Avi Melamed

Avi Melamed provides ​a critical look at the Arab world​ in his book "Inside the Middle East"​, as told by ​​an Israeli intellectual. I imagine it would be difficult for an​y​ ​Israeli ​Zionist ​​to be 100% impartial when examining the Arab world, and vice versa.​ Accordingly, as impartial as the author may ​hope to ​be, I can't imagine many in the Arab world will find this book ​much ​to their liking. ​​
​Avi ​​Melamed ​provides a review of most of the Muslim majority nations in the Middle East, pointing out their many problems​. I found some of these sections somewhat repetitive, since some of the regional issues can be considered applicable to several Countries in the Middle East, and as a result, some of the same topics are covered more than once. ​One of the more significant problems ​which the author finds to be ​common in the Arab countries ​​is related to poor educational systems. He also points out that unemployment numbers ​in many of those countries ​are staggering​, and as a result, any little crisis can cause profound impact​s​ on the people​ in the region. He points out that​,​ by most measures, be it housing, employment, education, freedom, personal safety, solutions to problems, civil rights, development, literacy, poverty, scientific research, public services, etc.​, the​ Arab world ​is ​suffering.​ He ​notes that according to Freedom House​,​ which measures political freedom and human rights, ​the countries in the Middle East and North Africa are ​among ​the worst in the world. Egypt & Turkey on ​on that ​list​ as low ranking Countries​, ​as are other Muslim majority countries such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Somalia, Uzbekistan​, and of course Syria, the worst​ of the worst​.

Melamed ​d​ownplays the theory that environmental, climate, and other issues contributed to ​unrest in Syria and to the ​Arab Spring​. He also dismisses the claims of some who may attribute the rise of ISIS in Syria & Iraq as being due to a lack of democracy in the ​Middle East and North African arab countries, or that ISIS was able to take hold and spread as a result of the policies of the U.S. and / or Israel. Rather, he implies that many of these problems are due in part to a culture of hatred​,​ and a dismissal of others, implanted in Islam from its very beginnings.

​He does allow that Israeli policies may not have been perfect, ​but generally does not ​identify specific policies by the Israeli government as contributors to the Israeli - Palestinian issues. ​Restrictions imposed on Gaza, expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, impacts on Palestinians caused by the security wall and border crossing points​,​ are not given significant discussion. ​Rather, Melamed indicates ​that the li​ves of all in the ​Arab ​region​s​ may be improved in the future with improvements in freedom, education, and critical thinking in all the countries in the Middle East. ​

​In ​the ​discussi​o​n ​of ​the problems in the region, I kept thinking of the old Hatfield and McCoy's feud from American folklore in the late 20th century, when both sides seemed only to remember the most recent insult or injury suffered by their family, ​and were ​unable to recognize the prior injury their family caused to the other. And thus​,​ the feud continued, generation after generation. ​Clearly, each side will continue to criticize and find faults with the other, but it's also helpful if each side looks internally to identify how their policies impact peace and prosperity for all.
​… (mehr)