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Middle East Democracy: The Hamas Factor
By RAMZY BAROUD
There is a degree of surrealism in all of this. Hamas has presented its choice of Prime Minister to President Mahmoud Abbas, as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine says it has agreed in principle to join a Hamas-led government.
In the Arab world, such political transformation (that of Islamists and Socialists working together to create a transparent and democratic Parliament) is only possible in political satire, not as an attainable and healthy political process. But Palestinians - as the Hamas Parliamentary victory sweep and the smooth transition of power have shown - are proving to be quite exceptional in this regard.
It goes without saying that Palestinians, and those who have genuinely supported their democratic insurgency have many reasons to be proud. Evidently, those who used democracy as a decoy to justify their grievous foreign policies or to defend their unwarranted military occupation are now being forced into an unpleasant era of 'soul searching' - as proposed by the Financial Times.
Hamas, not knowingly, perhaps, has abruptly deprived Washington of its last card in a Middle East foreign policy game, which was already in tatters. Delivering democracy was - until Hamas' political rise - Washington's strongest, albeit murkiest pretext to justify its military presence in the Middle East. Other pretexts also proved to be a sham; weapons of mass destruction and all. Even the war on terror logic was turned upside-down, as post-Saddam Iraq became a terror magnet, a term liberally used by US policy makers.
Nothing was left but the good old democracy pretence, which worked well, until Palestinians cast their vote on that critical day late January. The majority voted for Hamas, not because of its Islamic agenda, but because of its uncompromising anti-corruption platform, its stance on Palestinian rights and the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Those who understand the intricacies of the Arab-Israeli conflict must have also decoded the vote as a strong rejection of the US government's dubious role in the conflict and in abetting Israel's defiance of international law. According to the deliberately ambiguous terminology of pro-Israeli fan clubs in Washington, the Palestinian vote reflected an emphatically "anti-American," stance, a most dishonest title indeed.
More
http://counterpunch.org/baroud03022006.html
In the Arab world, such political transformation (that of Islamists and Socialists working together to create a transparent and democratic Parliament) is only possible in political satire, not as an attainable and healthy political process. But Palestinians - as the Hamas Parliamentary victory sweep and the smooth transition of power have shown - are proving to be quite exceptional in this regard.
It goes without saying that Palestinians, and those who have genuinely supported their democratic insurgency have many reasons to be proud. Evidently, those who used democracy as a decoy to justify their grievous foreign policies or to defend their unwarranted military occupation are now being forced into an unpleasant era of 'soul searching' - as proposed by the Financial Times.
Hamas, not knowingly, perhaps, has abruptly deprived Washington of its last card in a Middle East foreign policy game, which was already in tatters. Delivering democracy was - until Hamas' political rise - Washington's strongest, albeit murkiest pretext to justify its military presence in the Middle East. Other pretexts also proved to be a sham; weapons of mass destruction and all. Even the war on terror logic was turned upside-down, as post-Saddam Iraq became a terror magnet, a term liberally used by US policy makers.
Nothing was left but the good old democracy pretence, which worked well, until Palestinians cast their vote on that critical day late January. The majority voted for Hamas, not because of its Islamic agenda, but because of its uncompromising anti-corruption platform, its stance on Palestinian rights and the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Those who understand the intricacies of the Arab-Israeli conflict must have also decoded the vote as a strong rejection of the US government's dubious role in the conflict and in abetting Israel's defiance of international law. According to the deliberately ambiguous terminology of pro-Israeli fan clubs in Washington, the Palestinian vote reflected an emphatically "anti-American," stance, a most dishonest title indeed.
More
http://counterpunch.org/baroud03022006.html
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....has nothing to do with desire for an independent state of Palestine. In fact, the vote pretty much deep-sixes any progress towards an independent country.
Good thing too. The PA constitution, passed in 2003 calls for a theocracy where Islam is the only religion allowed and for Sharia (with its honor killings of women and anti-gay policies) as the law of the land.
In the past few years, 50,000 Christian Palestinians have sought refuge inside of Israel proper to avoid the discrimination and the retributions.
Before we start crowing about the Palestinians embracement of democracy, let me remind you that Yassir Arafat was elected to a five-year term, yet died in office never facing the voters again.
Islamic elections happen one time: an Islamic theocracy is put in charge, and no elections ever take place again. THis is the pattern.
Only time will tell. But the Palestinians, by voting in Hamas, have sought war, not peace, intolerance, not diversity, and have abandoned any desire for an independent state.
This is no surprise to those who have been watching carefully. The Palestinians never really wanted their own state. They have turned it down time and time again. They want Israel and now they have taken off the mask.
