Fed up with the so-called sophisticated analysis of the Middle East, failing to address the minimum logical concerns of a kindergarten presentation? Confused that there it is not only one single place in the "civilized world" to be considered fully reliable and honest when it deals with Israel? And you ask yourself continously WHY?
I have these questions for a long time and also felt how complicate - if not really impossible - is to go beyond the narrow minds procrastinating about the region and unanimously scapegoating Israel. (I am sure this is not the unanimity of thoughts, but when it is about going publicly, a pich of salt of criticism against Israel is heartly recommended by the media and popular academic trends).
Ivory Towers of Sand, by Martin Kramer is putting some good light into the issue, deconstructing the history of the Middle Eastern studies in the US and their ideological roots. This explains many things. I remember when I was at the university, Edward Said was considered a supreme reference and the slightest critique was categorized as a clear symptom of being fully unfit for the academic career. "How comes, you wrote an article omitting mention Orientalism? What a terrible mistake!" and so on and so forth. This ridiculous situation is clearly reflected in the ways in which are drafted Western policies regarding the Middle East. Partisan, in full denial of the realities on the ground, following third-world patterns, shortly: wrong.
How you can feel about this? As you know, the first stage of solving a problem is to know the main data and parameters.
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