| OCR Text |
Show That period of candid and undaunted self-confrontation proved to be one of the most pregnant moments in modern Arab history. To millions of Arabs, the loss of Palestine was the indictment of a whole generation. The import of that harsh verdict of history, as envisioned by the Arabs of the day, went beyond Palestine, beyond military power or impotence: it was a judgement on values cherished for thirty years, on premises of thought considered axiomatic since the end of the First World War, on age-old traditions and systems of social organization; in short, on an entire mode of existence. The dark crisis of Palestine, coming in the wake of the historical developments cited earlier, lent urgency and imperativeness to the desire already expressed for drastic change and far-reaching transformation in Arab life. Whenever the desire for change and reform obtains, it stimulates and activates the talent forces of continuity and of maintenance of the status quo against which the revolt is launched Their vested interests threatened, their cherished values endangered, and their leadership challenged, these forces and groups rise to defend the mode of life they typify. So it was with Arab society in the late 1940's and early 1950's. The challenge to existing institutions and forms of social- economic-political organization stimulated into active self-defense all those Arab groups and forces which were endangered in their interests or traditional outlooks by the mounting forces of reform. The call for change, therefore, became a dialogue between the champions of a new order and the advocates of the status 39 |
