BREAD AND CIRCUSES

Regimes Use Arab-Israeli Conflict as Pretext to Avoid Reform - Frida Ghitis
The unchallenged conventional wisdom in Europe is that the indispensable prerequisite for solving nearly every problem in the Arab and Muslim world lies in ending the Arab-Israeli conflict. However, a new survey of Arab - rather than European - opinion shows that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is nowhere near the top of the list of reasons given by Arabs for what's wrong with their countries. The claim that the suffering of Palestinians is the principal cause of international terrorism, Islamic extremism, and Arab political instability is as false now as it was on Sept. 12, 2001. The real causes of extremism are political repression coupled with economic stagnation in much of the region.

As part of a survey conducted by the Arab television network Al-Arabiya, people said their problems come from the ruling regimes, the same governments that have received support from Europe and the U.S. When asked, ''What is stalling development in the Arab world?'' only 8% blamed the Arab-Israeli conflict. More than 80% blamed "governments that are unwilling to implement change and reform.'' (Miami Herald)