A Moment to Pause and Reflect
by John V. Whitbeck, international lawyer based in Saudi Arabia

What is most likely to “work”, to reduce the violence, which can never be totally extinguished, to tolerable levels? The West could make a serious and sustained effort to reduce the injustices which feed the fury that produces the “terrorism”, starting with the cancerous 37-year-long occupation of Palestine. This approach has not yet been tried. It should be.

Since Sept. 11, the United States has been dragging the world in precisely the wrong direction, one guaranteed to make an already ugly and dangerous situation even worse. Realistically, particularly in an election year, one cannot expect America to take the lead in changing course. Might Europe, which is both more aware of history and closer to the Middle East, take inspiration from the Spanish elections and lead the world in the right direction?

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