Showing posts with label Egyptian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egyptian. Show all posts

Monday, June 8, 2015

(American) Pharaoh Pays Out Big Bucks to Egyptian Jew

(American) Pharaoh Pays Out Big Bucks to Egyptian Jew

Monday, June 08, 2015 |  David Lazarus  ISRAEL TODAY
American Pharaoh, a race horse owned by Egyptian-born Ahmed Zayat, became the first thoroughbred to capture the coveted Triple Crown in nearly four decades. Sweeping the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes for the first time since 1978, Pharaoh paid out big time for his Orthodox Jewish owner.
The win was something of a miracle for Zayat, an Orthodox Jew who grew up in a neighborhood outside of Cairo. Egypt expelled its entire Jewish population in the 1950’s following the establishment of the State of Israel. The Egyptians confiscated all Jewish-owned property and reduced the Jewish population from a thriving community of more than 80,000 in 1948 to just 20 persons in 2014.
But the Zayat family not only survived the afflictions of modern Egypt, somehow they thrived. Zayat’s father was appointed as personal physician to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and the family prospered while living in one of the wealthiest suburbs of Cairo.
As a young teenager, Ahmed Zayat, who always had a love for horses, won numerous national show jumping championships in Egypt – but instead of the traditional Arabic keffiyeh, Zayat rides wearing a yarmulke!
Today, Zayat owns 144 horses, and prior to American Pharaoh’s historic victories over the past weeks, he had watched his thoroughbreds suffer bitter defeat, coming in second in the Kentucky Derby three out of the last four years. In 2012, his horses finished second in each of the three Triple Crown races – the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.
American Pharaoh has become one the biggest forces in horse racing history and is now said to be worth untold millions. Pharaoh may have had some Jewish mazal, or good fortune, working for him. It has been reported that the non-Jewish jockey who rode American Pharaoh to the celebrated Triple Crown victories visited the Lubavitcher rebbe’s grave to pray and ask for good luck.
So what is it like for an Orthodox Jewish family and friends to gather around the winner’s circle at the Kentucky Derby? “There is no conflict,” Mrs. Zayat said. “Most of our big races are on Saturdays, so we walk to the track. Shabbat is still Shabbat.”
Who would have imagined that an Orthodox Jewish family from Egypt would raise what has become the most prized race horse in modern times. I mean, after reading the Bible, who would have even thought to place a bet on Pharaoh? Go figure.
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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Egyptian Man Arrested for Loving Israel on Facebook

Egyptian Man Arrested for Loving Israel

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff  
Egyptian security forces over the weekend arrested a young Egyptian man for daring to publicly profess his love for Israel and seeking to visit the Jewish state.
A resident of the Sohag Governorate in southern Egypt, the 24-year-old man came to the attention of police officials after “declaring his love” for Israel on Facebook and personally communicating with several Israelis via the social media website.
According to Egyptian media reports, the young man has a Star of David tattoo on his arm, pictures of Israeli army generals and the Israeli flag in his computer, and keeps a Hebrew dictionary in his home.
He was also allegedly in possession of $100 USD in cash and four national ID cards all listing different occupations.
The young man is said to have admitted to personal contact with Israeli tourists while previously working as a taxi driver in the Sinai Peninsula, and to attempting to obtain a visa to enter Israel earlier last year.
Israel and Egypt have a peace treaty that is supposed to encourage tourism between the two countries. While many Israelis visit Egypt every year, there is very little reciprocal flow.
As far as anyone knows, it is not illegal for Egyptians to be supportive of Israel and visit the Jewish state, but such behavior is certainly taboo in Egyptian society.
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Monday, October 21, 2013

Mind Control, Spy Eagles?

Mind Control, Spy Eagles? What Will Israel Think of Next?

Sunday, October 20, 2013 |  Ryan Jones, Israel Today  
Conspiracy theories in the Arab world regarding what Israel is capable of in its quest to gain the upper hand in the Middle East conflict continue to pour in, and continue to get wilder by the day.
Recently, a respected Egyptian celebrity openly claimed that Israeli mind control was possibly behind remarks by a usually-rabid anti-Israel cleric's failure to paint the Jewish state in the very worst light.
When former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown in July, Muslim Brotherhood preacher Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi denounced the Egyptian military that spearheaded the coup as "worse than Israel."
Qaradawi's intent was to smear the Egyptian army, but his remarks left many followers asking, "How could anyone possibly be worse than Israel?" Had Qaradawi inadvertently suggested that perhaps Israel isn't all as bad as he and other Muslim clerics have long insisted?
Mounting criticism of Qaradawi eventually became too much for Egyptian actor Hassan Yousef, a self-proclaimed long-time friend of the venomous sheikh.
In a recent interview on Egypt's Dream 2 TV (translated by [MEMRI][1]), Yousef seemed to be grasping at straws in his desire to exonerate Qaradawi.
"The Qaradawi I know is dead. That man is a double. What we just heard could not have been said by the Sheikh al-Qaradawi," Yousef said, clarifying that "Israel is capable of anything."
Perhaps realizing how bizarre his ramblings sounded, Yousef then upped the ante by suggesting that it was the real Qaradawi who had made the offensive remarks, but that the sheikh was under the effects of an Israeli mind control chip implanted in his brain.
To the north, Lebanon's Hezbollah triumphantly reported last week that it had caught an Israeli spy operating on the wrong side of the border. What the terrorist militia had actually captured was an eagle with a tracking bracelet from Tel Aviv University on its leg.
Millions of birds migrate over Israel every year, and many are tagged and tracked to better understand migratory patterns and to help protect endangered species. The bird hunted down in Lebanon was an endangered species.
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Friday, September 13, 2013

Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Yom Kippur Movie Recommendations

Top 5 Yom Kippur War Movies Recommended by Steven Spielberg




Yom Kippur War
A knocked out Israeli M60 tank amongst the debris of other armor after an Israeli counterattack in the Sinai during the Yom Kippur War. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Today at sundown Israel will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. An Arab coalition launched a joint surprise attack on Israeli positions on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, which occurred that year during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed ceasefire lines to enter the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights respectively, which had been captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Both the United States and the Soviet Union initiated massive resupply efforts to their respective allies during the war, and this led to a near-confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers.
In memory of the war, the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive has recommended the Top 5 films showing the war and its aftermath:
5. Letter From The Front (1973)
The war through the eyes of reserve soldiers who were mobilized
4. Will To Do (1974)
The mood and conditions in Israel a year after the Yom Kippur War: rehabilitation of the wounded, care for war widows and general hardships.
 3. A Time Between (1974)
The State of Israel recovers after the Yom Kippur War.
 2. A Message Of Life (1974)
The Yom Kippur War causes hardship but also creates solidarity.
 1. As Always Hadassah (1974)

Hadassah Hospital treats injured soldiers and civilians during the Yom Kippur War.