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Fear and Envy

By lex, on February 15th, 2012

Writing in the National Review Online, Lee Habeeb asks some penetrating questions of his Arab brothers and sisters:

 

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February 15th, 2012 | Tags: , | Category: Politics and Culture

9 comments to Fear and Envy

  • SK1
    February 15, 2012 at 10:09 am

    “Little country,” he concluded. “But big accomplishments.”

    Yup – Israel has managed to keep themselves ahead of their enemies and that drives their enemies utterly ape-shite !

    Israel is all about Israel and I can understand that as no one else will make sure of their safety like they do. They have been in this mode since Day One. If they can hold so many others at bay for sooooo long, there is much to learn from them. You may not like them, but you gotta respect their accomplishments.

  • Rob
    February 15, 2012 at 10:40 am

    Looking through Lawrence’s lens with Arab eyes.

  • Pumaking
    February 15, 2012 at 11:01 am

    Really well put. I have had the same “discussion” with acquaintances, most well educated, usually left-leaning, on the whole decent people in most ways, and people I count as friends. As with Mr. Habeeb’s Jordanian friend, the subject of Israel frequently gets them foaming at the mouth. At the end of the day I find it boils down to a blind hatred of Jews that drives their line of argument. Hell, just read the comments section on any yahoo or MSM article on the topic. Few other topics generate the raw hatred you see.

    The big country/small county quote is spot on, and I often pose the very same question about giving the land to Bolivians, or Icelanders or whomever…always a roaring silence in reply.

  • Flugelman
    February 15, 2012 at 11:45 am

    It is all tied to a profound lack of cultural self-confidence, and a deep-seated fear that maybe, just maybe, Arabs won’t be very good at the self-governance thing. That Arab nations won’t be capable of building democratic cultures that engender the flourishing of human freedom, and that these nations won’t have the ability to tap the God-given talents of their people the way Americans and Israelis do.

    This will always be the case until they can learn to separate church and state in their governance of their people and the tribalism and petty differences will rule their efforts. Religious leaders have too much at stake to let this happen. I don’t see much hope for those changes, ever.

    • Jeff Gauch
      February 15, 2012 at 4:40 pm

      Oh, the change will happen. Our culture and theirs are incompatible. Their culture will either adapt and incorporate the necessary changes in a relatively peaceful manner or it will be destroyed wholesale.

      The only question is how many will die and who they will be.

    • angus
      February 15, 2012 at 7:12 pm

      Its the oil, that funds the religion. The Sauds run a religious state which sets them one step below Allah allowing them security to enjoy the life-stylings of the megarich by turning every rebellious urge outwards against infidels (of which the Jews feature). This creed of Islam is not a religion in the Western sense where the congregation is ultimately in charge, because the congregations over there do not pay the bills. There is no hope of a split with the state as long as the state has money to fund the religion and the oil/gas isn’t going to run out till 2070*.

      The only good news (for us) is that religions are really expensive to run. So there is the possibility that this religion over extends and becomes unsustainable. The Sauds can afford their religion in Saudi Arabia, but they also have missionaries & madrassa off in other countries. If Egypt and Libya become Islamic states they will test even the deepest of pockets.

      * We might think we live in interesting times, but when the oil finally does run out (2060 – 2080) I can’t see any way there isn’t going to be a very large, probably nuclear war in the Middle East.

  • ChrisP
    February 15, 2012 at 6:34 pm

    Flugelman,
    In Islam. there is no separation of church & state.
    It is a philosophy of life, all encompassing, with legal(shira), moral, and political facets.
    It is not like being a catholic in America. It is a way of life.
    One of the tenets of which, “hate and kill the Jews”.
    It’s in the koran, and drives their day-to-day lives.
    But then, you know all that…
    You just wanted me to say it.
    Preachin’ to the choir since 1999…

    • Quartermaster
      February 15, 2012 at 7:29 pm

      In Muslim countries, as I’ve said here before, Islam is the culture. Going to war with a Muslim country, as a result, is automatically a religious war.

  • Tuna
    February 16, 2012 at 11:43 am

    I agree that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the Arab world playing the victim to their own benefit- a smokescreen for their culture’s own inadequacies. If Iran continues its current course unchecked however, that smokescreen will be lifted. Their problems will be laid bare to a very angry world, one that probably won’t even have time to see how inadquate that culture really is before destroying it wholesale as Jeff Gauch stated above. If we have peace in the Middle East, then maybe their culture will learn to adapt without the crutch of an Israeli scapegoat.
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