The Arab world's silence during this recent wave of terrorism, led mostly by knife-wielding Palestinian teenagers, is deafening, and it represents a certain lack of support for the Palestinians. The Arab nations seem willing to leave these radical elements to deal with the mess they have cause by themselves. This time, the wave of terrorism not only fails to represent the Arab struggle against Israel, it fails to represent even the Palestinian themselves. The Arab world's roaring silence is actually commendable. In the past, the slightest of incidents in Judea and Samaria, let alone on the Temple Mount, would have been enough to see masses take to the streets. Now these streets are empty, even in places prone to unrest like Cairo or Amman. Arab media has also marginalized the story, toning down the rhetoric, with the exception of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera, where incitement is a reflex. Even Ankara is reluctant to chime in. Arab media outlets have all but refrained from condemning Israel over the current unrest, and it seems that this time, it is in their best interest not to fan the flames. This uncharacteristic silence from the Arab world allegedly stems from the fact that their rulers are preoccupied with internal issues. No one has the time or the energy for yet another Palestinian unrest, and it seems that Ramallah's claim that Israel is eyeing a change in the status quo on the Temple Mount is taken with a large grain of salt. Both Egypt and Jordan are trying to defuse the situation and convince the Palestinians that the Israeli clarifications on the matter, as well as the new agreements brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry about installing security cameras on the volatile holy site, are enough to shelve the issue. We must, however, remember that the moderate regimes in the Arab world are currently locked in a fight to the death between radical Islam. Egypt and other prominent Arab nations have come to realize that radical Muslims will not stop at Israel, and will soon set their sights on other Arab societies. Those fighting extremists in Egypt, Tunisia, and other Arab nations have no reason to support Hamas and the Islamic Movement if all they are trying to do is agitate the situation on the ground in the name of religion. The bleak, radical horizon offered by Muslim extremists is clear to all in the Arab world. Dozens of people are murdered in Syria every day in the name of religion, and Muslim extremists are constantly trying to undermine to Egyptian regime. As hard as it is to understand, Israel, even in the midst of a terrorism wave, is seen as an island of sanity compared to the rest of the region. Another interesting distinction concerning the recent escalation is that the teenage terrorists involved in the majority of the attack that have taken place over the past few weeks, are not lauded as heroes by the Arab media or Palestinian society. Their actions are not seen as proof of their devotion to the Palestinian cause, but rather as an indication that they have lost their way and their mind. Older and wiser Palestinians have not taken part in the recent wave of terrorism, signaling that this teenage homicidal trend is not something they support or believe will prove effective. Palestinian parents, it seems, have lost control of their teenage sons and daughters, whose minds have been warped by incitement. Palestinian youth idolize the Islamic State group, and are willing to commit horrific acts in its name. The fact that recent terrorist attacks have failed to garner widespread support in the Arab world, and that a growing number of Palestinians have come to understand that extremism will get them nowhere, breeds hope that violence will soon wane. Recent tensions, however, bear a warning for the future: We are witnessing the rise of a new generation of Palestinian youth, who have lost their way and revere knives and death in the name of religion. In this internal struggle to reason with these youths, the Arab world has its work cut out for it.
