Do a search on news.google.com on the term "Arab Street," and you'll find that this is a favorite term among those who think that US, and especially Israeli policies are misguided.
It appears that the Arab street is a moody bitch easily roused into unforgiving resentment and hatred, unable to consider the broader context of any action, not to be trifled with. For all this, she has finely tuned political instincts, invariably knowing where to put her political sympathies (the same place as leftist European intellectuals). We should therefore pay close attention to the Arab street, because her opinions have merit.
And the Arab street is a terrible threat - although she seems to be in a perpetual state of agitation, there's always the risk that things will "boil over," resulting in some cataclysmic event that would strike us Westerners with awe. Hasn't happened yet, but we're warned it might.
The few Arab streets I've visited (all, it must be admitted, were in Israel and the Territories) were by and large busy but peaceful places. And the Arabs I've met and talked are often (okay, usually (okay, universally)) in opposition to Israeli and U.S. foreign policy, but they weren't likely to be swept away by mass hysteria more easily than anyone else.
So when the US bombs a mosque that "insurgents" are using for cover, I tend to believe that the Arab street knows the basic facts: the mosque was only bombed because the insurgents hid in it, not because coalition forces like to see how domes collapse when hit by two 500-lb bombs. So even though newspapers predicted all kinds of riots on the Arab street - surprise! - the Arabs actually knew that while this was regretable, it wasn't worth making a big stink about. Sure, some formal protests, some criticism, but not bloody riots.
Since the people who threaten with the Arab street largely are unfazed by ironies, they don't usually take into account two uncomfortable truths about the Arab street:
- There was widespread celebration in several Arab cities - notably Palestinian ones - on September 11th, 2001, and also when terrorist succeeded in killing a large number of Jews in Israel. In other words, there's a bit of a mob mentality based on the notion of a demon enemy that is Jewish, or controlled by Jews.
- The Arab street constitutes a formidable threat to Arab regimes, none of which is democratic by any reasonable standard, and all of which have shown willingness and ability to shut down resistance with murderous force.
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