The Nazareth model of Jewish-Arab coexistence

One of the most surprising facts I learned during my visit to Israel was how often people use the word Yallah. I asked my Israeli friends if they know what it means. Few of them knew the origin of the word.

I explained to them that the word comes from Ya Allah, which literally means Oh God. I don't need to tell them that Allah is not the 'Jewish' God. The irony is lost on my Israeli friends. For them, Yallah is an Israeli word!

Walking through one of the main streets in Tel Aviv, I was surprised to see a billboard that read: "Falafel: National Snack of Israel." Shouldn't the national snack of the Jewish state be Jewish food? I wonder if a person who was  born in Israel and who has never visited an Arab country, actually thinks that Falafel was invented in Israel! For a country eager to advance its European/Jewish character, Israel has comfortably taken on the slang and snacks of the Arab world.

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Talking about talking

Anyone who has followed the endless, sometimes painfully monotonous, US presidential marathon has most likely heard the three major candidates' positions vis-à-vis Iran - all of whom have unfortunately taken incoherent stances regarding their characterization of diplomatic engagement.

The Republican nominee, John McCain, seems to have forfeited his once "maverick" persona in exchange for a carbon copy of George Bush's foreign policy (i.e. not negotiating with "rogue nations" or conversely engaging terrorist organizations). A few weeks ago he pledged that he would be Hamas' "worst nightmare" [1]. In the United States, and in many Israeli policy circles, this popular Palestinian militant group has been incorrectly labeled as an "Iranian proxy". Yet, even if we assume that this oversimplification of complex and endemic Palestinian politics is true, the same John McCain, in 2006, stated that the United States should now "deal" with Hamas, since they had become the elected Palestinian government [2].

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