Palestinian Culture

            During his visit to Israel, Mitt Romney attributed the backwardness of Palestinians to their culture. For that, he was branded a racist by his critics. But did he have a point? Instead of a personal attack on Romney's character, the discussion should be on the merits of the issue.

            Romney certainly has a point when you look at the huge differences in material and economic success in Palestine and Israel. A case can be made for blaming Palestinian lack of success on the Palestinian culture of repression, corruption, and terrorism. But is that really "culture" in the traditional sense?
            Webster defines culture as "the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought characteristic of a community or population." In that sense, Palestine culture is dominated by Islam. Is Islam, therefore, the cause of Palestinian failure? Is Judaism the key to Israel's success? In either case, I think the answer is both yes and no. The key to success or lack of it is, in my view, not just cultural, but also political.
            Turkey is perhaps the most successful Islamic country in the Middle East. It is governed by a secular regime that does not let religious beliefs interfere with economic policy or democratic institutions. Unfortunately, it is quite alone in that respect.
            In the last two years Islamic countries of the Middle East and North Africa have been swept by political revolution. The so-called Arab Spring has seen despots ousted from power in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Iraq. Syria is not far behind. It's not clear, however, that despotism is being replaced by something better. Western hopes for the emergence of democracies are not likely to be realized everywhere, if anywhere at all. Instead, we will probably see Islamists grab control, and Islamists have not proven to be terribly fond of democracies. But at least there's a chance that they will adopt some democratic institutions to mitigate the effects of Islamic thought and practice.
            Palestine is a different story. There the government is dominated by Hezbollah whose sole, all-encompassing motivation is the extinction of Israel. As clients of Iran, Palestinians are controlled by jihadists who use terrorism as their principal method of advancement. This is not culture: it is madness. And as long as this madness persists, Palestinians can never hope to achieve the success of Israel, the only true democracy in the region.
            We are now faced with terrible questions. Will Israel strike Iran? If it does, as is increasingly likely, will the Islamists who have newly come to power stand with Tehran or will they stand aside? Will the United States, with a president who has openly declared his Islamic faith and is irresolute in the face of Iranian threats,  back Israel?
            I fear we will know the answer. And it won't be before very long.