Word: pan-arab
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From kindergarten to high school, I was spoon-fed the proper "Arab" account of the "Arab"-Israeli conflict by teachers--mostly Palestinian and Jordanian--whose lectures, I realize in retrospect, were nothing but biased diatribes lacking even a hint of objectivity. No one disapproved. It fit well into the Pan-Arab framework...
Despite Bedouin wariness of ideologies, Kuwaitis were encouraged to stand alongside their less fortunate Palestinian brothers. We were always reminded of our strong fraternal ties not only as Arabs, but as Muslims. Our actions toward all Arab brothers had to reflect that analogue. But now I am faced with the sad reality that half of my so-called brothers are bastards, and the Pan-Arab dream, a nightmare...
Nearly every day, CNN airs scenes of "Arab" jubilation in Jordan when Iraq launches a missile attack on Israel, or of "Arab" anger in Algeria when the Allies accidentally kill Iraqi civilians. The Pan-Arab myth has become so embedded in the Western mind (and in many "Arab" minds) that we are apt to label any action taken to advance the Palestinian cause, or the "have-not" cause, as an "Arab" action, representative of all Arabs. The fact is, the Arab in me and in many people in the Middle East died when we realized that the Middle East...
...indignation is not only targeted at Iraq, but at the cowardly, self-serving sharks whose failure to condemn Iraq's invasion of Kuwait patently underscores the failure of the Pan-Arab dream. Sure, I heard King Hussein say on "This Week with David Brinkley" that he had condemned the Iraqi invasion "zillions" of times...
...done so on August 10, when the Arab League narrowly passed a resolution formally condemning Iraq? Why has he not formally done so now, six months later? The reason is simply because he, like many in the Middle East, lacks moral fortitude. Until there is a moral paradigm amongst all the Arab people, the Pan-Arab dream will remain only a factor to differentiate between Kuwaitis and Palestinians, Saudis and Yemenis, "haves" and "have-nots"--with the latter believing and the former condemning...