Preemptive war is what Israel did in ’67 with Arab armies on its borders.
Jordan has to show the Arab world that there’s another way of doing things. We’re a monarchy, yes, but if we can show democracy that leads to a two-, three-, four-party system – left, right and center – in a couple of years’ time, then the Muslim Brotherhood will no longer be something to contend with.
I’m called a terrorist in the Arab media still today.
Al Jazeera is one entity that everyone across the Arab world watches. Arabs are proud of that.
Israel has been doing very well, but there are challenges the country faces, like poverty and social integration of the Orthodox, Arab, Beduin, and Ethiopian population, which will be essential for sustaining strong growth over time.
The autocracies of the Arab world have been as economically destructive as they’ve been politically repressive.
A foreign ideology cannot be introduced into Chechnya – were it through an Arab or al-Qaeda. Our experience is rich and long enough for us to be Muslims and know what jihad is.
As British and French imperialism ebbed following the end of the Second World War, America became the main outside player in Arab affairs.
For decades, the plight of the Palestinian people has been exacerbated by internal corruption, a lack of effective investment, and the political cynicism of the Arab states, who often did not have the best interests of the Palestinians at heart.
An Arab who works and pays taxes is good for everyone. An Arab who doesn’t work and receives social security stipends is bad for everyone.
There are 146 countries above us where the men have longer lifespans, and the biggest blow is that even with four wives who don’t fast for them, the Arab men outlive our good old Indian dudes.
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events. More important, we need to provide a platform for Arab voices.
Present-day Spain translates as many books into Spanish, annually, as the Arab world has translated into Arabic in the past 1,100 years.
If you look not just at the Arab Spring, but at what I call the ‘Youth Spring’ that has started in Europe, young people are starting to find a voice, and they are not looking to the traditional media to reflect that.
No one will remember that President Obama supported the Arab Spring if it eventually fails and the region collapses back into the political Dark Ages. If we actively engage these movements with advice, with money, and, when necessary, with military force, then we get a vote in how it all turns out.
I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing if Arab states do not recognize Israel, within secure borders.
In their war against Israel’s existence, the Arab governments took advantage of the Cold War. They enlisted the military, economic, and political support of the communist world against Israel, and they turned a local, regional conflict into an international powder keg.
When a ‘Life of Brian’ comes out with Muhammad in the lead role, directed by an Arab equivalent of Theo van Gogh, it will be a huge step forward.
Arab Israelis don’t have the same voice as Jewish Israelis. If you look at the numbers, we are not equal. There are many reasons for this, some have to do with the fact that we are a bit primitive in the way we do certain things, others have to do with the government not giving us the same opportunities as Jews.
The transition between life in red-state America and life in the Arab capital was at times overwhelming because of the traditional segregation of men and women in many public and private settings.
The man who buried Malcolm X – my Muslim imam, priest – he, after I got beat up by police… came to me, and he said, ‘You don’t need this American name.’ And I was susceptible to it at the time because, God knows, I had just gotten whipped near to death. So he gave me an Arab name; he gave me the name Amir Barakat.
The Arab Spring showed that people are not going to wait for an American president to make good on his big talk about democracy and human rights; they are going to fight for those rights themselves and overthrow pro-American dictators who stand in their way.
Osama bin Laden fervently hoped that attacking the United States would create pressure on American leaders to reduce their support for Middle Eastern regimes. Bin Laden believed that without that American support, the Arab regimes would collapse and would be replaced by Taliban-style rulers.
We were told that we were attacked on 9/11 because the terrorists hate our freedoms and democracy … not for the real reason: because the Arab Muslims who attacked us hate our Middle Eastern foreign policy.
Secretary Clinton and I have worked well together, but the Arab Spring is a different question… This administration, collectively, made some very bad decisions, and they now have to climb out of a deep hole.
For so long, Arab culture has been misconceived by the western mindset as exotic, or more recently, as dangerous, so spaces like Mathaf are vital for asserting a sense of connectedness.
The death of Yemeni strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh shows that Saudi Arabia is paying for its betrayal of the Arab spring in Yemen in 2011.
During the Arab Spring, I learned all sorts of things from Twitter. I wouldn’t necessarily trust that information, but it gave me ideas about questions to ask. You can really learn things from the wisdom of crowds.
Already at the time of Israel’s birth, Ben-Gurion extended his hand in peace to the Arab nations. His hand was rejected, but it remains extended.
We are not a failed Arab republic, so we should not fear Arab Spring. We should embrace Arab Spring. That’s what I hope Saudi Arabia will do.
The ayatollahs are trying to unite the whole Arab world against Israel by saying that Israel is something that should be brought to an end.
Every Arab nation votes against us at least two thirds of the time.
Religion is a big problem in Israel and the Arab world, but again, the problem isn’t religion but political leaders who want to use the religion.
We do not know which irresponsible Israeli prime minister will take office and decide to use nuclear weapons in the struggle against neighboring Arab countries. What has already been exposed about the weapons Israel is holding can destroy the region and kill millions.
Al Qaeda is a racially diverse organization that is well aware of its dependence on a labor pool dominated by Arab Muslim men. It also has an adaptable and fluid counterintelligence mind-set.
When was the last time an Arab MK who appeared on television wasn’t there in the role of the accused who is attacked by a skeptical broadcaster?
I am very happy to be playing in the United Arab Emirates.
Israel no longer has allies in Egypt and in Tunisia, we are saying to the Zionist enemies that times have changed and that the time of the Arab Spring, the time of the revolution, of dignity and of pride has arrived.
Arab society features apartheid of women, apartheid of homosexuals, and apartheid of Christians, Jews, and democracy.
I’m of Arab background.
A real totalitarianism is at work in the world and wants to impose its views not only on Arab Muslims, but on the West. The same way that they veil women, Islamic radicals want to veil cartoons in the press.
The Arab world was ripe with hope during the spring of 2011. Journalists, academics, and the general population were brimming with expectations of a bright and free Arab society within their respective countries.
You can be a Polish American, or an Arab American, or a Greek American but you can’t be English American. Why not?
I’m trying to be a voice for the North African Arab community. We’ve got to continue to fight for our place in the industry.
In the name of the rule of law, democracy and human rights, we cannot accept that the rights of individuals (Arab or Muslim) be trampled upon, or that populations are targeted and discriminated against in the name of the war against terrorism.
Playing on the Burj Al Arab helipad was an unforgettable experience, and the view of Dubai was incredible.
I don’t want a political party in my government that interferes in Arab countries against other Arab countries.
The whole notion of land property rights in the Arab world is different from that in Europe.
What Israel wants is peace with – and the acknowledgment of – all the Arab countries.
The Arab League tells us to go in and take out Qaddafi. We’ve spent billions of dollars already with respect to the Arab League. Billions of dollars, because they told us to do it. Why aren’t they paying for it? They don’t like Qaddafi, Qaddafi’s been a terrible thorn in their side.
The most striking thing is that even before Osama bin Laden was killed, he seemed largely irrelevant to the Arab Spring.
The Arab Spring, with all of its failings and failures, exposed the lie that if we are to live, then we must live as slaves. It was an attempt to undermine not only the orthodoxy of dictatorship but also an international political orthodoxy where every activity must be approved by the profit logic of the ‘ledger.’
I miss aspects of being in the Arab world – the language – and there is a tranquility in these cities with great rivers. Whether it’s Cairo or Baghdad, you sit there and you think, ‘This river has flown here for thousands of years.’ There are magical moments in these places.
