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Monday
Jan242011

Cultural Understanding Is The Gateway To Middle Eastern Democracy, According To Islamic Expert

By Rachel Whitt

Speaking to a group of congressional members, staffers and media, Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a professor at Bar-Ilan University in Israel who focuses on Islamic Movements and Popular Arab Culture, outlined the reasons why democracy has been slow to take root in the Middle East. 

“Misunderstanding the Middle East is the main reason why the  war against Germany took six years,” said Kedar. “But war to stabilize Iraq took seven and the war in Afghanistan is in the ninth year.”

“People in this country better understood the mindset of the Nazis,” Kedar continued. “However,  understanding the Middle Eastern societies seems to be too hard.”

According to Kedar, some of the biggest cultural dividers between Eastern cultures and Western cultures are individualism, religion, values and history. Kedar said each of these factors contribute to the tension and jealousy between Islamic nations and Western civilizations. 

“Changes can be introduced,” Kedar said. “But it must be very slowly, and very carefully.”

Kedar served for twenty-fave years in the Israeli Defense Forces Military Intelligence  His lecture was part of a series put on by the Endowment for Middle East Trust.

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