Looks like Mr. Friedman has finally been mugged by reality. This is from the man who so proudly announced to us the Saudi peace plan several years ago, refusing to believe he was being used for propaganda purposes.
I do believe he’s learned otherwise.
15 rules for understanding the Middle East
Rule 1: What people tell you in private in the Middle East is irrelevant. All that matters is what they will defend in public in their own language. Anything said to you in English, in private, doesn’t count. In Washington, officials lie in public and tell the truth off the record. In the Mideast, officials say what they really believe in public and tell you what you want to hear in private.[… ]
Rule 3: If you can’t explain something to Middle Easterners with a conspiracy theory, then don’t try to explain it at all — they won’t believe it.Rule 4: In the Middle East, never take a concession, except out of the mouth of the person doing the conceding. If I had a dollar for every time someone agreed to recognize Israel on behalf of Yasser Arafat, I could paper my walls.
Rule 5: Never lead your story out of Lebanon, Gaza or Iraq with a cease-fire; it will always be over before the next morning’s paper.
And my favorite:
Rule 11: The most underestimated emotion in Arab politics is humiliation. The Israeli-Arab conflict, for instance, is not just about borders. Israel’s mere existence is a daily humiliation to Muslims, who can’t understand how, if they have the superior religion, Israel can be so powerful. Al Jazeera’s editor, Ahmed Sheikh, said it best when he recently told the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche: “It gnaws at the people in the Middle East that such a small country as Israel, with only about 7 million inhabitants, can defeat the Arab nation with its 350 million. That hurts our collective ego. The Palestinian problem is in the genes of every Arab. The West’s problem is that it does not understand this.”
Rule 12: Thus, the Israelis will always win, and the Palestinians will always make sure they never enjoy it. Everything else is just commentary.
Yep. He seems to have finally seen the light. But I think more proof is needed.
” In Washington, officials lie in public and tell the truth off the record. In the Mideast, officials say what they really believe in public and tell you what you want to hear in private.”
This is _very_ true with personal relationships and office place politics – and learned this merely ~5 years ago (much to my regret).
Determining who is who is the tough part. Frankly I prefer people who will tell me things in confidence (and it is true) that vice versa…
But then, I’d prefer to deal with people who tell the truth all the time…if possible. (*sigh*)
Now I take it personally. When I quote that creep Ahmed Sheikh, I do not get a kind word, but when Tom F. does it, all the ladies suddenly get excited.
Is it because he is sooooo cute?
But he is fat anyway…
There, there Snoopy. You should revel in your anonymity.
Just think of all those hearts you’ld be breaking by shooing all those excited ladies away…
Besides, I am sure there are women out there who like skinny guys with black ears and a big black nose:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~zicco/snoopy/snoopy06.gif
Couldn’t resist, Snoopy… :)
This is a significant and often missed point:
“It gnaws at the people in the Middle East that such a small country as Israel, with only about 7 million inhabitants, can defeat the Arab nation with its 350 million.”
One of the reasons why the left has adopted the Palestinian cause, although by virtually every claimed leftist value leftists should be wildly pro-Israel, is the psychological need to be seen as champions of the underdog. Thus we hear about the “Israel-Palestinian conflict.”
But that’s not the conflict. The conflict is the Arab-Israel conflict, the weight of the Arab world against Israel. Understanding that might help some people better understand the nature of the conflict.
Thanks for the link, Meryl. I liked that article.
I’ll have you know, cond0010, that I am not skinny at all, nor I am a fatso like that T.F. character. And my nose is rather of a reddish hue, but I can always explain it by suntan or a wrong lighting…
Heh, my mistake, Snoopy. :)
It only took this self-hating Jew 25 years to conclude this. But mark my words, his next 10 columns will be vehemently anti-Israel. He’s a saudi whore, like so many others, including George Wahabbi Bush and his whole corrupt family. Another major war is brewing against Israel. Are they spiritually ready for it? If not, I fear Israel will indeed be wiped from the map, all with the vicious complicity of the American govt. And if that happens, America will be punished Biblically.
“It gnaws at the people in the Middle East that such a small country as Israel, with only about 7 million inhabitants, can defeat the Arab nation with its 350 million. That hurts our collective ego. The Palestinian problem is in the genes of every Arab. The West’s problem is that it does not understand this.â€
It’s actually pretty fortunate for the Arab world that most Westerners don’t understand this, as the collective response would be, “Touch. Get over yourselves.”