BTN Refreshing Candor in the Arab World 11/17/2004

[Beyond The News]

November 17, 2004 Refreshing Candor in the Arab World —David Aikman After the attack upon the World Trade Center three years ago, the entire Arab world seemed to enter a sandstorm of self-denial. Conspiracy theories sprouted everywhere from Cairo to Khartoum: It wasn't Arabs who did the deed, but Jews. Israel's Mossad was behind it--or the CIA. For years otherwise sensible intellectuals trotted out this drivel, trying to convince Arabs that the offspring of their own culture weren't really responsible. Now a brave Gulf state intellectual, Dr. Al-Ansari, former dean of the University of Qatar, has said in public it's time to stop the denial. The 9/11 hijackers were Arabs, not Jews, he said, they were motivated by theories of jihad propagated in Arab mosques, and they were further inflamed by an anti-Semitism rooted in the doctrines of Islam. What honesty and courage in a culture that in the last few years has known little of either. David Aikman is a veteran journalist and the chairman of Gegrapha. David Aikman is the author of A Man of Faith: The Spiritual Journey of George W. Bush. If this commentary was forwarded to you, sign up for your own free subscription. Beyond the News Commentaries go past today's headlines to give you concise and penetrating insight into the most pressing challenges facing our culture today. BTN commentaries cover everything from politics to popular culture, from faith to international relations and family values to the progress of the war on terrorism. You are receiving the email because you have subscribed to this list. If you would like to remove yourself from this list, please use the following link and you will be removed immediately! Thank you! Copyright 2004 Beyond The News TM Great ideas for quality time w/your kids Earn your degree at Regent Undergrad Arabs are Still Unwilling to Accept that They Carried Out 9/11, Dr. Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari