Word: arieh
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...border was closed. Finally allowed to pass through Turkey, they were held up for four more days by the Syrians. As Iranians in a hostile Arab world, the drivers were probably lucky to have reached the Allenby Bridge at all, much less in two weeks. Said Benjamin Gur-Arieh, Prime Minister Menachem Begin's adviser on Arab affairs: "I'm not sure I would have driven those buses through Jordan. Maybe the [pro-Iraqi] Jordanians would have confiscated the buses and turned the drivers into soldiers...
...other Muslim country was willing to supply transportation for the Israeli faithful, who until 1978 were not allowed to make the hajj because they were citizens of the Jewish state. "The Iranians want to give the impression that they are the patrons of all Islam," said Gur-Arieh. Indeed, the pilgrims expressed profound gratitude to the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini for his religious diplomacy, despite the fact that he is a leader of the Shi'ite branch of Islam while the Israeli Arabs are rival Sunnis. "Even if they cut my throat," said one pilgrim, "I'm for Khomeini...