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Welcome to the New Arab World - Where No One Really Cares Much about Israel
(National Post-Canada) Jonathan Kay - For the populations of Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, it as if the Israeli menace were merely an engrossing film that suddenly has come to an abrupt finale. The house lights have come on, and the viewers' minds are returning to the real-life internal problems that have been festering in their autocratic societies for generations. While the Western press has spotlighted President Mohamed Morsi's views on Israel, and Jews in general, the whole subject of confronting the Zionists is non-existent as an Egyptian national priority. In the May 2012 presidential debate between former Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa and Islamist Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, four and half hours passed before the word "Israel" was even mentioned. The Arab Spring has destroyed the cynical Arab political game of funneling all of their population's accumulated hate and frustration at Israel and the Jews. I haven't the slightest doubt that anti-Semitism remains rife in these Arab societies, and that solidarity with the Palestinians will continue to guide their posturing at times of war. But current upheavals show that ordinary Arabs now increasingly view Israel as a sideshow. Amid all the death and chaos, that counts as good news.