On Mon, 25 Mar 2002, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> Why do you say "pan-arab," a phrase heard primarily in Israeli propaganda?
Huh? Pan-arabism was the favorite phrase of Nasser to describe his creed, and it was the dominant ideology in the Middle East until the end of the 70s. Nasser's passing had a lot to do with it of course. But it was also by then becoming clear that the all the states of the middle east -- all of which had originally been decried by pan-arabists as artificial creations designed to divide and rule -- had given rise for better or worse to substantially differing interests that were making voluntary union impossible (prelimany forms of which were tried several times unsuccesfully, e.g., between Egypt and Syria, Egypt and Yemen, etc.) And of course then in the 80s, the secular revolutionaries who had kept alive the dream of a more encompassing union that would transcend these artificial and divisive states began to be drowned out by the similar dream of Islamic revolutionaries.
It's somewhat surprising to me that you don't know any of this.
> There are many peoples in the Middle East who are not Arabs, of course.
No kidding. Do tell.
So should I take this to mean that you don't have a clear answer to either question? You do notice that you evaded them entirely? That's not like you.
Michael