Good thing too. The PA constitution, passed in 2003 calls for a theocracy where Islam is the only religion allowed and for Sharia (with its honor killings of women and anti-gay policies) as the law of the land.
In the past few years, 50,000 Christian Palestinians have sought refuge inside of Israel proper to avoid the discrimination and the retributions.
Before we start crowing about the Palestinians embracement of democracy, let me remind you that Yassir Arafat was elected to a five-year term, yet died in office never facing the voters again.
Islamic elections happen one time: an Islamic theocracy is put in charge, and no elections ever take place again. THis is the pattern.
Only time will tell. But the Palestinians, by voting in Hamas, have sought war, not peace, intolerance, not diversity, and have abandoned any desire for an independent state.
This is no surprise to those who have been watching carefully. The Palestinians never really wanted their own state. They have turned it down time and time again. They want Israel and now they have taken off the mask.
"....has nothing to do with desire for an independent state of Palestine. In fact, the vote pretty much deep-sixes any progress towards an independent country."
Palestinians are in a no-win situation. If Israel gave Palestinians all the West Bank and Gaza and cut off all trade with the new country, the new country would face severe economic problems since the Palestinian economy is closely tied to the Israeli economy despite all the mutual hatred.
Voting for Hamas had clear reasons that have been seen in poolls related to getting rid of corruption in Fatah and the same polls have shown that most of those who voted for Hamas neither wanted more attacks on Israeli civilians or a theocracy. But I think the polls obscure a larger reason that people voted for Hamas which is that Palestinians had little to lose by the election. As long as the West Bank and Gaza are occupied and are Israeli territory Israeli is ultimately responsible for the well being of Palestinians and things are worse for Palestinians with the partial independence they have now than when Israel at least took some responsiblity for infrastructure (and Palestinians could get jobs in Israeli) when the occupation looked closer to be headed towards complete annexation. While Israelis may see the wall between the West Bank and Israel as something that will reduce violence many Palestinian realize that it formalizes the status quo in a way that hurts Palestinians much more then if Israeli troops were back to having outposts in every West Bank city.
The vote for Hamas was essentially a call to end the status quo. If Israel wants to annex the West Bank and Gaza and take responsibility for Palestinians... great... if Israel wants to let the West Bank and Gaza become seperate countries with outside trading ties ... great... but the status quo where Palestinians are stuck in limbo is worse than either a more formal occupation or complete independence. A democratic Hamas victory acted to forced Israelis hand... there can be no more talk of years of slow negotiations since Israel will now have to cut ties with the Palestinian leadership while the outside world has to at least give some recognition to one of the Arab world's first free and fair elections
Palestinians are in a no-win situation. If Israel gave Palestinians all the West Bank and Gaza and cut off all trade with the new country, the new country would face severe economic problems since the Palestinian economy is closely tied to the Israeli economy despite all the mutual hatred.
Voting for Hamas had clear reasons that have been seen in poolls related to getting rid of corruption in Fatah and the same polls have shown that most of those who voted for Hamas neither wanted more attacks on Israeli civilians or a theocracy. But I think the polls obscure a larger reason that people voted for Hamas which is that Palestinians had little to lose by the election. As long as the West Bank and Gaza are occupied and are Israeli territory Israeli is ultimately responsible for the well being of Palestinians and things are worse for Palestinians with the partial independence they have now than when Israel at least took some responsiblity for infrastructure (and Palestinians could get jobs in Israeli) when the occupation looked closer to be headed towards complete annexation. While Israelis may see the wall between the West Bank and Israel as something that will reduce violence many Palestinian realize that it formalizes the status quo in a way that hurts Palestinians much more then if Israeli troops were back to having outposts in every West Bank city.
The vote for Hamas was essentially a call to end the status quo. If Israel wants to annex the West Bank and Gaza and take responsibility for Palestinians... great... if Israel wants to let the West Bank and Gaza become seperate countries with outside trading ties ... great... but the status quo where Palestinians are stuck in limbo is worse than either a more formal occupation or complete independence. A democratic Hamas victory acted to forced Israelis hand... there can be no more talk of years of slow negotiations since Israel will now have to cut ties with the Palestinian leadership while the outside world has to at least give some recognition to one of the Arab world's first free and fair elections
No, thats a complete mis-read. Hamas isn't seeking individual civil rights, they are ultimately opposed to that, although giving democracy lip service at the moment serves their long term goals. A vote for Hamas articulates the rejection of Oslo, the roadmap and peace in favor of Moslem Supremcy.
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