The West Bank/Gaza Arabs should consider moving to New York City. They would fit right in. They have ?Attitude?.
Unfortunately, it is not an attitude conducive to building relationships or countries. Three Arabs expressed the kind of sentiments which have facilitated their traditional ability to never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, to quote Abba Eban once again. They blamed everyone but themselves for their people?s woes and put the onus for success of the peace ?road map? on other parties.
I?m sure that stauncher supporters of Israel than I could swiftly pick apart these words from new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas: ?The root of our suffering and the source of our pain is the occupation and its detestable oppressive policies.? He cited ?assassination, detentions, checkpoints, sieges, demolition of homes and properties.? Abbas was quoted thus in the New York Times the day after the Palestinian parliament approved his new government.
Granted, the Arabs have understandable concerns and there is legitimate room to criticize Israel, but how is the ?the root of our suffering? the ?occupation?? I thought the ?root? was the refusal of the Arabs to accept the existence of a Jewish state. It was never enough for the Arabs to occupy more than 20 countries, where they persecuted Jews before exiling them.
In a news story on Philadelphia-area Jews and Arabs, Egyptian-born Yasser Abu-Ouf, a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania involved in Jewish-Arab dialogue, told the Philadelphia Inquirer: ?They are being called on to stop violence way before they see any concrete gains, and that is always tricky.?
What ?concrete gains?? Yasser Arafat?s Palestinian Authority spent its billions on everything but improving the quality of life for ordinary Palestinians. The oil-rich Arab countries were not heard from, either. Why don?t they direct their violence against Arafat?s people or their Arab brethren?
Back to the Arab leadership, Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath was quoted in the Times as saying that the plan?s success ?depends on the United States ? the will of the United States.?
Does this mean that the Arabs have no responsibilities in all this? All they should do is sit back and have everything handed to them on a silver platter? I?m sure that these remarks don?t reflect the attitudes of all Arabs there, but the fact remains that these people made these idiotic statements. If this wasn?t precisely what they meant, then Abbas and Shaath ? as leaders ? have a responsibility to provide clarity in their remarks.
Everyone has an equal responsibility to make peace a success, and anyone who refuses to accept such a responsibility deserves a Bronx cheer. That?s real ?Attitude?.
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Bruce Ticker is a freelance writer and former journalist living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He can be reached at brucetic@aol.com.
Unfortunately, it is not an attitude conducive to building relationships or countries. Three Arabs expressed the kind of sentiments which have facilitated their traditional ability to never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, to quote Abba Eban once again. They blamed everyone but themselves for their people?s woes and put the onus for success of the peace ?road map? on other parties.
I?m sure that stauncher supporters of Israel than I could swiftly pick apart these words from new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas: ?The root of our suffering and the source of our pain is the occupation and its detestable oppressive policies.? He cited ?assassination, detentions, checkpoints, sieges, demolition of homes and properties.? Abbas was quoted thus in the New York Times the day after the Palestinian parliament approved his new government.
Granted, the Arabs have understandable concerns and there is legitimate room to criticize Israel, but how is the ?the root of our suffering? the ?occupation?? I thought the ?root? was the refusal of the Arabs to accept the existence of a Jewish state. It was never enough for the Arabs to occupy more than 20 countries, where they persecuted Jews before exiling them.
In a news story on Philadelphia-area Jews and Arabs, Egyptian-born Yasser Abu-Ouf, a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania involved in Jewish-Arab dialogue, told the Philadelphia Inquirer: ?They are being called on to stop violence way before they see any concrete gains, and that is always tricky.?
What ?concrete gains?? Yasser Arafat?s Palestinian Authority spent its billions on everything but improving the quality of life for ordinary Palestinians. The oil-rich Arab countries were not heard from, either. Why don?t they direct their violence against Arafat?s people or their Arab brethren?
Back to the Arab leadership, Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath was quoted in the Times as saying that the plan?s success ?depends on the United States ? the will of the United States.?
Does this mean that the Arabs have no responsibilities in all this? All they should do is sit back and have everything handed to them on a silver platter? I?m sure that these remarks don?t reflect the attitudes of all Arabs there, but the fact remains that these people made these idiotic statements. If this wasn?t precisely what they meant, then Abbas and Shaath ? as leaders ? have a responsibility to provide clarity in their remarks.
Everyone has an equal responsibility to make peace a success, and anyone who refuses to accept such a responsibility deserves a Bronx cheer. That?s real ?Attitude?.
--------------------------------------------------------
Bruce Ticker is a freelance writer and former journalist living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He can be reached at brucetic@aol.com.