Middle East News Round-Up

By Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

Things not allowed by Hamas in Gaza:

Men and women walking together, holding hands, riding in a car together, swimming together, eating together, shopping together, studying together, living together, sleeping together, and now it is forbidden for women to ride motorcycles.

The Hamas government has banned women from riding motorcycles in the Gaza Strip, saying the move was in keeping with "Arab traditions."

The decision to ban women from riding motorcycles was published by the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the movement's security forces in the Gaza Strip.

The decision is seen in the context of Hamas's efforts to enforce strict Islamic teachings in the area.

Two months ago, a Hamas judge issued an order requiring all women who appear in court to wear the hijab.

Men and women who are seen together are regularly stopped by Hamas policemen or militiamen who question them about the nature of their relationship.

Forbidden under Hamas!

Explaining its latest decision, Hamas said it was made to "safeguard the safety of residents and to maintain the stability of traditions and customs in Palestinian society."

The Hamas statement said that men would not be allowed from now on to carry women behind them as they drive their motorcycles.

I wonder if they were afraid that some of the dissident happy slaves of Gaza were planning to form a branch of the Hell's Angels?

If you ever have wondered what the region would e like if the energies directed at hating Israel would be better spent in worthwile pursuits, here is an example:

Nobel Prize winner 'happy, shocked'

Prof. Ada Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science - whose highly abstruse field and targets were regarded with skepticism by colleagues and who was treated like "the village fool" for years - has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her four decades of research on protein "factories" in cells.

Her dedicated work has led to the current struggle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and many other applications. Yonath is the world's first woman to become a chemistry laureate since 1964, and only the fourth in history. Her prize will be Israel's ninth Nobel and its second in chemistry, and the Rehovot institute's first. The ceremony will be held in Stockholm on December 10.

Continuing a message expressed numerous times by Prof. Aaron Ciechanover after he won the 2004 Nobel in Chemistry with his mentor, Prof. Avram Hershko, Yonath warned on Wednesday that inadequate government funding available for aspiring Israeli scientists would make it far more difficult for younger researchers to earn Nobel Prizes in the future. "Those who win the prize now do so because of what has happened before, not because of what is happening now," she said.

However, she added that the world would soon be hearing about a promising new generation of Israeli scientists.

Read the full story here.

In further news 75 Arabs have been arrested for rioting over their false claim to the Temple Mount. Construction has begun on new housing units in East Jerusalem, in open defiance of Barack Hussein Obama. Thousands of Christains marched in along side with Jews in the annual Sukkot March. I do believe this year's theme song was: "Praise The Lord, And Pass the Israeli Flag.". That ditty just might go high on the charts.

And according to ABC News, the US is preparing to attack Iran. If there was anyone else in the White House other than Barack Hussein Obama, I just might believe this report. But with the Great Appeaser, the reincarnation of Neville Chamberlain sitting in the Oval Office, I will just laugh. The man doesn't have the balls to do it.

Thus ends today's news.

Have a good one!