Four quotes:

MJT: It took me years to understand how this place works just on the most basic level because it’s so different from the part of the world I grew up in. I first had to stop assuming Arabs think like Americans. Then I had to learn how they think differently from Americans. I still don’t fully understand them, and I probably never will.

I’d be interested in someone taking a stab at articulating this difference. We hear that Arabs are organized politically, and think, along tribal lines more than the West. My conception is that we, in the U.S., hold civil (secular) government and it’s role in upholding constitutional values centered on the rights of individuals as among our highest ideals. Do Arabs hold a more religious world view? How does the focus on tribalism make them think differently?

MJT: The Arab world has its own political culture, and it’s not like the political culture I know, or even like other Middle Eastern political cultures. If the Palestinians had a Western political culture, the problem here could be resolved in ten minutes. If you Israelis were dealing with Canadians instead of Palestinians, you would have had peace a long time ago. And if the Palestinians were dealing with Canadians instead of Israelis, there would still be a conflict.

I spent last weekend at Irish Fest in Milwaukee, and spent some time absorbing the ongoing force of the Unionist/Nationalist split. The historical hangover from the Cromwellian invasion and the dispossession and disenfranchisement of Irish Catholics has not worn off. To suggest that the dispossession and disenfranchisement of Palestinians would be solved in ten minutes (if only they were Canadians) seems very chauvinist.

Jonathan Spyer: They are [Iran having a real civilization and being more like China and India than Jordan and Qatar]. And it’s a dangerous thing when people have a feeling of historical justification and want to bring the world to order again. We’ve had experiences with that. It’s a worrisome combination. I think those ideas wedded to nuclear weapons is unacceptable. And I’m of the opinion that either the West or Israel will come to the conclusion that a nuclear Iran is worse than the military action needed to stop it, and will therefore take action.

This may be correct. The danger of people having “a feeling of historical justification”, of course applies equally to the Israeli settlers. There is talk that West Bank settlements could not be dismantled without a civil war.

Jonathan Spyer: I’d tell the current bunch in power [in the U.S.] that they need to ditch this sophomoric idea that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the key to the region’s malaise. They need to get that out of their heads. That’s not what I’d want to talk about. That’s not even an adult conversation. Once we can clear that up, we can talk about something serious.

Wow! A little sensitivity to the plight of Palestinians and the civil rights issues created by the creation of Israel and 40 years of occupation wouldn’t hurt.