Maikel Nabil Sanad, Blogger of Hope or What?

Maikel Nabil Sanad certainly stands out in a crowd, the crowded news world of the Middle East. He's an Egyptian Copt Christian who has nothing against Israel, apparently.

Dissident Maikel Nabil — the first political prisoner of the post-Mubarak regime — says there can be no democracy in Egypt without peace with Israel. But he also has harsh criticism for what he calls Jerusalem’s ‘racist’ government (Times of Israel)

Sanad is making Jews happy, but his fellow Arabs are outraged.  Consider that Israeli Arab students in Hebrew University loudly booed him when he spoke there.

Sanad explained his visit had two objectives "First of all I came to say a peace- seeking community exists in Egypt, even if the media is trying to make it look like there isn't. We oppose war and are pro-peace with all countries including Israel,

"The Egyptian dictatorship tries to hide us and pretend such people do not exist, but we are present in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Mauritania though the media does not report it.

"My second objective is to show how the situation in Egypt, Israel and Palestine is connected. My friends and I understand that we will not obtain peace without democracy, or have democracy without peace."

Riots during Sanad speech at Hebrew University (Photo:Ohad Zwigenberg)

That means that Sanad is really a loner and doesn't have much of a following, even among Israeli Arabs.  He's cashing in on the fact that Israelis want to hear that there's a chance of peace with Arabs.  It's very dangerous for Israel to make too much of people like Sanaad.  It would be nice to think that he represents a "silent majority," or even a sizable minority in the Arab world.  That would play well in the la la Left ideology.

Don't forget that Sanad can't live safely in his native Egypt.  He presently lives and studies in Germany.

We must remember that we will not achieve true peace by conventional logic.  And we mustn't make too much of Arabs like Sanad.

Dry Bones

The road to true lasting peace isn't simple.  We're far from it when a person like Sanad isn't publicly supported by his fellow Arabs. 

Israel spends too much time publicly groveling, begging the Arabs to make peace with us.  That just causes them to feel more confident that they are winning and we are losing.  And nobody likes to support a loser.

For true peace, we must stand tall and make demands.  We must state that the onus, responsibility to make peace is on the Arabs.  They are the sole guilty party, and that we have the patience to wait for them to recognize that we are the rulers of this Land.