http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_1_why_the_muslims.html I particularly liked this passage: "The catastrophe of the Muslim world is also explicable in its failure to grasp the nature of Western success, which springs neither from luck nor resources, genes nor geography. Like third-world Marxists of the 1960s, who put blame for their own self-inflicted misery upon corporations, colonialism, and racism—anything other than the absence of real markets and a free society—the Islamic intelligentsia recognizes the Muslim world’s inferiority vis-`a-vis the West, but it then seeks to fault others for its own self-created fiasco. Government spokesmen in the Middle East should ignore the nonsense of the cultural relativists and discredited Marxists and have the courage to say that they are poor because their populations are nearly half illiterate, that their governments are not free, that their economies are not open, and that their fundamentalists impede scientific inquiry, unpopular expression, and cultural exchange."
Buck! Amen! That is one of the best statements I have ever heard in regards to the Muslim world. The muslim world was the bastion of civilization for almost 800 years and it was primarily because of commerce, education and science. They created the trade routes from China and India to Europe, fueled the renaissance with its advancement in science and math (ex. Algebra is an arabic word). They created the first international mission to find Greek texts of Plato and Aristotle and are responsible for much of what we know about greek philosophy today. YET: At this moment they are the uneducated, unproductive portion of the world. Their societies are not free, there is very little freedom of commerce which adversely affects economic markets and the ruling class favor their personal wealth, well-being, mistresses more than they care for their own people. Israel is simply a rallying cry for people in Muslim countries to blame the US and or Israel for its problems so the leaders don't have to take responsibility for their corrupt, inefficient regimes. I truly don't agree with Israel's brutal methods and its presence in the Occupied territories, but this isn't the cause of disarray and poverty in the Arab/Muslim world.
Great article! It's very long, but definitely a good read. F.D., you make good points in your follow up post.... I found the following two passages particularly interesting: "If Israel did not exist, the Arab world, in its current fit of denial, would have to invent something like it to vent its frustrations. That is not to say there may not be legitimate concerns in the struggle over Palestine, but merely that for millions of Muslims the fight over such small real estate stems from a deep psychological wound. It isn’t about lebensraum or some actual physical threat. Israel is a constant reminder that it is a nation’s culture—not its geography or size or magnitude of its oil reserves—that determines its wealth or freedom. For the Middle East to make peace with Israel would be to declare war on itself, to admit that that its own fundamental way of doing business—not the Jews—makes it poor, sick, and weak." and "Far from egging on Israel, the United States actually restrains the Israeli military, whose organization and discipline, along with the sophisticated Israeli arms industry, make it quite capable of annihilating nearly all its bellicose neighbors without American aid. Should the United States withdraw from active participation in the Middle East and let the contestants settle their differences on the battlefield, Israel, not the Arab world, would win. The military record of four previous conflicts does not lie. Arafat should remember who saved him in Lebanon; it was no power in the Middle East that brokered his exodus and parted the waves of Israeli planes and tanks for his safe passage to the desert." x34
A couple of weeks ago it was stated that the Muslim world is "the poorest, the most illiterate, the most backward, the most unhealthy, the most unenlightened, the most deprived, and the weakest of all the human race." These were not the words of an Israeli or an American; they were spoken by Pervez Musharraf. If, hypothetically, Israel ceased to exist today (which is, by the way, the stated goal of the Islamo-fascists) what exactly would change? Absolutely nothing. Some other group or nation would take up the mantle as the perceived oppressor of the Islamic world. We've already seen that, in areas such as Africa (Sudan & Nigeria especially) and Kashmir, where Jews are not present, that the Islamo-fascists will murder Christians & Hindus. There's always someone to blame other that themselves.
