Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

As this post is being written, the Israeli airforce is bombing the Gaza Strip and causing serious damage and loss of life. So far over 280 people have been killed in the strikes, and over 600 wounded. Keep in mind that wounded could mean anything from a small shrapnel wound to the loss of all your limbs and being maimed for life. This is a massive operation meant to shock the Palestinians and strike fear into Hamas. Most of the casualties were Hamas operatives, but at least 15 civilians have also been killed.

It is hard to imagine the scale of such an attack until you see video footage of the mass wreckage and chaos in the aftermath of this massive assault.



There is no doubt that Hamas provoked this massive attack with its kassam rocket fire into Israeli towns. But was that rocket fire completely without reason as Israel claims? Of course not. Israel has been blockading and squeezing Gaza dry ever since Hamas was elected in Gaza. Gazans are suffering with no electricity, no running water, extremely limited fuel supplies, and limited pharaceutical supplies. Their economy has been destroyed. Israel has been practicing collective punishment against the Palestinians in Gaza, because of their disapproval of Hamas. Israel often claims that it has already ended its occupation of Gaza, but with these horrific conditions for Gazans, they obviously feel little control over their own lives. This is an occupation and a punitive blockade.

Under such circumstances of course the Palestinians will react irrationally. Of course they will be angry. Of course they will lash out violently. If you keep an animal trapped in a cage and poke it with a stick over and over again, it will start to get vicious and fight back. This is the reality of the Kassam rocket fire. I would prefer to see negotiations, and I think Hamas are far too irrational to be leading the Palestinians. But Israel has caused the conditions that result in this insanity.

So Israel is now massively punishing the Palestinians of Gaza for what it caused them to do in the first place. Israel has been using the iron fist against the Palestinians for decades, and it has never worked. Beating the Palestinians down only makes them more angry and aggressive when they get up off the ground. Only justice and a fair political settlement will satisfy the Palestinians.

This cycle of violence will continue until Israel grants citizenship and full rights to all its residents, both Jewish and Arab. The current apartheid regime whose stated goal is to maximize the amount of territory inside its borders while minimizing the number of Arabs inside its borders, must become democratic and the Palestinians must have full rights in their homeland. And of course the Palestinian refugees who lost their country and lost their homes, must be compensated and given the option to return to their homeland. Only this democratic solution that grants equal rights and citizenship to Jews and Arabs will solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

More brutality and aggression intended to show the Palestinians who's in charge, are an exercise in pure futility. The Palestinians have already been to hell and back, so they are not going to give up until they get what they are entitled to. And that is the right to live with dignity as human beings in their homeland. Only then will the bloodshed stop. But based on Israel's pattern of behaviour, I have a feeling that this cycle of violence will continue for decades longer.

When this conflict finally comes to a close in the distant future, we will tally up the death toll. And much of the blood will lie on Israel's hands.

Sympathize With Gaza

"Sympathize with Gaza" seems like a relatively harmless statement, an expression of a humanitarian spirit and understanding for the suffering of the people of Gaza. And indeed there is much suffering. Is there anything radical about such a statement?

But earlier this year after Egyptian soccer player Abu Trika lifted his team jersey to reveal that exact message written on a white t-shirt, he was warned by FIFA for violating a rule against political statements. What they failed to explain, however, was why a humanitarian plea was interpreted as a political statement. The t-shirt didn't say "Suicide bomb Israel", "Zionism is racism", or even an adolescently defiant "Israel sucks". All it said was "Sympathize with Gaza".

It is also said that Israel pressured Google to remove this image from its search results. I can't verify that, because I found this image through a Google search, but not through an image search. But if this is true, it just shows even more rediculous overreaction to this heart-felt message of support for people who are suffering.

In this blogger's opinion, Abu Trika showed himself to be a caring and warm person who hates to see innocent people struggle without food, electricity, and proper plumming. He showed his sympathy for people so desperate that they broke through the Gaza-Egypt border to simply go shopping for basic necessities.

If that makes Abu Trika a radical or anti-Israel, then I guess I must be too. Because I too sympathize with Gaza. Absolutely any person with a heart who knows the facts of the situation will do the same.

What Country Is Dubai In?

What Country is Dubai In?

The Emirate of Dubai is located in United Arab Emirates (UAE), located on the Persian Gulf. UAE borders Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar.

Which continent is Dubai in?

Dubai is located in Asia. The core of the Middle East lies within Western Asia. For more information on this visit my last entry about What countries are
in the Middle East.


Dubai is one of seven Emirates that make up the UAE, and Dubai is also the name of the largest urban area in that Emirate.

Dubai is located inside the Arabian desert, and outside of the massive urban buildup of Dubai city, Dubai's landscape is dominated by sandy desert and dunes, as opposed to the rocky desert that dominates the landscape in the southern part of UAE.

In all of world geography, Dubai is considered the world's fastest growing city. Because of Dubai's efforts to attract foreign investment and businesses to its shores, construction is taking place at an unbelievably fast pace.

90% of Dubai's residents are non-Emiratis, that is to say, foreigners from other countries. The majority of the resident population comes from the Indian subcontinent, but Dubai is very cosmopolitan. It is not considered a place where
you can truly experience what life is like in an Arab country. But it is known as a fun, exciting city for expats to live.

Click on the thumbnail to view a detail map of dubai.

