'Ramadan 2014 catches 22 Arab countries perplexed by a vague state of affairs'
צילום: EPA
Will Ramadan stop arrival of new intifada?
Analysis: Israel must pray that once abduction affair is solved, it will not create bloody conflicts and push situation out of control.
Throughout the years, I have heard from my Muslim friends, the secular ones actually, that they particularly like the Ramadan
fasting month, the holiday of the holidays.
More than anything else, the Ramadan is considered a family event: After finishing the shopping (for new clothes, gifts and candy), the family members gather in the living room for the daily breaking-the-fast meal at 5 pm, pile up their plates with food (it's the most fattening month) and sit in front of the television to watch the most expensive shows till the small hours of the night. This is the high season of the production companies, scriptwriters, directors and actors. The highest ratings ever.
Those residing abroad for studies, work or for any other reason, would stop everything for five weeks in order to go back home. On the roads we could see the 2 pm "zahma" (traffic), long lines of cars and nervous traffic jams – so as not to miss out on the first bite.
Jihadist Threat
Op-ed: As ISIS fighters approach Jordan, breached border poses an imminent threat to Israel.
According to tradition, the flagship series with the highest ratings is about us. Every year has its own plots, the spy on duty who fooled the Mossad and tricked the Israelis. They spread it over 30 episodes, one for each night, so that they won't forget the "Zionist enemy."
Overall, the Ramadan is a sort of extended Yom Kippur, a month of self-examination. Violence is out (it's only permitted against "the heretics"), the body is denied of all pleasures (including that thing), cursing is forbidden and it is recommended not to gossip. Rich people wander between hotels and a high-calorie "buffet." They clean their conscience by making a donation to the "tables of the merciful" for deprived people.
On Eid al-Adha ("the feast of the sacrifice"), which ends the month, the leaders announce a clemency and open up the prisons' gates, although not to murderers and political prisoners.
Ramadan 2014, which began Sunday, catches 22 Arab countries perplexed by a vague state of affairs. It's no longer "the spring" and the young people's protest at the squares. It's no longer "we're the only good ones" against "jihad seekers." Within less than a year, "the Arab nation" has gone bankrupt, is wobbling, stressed out, dangerous and irrelevant.
Six million people have escaped or have been uprooted from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are dead, tens of thousands are missing. Syria is falling apart, Iraq's fate is unclear, Lebanon is exploding again, Libya is going up in the flames of terror. In Egypt there was a revolution, there is a new president, his list of priorities is vague and the human rights are most unlikely.
Those who were lucky got their lives back and were taken into refugee camps. They left their past behind with the property, destined to a miserable life. In the new state of affairs, the borders between Syria, Iraq and Lebanon are being erased. The Jordanians' turn may arrive at any moment, and the new terrorists are plotting to go south, to Saudi Arabia.
Against the ISIS threat, Jordan's King Abdullah must rely on Washington and Jerusalem, on US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who his people hate. But if they let him choose, it's easy to guess who the king trusts more among those two, and who he believes. Ask around in Cairo, in Maghreb, in Lebanon and the Gulf emirates: They only believe us.
In the past few days, Gaza has been sending signals that the new intifada is on its way to us. That's not certain. The Ramadan is expected to dictate a time-out and idleness. We'll see frightened leaders getting on a plane to break the fast with leaders who are as frightened as they are. They're not going on a picnic. They're flying there and back to check borders.
Here we're already keeping a low profile until the end of the Ramadan, but only shutting one eye. We must pray that the abduction affair, once it is solved, will not create bloody conflicts and will not push the situation out of control. We've already been hit with the bad surprise.
