The New Terror in the Middle East: SWINE

A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt calls swine flu "more serious than a hydrogen bomb" during a symposium on the health scare. Egypt's parliament votes to "cull pigs immediately and one parliamentarian proposes criminalizing hog farming.
The United Arab Emirates bans the import of pork products as a precautionary measure and several supermarkets in the sheikhdom yank them off the shelves. Meanwhile, an Israeli health official calls for world health officials to change the name of the"Swine Flu" to "Mexican Flu," since Mexico is where the new flu allegedly originated and pigs are offensive to both Jews and Muslims. That, however, did not sit well with Mexico's ambassador to Israel.
There is hysteria about swine flu in the Middle East, yet only two confirmed cases were found in the entire region: in Israel.
For the past three days, swine flu has become the lead story on many Arab and Israeli networks. Reports about attacks in Iraq and other hot spots seem to have all but vanished for the time being. The new terror in the Middle East is swine.
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That's Why I Don't Eat Ham

I've always thought pigs were cute...from a distance. I don't pet them, and I certainly don't eat them. I don't know how bad this swine flu epidemic is, but Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been freaking me out. After watching him on CNN today reporting from Mexico, I've decided to ban burritos from my table.

Anyway, Middle Eastern media is also obsessed with this story, more than I remember them being during the SARS epidemic. Why are they worried about swine disease when they hardly eat pig?

Here is the weirdest story of all: The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday.
Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.