Henrik Thune is a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and a guest researcher at the University of North Carolina. In a recent article in Dagbladet "God is Innocent", he decries the reductionism in the public debate on the Middle East, and sees two versions. On the Left - anti-Israel, on the Right - anti-Islam.
He writes that the Left emphasizes the "Jewish" aspect of Israel. They often discuss and condemn Israel's conduct, out of the assumption "that there's a certain 'Jewish' political mentality and that there's something about this Jewishness that can explain Israel's aggressive foreign policy and treatment of Palestinians and neighboring countries".
Thune isn't above reductionism himself. He writes: "Just before Christmas I met a taxi driver who explained the chaos in the Middle East simply: 'It's not possible to have peace down there. Not with all the Shiites, Sunnis and Jews'. Maybe he's right."
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