“The Sixth War”: 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, and, apparently, 2006 Posted by Shadi Hamid

The last few days, I’ve been trying to watch a bit more of Al-Jazeera in order to better gauge Arab public opinion. My brother was confused when he saw the current crisis referred to on the bottom left of the screen as “The Sixth War.” So I counted, 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, and, apparently, 2006. I would have never thought of lumping the six wars together, but I suppose this captures quite well how many Arabs view the current crisis – as something not entirely new, something embedded in history. This is what we might call a “narrative.” What’s ours?

This reminds me of a conversation I had last month with an Egyptian friend. We were talking about the deteriorating situation in Iraq. I told him that the war happened, the past is gone. As much as we might like to, we cannot undo the Bush administration’s reckless behavior, its fated decision to plunge us into a war we were prepared to fight, but not prepared to win. We cannot simply sit back and criticize. Now, rather, the task for us is to work together to find a way out of the current quagmire, to come up with policy alternatives, and, ultimately, to ensure that – whether it takes 5, 10, or 50 years – that Iraqis will be able to consolidate the gains of January 30, 2005. Iraq can, one day, with sustained US, EU, and Arab involvement, become perhaps not a model democracy, but a democracy, and that would be more than enough in a region that has neither.

He looked at me, grinned, and said - I’m paraphrasing now - “well, that’s the difference between us and you.” He grinned some more. Then, he stretched his arms and sat back. He continued slowly, self-assuredly, “you are consumed by the future, we are consumed by the past.” I’m not sure that this was really deep, but it certainly sounded like it was when he said it. Perhaps he had been reading too much of Tom Friedman. Or perhaps he was on to something.

These are, of course, simplistic overgeneralizations that would no doubt disturb the quiet egalitarian inside us all. However, there is something to be said for the power of history, especially a most tragic one.

Comments

[ACD]

Agreed - the past cannot be undone, and just as it would be wrong of the U.S. to simply withdraw from Iraq in the middle of rebuilding, it would be wrong for the U.S. to not take a leading role in helping to assuage the situation in Israel. As for our being consumed by the future (as opposed to being consumed by the past): if we don't give ourselves a goal to work towards, what hope do we have of ever solving this crisis?

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[Menachem Mendel]

I think that the whole question of how certain societies structure their historical memory, especially when concerning previous conflicts, is often ignored because of fear of being labeled an orientalist, colonialist, you take your pick at another label. While one can always point out examples of historical memory which have hindered coexistence and good relations, there are several recent examples which I think show that even after a prolonged armed conflict and even much worse, good relations are not impossible. The example that is closest to home is Germany and the Jews. While many Jews say that they won't buy German products or will always hold something against Germany, thousands of Jews are living in Germany today and thousands of Germans visit Israel. With yesterday having been the Jewish day of mourning, the ninth of Av, this question is very real. It may have taken many years and is more difficult for some than others,but historical memory has not prevented some form of relationship. Another example is America and Vietnam. Would any American feel unsafe walking through the streets of Vietnam or Cambodia? I am not familiar with Vietnamese opinion, but it doesn't seem as if it is hindering them from welcoming Americans, even many American soldiers who fought there, from visiting Vietnam or from establishing relations between the two countries.

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Even the Islamic calendar has the Arab World stuck in the 1420's. Maybe another 500 moon cycles and we can expect a little future vision.

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