Kudos on your comment and insight. Bravo
Reader comment on item: Middle East Debate: Should Washington Actively Promote an Israeli-Palestinian Peace Settlement?

Submitted by Wiseman Dawoody (United States), May 13, 2003 at 00:45

I am an Iranian jew and I am amazed at the depth of your knowledge and the degree your analysis is right on target (I read every single article Pubs by you).

Not everyone is gifted to see the problems as clearly as you can. Those of us who have lived in middle east and are familiar with the duplicity of the Arab minds , are frustrated as why most Westerners are projecting their own values and wishful thinking on the Arabs and militant moslems.

I wish you all the best and please keep up the good wok.

THE COMMENT THAT BLOW ME AWAY AS HOW RIGHT IT IS THE FOLLOWING (Tehran):

"But let me make a broader point, which is to say that when I look at this conflict I draw the conclusion that the decisive decisions of war and peace are made in Cairo, Amman, Damascus, and ... I used to say "Baghdad." I'm not so sure these days. Let's say Tehran. In any case, they are not made in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The key decisions – whether this conflict will go on, whether it will escalate, whether it will be resolved – are to be made in the Arab capitals and in the Palestinian Authority areas and elsewhere. It is the Arabs and particularly the Palestinians who are going to decide the future course of this conflict. It is not up to the Israelis, as we saw in the 1990s. The Israelis cannot stop it, cannot end it. Just as we could not have the end of the Cold War; it took the Soviets to end it."

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