Communications

Language communication, or lack of it, is undoubtedly the greatest drawback in establishing any form of dialogue between ourselves and the Arab peoples. Classical Arabic is spoken and written all over the Arab world but only a very small minority of Arabs understand it. The man in the street speaks colloquial Arabic and this varies not only from country to country but from village to village and person to person. Their language structure is vastly different to our own and what is more significant is that, at times, our thought processes cannot be related to each other. For example, they have no indefinite article, no verb "to have", three numbers, singular, dual and plural, no present, past, and future tense as we know it, for their verbs are declined in one of eight forms etc, etc. It follows that translation, and interpretation of each others language can lead to much confusion and misunderstanding. Again, by our standards, Arab speech is flattering, exaggerated and contains much reference to God and is fatalistic in outlook.

There is no easy solution to this communication problem, nor do I suggest one. However, I do think those people who pass judgement on the Arabs, after a visit to Israel, should at least be able to say, I spoke with many Arabs and found them wanting. If they cannot then they speak "Kalam fadi" — empty words.