Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

But Will He Be Sworn In Using the Koran?
Friday, January 12, 2007

Not just Washington is for Muslims anymore. Word out of Jerusalem today that Israel has appointed its first Muslim cabinet minister. And the reaction is just what you'd expect if you've been reading the headlines here and here: It's a threat to Israel's religious heritage; it's a threat to the Arab campaign against "apartheid."

ISRAEL'S first Muslim cabinet minister received a baptism of fire yesterday as an extremist Jewish coalition partner termed him a "plague" and hard-line Arab nationalists denounced him as a "fig leaf" for apartheid.
Esterina Tartman, an MP from the Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) party said that the appointment of Ghaleb Majadale to the post of science, culture and sport minister harms Israel's character as a Jewish state. "We need to burn this plague out of our midst and god willing, the lord will help us with that," she told Israel Radio.
Mr Majadale, 53, a businessman and veteran Labour party functionary from the northern town of Baka al-Gharbiya, hailed his own appointment on Wednesday as "a historic, precedent- making step that I could not turn down." Amir Peretz, the defence minister and Labour party leader whose popularity has plummeted since Israel's failure to win last summer's war with Hezbollah, is believed to have made the appointment in order to secure the support of Mr Majadale and Arab Labour party members for his June bid for re-election as party chairman.

Labels: Middle East

Posted by B Feiler at 8:29 AM
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