February 17, 1969 The N.C. Essay Page 5
CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE E/AST
Up to this date in the 20th
century, Peace appears to have suc
cessfully eluded the grasp of nearly
every countiry in the world. There
' have been so many conflicts, both
small and full-scale, that through
out the last seventy years it seems
as though not one moment has gone by
without a gunshot. The situation
currently confronting us has thus
far followed this pattern. Now that
Vietnam is slowly on the way out,
the deterioration of relations be
tween the perpetually antagooistic
peoples of Israel and the U.A.R, is
likely to provide the world with its
next war. Such recent terrorist in
cidents as the seemingly unprovoked
attacks by Israeli commandos on an
airport in the neutral country of
Lebanon and the public hanging of
nine Israelis accused of "espionage"
by the Government of Iraq have made
the Middle-East a real powder-keg.
The fact that the U.S.S.R. backs the
Arabs and the U.S.A. backs the Jews
gives world-wide importance to the
situation. While the Camel-Riders
and the Jews fight it out, I present
a two-part essay concerned with the
history of these peoples-man attempt
(however meager) to provide a better
understanding of their reasons for
constant battling.
As we understand, the roots of
Judaism and its subsequent history
up to the time of Christ are found
in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Ancient Jewish History was generally
one of hard luck and persecution, of
conquering, and being conquered,
then being exiled, only to return
and rebuild, which has been true in
modem times. It is seen in the
present-day Jews, as well as in the
history books, that these Semitic
people are a proud, intelligent, in
dustrious, and, most important,
deeply religious lot. The predomi
nating concept in the history of the
Jews is the prophecy by Abraham that
the land which is now Israel was
destined by God to be "The Promised
Land" in which the Jews would meri-
tably prosper and grow. One century
after the death and resurrection of
that altruistic socialist who be
lieved in the absolute equality of
man, the Jews were dispersed
throughout the world by the Romans
where they lived for nineteen cen
turies amid bigotry, persecution,
and fortune, waiting for their su
preme prophecy to be fulfilled. Now
that the Jews have obtained their
Promised Land, they will not capitu^-
late without a struggle.
The history of the Moslems is
quite different from that of the
Jews, though both Semitic tribes or
iginated in the same area. Since
most Arabs considered both religions
foreign, they remained pagan
throughout the ordeal of Christiani
ty and Zionism. It was not until
the years cica 570-532 A.D., when
Mohammed lived, that the Arabs zea
lously accepted the concept of one
god and the ethical codes of Moha
mmedanism. The Islamic religion u-
nited these traditionally disunited
peoples, and for centuries, under
their religion, the Arabs controlled
an empire larger than that of Rome
and established intellectual and
cultural centers that surpassed
those in Europe. However, the cul
ture stagnated under the Ottoman
Empire much as did China under their
Dynasties. The British then moved
in and began to colonize the Arab
world. Through a number of politi
cal moves to control the Arabs the
British, as well as France and Italy
created a bitterness among the na
tives toward imperialism. It is no
surprise therefore that in 1917 when
the British decided by law to re
establish Israel in its former lo
cation, the Arabs looked belliger
ently at the move as an imperialis
tic attempt to "divide and conquer"
their people.
In fact, the first real anta
gonistic confrontations between
these peoples did not occur until
after 1917. Until then, the Arabs
were very tolerant of the few Chris
tians and Jews who had remained in
the Holy Land. The Jews themselves
wanted only peace after arriving at
their homeland. However, they dii
not wish to relinquish their land to
the Jews or anyone else who claimed
Arab territory to be originally
theirs. The Italian Fascists got
the same reaction from the Mohamme
dans when they claimed that Libya
had been theirs since the time of
Caesar. The arabs also felt no ob
ligation to believe in Abraham's di
vine prophecy for Zionists since Pa
lis tine was the Holy Land of the Mo
hammedans as well. Though S5rmpathe-
tic with Jewish persecution during
the war, the Arabs decided that the
Europeans should atone for their
crimes,not the tolerant Mohammedans.
It is clear that this problem,
which has made the Arabs bitter and
Jews defensive, is neither religious
nor cultural but mainly political.
Since there exists nothing worse
than a bitter Arab, some of the man
ifestations of these deep-seated
problems have been drastic. They
will be discussed next week.
(A PLEA TO STUDENTS from pg. 4)
repair details in the bigger pro
blems. That's how honesty and sani
ty survive in that cruel world that
awaits us. I am not suggesting co
wardly compromise. I am suggesting
the tenacity that accomplishes grad
ual betterment rather than sporadic
upheavals that injure more than they
heal.
My wish is that we may learn to
function in our more complex envi
ronment. This complex professional
society that we will shortly enter
Listen to the night with me
I speak to you in silence-
Can you hear?
For every tear I see,I weep a handful
But not till you've turned away
Why can't I run up to you
Fall on my knees at your feet
And say I LOVE YOU ~
Or squeeze your hand
To send my strength through you
And say I UNDERSTAND
And know you know I feel it
—And nothing more be said
(We so cherish our freedom
That we will not spend it
And thus we waste it)
...If I should pass you tomorrow
Watching my feet as I walk
It's not that I don't care
It's just my fear
But if you look back at me
You'll see that I fall just beyond
And match my tears with yours
I know that I can share my truth with you
And know you see my thoughts
But I'm still a child sometimes
And cannot yet trust myself
To trust you
If only you could hold my mind
In the moment that the fire burns reddest..
It's only when I'm alone
That I realize who you are
But I have to wait for you
And plan what I will say
And then my fever wanes
And I cannot look at you to speak
(It's so easy to love
And so hard to say it
Yet if I say it now
Believe me
And when I walk in silence
You'll remember that I said it once
And meant it
And cannot say more)
But if I should have courage today
—Meet your eyes and lock
We've given each other the secrets
of the universe
And need not speak at all
You'll be the one
Who broke the jealous chains
That guard my words
isn't going to be the great place,
when we get there, that some of us
want so badly. We'd better start
learning right now how to coaipe with
our ideals.
' . hy Bob Sauve ■