Submitted by Fred, Nov 21, 2006 15:08

Greetings,

Mr. Pipes has painted the issue in his usual colors, but let's look at it from the other side of the coin:

-Considering it was Israel that attacked Egypt in 1956 and 1967, and that the 1973 attack by Egypt was in response to Israel's attack in '67, it would seem Egypt has as much interest in holding the piece as Israel does. A light amount of commerce does take place between the two countries, particularly Israeli tourists in the Sinai resorts.

- Speaking of Sinai, Mr. Pipes ignores how this former battleground for Israeli-Egyptian hostilities has become a jewel in Egypt's economic revival. Tourism and natural has have flourished there, so I would again debate Pipes' presumption that Egyptians are somehow predisposed to making war on Israel. If recent history is any indication, Israel needs very little if any provocation to make war on its neighbors while Egypt has invaded no one in over 30 years.

- One of the charms of Egyptians is that when asked by foreign reporters, they will usually give the answer that is most likely to be contrary to what said reporter wants to here. If Mr. Pipes broached the region recently, and specifically Egypt, he would probably gather what many observers have: Egyptians have tired of the continuous Israeli-Palestinian conflict and would rather see the whole thing be done with.

But then again, such moderate observations and analysis don't make for good AIPAC talking points, do they?

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