Analysis: Arab nerves over intifada

[Not Beilin]

A gem of an analysis from the BBC:

"On Sunday, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz was quoted as saying: "We are all sitting on a powder keg that can go up at any time."

He added that the death toll - currently standing at 600 - was reaching an unacceptable level.

Ready to die

Ten years of talks, and Israel's occupation continues. That is a view shared by most Arab rulers.

They don't just fear more Palestinian deaths - they worry about the security of their own governments if the situation gets out of hand.

But in the cramped and impoverished Palestinian refugee camps, scattered across the Middle East, there is a determination to see the intifada through to the bitter end.

The desperate young men who volunteer for attacks against Israelis don't want a ceasefire.

[NewsGuy]

Originally posted by Not Beilin

They don't just fear more Palestinian deaths - they worry about the security of their own governments if the situation gets out of hand.


I agree with the BBC's analysis.

The Palestinians themselves have tried repeatedly to overthrow the governments of several countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Israel.

At the same time, Islamic extremists are also trying right now to overthrow the governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Algeria.

The problem is that the radical militant moslems are adopting the very same slogans created by the Palestinians, and the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon also taught the radical moslems that terrorism can work.

So now the Arab dictatorships are afraid for their own governments. They should! Because after things calm down in Israel (if and when), then the Palestinians are likely to again try to destabilize Jordan, with the assistance of Iraq and Iran.