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28 Inside the Arab Mind!

embassies, the murder of diplomats, and the taking of hostages by Arab terrorists have since been
adopted by non-Arab terrorists the world over” (Netanyahu, A Place Among the Nations, p. 102).

Arabs are unpredictable -- “a gentle,
peaceful man, on the spur of the moment
may commit brutal murder” (Winifred
Blackman cited in Patai, The Arab Mind,
p. 158). A man’s best friend of yesterday
might well be his murderer tomorrow --
once aroused, his wrath has no limits.
How true is the Arab proverb: “At each
meal a quarrel, with each bite a worry”
(cited in Ibid., p. 161).

Arab spokesmen tell Westerners, “If
it were not for the Israelis, all would be
peace and harmony in the Middle East”
(quoted from “The Old Villain,” New
Leader, Oct. 29, 1990). The Middle East
was a bloody and insecure region long
before Israel raised her head in 1948.
And most of the coups, conflicts and kill-
ings in the Arab states and Iran in the last
40 years have not been connected to Is-
Face of the Devil
rael at all. The former Secretary General
of the United Nations, Boutros
Boutros-Ghali, wrote in 1982: “In the last three decades alone, more than 30 conflicts between Arab
states have erupted.” Some of these “conflicts” were, in fact, full-scale wars. In addition to these
conflicts, John Laffin writes: “Between 1948 and 1973 the Arab world suffered thirty successful
revolutions and at least fifty unsuccessful ones” (Laffin, The Arab Mind, pp. 97-98). Laffin adds
that in the same period, “22 heads of state and prime ministers were murdered.” Laffin gives the
main reason for conflicts as “the desire for power,” and says that some of the wars were “hideously
brutal.”

Savagery

It was mentioned earlier that Arabs in general endeavor to emulate Bedouin customs, hold-
ing them in high esteem and believing them to be virtually sacrosanct. Next to Mohammed himself,
an Arab philosopher of the 14th century, Ibn Khaldun, has had the most influence on the Arab
world. And he wrote: “Bedouin are a savage nation, fully accustomed to savagery and the things
that cause it. Savagery has become their character and their nature. They enjoy it...They care only
for the property they might take away from people through looting...civilization always collapses in
places the Bedouin took over and conquered” (Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), The Muqaddimah -- An
Introduction to History, quoted in Laffin, The Arab Mind, p. 97). Centuries have passed since
Khaldun wrote those words, but the Bedouin qualities, including savagery, survives throughout the
modern Arab world. “Western soldiers who fought the Arabs were always trained to keep their last

The Berean Voice November-December 2002