Now that US presidential candidate Barak Obama has officially clinched the Democratic party vote and seems a possible presidential candidate come the November elections, the Arab States must start setting their agenda. Obama has made clear his intention to start a dialogue with Iran- rather than continuing the Bush Administration’s policy of boycott. Where do the Sunni Arabs fit into all of this?

To date, the Sunni Arab States seem unsure of how to deal with Iran. Open dialogue with the intention of integrating the Islamic Republic into the Middle Eastern fold has been impossible. Now that the US might change its modus operandi should a Democrat leader be elected, the Arab States may need to redress their policies vis a vis Iran and the place of Shi’ism in the Arab World in general.

The new reality in Lebanon, with the official inclusion of Hizbulla as a foremost power broker in the country, cannot be ignored. While some may hope that Hizbulla will at least have its wings clipped should a Syrian-Israeli peace deal come to fruition, the truth is that this political party is an intrinsic part of Lebanese society that may need to eventually have its military might controlled, but should not, and cannot, be marginalized politically.

In many ways, a McCain win would be more in line with Sunni Arab States policies and would be more to their short term benefit. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt would much rather deal with a Republican president whose fears match those of the Arab States. Such a president would be much more likely to carry out the policies of these states on their behalf.

But on the long term, such a president would prove to be deadly for the Middle East. What we need now is a process of introversion across the Middle East where we question how it is that we got to this point, in terms of inter-Muslim relations, Arab-Iranian politics, as well as the long-standing Arab-Israeli conflict. To keep going on as we have and playing by the same rules is no longer an option, as the stakes are getting higher.

What the Arab states cannot afford is a scenario in which there is dialogue between the US and Iran in which new agendas for Iraq, Lebanon, and indeed the Arab World at large are set, while the Sunni Arab States find themselves yet again on the sidelines of historic changes.

There is a need for the Arab states to accept the changing realities in the Middle East, and to realize that there is no use, and indeed no legitimacy, in fighting it. What will need to take place is a process of negotiation with the Iranians on rules of engagement in the Middle East and a new modus operandi.

We are also in need of an Arab-Iranian rapprochement to heal Sunni-Shia relations, and end sectarianism in the Arab and Muslim World. The fact that both the Iranian and Arab political leaders are fanning the flames of sectarianism in their battle for political influence in the region does not escape anyone. However, this front in the battle is one that should remain a no-go area. It is unforgivable that the Sunni-Shia card is being played in this cold war between the Arab World and Iran.

Iran does have a role to play in this region by virtue of its size, its power, and its geographic location – both in its proximity to Iraq as well as to Central Asia and China. Not to mentions well as its influence on Syria, Hizbulla, and Hamas, and its direct and indirect influence on Iraq. Iran simply cannot be ignored.

Giving Iran a seat at the decision-making table of the Middle East, might force them to somewhat modify their stance and moderate their opinions. It might also lessen their appeal to those sitting on the sidelines, because Iran is often seen as having kept its hands clean, as opposed to other countries in the region.

For their part, the Iranian political establishment will need to start behaving much more like a civilized and modern player in the Middle East. This includes not sticking purely to ideological rhetoric, not exporting religion, not interfering in the affairs of other states, not siding with one political faction at the expense of an entire nation (as in the case of Palestine and Lebanon), and not supporting the Shia militias in Iraq.

The solution to the ‘problem’ that is Iran should be three pronged: a long-term dialogue on Sunni-Shia relations and the place of Shi’ism within present-day Islam across the Middle East, bringing Iran back into the Middle Eastern fold, and forcing the Iranian state to play by the rules while negotiating the role of Iranian and Arab spheres of influences across the Middle East.

A year ago, many across the world were shocked by news of bombs exploding in Jordan — a country seen as an oasis of stability in a volatile part of the world. We, Jordanians, were particularly pained and angered by the bombs that killed family members, friends and acquaintances. Although having watched the rest of the region and the world increasingly being targeted by terrorism, we simply did not think it would happen to us — or at least hoped it would not.

The feeble reaction, however, we Arabs and Muslims have expressed regarding terrorism in the region and the world, may have helped encourage an environment where terrorism is tolerated. If we are to presume that terrorists inflict fear and terror in the belief that they have support for their agenda (at least from some people, at some level), then every time we have been silent we have in fact encouraged terrorists.

Every time they killed in the name of Islam and spoke on behalf of Muslims, and we remained silent, watching the senseless killings, we acted as indirect supporters of their terror (and allowed them to usurp legitimate resistance struggles in the cases of Iraq, Palestine and Chechnya, for their own ends). Every time we stood silent as they killed innocent people and bombed civilian locations we added to their strength, handing them the bullets for their next attack. Our silence has been their ammunition.

When Chechen freedom fighters forced their way into a school over two years ago, holding hundreds of Russian children hostage, many in the Arab and Muslim worlds kept disturbingly silent. The Chechens have legitimate political grievances against Russia, but is Beslan excusable?

In another instance, in October 2004 in Baghdad, Iraqi children were killed by anti-occupation forces while being handed sweets by American soldiers. Thirty-five young people lost their lives that day. Few among us were even aware. Their death might have gone unnoticed to some, in the mess that Iraq has become. A year later, in identical circumstances, 27 people were killed, the majority, again, children. No outrage was expressed.

These are but a few examples of how apathetic we as Arabs and Muslims have become. And it is apathy, not cultural or religious backwardness and cruelty, as some in the US and Europe would claim. Decades of institutionalized social and political submission, as well as the West’s relationship with us, have led to genuine apathy; a belief that our voices are simply not heard nor valued.

Daily news of the killing of Palestinians and Iraqis, and the bombing of the Lebanese in the summer, has only increased this apathy. It is said that as a coping mechanism, the body becomes numb when faced with extreme pain. What we are going through mentally and emotionally could be the equivalent of this physical numbness — who, after all, can stomach watching the daily killings of Muslim and Christian Arabs, by the Israelis, by the Americans, and, as in Iraq, by our own?

Every day, scenes on TV screens and news in print media show death and destruction around us. In the case of Palestine, we have been witnessing killings, oppression and dispossession for decades now. To our east, Iraqis fall victim by the hundreds every day.

Yet feeling victimized only compounds apathy. Like oppressed people everywhere, we have come to view our values in reaction to, and in the context of, our political realities and the West’s treatment of and actions towards us. But values are sacred; they need to remain unchangeable, regardless of the context. Killing of innocent people is wrong and unacceptable. Period. Regardless of the injustice done to us, we should hold true to our values and our Muslim teachings of tolerance and non-violence towards civilians. And, above all, we should not allow ourselves to be apathetic to a breach of our values.

In some ways the Amman bombings might have created a small shift in unconscious support for or apathy towards terrorism; the very beginning of the end of this lack of awareness, in Jordan at least.

The tragic reality is that human beings, by nature, fail to act until the arrow has turned on them or their own. But we fail to realize that each time we are silent in the face of extreme wrongdoing, we are strengthening that arrow, until it takes its own course. Until it eventually aims at us as well.