Doug Sanders, 26 July 2003, Globe and Mail
I won't blame you if, upon seeing the words ''Middle East'' in a headline, you turn the page, muttering about the ceaseless conflict between unchanging forces. The same old implacable Arabs, the same old intractable Israelis, the same old awkward Americans . . . a broken record. May I politely suggest that you might be very wrong? Across the Levant, there are so many reports of deep-seated changes in public moods and popular philosophies in the last generation that it's worth throwing away many of our assumptions. The headlines may look like they did in 1978 or 1993, but there are many observers who believe the mood on the ground is very different, more sophisticated, more fatigued and less extreme.
Why haven't we noticed this? Perhaps because the dwindling extremists have stolen the day. Or perhaps because the three key nations are led by men who don't really represent most of their people. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, has never faced an election. George W. Bush was opposed by a majority of American voters in 2000. And Ariel Sharon, under an unfortunate electoral system known as proportional representation, holds office despite having been opposed in this year's election by more than 60 per cent of Israelis. Important changes in the popular outlook have been shielded from public view by leaders who are stuck in a previous era. This doesn't mean that the new public ethos can't prevail. Every once in a while, it shines through the cracks.
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