Mid-East tension not result of race

The so-called "Palestinian question," bringing terror and bloodshed to the residents of Israel for over fifty years, has always been portrayed as a conflict between two racial groups: Jews and Arabs. But a funny thing happens to Arabs who live in a democratic, capitalist state. They start to think like Jews.

A June 4 USA Today story, "Foreign distrust of U.S. increases," (full story available for fee) compares the results of international opinion polls showing that favorable opinion of the U.S. has decreased by ten to twenty percentage points over the last year in countries such as Germany, France, Turkey, Indonesia and Jordan. This development, considered "very troubling" by Clinton's U.N. ambassador and Secretary of State Madeline Albright, is blamed on President Bush. Clearly this is a reaction to Bush's willingness (in certain instances) to "pull and shoot," in the words of Liz Stitely.

But the more interesting survey question was this: "Can the state of Israel and the Palestinian people co-exist?" Eighty percent of respondents from the Palestinian Authority said, "No." But in Israel, 68 percent of Jews and 62 percent of Arabs (yes, there ARE Arabs citizens of Israel) said, "Yes." So here we have evidence that race can be irrelevant in the decision to live in peace. To negotiate for peace with people who deny that peace is possible, as is the Bush administration's apparent strategy, is futile and idiotic.