Monday, March 15, 2010
[The following, by Ben Cohen, is crossposted from Z Word.]
As David Axelrod might put it, this is an insult and an affront. Visit the online route map of EgyptAir, the airline owned by the same state which signed an historic peace agreement with Israel in 1979, and you will see, once you click on the "Middle East & Gulf" section, that Israel has, well, disappeared.
The area between the Mediterranean Sea and the River Jordan has been divided down the middle - shades of a "Greater Syria" fantasy here, now that I think about it - and Amman appears to have moved several hundred miles to the west. No Tel Aviv, no Eilat, no Haifa. It's like they never existed.
Perhaps that's the point. Meanwhile, I wonder what impact this will have on relations between Egypt and the country that provides it with around $2bn annually in assistance.
Meanwhile, I wonder what impact this will have on relations between Egypt and the country that provides it with around $2bn annually in assistance.
No impact whatsoever because it seems that the donor country is in agreement - Judenrein.
It looks to me like EgyptAir's map shows only cities that EgyptAir flies to. So it doesn't show any in Israel, but it also doesn't show any in Mexico or Ireland or Indonesia.
Leaving Jerusalem off EgyptAir map proves that Jerusalem is not a Holy City to the arabs/muslims running EgyptAir.
Ron Newman, did saddam husseins iraq ever have WMDs and did saddam ever use WMDs?
The point isn't whether or not EgyptAir flies to Israel or not... nor whether the map says "Israel" or not. (It doesn't, but then it doesn't label Jordan or Egypt either.)
The point is that national boundaries are marked... and Israel's are simply wrong, with a diagonal line running approximately from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv as though that were a national border. (It isn't, and never has been.) It also shows Amman, the capital of Jordan, clearly to the west of the Jordan River; that too is simply wrong.
In other words, were Israel cut roughly in half, with Amman in the southern half and both Damascus AND Beirut in the northern half, then the map would be accurate.
Yes, people do make mistakes. Now can someone please show me a mistake in the opposite direction -- a map from any Arab or Muslim country that shows Israel as *larger* than it is? (As someone or other once said: making a mistake is not a sign of bias. If all your mistakes lean the same way, that *IS* a sign of bias. And it's certainly not the first time a representative of the Egyptian government has pretended that Israel does not exist.)
respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline
Well I sure hope the pilots don't use that map for reference:)
Sophia, you beat me to it. :)
Re: "Leaving Jerusalem off EgyptAir map proves that Jerusalem is not a Holy City to the arabs/muslims running EgyptAir."
If you look at the map again, you'll see that Mecca is not shown either. Because it also is not a city that EgyptAir flies to.
I agree that the boundaries of Israel are misplaced on the map, as is the location of Amman.
Ron Newman, you expect us to believe that during the Hajj, EgyptAir doesn't fly pilgrims to Mecca?
P.S. Ron Newman, did saddam husseins iraq ever have WMDs?
Perhaps they just dont want to upset the tender feelings of Arab Muslim passengers, who are prone to violence.
Since anybody that would object is not prone to violence, it becomes the easy choice.
Apparently Ron Newman is CORRECT in this case.
EgyptAir does NOT have direct service to Mecca/Makkah.
The EgyptAir Middle East map
http://egyptair.com/Routes/Routes.aspx
According to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecca#Transportation
"Transportation facilities related to the Hajj or Umrah are the main services available. Mecca has only the small Mecca East Airport with no airline service, so most pilgrims access the city through the Hajj terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport or the Jeddah Seaport, both of which are in Jeddah."
Also I recommend clicking on link "Entry to Mecca for Non-Muslims"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecca#Entry_to_Mecca_for_Non-Muslims
"Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca under Saudi law.[1]"
Additionally the EgyptAir map does not display any country names.
So Ron Newmans point that only cities that EgyptAir uses are listed, apparently is correct.
P.S. Ron Newman: Did saddam husseins iraq ever have WMDs?