Liberal Arab Columnist: Why the Palestinians Miss Opportunities

In an article titled "Why an Even More Difficult Future Awaits Us, Palestinians and Arabs,"(1) liberal Tunisian columnist Al-'Afif Al-Akhdhar wrote in the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat:

The Missed Opportunity of July 2000 and Its Consequences

"My generation opened its eyes with the loss of Palestine, and is about to shut them with the loss of the opportunity to retrieve what can be retrieved from it. No doubt, the Palestinian issue is the mother of all our issues, and its solution depends upon the possibility of bringing our societies to modernization, which in turn, is for us a matter of 'to be or not to be...'"

"Until 2000, the solution was within reach. But the Palestinian leaders refused to extend it a hand. This was the last costly missed opportunity to get back the land, and with it a measure of honor that would have been sufficient to heal our wound, which has bled since our defeat by Napoleon in 1798 and more since we were defeated by Ben-Gurion in 1948."

"Clinton presented proposals to the Palestinian leaders on a golden platter, and they answered him with an Intifada of armed struggle and suicide bombings - in an era when these are no longer appropriate. Thus, at one blow, we lost [both] the land ... and our reputation. The occupation army returned [to the territories] and in everyone's eyes our image was tarnished by egotism unprecedented in our history."

'The Vast Majority of Arab Intellectuals, the Arab Street, and 80% of the Palestinians - Supported Suicide Attacks'

"...Before our suicide operations against Israeli citizens, our image was one of men struggling for liberty. But when the most important Palestinian organizations - among them Fatah - became involved [in suicide attacks], and when the vast majority of Arab intellectuals, the Arab street, and 80% of the Palestinians - supported them, we were slapped with an image of a suicide [attacker] who disdains life - his life and the lives of others."

"When we lost the media war, our back was exposed to Sharon, who gave it a military and political knockout with the 'Defensive Wall' war, and then with 'Determined Path.' Thus, defeated, the Palestinian and Arab street submitted to bitterness over their fate, as happened on the morning of the 1967 defeat."

Comparing the First Intifada to the Second

"It is reasonable to assume that now the Arab-Israeli conflict, and primarily the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, will be resolved ... by coercion and humiliation - on the basis of the current balance of power."

"We, the majority of the elite and the public, welcomed the Oslo Accord despite its modest [scope], because it was the jewel in the crown of the victory of the Intifada of the 'Children of the Stones,' that reshaped the world consciousness by inverting the symbol of the Israeli David and the Philistine Goliath transferring the sling, for the first time in history, to the hands of a Palestinian confronting an Israeli tank."

"[Now], the probable solution reflects the result of the defeat of the Intifada of the Suicide Bombings, which has killed two birds with one stone: [first] it wiped out the first Intifada's political-symbolic achievements; [second] it revived and then dashed hopes in the Palestinian and Arab street, only to bring back the occupation..."

Arab Responses to Defeats - Historical Observations

"Historically speaking, elites [of nations] have responded to defeats in two ways. [The first was] a creative response to challenge, as the elites in Japan and Germany did in the 19th and 20th century when they opened up to modernization in the economy, politics, sciences, and philosophy, in a way unprecedented in their national autocratic history. [The second was] a conceptual introversion within these nations' identity in which emotionalism overrode rationalism..."

"Our reaction to repeated defeats over the past two centuries [unlike the Japanese and the Germans] was as follows: After every defeat, we became less courageous in asking [ourselves] painful questions, and more deeply mired in the culture of finding excuses, placing responsibility for our defeats on the unknown and settling for complaining about the trap laid by the West and its 'stepdaughter' Israel, who have targeted our land and skies."

"All this [has happened] without us asking [ourselves] the embarrassing question of whether internal factors have made us, unlike all other nations, easy prey to all. The [Arab] elites have opted for ... denying their overwhelming responsibility for these defeats."

"The Algerian prince Abd Al-Qader was responsible for the defeat of his people by the French occupation, because he preferred [to follow] a religious ruling issued by the Mufti of Fas [Morocco] and opted for suicide and Jihad, to the last of his men, rejecting the proposal to divide Algeria between him and the occupiers and to wait for better days when it would be possible to regain the usurped part as cheaply as possible. [Ahmad] 'Urabi [an Egyptian officer who clashed with the British in 1882] chose hopeless resistance over negotiations with the conquerors which could have reduced losses. Arafat tore up Clinton's proposals and rode [the wave of] the Intifada of the Suicide Bombers, only to lead his people to a dead end."

The Palestinian 'Failure Neurosis'

"What caused these leaders, primarily the Palestinians among them, to lead their peoples to perdition?"

"[I believe] it is the 'Failure Neurosis' that compelled them to do everything within their power to punish themselves and their peoples with failure where success was certain. Their 'Failure Neurosis' has several symptoms:"

"Conceptual Stagnation, making them incapable - at every stage of the struggle - of reading the regional and international balance of powers, and incapable of drawing the necessary conclusions, so as to make a political and military decision in keeping with the situation."

"Political Backwardness, preventing them from changing their means of struggle, way of thought, and goals which are not compatible with the political changes. [This political backwardness] makes them resist the changeover of the generations, in both the government and the opposition, and made them prefer yes-men over knowledgeable people."

"The Mania of the Armed Struggle, with all its terrible ramifications - transforming the armed struggle from a means serving the ultimate goal of a viable Palestinian state into a goal in and of itself. This is the cause for the missing of historical opportunities since 1937 to 2000, with ... pristine excuses such as 'we have the right[s] on our side' and 'time, geography, and demography are working in our favor.'"

"Inability to Define the National Interest, Are we talking about the liberation of Mandatory Palestine, or about regaining what can be salvaged of the Palestine occupied [by Israel] in the 1967 war? What are the optimal means of armed struggle for actualizing one of these two options? Are we talking about an Intifada of armed struggle and suicide bombings, or about negotiations, or about both - as maintained by Marwan Barghouti - in hope that this will place the Sharon government between the rock of the Intifada and the hard place of negotiations?"

"Perhaps the latter is the decision of the Palestinian leaders, but it does not serve the national interest one iota. Like every improvisation, the decision-making process that nations follow was not carried out [by our leadership]. [That is], taking on the opponent's role so as to [assess] what his counter-decisions will be. Thus, our decision is like those made out of mental sloth."

"Finally, a [last] symptom of the 'Failure Neurosis,' which forces these Arab leaders to act without knowing what their enemies want from them, is the Prohibition on Free Internal Discussion and Moderate Discourse - which usually arise from a serious analysis of the data. The verbal radicalism sweeping our culture and the emotionally charged words ... fills the vacuum created by the lack of analysis and the vacuity of thought."

"Words packed with content such as 'rationalism,' 'moderation,' and 'concessions' arouse horror. What meaning could concessions and interim solutions have when compared to 'the sacred rights' - which exist, of course, only on paper?..."

Palestinian Leaders Have Handed Down a Death Sentence for Palestinian Intelligence

"In reality, restoring [Palestinian rights] is impossible - but reality is the last thing that interests the bewitched way of thinking in which the value of words equals their content."

"Thus, these leaders have handed down a death sentence for Palestinian intelligence. It is no accident that most critical Palestinian intellectuals have preferred remaining outside the leadership; it is no accident that their proposals do not resonate among [the leaders]. There is no doubt that this is one reason for the absence of a Palestinian political program enjoying international trust..."

Endnote:
(1) Al-Hayat (London), July 21, 2002.

A PILOT’S EDITORIAL -- "YOU WORRY ME."

Ive been trying to say this since 9-11.

I guess I will be labeled as a bigoted American.

By: American Airlines Pilot - Captain John Maniscalco

"You worry me. I wish you didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don't blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me. I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.

On September 11, nineteen ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children, and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children's mothers.

So I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want to be consumed by the same rage and hate and prejudice that have destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the Arab /Muslim terrorist.

How do I differentiate between the true Arab-Muslim-Americans and the Arab-Muslims in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter those very same good neighbors and children? The events of September 11th changed the answer.

It is not my responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for every Arab-Muslim in this country to determine it for me.

I want to know, I demand to know, and I have a right to know whether or not you love America. Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation; that He will protect and prosper it?

Or do you pray that Allah will destroy it in one of your "Jihads"?

Are you thankful for the freedom that only this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.

Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions you are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America.

Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent because I worry about who you regard as innocent. And no more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks, because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy ...I am only interested in action.

What will you do for America -- our great country -- at this time of crisis, at this time of war?

I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want to hear you chanting "Allah Bless America". I want to see young Arab-Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time, and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a whole.

The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize in Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us, now!

But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.

The very few Arab-Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States prove who was responsible before taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing "leaders" like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.

If the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good and pure and true, when your "leaders" are teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance.

It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if large numbers of the world's Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide. A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world. A form whose members defended Johnny Cochran and O. J. Simpson after the latter butchered his wife and murdered an innocent friend. A form whose members (some as young a five years old) are seen day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of Islam.

Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because our women proudly show their faces in public rather than cover up like a shameful whore?

Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because we drink wine with dinner, or celebrate Christmas? Do you and you fellow Muslims hate us because we have befriended Israel, the ONLY civilized democratic nation in the entire Middle East?

And if you and your fellow Muslims hate us, then why in the world are you even here? Are you here to take our money? Are you here to undermine our peace and stability? Are you here to destroy us?

If so, I want you to leave. I want you to go back to your desert sandpit where women are treated like rats and dogs. I want you to take your religion, your friends, and your family back to your Islamic extremists, and STAY THERE!

We will NEVER give in to your influence, your retarded mentality, your twisted, violent, intolerant religion. We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us --- our rights under the greatest constitution in the world.

I want to know where every Arab-Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to demand it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family. I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American. But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance and it is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand."

"Until then ... you worry me." ""

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