Thomas Friedman, "Breakfast Before the MOOC": Will Tom Ever Wake Up?

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Breakfast Before the MOOC" (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/19/opinion/friedman-breakfast-before-the-mooc.html?ref=opinion), Thomas Friedman describes the "first ever massive open online course, or MOOC, on nanotechnology in Arabic" to be taught by Technion Prof. Hossam Haick, an Israeli Arab from Nazareth. Friedman concludes:

"For me, though, Haick’s MOOC is also a reminder of what an utter waste of money and human talent has been the Arab-Israeli conflict. Look how eager all these young Arabs and Persians are for the tools and resources to realize their full potential, wherever they can find that learning. Arab dictators so underestimated their people for so long. That’s what fueled the Arab awakening. It makes you weep for the wasted generations and pray this will be the last of them."

So Friedman is again fantasizing about the "Arab awakening." Needless to say, no mention by would-be Middle East expert Friedman of the unspeakable carnage in Syria that has cost the lives of more than 140,000 people and displaced more than six million civilians, although there is, of course, reference to "Israel’s ugly West Bank occupation."

My suggestion to Tom Terrific: Consider also "how eager all these young Arabs and Persians are" to flood into Syria and commit atrocities against a terrified civilian population (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2014/02/david-brooks-prodigal-sons-prodigious.html).

Meanwhile, there are reports out of Syria of a girl being stoned to death for opening a Facebook account (see: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2562051/Girl-stoned-death-Syrian-fundamentalists-having-FACEBOOK-account.html).

Arab awakening? When will Tom wake up?