A Question of Timing
Reader comment on item: Terrorist Profs

Submitted by Eliyahu Skoczylas (United States), Feb 25, 2003 at 08:07

What I find fascinating is that all of these terrorists appeared in American academé in the early '90's. That is, they left the Middle East around the time of the Madrid conference or the first Oslo accords, during the headiest days of the "Peace" movement with Israel.

I would think that those who had resented the so-called Israeli "occupation," but who truly desired to build a modern, "Palestinian" Arab nation, would have done just the opposite, and tried to remain in the Middle East to make constructive contributions. In fact, I personally know of several Arabs from the region who had earlier moved away (to America and England) and had returned around that time. (They have subsequently packed up and headed back overseas in disgust at Yasser Arafat's thugocracy.) Yet these gentlemen chose precisely that moment to flee the scene, and establish credentials elsewhere.

I suggest that if we, as Daniel Pipes suggests, are to closely examine the faculties of Middle East Studies departments, that we should begin with those who first surfaced in that era. It could be that other Arab radicals made the decision to run away from the positive winds of change blowing at that time, and establish themselves in America as a fifth column, sapping the will of American society through their influence on the leaders of tomorrow and their disproportionate representation in the media, as well as through more overt acts of terrorism like the first attack on the World Trade Center ('93?)

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.