Questioning Conventional Wisdom

Iranian journalist Amir Taheri recounts his political discussions during Ramadan, and questions the conventional wisdom about Israel/Palestine being the most important issue in Islam/Western relations.

There are no free elections or reliable opinion polls in the Arab world. So no one knows what the silent majority really thinks. The best one can do is rely on anecdotal evidence. On that basis, I came to believe that the Palestine-Israel issue was low down on the list of priorities for the man in the street but something approaching an obsession for the political, business, and intellectual elites.

He believes that the Palestine-Israel issue is the only safe issue for the elites to discuss, and it's the only Muslim concern for which there is any outside sympathy. However, could it be possible that Israel isn't the real issue?

Conventional wisdom also insists that the US is hated by Muslims because it is pro-Israel. That view is shared by most American officials posted to the Arab capitals. But is it not possible that the reverse is true – that Israel is hated because it is pro-American?

He then gives examples of oppression in other areas that goes unnoticed:

If Muslims hate the US because it backs Israel which, in turn, is oppressing Muslims in Palestine, then why don't other oppressed Muslims benefit from the same degree of solidarity

Here's a summary list:

• Over 500 Muslims killed in clashes in Thailand this November ... The Arab and the Iranian press, however, either ignored the event or relegated it to inside pages. Note: needless to say it went basically un-reported by the Western press as well.


• [Also not reported] ... Thailand is building a wall to cordon off almost two million Muslims in southern Thailand.


• When Hindu nationalists demolished the Ayodhya Mosque, no one thought it necessary to inflame Muslim passions.


• Muslim states have never supported Pakistan on Kashmir because ... Pakistan was a US ally in CENTO and SEATO


• Nor has a single Muslim nation recognized the republic set up by Muslim Turks in northern Cyprus... because Turkey is a US ally


• When the Serbs massacred 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica 10 years ago, not a ripple disturbed the serene calm of Muslim opinion.


• Last October the Muslim summit in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, gave a hero's welcome to Vladimir Putin, the man who has presided over the massacre of more Chechens than anyone in any other period in Russian history. Note that Putin didn't back any US action in Iraq at the time

The summary is interesting too:

Right now there are 22 active conflicts across the globe in which Muslims are involved. Most Muslims have not even heard of most of them because those conflicts do not provide excuses for fomenting hatred against the United States.

The article appeared in the Jerusalem Post, which has a login scheme, so I've linked it to the free version above.