"Wide Angle Gaza ER"
Excerpt of interview with Shibley Telhami

August 6th, 2007: Dr. Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor of Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, discusses the global ramifications of the Palestinian split with Anchor Daljit Dhaliwal.

Shibley Telhami:

You know, I think that we have to come to grips with the fact that the Arab/Israeli issue remains the prism through which the public in the Arab and much of the Muslim world looks at America. It remains that. Iraq is important. Iraq is a new prism. But even Iraq was, in part, seen through the prism of the Arab- Israeli issue. Even Iraq was seen in part through a wasted opportunity that people saw after 9/11. Even Iraq, when the United States asked the governments of Jordan or the government of Saudi Arabia to help in Iraq, the first thing they said was "Well, if we do the Arab-Israeli issue first, it would be easier for us to deal with Iraq."

So, I think it is the prism. It is a prism of pain through which Arabs see the United States, just like terrorism is the prism of pain through which Americans look at the Arab and Muslim world. And we have to come to grips with that. It doesn't mean the governments look at it as a priority. No. All governments are there in the Arab world, like anywhere else, they're there to preserve themselves in power. Then they will do everything instrumentally. But, there is no way we can ultimately succeed in minimizing war, in minimizing opposition to American foreign policy, in maintaining our links in an effective fashion with the Arab and Muslim world without positive movement or resolving the Arab-Israeli issue.

We have to come to grips with that. And I think that many in Washington call that simplistic thinking, because they're looking at the way governments behave, and that governments can act independently. They have. But, they pay a price. One reason why we see more repression in the Arab world, not more democracy, is that governments are being asked to follow policies that are highly unpopular that we're asking them to reform. And, yes, they can bypass the public. But, they do it at a price. It's a heavy price. It's an ugly price. And it's a price that we get to feel many years down the road.