I would like to thank your team for inviting me to read this book, including me in the open discussion you’re conducting with the Arab world; a discussion which has encouraged me to express my opinion sincerely, without fear or shyness.

First of all, I consider religion to play a substantial role in the Palestinian cause whereby Muslims deem themselves to be superior to the Jews. Their superiority complex is not remotely new and can be traced back to Muhammad’s time. Hatred towards Jews is passed on through the generations in the Muslim community and the more religiously minded have always portrayed Jews as “apes” and “pigs” while the Arab media takes any and every opportunity to paint Jews as criminals and murderers.

In my opinion, this hatred is generated from the Arab mind’s inability to tolerate differences and understand “the other”. It seems to me that the Arab mind wishes to remain isolated from, and indifferent to, others. This is a direct result of how we have been raised in the Arab world whereby we are encouraged to steer clear from those who are different from us, and perhaps even hate them.

I do not wish to make my response long, but I wish to impart, in brief, that the Arab world’s leaders have spent huge sums of money on the Palestinian cause without making any progress. This is because the Palestinian leadership has taken the money and used it for their own benefit, and this is why they do not wish to find any solution nor make progress towards one on this particular piece of land.

Back to your book, I must say that I found myself both thrilled and fascinated by your work. I feel as though I’ve never read such words before. It’s unusual to come across an author who speaks with such emotion and human sentiment.

I would contend that in order to make any progress in the conflict, we should:

• Forget our past disputes; move past them so that we can stop blaming each other.
• Make decisions based on realistic thinking and not waste any opportunity given to us.
• Keep religious elements and extremists from both sides of the conflict away, as they are reliably the ones who incite and endanger the peace process.
• Invite peace organizations and people of influence whose intentions and sense of humanity we trust to take part in peace negotiations.

I believe that when both sides profess good faith, express sincere intentions for peace and start educating their own people to forgive the other and forget the terrible era of destruction from which both suffered, regardless of who paid a higher price, progress will be made.

To sum up, we must prepare our people to take a new path. Through popular media and intellectual engagement, each side should educate its own society objectively about the conflict and the tragedies that accompanied it, so that we can turn the bitter and bloody abyss into a new flourishing future of peace and justice.

I hope I have contributed a little to the process of dialogue for a just peace that enables the coming generations to walk in the path of flourishment and prosperity.

Warm regards,

Edward from Egypt

February 2nd, 2021