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Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1116814792563
Mideast Fantasies
( Jerusalem Post) Barry Rubin - Uncritically putting a Western template onto the contemporary Middle East leads to remarkable distortions, and a failure to understand the present or predict the future. Many in the West assume that if an Arab dictatorship, terrorist group, extremist movement, or ideologically committed Arab intellectuals say something, it is either the truth or reflects their real beliefs. And if public opinion polls in the Arab world or Iran show the effects of decades of propaganda, this, too, reflects the masses' real sentiments. Believing the Palestinian movement is moderate, pragmatic, and ready to make peace requires ignoring the movement's daily rhetoric, failure to keep commitments, and continued incitement.