Arabs: Terror War Has Spread Instability

This article illustrates some of the fundamental misconceptions and misunderstandings that fuel the war. Here are some selections:

"Sept. 11 was a tragic day in our history because so many innocent people were killed at the hands of militants, who find a fertile ground in our region in view of the biased U.S. policies toward Israel and against Arab causes," said 34-year-old banker Mahmoud Obeid in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

"We don't hate the Americans as people, but we abhor the policies of their government, which blindly supports Israel against our just causes in Palestine and Iraq (news - web sites)."

Sometimes justice is in the eye of the beholder. Essentially what I hear him saying is that only one side has responsibility here and that the people he supports have no accountability.

"Egyptian columnist Fahmy Howeidy said Arabs and Muslims must question their own actions "because these people who committed the Sept. 11 attacks and attacked the United States were Muslims and Arabs. We need to ask what is wrong with these people, why did they do this?"
But he told The Associated Press that "the (main) problem is the Americans don't want to criticize themselves. They don't look at their policies and mistakes, like the U.S. position toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. By defending the terrorism committed by Israel against the Palestinians, they are filling people with anger."

I could pick this apart in so many different ways. But let's focus on one aspect of this. The French journalists who were kidnapped were kidnapped because of French policy. It had nothing to do with anything else, there are other examples.

If he wants to engage in a real and honest discussion he needs to include Palestinian terror. He needs to discuss Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad.

Israel is not without blame, but it takes two sides for these problems to exist and I find it hypocritical for him not acknowledge the mistakes made by both sides.