Middle East Picture Thread

[Guardian]

A scorpion was sitting on the West Bank of the River Jordan.

He was trying to figure out a way to cross the river.
As he sat there pondering, a mule came along, picked a shallow part of the river and started moving in that direction, clearly intending to wade across. The scorpion scrambled to catch up, calling out for the mule to wait. The mule paused and looked around, trying to see who was talking to him. When he saw that it was a scorpion, he turned away and kept moving. The scorpion called out again, pleading with the mule to please stop and listen for one minute. Reluctantly, the mule agreed, and paused to wait for the scorpion to catch up.

"Thank you!", said the scorpion as he climbed up on a rock next to the mule, then paused for a moment to catch his breath. "I was wondering", he gulped, "if you mean to cross the river?"
The mule nodded slowly. "Yes", he said, surveying the river, "I'm gonna cross it, all right."
The scorpion was getting eager now. "Can I ride across on your back?"
The mule stiffened, took a couple of steps away and snorted angrily. "Hell no!", he said. "You'll sting me!"
"No, no!", cried the scorpion. "I would not! I could not!"
"Think!", he cried, hopping up and down and gesturing towards the river. "If I was to sting you while we're out there, you'd never make the crossing and we'd both drown! That wouldn't make any sense!"
The mule considered that for a while, then reluctantly accepted the point. "All right then", he said finally, "But you're getting off as soon as we're on dry land again!" The scorpion nodded vigoriously. "Sure, sure! I promise!" The mule eyed him carefully for a few moments longer, then stepped up to the rock and waited. The scorpion cheered as he climbed on board, and together they waded out into the river.

As soon the mule had all his feet in the water, he paused and said to the scorpion, "Remember your promise?"
"Sure, sure!", cried the scorpion. "I won't sting you! -And I'm getting off as soon as we're across!"
The mule nodded in agreement and kept going, and the water got deeper and deeper around them. The crossing was going along smoothly, until - just as they were crossing the deepest point in the river - the scorpion buried his fangs in the mule's neck.

"Ouch!", cried the mule. "You stang me anyway! Now we'll both drown! Why did you do that? This doesn't make any sense! Why?!"

And as they both started to go under, the scorpion climbed up on the mule's head and whispered into his ear,

"Welcome to the Middle East!"

[Eli]

Boo!

[Bereta_Eder]

BAH!

[Mihai]

Congratulation Guardian for your unbias picture gallery. Very instructive.

Pitty that Eli was very bias, but since he is an jew living in Israel, is understandable.

[Guardian]

A nun walks past posters reading : "Israel must live" on Friday April 12, 2002 to promote a pro-Israel rally in downtown Rome. After a pro-Palestinian march in Rome which saw some participants dress up as suicide bombers and prompted worries about a resurgence of anti-semitism in Italy, Rome has been plastered with posters to promote the pro-Israel march from city hall to the city's main synagogue on Monday April 15, 2002.

[Guardian]

Efrat Ravid, 20, sits in a wheelchair in the physical therapy department of a Jerusalem hospital. Ravid was wounded in a suicide bombing at a Jerusalem cafe in March, an attack which killed 11 Israelis, including a young girl who sat next to her.

[Guardian]

.

[Guardian]

Clara Rosenberger rests in her hospital bed in Jerusalem, Friday, April 12, 2002. Rosenberger, a Holocaust survivor, was wounded in the March 27th suicide bombing that killed 28 people at a Netanya banquet hall where 250 people were eating a ritual Seder meal to mark the start of the Jewish Passover holiday.

[Guardian]

An Israeli soldier squats near demolished buildings in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, Sunday, April 14, 2002. Israel's army took journalists through part of the devastated refugee camp, the scene of heavy fighting, and rejected Palestinian accusations that large numbers of civilians were killed.

The journalists all made sure to point out that they had only seen what the army wanted them to see...

[Guardian]

A man and a woman holding Israeli national flags demonstrate for solidarity with Israel in Berlin on Sunday, April 14, 2002. About 800 people took part in the demonstration against attacks by Palestinian suicide bombers in Israel.

[Guardian]

Family members grieve over the grave of suicide bomb victim Yelena Konrab during her funeral in Jerusalem Sunday, April 14, 2002. Konrab was one of six killed by a female suicide bomber in downtown Jerusalem on Friday.

[Guardian]

Israeli tanks make their way through Jenin on Tuesday, April 16, 2002. The Palestinians say thousands of people are unaccounted for in Jenin and that hundreds could be dead beneath the dozens of wrecked buildings. Israel says it believes the number of dead is far lower.

[Guardian]

Jenin...

A Palestinian woman sits in what used to be her living room...

[Guardian]

Israeli soldiers taking a break with their dog. The dog is supposedly trained to find explosives and is there to help them locate hidden bombs or ammunition stockpiles.

The graffiti in the background reads something like, "The group of the martyr, the hero Loui Dabaya. We will retaliate against Sharon and his followers. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades".

[Guardian]

Still hanging on the wall of a destroyed house is a Palestinian poster with faces replaced by Stars of David. The poster supposedly shows a member of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, Samir Ahwas, who was killed when an Israeli Apache helicopter attacked his car on March 9, 2002. It reads "We will avenge the death of Samir"