Response #2

Civil society is a heavily layered relationship between the person(s) and the state, and while many philosophers have different views as to how a modern civil society should be created, they agree that there should be a division between society and the state. It is also unanimously agreed upon that civil society changes over time in regards to its 'modernism', thus leading to different groups, organizations- layers, essentially- coming into the fold of society and having a say. It is in that respect that the MENA region does not fit.

I'm not saying that the MENA region is barbaric, they are very much involved in this century. In fact, I believe they are the one region that has exercised what their civil society is capable of in the last fifty years alone, though maybe not is as refined a way as possible. The MENA region has not been able to fully stretch its societal muscle because they have regimes that are not only capable of stopping any movement towards change in societal rule, but practice it as well leading the people of state to fall back to the one acceptable alternative, tradition. While tradition is a beautiful, rich characteristic of a state, it does not leave room for transition. In the sense of transition towards a more 'modern' civil society, political participation becomes a greater actor. In other states, like the United States, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe, all groups in society have had a chance in the spotlight, allowing the people the chance to be more active in their society's policies and how they're run. Due to this stunted growth in the MENA region, people in states like Egypt, Lybia, etc. have only just gotten the ability to use their voice through force, ushering them into a the current form of 'modern' civil society. 

In the sense of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict, the issues of the state have had a major impact on the society. Multiple failed peace talks and numerous uprisings have brought down the public morale, making the people more apathetic about their politics in the sense of not seeing things ever changing. This is case is a clear example that the civil society has not been groomed in as healthy of a manner in the MENA region because groups and organizations have not been each given an equal amount of attention. If each group were given its due attention, compromise could be a more likely possibility, but because certain factions have had center stage all to themselves, other groups have been in the dark and not been able to grow properly- eluding the MENA region from becoming a fully functioning 'modern' civil society.