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The following piece appeared on the Letters page of The Guardian’s Review supplement on April 5, 2003.

Civilized bombers

Surely the “-ism” in the Middle East which has caused more death and destruction is the one unmentioned by Avi Shlaim (Book of the Week, March 29) – imperialism?

[…] Arab nationalism (like, say, Finnish nationalism) has always seemed to me an essentially defensive political stance. Maybe the Finns are just lucky living in the north, playing Sibelius and reading the Kalevala to their hearts’ content, away from oil-rich, and in the case of Palestine, contested lands.

But basically what is the difference between Finnish and Arab nationalism? Why can we celebrate the one in the concert hall, while the other is demonised by academics?

I must say I’ve got absolutely no idea what to make of this, but it seemed interesting enough to report here. Also note the topic, which might or might not have been selected by the editors.

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