Op-Ed Columnist - The Confidence War - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - The Confidence War - NYTimes.com:

Brooks' analysis is an interesting take on the Middle East Mess (MEM). Israel obviously has the military might compared to Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorists. Reading the comments about Brooks' column, I get the impression that most commenters see this struggle as mainly Israel's 'fault' because they 'oppress' the Palestinians and steal 'their' land with continued expansion of settlements. I fail to see why Israel should give back unilaterally the land they captured from their attackers in 1967, attackers and enemies who proclaim that Israel has no right to exist.

There is much blame to be cast in this MEM, of course, but Israel does not claim that Islamic nations have no right to exist. Israel does not practice suicide/homicide bombing. Israel does not fire rockets indiscriminately into civilian populations. Israel does not hide its fighters among the civilian population.

Israel has fashioned, with America's help, a modern democracy and a vibrant economy. They receive strong support from Jews around the world who still and should remember the Holocaust.

Palestinians, it seems, with whatever largess comes to them from Islamic nations fashion terrorists, a failed economy and a failed political system. Where is the creative energy for a better life for themselves? Blaming Israel exclusively for their woes is wrongheaded. But their religion and their hatred blinds them and has taken them captive to vengeance and terror.

"This new game isn’t a war of attrition. It’s a struggle for confidence, a series of psychological exchanges designed to shift the balance of morale. The material destroyed in an episode can be replaced, but the psychological effects are more lasting. What is really important is how each episode ends, because the ending defines the meaning — who mastered events and who was mastered by them."

Friedman On Target

Thomas Friedman's column today opines about the silence of people who should be speaking out against the suicide bombers. The lack of opposition voices and any moral counterbalance favors the radical Islamists. This Arabic poem translated into English at an Arabic website is from his column.

Because suicide bombings in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere have become so commonplace, people around the world have become accustomed to this outrage. Only the Israelis seem to be effective in preventing the bombers in recent months.

"When you cannot find a single garden in your city, but there is a mosque on every corner — you know that you are in an Arab country.

When you see people living in the past with all the trappings of modernity — do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.

When religion has control over science — you can be sure that you are in an Arab country.

When clerics are referred to as “scholars” — don’t be astonished, you are in an Arab country.

When you see the ruler transformed into a demigod who never dies or relinquishes his power, and nobody is permitted to criticize — do not be too upset, you are in an Arab country.

When you find that the large majority of people oppose freedom and find joy in slavery — do not be too distressed, you are in an Arab country.

When you hear the clerics saying that democracy is heresy, but seizing every opportunity provided by democracy to grab high positions — do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country. ...

When you discover that a woman is worth half of what a man is worth, or less — do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country. ...

When land is more important than human beings — you are in an Arab country. ...

When fear constantly lives in the eyes of the people — you can be certain you are in an Arab country.”