Guess what? I have another data point for my anonymous interviews of Moslems that have moved from the Middle East to the United States… On my return trip to the New Orleans airport, I found myself with an Egyptian taxi driver. He shared the fact that he had served in the Egyptian army and he was on a detail that guarded Anwar Sadat (that must be the reason he’s a taxi driver in Louisiana today). Once again, the discussion quickly went to the topic of the Middle East, where I inquired about the difficulty in finding peace among Moslems, Jews, and Christians.
He immediately said it is chaotic in the Middle East because of the United States being in Iraq and because of the “Is-rah-el-ees” (the Arabic pronunciation of “Israeli”). He remarked to me, “What do the Israelis expect when they take the land and drive people from their homes?” I replied in a very innocent manner, “Do you mean that the Israelis are stealing land today?” He replied “well, not now, but in 1967″… Hmm
Since I’m the man that professes “think stereotypically, but act individually” I don’t want to make sweeping conclusions. However, there is a distinctive pattern that is forming and a trait that is very clear: The Moslems accept culpability for nothing. The Iranians could destroy Israel with nuclear missiles and the rest of the Moslems in the world would declare that it were justified. This view is ingrained in every Moslem man, woman, and child.
As I was paying my fare (and leaving him a tip), I left him this with the question: “If the Shia and Sunni Moslems are killing each other in their Mosques, how can we ever expect them to make peace with the Israelis?”