Three good reasons why peace in the Middle East is a long way off:

First, a poll of Arab attitudes in the International Herald Tribune Paris:

“The conviction that no way can be found for Israel and the Palestinians to coexist is strongest in Morocco (90 percent), followed by Jordan (85 percent), the Palestinian Authority (80 percent), Kuwait (72 percent), Lebanon (65 percent), Indonesia (58 percent) and Pakistan (57 percent). “

That's wonderful. For years, the Arabs have been saying that the Israeli-Palestinian issue must be resolved. But when they say "resolved," they do not mean peaceful coexistence. They mean driving the Jewish dogs into the sea.

Second: Arafat, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (!), in his own words, quoted recently:

"The great imperialistic Zionist conspiracy against our Arab nation and our homeland Palestine, which began with the Zionist Congress in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland, reached its accursed peak on May 15, 1948. On this accursed day, the state of Israel was established by force of arms, as [the result of] imperialistic conspiracy, on the ruins of our homeland Palestine."

This doesn't sound like a man committed to living in peace next door to Israel. He sounds eager to stoke the fires of hatred in any land he controls. Arafat has been marginalized by Bush (remember how much flak Bush took for that?), and talk like this shows why.

Third: an excerpt from statements issued by the Group of Eight summit in Evian, France:

"The international community has been united in fighting against international terrorism since the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. The threat of terrorism still, however, remains serious as has been seen in a series of terrorist incidents including in Indonesia, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Yemen over the past year."

A certain country in the Middle East is missing. That place where evil men who bomb buses and pizza parlours? I can't quite recal that country's name.

- posted by total @ 6/06/2003 07:16:00 AM .