Iran.
>>
>> Iraq's Defence Ministry spokesman Ibrahim Shaker said the Iraqi
>> patrol, consisting of five soldiers, an officer and a translator, had
>> simply been doing "their duty".
>>
>> SHI'ITE MILITIAS
>>
>> While struggling to defeat a Sunni insurgency, Maliki has also pledged
>> to rein in Shi'ite militias blamed for much of the sectarian violence
>> that kills an estimated 100 people a day.
>>
>> Analysts have said disarming militias won't be easy because of their
>> ties with political parties. The Badr Organisation, the armed wing of
>> the powerful SCIRI party, a partner in Maliki's coalition, was a
>> product of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
>>
>> Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims who had converged in the
>> holy city of Kerbala to celebrate the Shaabaniya ritual began leaving
>> the southern city after Saturday's climax ended days of chanting,
>> praying and feasting.
>>
>> Heavy presence by police and Iraqi troops kept out the Sunni al Qaeda
>> suicide bombers who have disrupted previous rituals. The provincial
>> governor said 3 million attended.
>>
>> Worshippers heard SCIRI leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim repeat demands for
>> legislation to let mainly Shi'ite regions of the oil-rich south merge
>> into an autonomous federal region that would neighbour Iran.
>>
>> The Shi'ite-sponsored draft law, which exposed Iraq's sectarian
>> tensions during a tumultuous parliament session on Thursday after
>> Sunni lawmakers opposed it, is set to get its first reading on Sunday.
>>
>> Sunnis, who inhabit a large swathe in central and western Baghdad,
>> fear federalism will allow Kurds in the north and Shi'ites in the
>> south to carve up their own regions and cut them off from the
>> country's vast oil wealth.
>>
>> In fresh violence on Saturday, 16 bodies were found in different areas
>> of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, bound, blindfolded and shot. Police
>> said they were unable to identify them because they were not carrying
>> identity cards.
>>
>> --
>> Yoshie
>> <http://montages.blogspot.com/>
>> <http://mrzine.org>
>> <http://monthlyreview.org/>
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