All Countries In The Middle East

"What are all countries in the Middle East?"

There is no exact definition of the Middle East that is agreed upon by all people. Some core countries are always included as part of the Middle East, but there is disagreement about how far the region extends, and this is complicated by cultural, linguistic, and political considerations.



The nations always included as being part of the Middle East are Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Iran. So it can be said that the Middle East is approximately equivalent to Western Asia.

But some countries outside of Western Asia, or that straddle Western Asia and another continent/region, are often included in definitions of the Middle East. Egypt is one of the most commonly included. Most of Egypt's landmass is located in North Africa, but the Sinai Peninsula is in Western Asia, and geographically inseparable from Israel's Negev desert. Not only that, but Egypt is the cultural capital of the Arab world and has therefore had a large influence on the Arab cultures of the Middle East.

Also sometimes included is Turkey, which borders Syria, Iraq, and Iran. It has a Kurdish region that extends beyond the country's Eastern borders. And there is a minority of people speaking Turkic languages living in Iran. There is also an Arabic-speaking minority in southern Turkey. So Turkey has a lot of cultural connections to the Middle East. And 97% of the land mass of Turkey lies within Western Asia. However, most Turks themselves are likely to deny being Middle Eastern. The people of Turkey tend to think of themselves as part of Europe, even though only 3% of the country is in Europe. This is possibly because the main part of Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, is located in Europe (though the city straddles the two continents). And similar to the cultural overlap with the Middle East in southern and southeastern Turkey, there is much cultural overlap with Europe in western Turkey, as well as crossover with former Soviet republics in northeastern Turkey. These days Turkey tends to be left out of definitons of the Middle East more often than it used to be.

Some people include all the Arab countries of North Africa in their definitions of the Middle East, because of the linguistic and cultural conections between the Arab countries of Africa and Asia. Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morrocco are the most commonly cited. More rarely included are Sudan, Somalia, Western Sahara, and Mauritania.



Sometimes included as part of the Middle East but normally considered part of Central Asia, is Afganistan. Pakistan is also sometimes included in definitions of the Middle East, probably because people extend the boundaries of the Middle East
in every direction as far as Islamic countries stretch. Occasionally included in definitions of the Middle East are the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, such
as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. There are linguistic connections between these Central Asia countries and the Middle East, with Turkic languages (related to Turkish language spoken in Turkey) and Iranian languages (related to the Persian language spoken in Iran). Most, however, believe that this definition of the Middle East is a great stretch, and that these countries are outside of the Middle East.

The basic classification of the Middle East comes down to Western Asia, with other countries sometimes included because of religious, cultural, or political ties with the Western Asian countries always accepted as part of the Middle East.

This map showing the distribution of the Arabic language may shed some led on people's varying definitions.

Spiders Of The Middle East

Many travelers to the Middle East, including military personnel assigned to Iraq or other locations, worry about the threat of exotic creatures including spiders. While spiders are not uncommon in the Middle East, and as anywhere bites do occasionally occur, most spiders are harmless and lack potent venom to cause serious pain or harm.

Several varieties of the widow spider (Latrodectus genus) are found in various laces in North Africa and the Middle East. Widows have thin long legs, a dark body with a colored section. The female of the spieces is far more dangerous than the male, which rarely bites humans. Black widows sometimes hide in trash and other objects left outside overnight. You therefore need to take care when picking up trash bags and recepticles like cans and bottles. The bite is not immediately felt, but soon becomes very painful and swollen, with shock, fever, nausea, increased blood pressure, headache, and difficulty breathing sometimes occurring. Most symptons will subside within a couple of days in most cases, but it is still important to seek medical attention.

Also found in Africa and the Middle East is the Harpactirinae, commonly called the baboon spider. It has an appearance similar to a tarantula, with thick, hairy legs. They have strong venom and their bites can be painful, but they are not considered a danger.



Perhaps the most famous spider found in the Middle East in the notorious camel spider. Stories of these horrifying creatures spread amongst US soldiers during the Gulf War, and more recently US troops in Iraq have spread stories and photographs on the internet. Camel Spiders, however, are not really spiders. They are a different kind of anthropod called solipugids. Contrary to the many tall tales of camel spiders that have spread, solipugids are not venomous, and they can not produce webs like spiders can. The tall tales also exaggerate the speed of the camel spiders to be around 25 miles per hour, but their real maximum speed is around 10 miles per hour (pretty fast for such a small creatures, but not nearly
fast enough to catch up with speeding Humvees as the stories would have you believe.

"How big can camel spiders get?"

Their size has also been exaggerated widely, but their real size is less than 5 inches including leg span. There is an imfamous picture circulating the internet showing a camel spider being held in front of a camera by a group of soliders. In this photo the solipugid is held very near the camera lense to give the appearance of a giant creature.

Solipugids usually come out at night rather than the day, and they are attracted to light during the night time, so they occasionally find themselves amongst humans. They also seek shade if they come out during the day, and in a hot desert the humans usually seek shade as well, so once again encounters are bound to occur. But stories of soldiers having limbs eaten alive while sleeping are rediculous distortions. Solipugids do not bite unless provoked.

So there is no need to panic if you spot a camel spider in desert locations like Iraq or Kuwait. If you leave him alone, he'll probably leave you alone too!

Camel spiders are not found strictly in the Middle East, and Afghanistan camel spider sightings also occur. Though these are occasional.