[New York Daily News] Emilio Karim Dabul - Without the ability to look inward, Arab blame for problems is projected outward - meaning, at Israel and the U.S. By having such a pathological, externally focused sense of blame, aimed exclusively at Americans and Jews, no sense of reasoning or decency applies. Gaza celebrated - yes, celebrated - the cold-blooded and ethnically motivated massacre of yeshiva students in Jerusalem, most of whom were teenagers, by a Palestinian Muslim. Why are we, as Arabs and Arab-Americans, not lining the streets in Ramallah and all the way to New York to decry this sort of barbarism? Let me say unequivocally that I am ashamed. And I am angry. Nothing, nothing in the world justifies these sorts of actions. Tell me, when have you ever heard of Israelis celebrating the killing of Palestinians? At this point in Arab history, we must finally renounce these fatally flawed tendencies to blame everyone but ourselves. Let us begin anew the path toward our own glorious Renaissance abandoned long ago, and pursue the higher road that will be ours when we finally look more deeply and critically at ourselves.
2008-04-08 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive