Nonie Darwish On The Israelis And The Palestinians
From an interview of the Egyptian-born former Muslim in the Catholic Herald, by Ed West:
After university she worked as an editor and translator for the respected Middle East News Agency, before emigrating to the United States in 1978. She married an American and converted to Christianity, and now attends an Evangelical church, and yet she still remained hostile to Israel until an extraordinary incident 40 years after the death of her father."My brother in 1995, living in Gaza, had a stroke and was unconscious. Someone said to his family: 'If you want him to live, send him to Israel.' They [Arabs] prefer Israeli hospitals. You know, even Arabs don't believe their own hatred. In times of troubles Arabs will trust Jews. "They saved my brother's life, they were very kind to his family. And I started changing my views after that."
She now states firmly that "the Palestinian Arabs are the victims of the Arab world" and "if Israel withdraws from the West Bank, it is finished". "I just wrote an article called 'Arab-made misery'. It is the Arab League's policy to never absorb the Palestinians, because then there will be no pressure." She also cites the disastrous rule of Hamas in the land where she grew up after the Israeli withdrawal.
"Instead of paying attenton to internal issues, instead of building a trade centre, instead of making it the Hong Kong of the Middle East, and it is in a very central position, what did they do? They started hurling missiles from schools. They started having a civil war."
Of course Israeli hospitals are better. Everything in Israel is better than in the West Bank and Gaza... Israel isn't living under closure.
NicoleK at October 14, 2009 6:39 AM
... I do think, though, it is a great story, and it shows that when people interact more in day-to-day and human ways, it can create understanding. I think that was the idea behind "Seeds of Peace".
NicoleK at October 14, 2009 6:40 AM
Ralph Peters usefully distinguished between "practical terrorism," which is conducted for some political purpose, and "apocalyptic terrorism," which is conducted for the pleasure of bloodshed and destruction. Palestinian terrorism has for long been an example of the apocalyptic version.
If the Jewish residents of Israel all moved to Tulsa and left all the land to the Palestinians, does anyone seriously believe that terrorist leaders would settle down and become teachers, farmers, shopkeepers, and engineers?
david foster at October 14, 2009 6:43 AM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2009/10/nonie-darwish-o-1.html#comment-1672482">comment from NicoleKOf course Israeli hospitals are better. Everything in Israel is better than in the West Bank and Gaza... Israel isn't living under closure.
No, Nicole, that's not why everything in Israel is better. Jews took a land that was desert and turned it into orange groves and bustling technology centers. They're about life, not death. Saving a life is one of the greatest values in Judaism. In Islam, murdering apostates is must.
Mort Zuckerman and a bunch of American Jews gave, I think it was 14 million dollars, for greenhouses for the Palestinians. They could have been selling flowers to the world. They destroyed them. Islam is a death cult, when practiced properly, and the Jews are a convenient diversion for tribal, primitive people, who'd otherwise be killing each other for being the wrong kind of Muslim. Just look at Iraq -- a homicide bomber woman there, for example, blew up a bunch of Iraqi women and children waiting in a U.N. food line. What was their crime, being hungry while being the wrong kind of Muslim?
Amy Alkon
at October 14, 2009 6:55 AM
Actually, Amy, I think their crime was daring to exist. The more I read and hear about Islam, the more it reminds me of the Krikketers from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide series, who were offended by the entire universe and set out to destroy the whole thing.
Cousin Dave at October 14, 2009 7:51 AM
A huge factor in the rise of violent and death-worshipping attitudes among Palestinians--and especially their leadership--has been the fact that these attitudes have been strongly reinforced by so many in the Western world.
There are lots of writers, journalists, actors, and college professors who have blood on their hands.
david foster at October 14, 2009 9:06 AM
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