Gwynne Dyer: 'U.S. is on wrong side of the wall'

[reprehensor]

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpdye163759664apr16,0,3575695.story

By blatantly backing Israel's Ariel Sharon, President Bush has given Arabs another target

You never know which straw will finally break the camel's back, but it may have been Wednesday's summit between President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The public endorsement that Bush gave to Sharon's abandonment of the "peace process" in favor of "unilateral disengagement" was mostly symbolic, since the Israeli leader was committed to doing it anyway. But in the Middle East, patience is finally running out.

The people of the Arab countries have been remarkably patient as they watched their living standards decline under corrupt and oppressive governments backed by the West. They have been patient as Israel sat on the conquered Palestinian territories for 37 years, pushing Arabs off the land and planting their own settlements on it. They have been patient about a lot of things - but that dry, snapping sound you heard a moment ago may have been the camel's back breaking.

Look at the past month from an Arab perspective. At the end of March, Israel assassinated Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and leader of the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas. Sheik Yassin was a staunch supporter of the use of terror against the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian territory - but he was also an elderly paraplegic who was widely seen as a holy man, and for many years Israel avoided attacking him.

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(Somehow, I think that 'they hate our freedom' just doesn't quite cover all the bases.)

[forgethell]

1. They have been patient??

They have been patient? What the Hell??

[number6]

2. yep ...

'U.S. is on wrong side of the wall'