RIYADH -- A Saudi friend recently asked me a difficult question.

Norah Al Hassawi was lamenting the horrible televised scenes of bloodshed and human misery in Gaza that have made her, and the rest of the Arab world, deeply depressed and angry in recent weeks.

"Americans are educated people," said Al Hassawi, an educator. "They can talk. What happened there? How come they can't see?"

What do I tell her? How do I explain why Americans have shown little interest in...