Word: pans
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PREDICTABLY, Mr. Ben-Gacem's failure to reason beyond the bounds of the Pan-Arabist discourse leads him to the tenuous conclusion that Arabs sympathetic to Saddam's destructive Pan-Arabism "never betrayed" the Kuwaitis; rather, they simply followed a "fake" version of the doctrine...
...then, are the Arab masses to distinguish between 'good' and 'bad' Pan-Arabism? After all, Saddam's promises match point for point Mr. Ben-Gacem's nationalistic program: to emphasize the Arabs' "common traditions, common language, common history, common culture and common feelings" (all dubious concepts) and thus "unite together one day...to restore our pride and our lost throne...
Thus, two almost indistinguishable Pan-Arabist doctrines lead to diametrically opposed outcomes: Mr. Ben-Gacem's to a Saladinesque Arab utopia, and Saddam's to the wholesale destruction of Kuwait and, consequently, Iraq. In short, Pan-Arabism is a destructive political theory because it bills itself as a moral imperative without regard to the morality of its consequences...
Happily, the spectre of Pan-Arab nationalism is hardly as threatening as Mr. Ben-Gacem's article might lead us to believe. "Dear Bader," his article intones insultingly, "the Arab masses are united. Maybe if you hadn't lived in Belgium for 12 (sic--it was only three) years you would understand what I am talking about...
...extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf; 64 percent disagreed. Concludes Professor Farah, "This is surprising, considering the fact that this is what students are taught in school and hear repeatedly in the media. It is consistent, thought, with the students' general tendency to reject the idea of Pan-Arabism...