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| Iraq | |||
| Pack up or die, street vendors told | |||
| 2006-06-05 | |||
As the purveyors of nothing spicier than the odd dash of hot chilli sauce, Baghdad's falafel vendors had never imagined their snacks might be deemed a threat to public morality. Now, though, their simple offerings of chickpeas fried in breadcrumbs have gone the same way as alcohol, pop music and foreign films - labelled theologically impure by the country's growing number of Islamic zealots.
"They came telling us, 'You have 14 days to end this job' and I asked them what was the problem," said Abu Zeinab, 32, who was packing up his stall for good yesterday in the suburb of al Dora, a hardline Sunni neighbourhood. "I said I was just feeding the people, but they said there were no falafels in Mohammed the prophet's time, so we shouldn't have them either. "I felt like telling them there were no Kalashnikovs in Mohammed's time either, but I wanted to keep my life." Why Baghdad's falafel vendors should be blacklisted while their colleagues are allowed to continue selling kebabs or Western-style pizzas and burgers remains a mystery. Some suspect it is because a taste for falafels is one of the few things that unites Jewish and Arab communities in Israel. It is, however, just one of many Islamic edicts to hit Baghdad in recent weeks, prohibiting everything from the growing of goatee beards to the sale of mayonnaise - because it is allegedly made in Israel. Even the Arab addiction to cigarettes is being challenged, with insurgents declaring smoking bans in at least one Sunni district.
News of the latest strictures surfaced 10 days ago, when the coach of Iraq's tennis team and two players were shot dead for wearing shorts. The killings, in Sunni-dominated west Baghdad, took place days after militants had distributed leaflets banning the wearing of shorts or T-shirts with English writing on them. They also forbade women to drive or travel on public transport with men - a rule that bus drivers have begun to enforce. Another group of traders to have felt the Islamists' unexpected wrath is Baghdad's ice merchants, who sell large chunks of ice for storing food and chilling drinks. In a city facing constant power cuts and summer temperatures of up to 50C (122F), the service they provide is little short of essential. Yet in recent weeks, they too have fallen foul of the claim that their product was not a feature of life during Mohammed's time.
Meanwhile, barbers have been inundated with young men anxious to shave off their goatee beards. Last month, Mustapha Jawad, 17, was allegedly killed for wearing one, which Islamists deemed a Jewish facial hairstyle. "After Mustapha's death I received 20 to 30 young men every day, all wanting me to shave off their goatee," said a barber, Sinan al Rubai. "Maybe one day the mujahedeen will insist on shaving all the head - then I will be rich." | |||
| Posted by:Steve |
| #15 Welcome, DESNC! Feel free to bring your friends, too. :-) I look forward to seeing how your thoughts evolve, the longer you hang out here. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-06-05 23:27 |
| #14 Damn - where's the Wolf Brigade when you need them? 'Haven't heard much about them lately. As I see it, progessive Iraiqs need to start fielding highly effective "death squads" - and do it soon - to start removing the Talibanesque throwbacks. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2006-06-05 22:24 |
| #13 Ouch! Owwwwwwwwwww! ouchie! That pretty much sums it up Zenster. |
| Posted by: Speath Omique8091 2006-06-05 15:18 |
| #12 Muslims deserve Islam. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-06-05 14:55 |
| #11 Youse guys obviously don't know the exemption for modern weapons. Says so in the Qu'ran, you could look it up. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-06-05 14:31 |
| #10 Letz see gott yur eggs, check got yur cream, check got yur colloidal processing yep. Any decent Rab's gonna sign off on that. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-06-05 14:13 |
| #9 their product was not a feature of life during Mohammed's time. What can you say? Old Mo may very well only be a mythical patriarch and never have existed as a living person, and if he existed, he was NOT a good person, even by 7th century standards. Yet, bellicose brainwashed cult-followers wish to mimick him in every details, as he's the ultimate rolemodel... proving once again that islam actually is a control device, designed for enforcing the rule of a given cultural hegemony. Too bad it's stuck and never has bothered to keep up with modernity. which Islamists deemed a Jewish facial hairstyle That's because they're only fighting the Zionists(Tm), you know. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-06-05 13:54 |
| #8 "the sale of mayonnaise - because it is allegedly made in Israel." This is deeply, deeply ironic. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-06-05 13:31 |
| #7 Yet in recent weeks, they too have fallen foul of the claim that their product was not a feature of life during Mohammed's time Ok gunsexers, then lay down your guns, explosives, pants, shirts and shoes, since they weren't a 'feature' of Moho's life. Oh, and go f*ck some sheep. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-06-05 13:22 |
| #6 "So I quickly whipped out my machine pistol and blew the cheeky buggers away." If only. |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-06-05 12:58 |
| #5 This is great. When I first started reading RB I was a naive MSM watcher who bought into the sensationlism that they create and the negative spin put on our country and foreign policy. Since reading RB over the past months I have realized that this type of behavior doesn't threaten our lifestyle but actually elevates it. While these idiots are killing each other, establishing muslim courts, and enforcing the strict muslim views, they are only falling behind. As they go back to the stone ages, we are advancing technologically. They are killing their educated, reverting to non-technology based lifestyles, and doing what we could do with a few well placed bombs. I realize that our foriegn policy shouldn't be to try and curb the fanatics, but to let them have free reign. Pull the complete area back to the stone ages, and we'll dominate once you have no one who can have an independent thought and intelligence beyond a donkey cart driver. Let them dumb themselves down. Chickpeas is just the start. Thanks for opening my eyes to a media circus that has as longing to bash the USA, not maintain and advance it's level of honor! |
| Posted by: DESNC 2006-06-05 12:47 |
| #4 The smoking-Taliban are here in San Diego too. |
| Posted by: Master of Obvious 2006-06-05 12:46 |
| #3 Islam, the religion of backwardsness and ignorance for the last 1700 years! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-06-05 12:45 |
| #2 I said I was just feeding the people, but they said there were no falafels in Mohammed the prophet's time, so we shouldn't have them either. There weren't any guns, cars, medicines, synthetic fabrics, or plastics in Mohammed's time. There was no videotape, no radio, no Internet, and oil was a nasty, useless annoyance. Yet you bastards have no problems with any of that. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-06-05 12:38 |
| #1 Let the Baghdadis get a good mouthful of islamic holier than thou water. Let them decide which is better: democracy or islam. I only wonder how soon this can be exported to Saudi Arabia? |
| Posted by: ed 2006-06-05 12:22 |