In Israel last month, Middle East scholar and author Daniel Pipes gave a lecture on “The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem.” Pipes produced empirical evidence to demonstrate that any and all Arab claims to “al-Quds” (Jerusalem) are, and have always been, merely utilitarian.
“Israel’s war goals consist of winning the acceptance of its Arab enemies, in particular that of the Palestinians. Acceptance means no longer using force – or other means, for that matter – to eliminate the Jewish state. The Arab war goals, conversely, are to eliminate the Jewish state,” said Pipes in an interview.
“The Palestinians hold the notion of occupation dear to them, to the point that no matter what Israel does – even withdraw forces completely from Gaza – they say the occupation continues. Israelis are trying to “un-occupy,” in terms of currency, utilities and much else, and the Palestinians are saying, ‘No, we’re your unwanted stepchild, and we’re yours.'”
The ultimate Palestinian war goal is “definitely the elimination of Israel. That is to say, there is far wider agreement on this than on the notion of a Palestinian state….The great debate among Palestinians is not over goals; the elimination of Israel is a consensus goal among 80% of the Palestinian population.”
“The dominant Palestinian slogan last summer was, ‘Today Gaza, tomorrow Jerusalem.’ There’s no question that they saw the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a vindication of their use of force.”
“The Arabic-speaking Muslims have had a great deal of difficulty in coping with modern life, and blame others for their problems. They’re not introspective and not productive and constructive in their self-criticism.” There needs to be “a sense of taking responsibility for themselves. An attempt to be introspective, to figure out what the problems are.”
“There are positive examples. The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, has recently come out with a book titled My Vision, for instance. He’s of note, because he actually achieved something. He stayed away from ideology and built an economic success story.”
Via The Jerusalem Post.