Arab dictotorships cannot be allowed to exist as they are a threat to their neighbours and own population eg Iraq Syria .Arab democracies such as Hamas and Iran are also a threat to their neighbours Occupation is also not a solution .So i ask in what state of governance can arab/muslim societies exist?

#31: How about as liberal democracies? Or, at least, as democracies with constitutions that would limit genocidal fanaticism? Such democracies seem to work best, and seldom war with their neighbours. #1: For my part, I thought that the article was lucid. Anhow, the exposure of the duplicity of Iran is interesting.

"The most important point on the Palestinians' part is that we do not wish to wipe Israel off the map, we do not wish to exterminate it. We have accepted its existence and internalized this historic fact. "

congratulations to the author, for his good fortune in living in the ONLY middle eastern country with a free press. the only reason he can publish an article such as this one, without fear, is because he lives in israel. yet i find it sadly ironic that he self-identifies with the fictional "palestinian" people, even though he has lived all his life with the benefits of being an israeli. his statement: that "The most important point on the Palestinians' part is that we do not wish to wipe Israel off the map, we do not wish to exterminate it. We have accepted its existence and internalized this historic fact." is both in the first person, and comes less than a week after "land day", with all its speeches about the "naqba", etc., which makes it very difficult to believe. his analysis would be clearer if he skipped the palestinian propaganda (which isn't fooling anybody), and stuck to an ordinary dissection of iranian policy.

You gave me a tremendously good laugh. There you are, in Iran, praising your joke of a "president," while reading a newspaper that is no doubt illegal in your country. Something tells me that a part of you thinks that the Zionists may not be so bad after all. You're on to something.

when arab/muslim societies get the chance to vote whether in Iraq ,Iran,Lebanon or Gaza strip, because they do not have respect for human rights and the rule of law and are intolerant of minorities of different faiths they do not exist as liberal democracies and degenerate into civil war and MAD MAX societies as in Lebanon and Iraq and as fascist states as in Gaza and Iran

Most of the Israeli Arabs are indeed Israeli Palestinians, simply.

in the history many moslems but not arabs did well for jerusalem as saladin and sulayman alkanoni and althaher pepers and muhammad alfateh but there were arabs and moslems did the worst for the city ..

But my general point is unfortunately Israelis, and this is a loss for all parties, have not had a chance to visit many parts of the world inhabited by Muslims therefore they have a warped view of where the Muslims places is in the "modern" world. Usually people think of Saudi Arabia as the symbol of Muslim life and that is a big problem.

Abdel, you are not Abdel, you don't live in Nablus, you are Yankele & live in tel-Aviv. No muslim talk like that.Stop defending us. Allahu Akbar

I admit you guys have added a nice tone to this forum. Terry, you have some valid points. Unfortunately the "Bedouin ethos" part of Islam has been promoted by the Saudi types among SOME Muslims and through stinginess and negligence by the West in the West. The West has outsourced the religious control of its Muslim population to the Saudi trained and funded "Imams" and mosques at the expense of more enlightened Islam that exists outside Arabia. As to the "ideal" Islam as defined by you and the jihadis being political, that's just a nonsense opinion because that notion is not shared among all Muslim religious scholars - khomeini was at odds with other Shieh ayatollahs because they did not believe this was the case and Khomeini did. Islam was created in Arabian Peninsula precisely because its inhabitants were primitive compared to, let's say , Mesopotemian, Persia and the Lavant, in order to bring them up-to-date so to speak . But the "core" of Islam was not new. Mainly it was reinforcement of the myths propagated by the Jewish religion and reinforced by the Christians. Yes, Islam is "essentially totalitarian" but that is true about ALL religions - although Islam has more well defined rules about the treatment of non-Muslims who live among them - look at the "official" discrimination and racism against the indigenous Arab population of Israel practiced by the "democratic" Jewish state. Mohammad may not have measured up to your standards of saintliness, but that's because his life is well documented whereas Moses and Jesus have been made into some metaphysical and "above the fray" kind of creatures - I know it is very hard for you to hide your bigotry, but at least you are trying. Your biggest brain fart is saying the idea of emulation of the prophet is "unique in Islam". Really? Show me a single devoted Christian or Jew who does not want to live "through" Jesus or Moses! Islam did develop in a "cultural backwater", in Saudi Arabia which is STILL a cultural backwater, but Islam has also survived and flourished in many parts of the world which are advanced. Unfortunately your idea of Islam mirrors that of the Jihadis. Terms like "house of war and house of Islam" are nothing but nonsense propagated by the Islamist fringe to give a "framework" to their politics and naive people like you, who are Islamophobes, pick these up and use them as if these notions are universally accepted by the Muslims. In summary, SOME Muslims think about Jihad the way they do and divide the world between the "dar al Eslam and dar al harb" because they want to not because they read it in Koran or Islam "essentially" dictates those notions. Terry, I suggest that you read less Jihad nonsense and open your mind to what really goes on among Muslims. who are don't live everyday to kill people. Abdel, never beg your enemies to "give you a break". Your enemies, you know well who they are are NOT going to give you break. What they want you to do is either to get lost or stay but shut up and accept occupation, humiliation, discrimination and racism. You don't need to explain why you are in the conditions that you are, we all know why. What you need to do is to strengthen your self-confidence, fix what's wrong with you and your society and stand up to you enemies to stop them from dominating you using all means necessary. Sorry for the lecture but I thought you are not the arrogant domineering party here. You are the victim and you don't need to be.

