Consider this from a piece that ran in the Wash. Post today, "A Hatred Rooted In Failings," by Caryle Murphy, former WP Cairo bureau chief:
"To many Americans, these issues [concerning Palestinian grievances] may seem irrelevant in the face of the evil of last week -- evil that can never be excused. And those who lost loved ones do not want to hear explanations.
"I understand those reactions, grounded in grief, only too well: My family was twice wounded in this national catastrophe. First, we got news that one of our closest friends, the Rev. Francis E. Grogan, was on United Airlines flight 175, which rammed into the south tower of the World Trade Center. The 76-year-old Roman Catholic priest, who was virtually a member of the family, was headed from Boston to Los Angeles to see his sister. Then we heard that Richard Keane, married to my cousin, Judy Keane, for 31 years, and the father of five, has not called home since Tuesday. An insurance consultant, he was in a meeting on the 99th floor of the south tower.
"I have to admit my head and my heart are battling each other. The hurt inflicted last week is testing my patience and my resolve to understand Islam. But after the funerals and our military reprisals, our country still has to exist in a world with 1 billion Muslims, about one-third of them in the Middle East. And the same forces that helped create the fanatics who attacked us will still be there.
"If we want to avoid creating more terrorists, we must end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict quickly and in a way both sides see as fair. We must demand that authoritarian governments open up, and we must make a greater effort to engage and encourage those Muslims who promote moderate and modernist versions of Islam. That's an anti-terrorism program worthy of our lost loved ones."
[Full text: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35106-2001Sep15.html]
Carl
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