bto expect peace and harmony and acceptance of minority status
bfrom an Israeli Arab who is different from the ruling majority
bJew in every possible way? And when one adds to this the fact
bthat the Arab minority was once a majority in the land, what are
bthe chances for harmony and peace? Such is the reality of the
bJewish majority-Arab minority situation in the Land of Israel. A
blook at just some of the myriad separatist movements and con-
bflicts in the world—most far less abrasive than the Jewish-Arab
bone—will go a long way toward dispelling dangerous illusions
band delusions concerning the possibility of Jewish-Arab harmo-
bny in the Land of Israel.
bIt is a survey that is necessarily cursory and incomplete, for
bthere is simply no room in this book for a detailed description of
ball the disputes. It is enough, however, to put the Jewish-Arab
bconflict in proper perspective: a deadly battle with only bloody
bencounter as long as the Arabs remain in the land.
THE MIDDLE EAST
bIn Israel’s backyard are not only first-class exhibits of
b“coexistence” between various differing groups but also classic
bproof of how Arabs treat a differing group within their midst,
beven when that group is Arab. It takes little to project from that what
blife would be for Jews in a country that has a large, powerful
bArab minority—or majority.
Lebanon: Christians versus Muslims
bNo one knows exactly how many people have been killed in
bLebanon since the civil war there began just a relatively few
byears ago, but 50,000 would be a conservative figure. Nor do we
bspeak of the tens of thousands maimed and wounded, the hun-
bdreds of thousands who fled their homes, the untold amount of
bproperty damage.
bThe antagonists in Lebanon all speak the same language:
bArabic. They share the same culture, come from the same na-
btional ethnic background. They are all Arabs, one people in every way
bbut one: some 55 percent of the population is Muslim and the
brest, Christian. That has been enough to cause a bloody five-
byear war, to cause de facto partition of Lebanon into Christian
band Muslim enclaves, and to breed hate and vengeance. It has
b