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Saturday as Zionist Plot
Hundreds of Iraqi students demonstrated Wednesday to protest a government decision to extend the weekend to include Saturday, denouncing the scheme as a "Zionist plot". Irate high school students marched through Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, denouncing outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's decision to extend the weekend from the traditional Islamic holy day of Friday to include Saturday. "We don't want Saturday as it is a Jewish holiday," the crowd chanted. Saturday is the weekly Jewish day of rest, the Sabbath, when all forms of work and business are barred for observant Jews. But it is also a day off, if not a holy day, in most places around the world -- including in many Arab countries where banks and government offices remain closed. "The decision to include Saturday as a rest day is the start of Zionist plans in Iraq," read a banner at the demonstration, organised by the Baquba Students' Union. Students carrying Iraqi flags also chanted: "Let Muslims here raise their hands: we don't want holiday on Saturday." While there was reportedly a similar demonstration in the town of Ramadi on Tuesday, participants did not reject outright the option of having another day off during the week -- just as long as it isn't Saturday. "We organised this demonstration in protest at considering Saturday a holiday. We prefer it to be Thursday. Saturday is a holiday for Jews and we are Muslims and reject that decision," said high-school student Mohammed Abbas, 17. Allawi's government announced the doubling of weekend leisure time earlier this month, adding that the move did not affect the private sector. The cabinet stressed at the time that government employees would have to work longer days during the week in order to benefit from the Saturday bonus. Wednesday's demonstration lasted an hour and a half and ended after protestors had voiced their complaint outside the governor's office. Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-02-24 |
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