If Dubai is a bad example, what's a good one? Name one Arab city. You can't say Cairo since that's just a big slum. You mention Kuala Lampur but read the history of that city.It was dveloped by non-Muslim Chinese. As for Tehran, no thanks. I'm happy just imagining Cyrus weeping over what's become of his people.

Persian CAT (04.04.08) "But the "core" of Islam was not new. Mainly it was reinforcement of the myths propagated by the Jewish religion and reinforced by the Christians". Abdel , Nablus (04.02.08) "Which religion does not look down at women? Which religion does not look down and humiliate non-followers? Capital punishments and stoning are things we inherited from Judaism…......…… "

thanks for the feedback.... i never begged anyone for anything, what i was saying is that don't expect much improvement in the middle-east unless the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ends...and that is a fact...end the conflict first, and then the situation will be totally different .......give us a break meant end the hostility, and then you can judge as you like... i had a big two part response for this, unfortunately, the moderator on this website blocks my posts all the time, i hope they don't block this one.........

You are not a true Persian with you views defending Islam, that stole Persia and turned it into Iran, Persians are not Arabs! You are nothing but an Iranian Rat and i have seen you on Youtube pouring out your vile hatred against Israel during the last Lebanon war. Only thing i can say is that you are as ugly and nasty on the outside as you are on the inside.

Islam does come from Judaism and Christianity. What? Do you think the Koran is something original?

Great opinion piece. I hope the CEO Andreus publishes this in arabic, in London, for example, in Al Hayat. The ARab world itself would probably not publish this, but Arabi publications elsewhere will. It is very reassuring in jewish and israeli orbits to read this, but the most important target audience for this is the arab world........And I will bet that the israeli arab leaders are as bad at getting some kind of message across to the outside world...as israeli jews are at getting the inside story to the outside world. This is a pity............I wonder, in Israel and Jeiwhs world, the right wing and extreme right are organized and have lots of money, while jews on the left and far left get no funding and hate eachother..a .broke balagan. what about israeli arabs?

right on, cuz. you are on the money...even if you read like a history paper....what about today and tomorrow. my friends in bethlehem would agree with you in private but never in public...and they say, of course, but what can we do. Nothing.......and they are right. Palestine is full of great people who can never say what they really think, and will not. their society is full of taboos, and only gangs with guns get the message across. there is no democracy. youre right, abdul,

If the true children of Israel were in Israel serving Yahweh El Shaddai, there would be real peace in Israel all around!

You write :"..- look at the official discrimination and racism against indigenous Arabs of Israel ..". Mister, you should visit Israel and see for yourself how the Israeli Arabs are living. I think you will be positively surprised. You will see that the Israeli Arabs are having a GOOD life : with a roof above their head, a peaceful atmosphere to raise their kids, and enough food for the body and mind. BTW the propaganda regarding 'discrimination and racism' coming out of Teheran from the Ayatollahs as worded by Ahmedinejad -- you should not take seriously. In response to #39 -- I think you should visit Israel in order to broaden your horizon. BTW I liked your statement starting with "Terms like house of war" and ending with "dictates those notions". You are coming close of being a normal Muslim -- as opposed to the radical islamists.