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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GST who wrote (25701)	4/16/2002 10:02:51 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

GST... Most of these muslim countries you claim to travel to are not democracies. Thus, their incentive for "rooting out terrorism" is to eliminate potential opposition to their own despotic rule... Especially when such opposition is generated at the grass roots level by muslim scholars. There's no doubt that supporting Israel is controversial when we're talking about 13 million Jews versus the intersts of 1.5 BILLION muslims. But don't you find it just a bit interesting as to how the existence of Israel and its alleged "oppression" of the Palestinians seems to overwhelm the much greater oppression being inflicted by muslim leaders on their own opponents? No one discusses how the Syrian slaughtered 20,000 sunni muslims and leveled their town in 1982, but people like you can never forget Sabra or Shatila.. Have you ever pondered for a moment that the reason Israel is so readily criticized might be because they are everthing their surrounding Arab neighbors are not, namely an open society where policy choices are debated (sometimes endlessly and with great intensity)?? There is no true debate in the Arab world. No introspection about whether the reason they are so economically and politically backward may be due to their resistance toward adopting Western political values, while desperately groping for some unique alternative that would be inherently "muslim"? Sure they may argue politics amongst one another, but there is no true outlet for such policy debates. They argue in the steets, but the debate seldom makes it to the upper echelon of society where national policy is formulated. So the people gripe, but the leaders ignore them, or attempt to funnel their discontent to the government's advantage. And as I keep trying to impress upon you, despite your obvious attempts to ignore the reality, Sharon's return is a product of Arafat's intransigence. He so embarrassed and weakened every Israeli leader who dared meet him more than 1/2 way, that Israelis called in their "bulldog" to handle the situation. And should Sharon fail, the batter on deck is Netanyahu, who will show even less mercy towards Arafat and his terrorist leadership. Arafat needs to make a deal now, before Israelis become so reactionary and paranoid that they elect the Palestinians worst nightmare. Btw, as an interesting side note, not all Muslims hate Israel. There is one very vocal Italian Muslim scholar, Abdul Hadi Palazzi, who actively supports Israel, citing Koranic references to how Israel was given the promised land. ajc.org "To Moses We [Allah] gave nine clear signs. Ask the Israelites how he [Moses] first appeared amongst them. Pharoah said to him: 'Moses, I can see that you are bewitched.' 'You know full well,' he [Moses] replied, 'that none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth has revealed these visible signs. Pharoah, you are doomed.'" "Pharoah sought to scare them [the Israelites] out of the land [of Israel]: but We [Allah] drowned him [Pharoah] together with all who were with him. Then We [Allah] said to the Israelites: 'Dwell in this land [the Land of Israel]. When the promise of the hereafter [End of Days] comes to be fulfilled, We [Allah] shall assemble you [the Israelites] all together [in the Land of Israel]." "We [Allah] have revealed the Qur'an with the truth, and with the truth it has come down. We have sent you [Muhammed] forth only to proclaim good news and to give warning." [Qur'an, "Night Journey," chapter 17:100-104] rb.org.il Hawk