Ports and Bridges
Keep it to yourself, but, for once, I'm with W. Bush. More precisely, I agree when he says, about the now infamous "port deal" where a company from Dubai (United Arab Emirates) would have bought a British company in charge of some US port facilities:
"In order to win the war on terror, we have got to strengthen our friendship with moderate Arab nations" (Bloomberg, March 10)Trade is a strong pacifier - anything that puts the interest of nations in common is a pacifier. Those shared interest become a reason to collaborate and learn about each other, and in the end to care about the fate of the "other".
Working for peace means building those bridges. It means building trust. And showing a Middle East company that Americans don't trust them is the wrong signal to send.
I take comfort in the fact that Jimmy Carter was also supporting the deal. Although the end of that same article seems to confirm my fear: the Arab world may take it personally as a sign of distrust from the Americans. This is not how you fight terrorism.
posted by Mozza @ 1:52 PM
5 Comments:
I just wish Hamas would be given a similar opportunity to moderate themselves and rule. If the energy that turned them into the force they became could be turned back into serving their country at a political level ... well, who knows what might happen.
Perhaps I'm terribly naieve but ...
A friend of mine who was an observer at the election told me that the Palestinians voted for Hamas not so much because of their political stance on Israel than for their record, on the municipal level, of delivering services. Ever since, I've had the feeling that we read too much into that election. It might not be a political message to Israel as much as commentators seem to think it is.
Did you read this?
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,406367,00.html
Delivery of services has massive voter appeal and Hamas have a potential energy that might be interesting if harnessed for the good of their people ... I think too much is being read into the election results. Of course, there is the problem of the upcoming Israeli elections too ...
That's a very positive article that sheds some light on the current situation. I'll keep these unofficial channels of communication in mind when reading less positive news about the situation. Thanks.
i added a palestinian journalist to my links list. she seems interesting. she's here. http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/
i have been searching the ny times, bbc, cnn etc for years, trying to understand the palestinian/israeli situation but of course, it's difficult.
i'm intrigued by the israeli soldiers who have formed a group called 'breaking the silence. org
it's on the links list too.
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