Very funny stuff.

BECAUSE ITS TRUE!! (not)

...

Something regarding the popularity of Arab presumptions about Israeli conspiracies...

I have read a few odd histories of Arab conflicts going back 100s of years, and subterfuge and sabotage and assassination has always been a key element in their thinking about how to engage an enemy... The argument, mainly, was that rulers were almost always fragile, and that open conflict and war would often destroy both participants fiefdoms if things escalated... so the preferred method in many cases was low-intensity hassling with plausible deniability... basically, poop in their wells, set predators loose amongst their flocks, assassinate their smartest potential heirs, etc. Better than open war and draining your very-limited desert resources to the point of ruin. The kernel of the idea being that the costs of full-out, open war was so devastating in the fragile arab environment, that there would always be a mix of constant, devious conniving, complemented by far more-occasional full-contact fighting.

The more i considered this element of their history (as well as that of all being both former colonial subjects, as well as being largely ruled by dynastic leaders who often end up only passing on their mantle of rule at the sharp end of a knife), the more it made sense that they *assumed* people were conspiring against them constantly. Why? *'Cause that's what WE'D do!* People always assume the motivations of their enemies are much like their own. There's always an element of projection in how an 'enemy' is conceived, and the enemy is often given assumed motivations that reflect a groups own personal thinking.

Of course that's probably an over-enlarged analysis; the simpler reason is that modern Arab leaders *love* using every opportunity to blame things on the Israelis because it keeps their citizens focused on something other than how dissatisfied they are with their own leadership. But I personally like the historical psychosis analysis as an add-on. And No, I didn't get any of this from "The Hidden Hand" by Daniel Pipes (although it looks like a good read, despite his checkered reputation); just a smattering of details picked up from a variety of more benign history books.

I am getting a little annoyed at getting Spam Filtered for occasionally using the word *sh*t*; I don't recall this in the past. Are we worried readers will be put off by blatant vulgarity... on *Foreign Policy*? I'd think readers here are all adults and can handle adult expressions used on occasions. I think its absurd that the Moderators that Be have now instituted this policy, while doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about, say, the above example...

""nike shoes , fashion clothes ; brand handbags , wallet ..."

I mean come on. You're becoming like the TSA. :)

"Because nothing says Zionist conspiracy like angry Germans screaming in front of a big crowd."

I just laughed out loud. Seriously.

Classic.

Because when you really think about these ridiculous beliefs, you understand just how unlikely reconciliation between Israel and the Arab world is. How can there be peace when civil society in the Muslim world has been conditioned to consider all things Jewish evil, when they cannot think of Israelis as fellow humans rather than some fanatic superhumans bent on subjugating them? Even more troubling is the reaiization that until there is a sea change in Islamic culture to be more in line with the rest of the world, then the conflcits we see now between Islam and other cultures are only likely to continue.

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Great article . Good Luck :)

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It might be true as nothing is impossible for Israel. Israel can do anything to survive in this world.
Acai Thermo

First, the stories are flat out FUNNY, I laughed out loud!

I would expect this sort of crap from Persians and Arabs. They willingly live by senseless Medieval rules. They will believe absolutely anything bad about "infidels", most especially Jews who readily thwart their constant attempts to subjugate.

But for the Turks and Pakistanis to foster this is disappointing, to say the least. I really expect better of them. Modern, well-informed societies such as theirs should be embarrassed to spread this sort of comical nonsense. It just underscores how ridiculously eager Islam is to demonize Judaism.