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Following are excerpts from an interview with exiled Algerian journalist Yahya Abu Zakariya, which aired on Al-Alam TV on June 14, 2009.
Yahya Abu Zakariya: Whenever a Palestinian or a Lebanese requests political asylum, there is an Israeli Mossad officer next to the Norwegian or Danish officer. If they see that somebody is loaded with information, they threaten him, so that he will cooperate with them: "If you work with us, we'll grant you a residence permit, and take care of all your needs." That way he becomes part of the Western-Israeli security apparatus – you know about the alliance between them.
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After 9/11, some scientific departments were closed to Arabs, like nuclear physics, designing nuclear bombs, and converting uranium to a radioactive substance. Secondly, they do not let you study any field of science. When you research Europe with your diplomas, you must first qualify socially. They do not recognize you. You must obtain a driving license once again. Your Ph.D.... In Sweden, I was an advisor on Arab culture in the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and I went for a job interview. I brought her a pile of Ph.D. certificates – in shari'a, in law, in media, in political science, but she put them all aside, and said: "These belong in the garbage bin." She asked: "Where is your certificate of such and such?" I had it, because I had studied at a university there too. I said to her: Shame on you for disgracing the entire Arab culture. It is beneath me to be among you, you idiots."
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I was invited by the Swedish Foreign Ministry to give a lecture in Alexandria. The lecture was on a high level, and people clapped. Then the Swedish deputy foreign minister intervened, and what did he say to the Arab audience? He said: "Look how Sweden exports golden minds to you." I said to him: "Shame on you. I am not a product of Sweden. I am an Arab and Muslim product." The Arab mind is shaped in Arab universities, but the [Europeans] attribute this knowledge to themselves. They are thieves and robbers. They stole America from the Indians.
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We have frightening, blood-sucking Arab rulers, who are not content when they see citizens who are too happy.
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I am someone who has suffered. My children died along the way, and I have suffered greatly. One day, they put me in an Arab prison because of an article. A cockroach came to me, and I picked it up and said to it: "My dear sir, you can be free. Why are you locking yourself up?" I released him under the door. I am an Arab intellectual who has suffered greatly, but I will remain here.
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