"Interviewer: As an historian, how do you view the present situation in which the Arabs find themselves?
—Hitti: I see it as a continuation of a period of renaissance that began in the 18th century, with an injection from the West in the wake of the Napoleonic invasion. The Arabs were on their way when the Israeli conflict diverted so much of their energy from progress to the destruction of fighting and war. But time is on the side of the Arabs ... The Crusaders came and conquered Palestine. They set up the Latin Kingdom of Palestine in 1099. They had a principality in Tripoli, another one in Antioch and still another in Edessa. But ... the Latin Kingdom depended for its existence upon recruits from abroad, people coming from all over, supplies being shipped in. It was artificial, like living on blood transfusions, and it lasted only 88 years. The land was restored to the Muslims and now we read about the Latin Kingdom only in history books." (thanks Nikolai)
