Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[harrypothead]

Fighting? Maybe cultural, contemporary cultural?

They certainly have their angry population, and Israel, and the US, largely thriving populations, are easy targets for anger.

They have the one commodity the global economy is dependant upon. Without oil, prosperity would stop. Yet most Arabs live in abject poverty while the ruling class lives with unimaginable wealth. Blame is more appropriately placed with their despotic rulers than with the US. But we are not without fault. Much of the Arab hostility that we experience today is related to our self serving, oil motivated history in the region. Iran is a specific example. When it suited us we supported some of the most brutal regimes known to man. And we wonder why they hate us?

Israel is another situation. The Palestinian conflict inflames tension, but Israel is also closely allied with the US and, unlike in other mideast countries, US policy has always been favorable to Israel and it's people. The US is bashed for support of Israel, but I sometimes wonder if it's not a little like the chicken and the egg.