Narratives

I read David Brooks' op-ed column of April 8th and thought: "He's right, there is a huge divide between the Americans/Israel and the Arab/Muslim world. It's very depressing. So what shall we do about it?"

Barnett Rubin has a good analysis of David Brooks' opinion explaining how self-centered and unproductive it is. Rubin's conclusion, "David Brooks predicts a "war over narratives." We don't need to fight this war. We need to listen." is made much concrete by his suggestions (negotiating with the Arab states under Saudi Arabia's initiative and negotiatingwith Hamas).

These subjects keep me awake much too late, I should be in bed long ago.

Correction: Apparently, the area I live in should be referred to as "Old Katamon" rather than "Katamon" which is on the other side of the road and "much less nice".