Palestine is the central problem

I have had a number of interesting conversations with people from all sides in different conflicts, debates and discussions. One gentleman from Tunisia claimed that the notion of "conflict of civilizations" was developed by the US and is promoted by Americans as something that cannot be escaped. I pointed out that Muslim terrorists had been attacking Americans and American interests for decades, and he conceded this point was true.

This clash of civilizations thesis stated that after the end of the Cold War, there would be increasing conflicts between the Western, African, Hindu, Muslim, Sinic, Orthodox, Japanese and Latin American spheres of influence.

He seemed to be fairly liberal. He disagreed with the concept of "conflict of civilizations". He said that people can choose to be Muslims or Jews and that this choice is something personal. He noted that some people in this world are against this.

He noted that "Most of these problems in the Muslim world says there is something wrong there. The United States is always in these conflicts in the Muslim world."

He gave me a link to a video about media in the United States
about the Palestine-Israeli conflict. He said that the purpose of the media in the US is to "keep American people blind so they do not see what is taking place in the world, in Palestine for example."

He said that "We don't want to kill Americans". He had been recently watching videos of what happened on 9/11 and he said he did not like it. He said it was a criminal act and an unjustifiable massacre. "Muslims who decided to kill the Americans was a big mistake. Killing innocent people was a crime, a crime against Islam and its essence. Sometimes when they get angry, when they see Palestine and Iraq they say Americans deserve that. They are not saying such things because they are convinced of that."

He said "Personally I am against violence and killing and wars. No one can live without peace. No one is ever happy without peace. No one can live peacefully without peace. American people are not evil. They are not bad. They misunderstand us."

He said "There are no TV stations and radio channels and newspapers in America (that present the Muslim point of view). The Americans can never understand our TV stations and newspapers in America."

I watch translated versions of Al Jazeera and Al Arabia media broadcasts, and other television documentaries etc from the Middle East. I listen to Syrian, Egyptian, Saudi, Iranian and other politicians, scholars, religions leaders and other noteworthy spokespeople. I have to admit, that many times the messages I receive give me pause. Maybe the problem is that I am hearing the message too clearly?

He said I should never think Muslims are terrorists I asked "What if a Muslim tells me that he is a terrorist ?" He responded that, "Muslims have the right to be afraid to defend themselves and their lives. When you talk to them you have to understand this."

It is always easy to sweep these things under the rug, and justify just about any action. Hmm....

He said that "Governments are hyper-selfish. Americans are kind but not their government. Schools teach Americans to be humane but if they do not see things from the right perspective, then there are problems."

And what about the aid to Egypt and Turkey, which are the 2nd and 3rd largest recipients of US foreign aid in the world? The US aid to Syria? To the earthquake victims in Waziristan? There might be some problem of balance, but somehow it is hard to make the case that the Americans are just acting only in a selfish way and are not ever being humane.

I told him about the Tunisian I talked to who wanted to be a freedom fighter or a suicide bomber in Iraq or Afghanistan after he graduated (as you can read about in my blog article, "A suicide bomber in training"). He said, " We have the right and duty to help Iraqi people."

I said that not all Iraqis are in favor of this kind of "help", but he disputed that Iraqis do not want this help. He said that Tunisians and Muslims are against the occupation of Iraq by Americans as colonizers. He said that Americans are supporting their sons and soldiers in Iraq, and that they think that Americans are not in Iraq to help build brighter future. He did not feel this was 100% true, since America has not brought peace and security in Iraqj. Many would say that getting rid of Sadam it is not an achievement. He said that a big problem with getting rid of Sadam was that the Iranians are in Iraq now.

I countered that there were some Iraqis who disputed this, but he was dismissive.

The more we discussed, I could see there were some problems with him not wanting to hear the other side of his arguments particularly. He did not want to listen too much.

He said that in Iraq, the Americans are unable to solve the problems. George Bush is under attack in America for his foreign policy. Bush went to Iraq because of war on terror, and
increased number of terrorists in world.

He also answered the question, "Why do we hate Jews?" for me. He said it was part of his culture and he was brought up with it. He told me that, "When I was a child and refused to go to bed, or had trouble with my brothers, so my mother wants to beat me and is angry, then she compares me to a Jew. She says 'You have a rookie heart' and she wants to beat me and it is racist." I see. This makes sense...What is a rookie heart anyway?

He justified it by saying, "It is the outcome of fear." I asked him, why are over 1 billion Muslims afraid of 20 million Jews? He said it the
problem is because of the United States and not Israel, and it is the foreign policy of the US government, since one of its pillars is to protect Israel and its interests. He said that "Any Arab country that tries to harm Israel will be attacked. Jews know everything does not depend on Israel but on America. So they control the US government. The Jews are very rich people and the richest people in the world and this is why they control the world. There are only 20 million of them, but they are much wealthier than Muslims." I was going to try to ask him about the Saudis who have declared war against Israel in 1948 and funded terrorist activities ever since, and are still protected by the US, but I was not able to get a word in edgewise.

"The America press, politics and media and cinema is all owned and controlled by Jews and this is dangerous. Are Americans aware of these things or not? Most Americans are not aware. Jews are fighting the true fight in America, not in Israel."

He said the Jews were working on methods to stop Muslims from expressing their ideas, and controlling American media. He complained that the Jews have voices in Hollywood and the largest US newspapers. He complained that the Muslims have no well-educated ambassadors in America. "Our ambassadors do not deserve to be ambassadors. We do not know how to express our voices in America to tell the Americans we are not that dangerous. It is not only the mistake of American government it is the mistake of Arab governments. Our leaders are not educated. They cannot think about serious things; they only think about how to stay in power." I hear the voice of Muslims, but the problem is, they often say things that are not particularly constructive, such as wiping Israel off the map or killing all Americans. These are the kinds of messages they want to get out? Sure seems like it, but I do not think these are very helpful.

He bemoaned the fact that the Americans would not remove the dictators in Muslim lands. I pointed out that the Muslims can't have it both ways; wanting the US to remove the dictators and then complaining that the US is acting imperialistically for doing so. He disagreed that this was true. He said that of course all opposition groups in Muslim countries ask the US for assistance. Nothing like some good healthy hypocrisy and inconsistency, is there?

I gave him some examples of US aid to Muslims in Afghanistan when it was attacked by the Russians, to the Somalis when they were starving, to the Bosnians when they were attacked by the Serbians and a few others. He did admit that these were accurate and most Muslims did not know about these and should...Well, at least he admitted that.