Friday February 4, 2011

I've Been Thinking:

I was astonished when I read the observation of Salam Fayyad the Prime Minster of the Palestinian Authority on the reasons for the unrest in Egypt.

In a press conference with the French PM, Fayyad said that part of the reason for the unrest in Egypt is to be blamed on the inability of the Israelis and the Palestinians to come to an agreement.

To what does this non-sequitur connect? It clearly connects to the desire of Palestinian leadership to link all problems in the Middle East to Israel. Israel is the primary or secondary cause of everything. If the region were to rid itself of Israel, the problems would all fade away.

Fayyad is no fool. He has a Ph.D. from U of T in Austin and was a major player in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He probably does not believe a word of what he said, but he knows that others will be persuaded by what he said. Comments like the one Fayyad just made unite the Arab masses against a common enemy. Fayyad carried out a classic practice in populism and in motivating the masses.

If anything, the events in Egypt show that Israel and the Palestinians are a minor issue in the Middle East. The events in Egypt clearly illustrate that Palestinians in Israel and in the Palestinian Authority live much better lives than their average Arab neighbors.

For Palestinian leadership, it's all about spin.

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