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Jamal Dajani: The New Terror in the Middle East: Swine

Jamal Dajani: The New Terror in the Middle East: Swine
A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt calls swine flu "more serious than a hydrogen bomb" during a symposium on the health scare. Egypt's parliament votes to "cull pigs immediately and one parliamentarian proposes criminalizing hog farming.

The United Arab Emirates bans the import of pork products as a precautionary measure and several supermarkets in the sheikhdom yank them off the shelves. Meanwhile, an Israeli health official calls for world health officials to change the name of the"Swine Flu" to "Mexican Flu," since Mexico is where the new flu allegedly originated and pigs are offensive to both Jews and Muslims. That, however, did not sit well with Mexico's ambassador to Israel.

There is hysteria about swine flu in the Middle East, yet only two confirmed cases were found in the entire region: in Israel.

For the past three days, swine flu has become the lead story on many Arab and Israeli networks. Reports about attacks in Iraq and other hot spots seem to have all but vanished for the time being. The new terror in the Middle East is swine.

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