Weapon of the weak

Iraq's revolt in 1920 A.G. NOORANI

Western leaders and writers wax eloquent on Hitler and Stalin's mistreatment of whole peoples by expulsion from their homes. Was their treatment of Arabs in Palestine any the less of a crime? Churchill feared that "we shall be everywhere represented as the chief enemy of Islam" because of British policy towards Kemalist Turkey. If he had no fears about the consequences of a worse policy in Palestine, it was because, as Weizmann gleefully noted, "Mr. Churchill had a low opinion of the Arab generally". Is it surprising that Arabs are frustrated and angry still? What is a century in the life of an ancient people? Yet Israel managed for long to claim sympathy as the "underdog".

Right now, with American backing, Israel denies Arabs a state in Palestine comprising a mere one-fifth of its territory. Terrorism is reprehensible; but, for centuries it has been the only weapon known to the weak. It was the genius of Gandhi that weaned Indians away from that path on which Aurobindo Ghosh, Bhagat Singh and others embarked, disastrously. Palestinians and Iraqis know that if they drop this weapon they lose all leverage. The solution lies in redressing the grievances that drive people to use the reprehensible weapon of terrorism as Indian leaders consistently counselled the British rulers during the Raj. Friday, Dec 16, 2005 - 09:54am (CST)