Shock and amusement are the words that best sum up my feelings regarding the reactions generated in America, Europe and Israel to the electoral victory secured by Hamas in the recent Palestinian elections.
At once, I am shocked and amused by these reactions because they are in stark contrast to what the Americans, the Europeans and yes, the Israelis persistently claim they want and need from Palestinians, from Arabs and the entire Middle East.
I am shocked because America, a country that prides itself as the mother of all that is democratic, and the grandmother of all that is freedom and liberty of all the world, is loathe to see Hamas triumph at the ballot box in Palestine.
This American, European and Israeli stance, is in complete disregard for the national interests of the people of Palestine, and the fact that Palestine has just had a free and fair election by all accounts. Palestine elections were adjudged to be free of irregularities and fraud, Palestine elections were devoid of acrimonies of the Florida and Ohio types.
Then of course, I am amused, thoroughly amused, because, America and Israel seem to be saying to Hamas, and by extension, to all of Palestine, Be reasonable do things our way! Be our puppet! America, Europe and Israel seem to only want a puppet, and interloper-interlocutor who will do what he is told? And that will be the democracy in Palestine that is acceptable? A democracy and a leadership that is subject to manipulation.
But who indeed, defines democracy? In Algeria, duly conducted elections were disregarded or nullified, just so, citizens of Algeria with Islamic credentials or manifestoes would not see the light of day, and a chance to implement their political and economic programs. But in America, President Bush’s election was buoyed by the evangelicals and ultra conservative religionists. These social and religious conservatives have been trying vigorously to install conservative justices on the United States Supreme Court they also are the engine room that continues to drive President Bush’s domestic and foreign policies. Whether such policies are social, economic, political or judicial etc
Why is it okay to have the evangelicals drive American public policies, but clerics are for some reason, not allowed to influence policies in Iran, Iraq or Palestine? How about what the locals and the local electorate in Palestine or Haiti want? Only recently, Ambassador Curran, the US former ambassador to Haiti publicly recounted his gory experience in Haiti, how agents of the Bush administration were frustrating the ambassador’s effort to steady democracy in Haiti. The US government armed insurgents, rebels and criminal elements to overthrow the legitimate and constitutional government in Haiti, while the same US government publicly pretended to be interested in democracy in Haiti, according to the former US Ambassador to Haiti (more). And President Aristide was pushed out!
Again, the Islamic Brotherhood in Egypt who sought to attain political power through the ballots box and democracy, were similarly undermined by the Western powers. President Hosni Mubarak has flagrantly announced the suspension of more local elections, soon after his Western friends expressed outrage over the elections of members of the Islamic Brotherhood.
The same financial muscle-flexing against Haiti guaranteed the failure of President Aristide of Haiti, as those who wanted him to fail, guaranteed and ensured his failure with multi-facetted efforts. The World Bank approved financial assets were blocked from Haiti
President Bush has during the preceding five years argued and repeatedly stated that his mission was to democratize Iraq, Palestine and in fact, the entire Middle East Arab World, the undiscerning of the world agreed with President Bush’s pretexts.
And some gullible were sold the Regime Change idea, regime change to enable the installation of democracy in Iraq, and perhaps everywhere else in the Middle East. Regime change to get rid of oppressive and corrupt government. Anyone who believed Bush may have therefore expected many installations or inaugurations of governments that are transparent and accountable to the people.
Did anyone believe that the United States, under the President Bush administration was indeed interested in exporting democracy? Did anyone believe that the invasion and occupation of Iraq has anything to do with democracy? It is all about strategic interests.
Clearly, anyone who thought that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was a missionary undertaking to install good governance, must now think again! Iraq is spiraling into anarchy and lawlessness. Iraq has no democracy, at least, not at the present time and Iraq cannot therefore serve as any example of anything that resembles democracy. Iraq has this week actually moved closest to civil war and sectarian strife and outright disintegration along the lines of Shiite, Sunni and Kurd
What is worse, in all of these, is the fact that President Bush is apparently not proud of his achievement as an exporter or deliverer of democracy to the Arabs of the Middle East, especially, if such Arabs or Middle Easterners include members of Hamas?
5 comments
Paul!!!
Your comments is absolutely unacceptable. If your one of those people that support terrorism.. you failed this time.. i suggest you start funding the Hamas led Government with the little ALAWI you have.
Please read below a news report culled from The New York Times
February 26, 2006
Israel Says "Irrelevant" Abbas to Be Hamas "Fig Leaf"
By REUTERS
Filed at 2:32 p.m. ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel branded Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas irrelevant'' on Sunday, calling Hamas the real governing power and urging the international community not to weaken its pressure on the militant group to seek peace.
The description of the moderate leader, who won public backing by a U.S. envoy over the weekend, came on the eve of a European Union meeting on preventing the Palestinian Authority's financial collapse and possibly channeling aid to Abbas.
Israel has stopped the monthly transfer of 50 million-55 million in tax payments to the Palestinians. Foreign donors, including the EU and the United States, threaten to cut off funds to the Authority once a Hamas-led government is sworn in.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said she feared Abbas, who seeks a negotiated peace with the Jewish state, could serve as a fig leaf'' for an administration dominated by Hamas, an Islamist movement that advocates its destruction.
Our job, among other things, will be to ensure the international community does not … embrace Abu Mazen or some moderate statements by Hamas,'' she said on Channel One television, using Abbas's popular name.
Earlier, Hamas's prime minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh denied he had suggested in a Washington Post interview the group might one day recognize Israel, saying there was only a possibility of achieving a long-term truce.
Livni said Israel was dealing with reality'' after Hamas's victory over Abbas's Fatah faction in a January 25 election and it expected foreign donors to do the same now that the Palestinian Authority was being led by what she termed ''terrorist groups.''
(Donors) have raised the same clear, unequivocal demands that any Palestinian government must accept,'' Livni said, referring to making future international aid conditional on recognition of Israel and a renunciation of violence.
The ball is in the Palestinian court and it is up to the future Hamas government to do something with it, and in this context, Abu Mazen is irrelevant,'' Livni said, using a term Israel applied to the late leader, Yasser Arafat, after a Palestinian uprising began in 2000 and peace talks failed.
UNACCEPTABLE
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called Livni's statement absolutely unacceptable'' and said it reflected Israel's non-partner policy'' that has led to military escalation.''
On Saturday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch held talks with Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah and said he told the Palestinian president that our support for him and his leadership at this critical time'' would continue.
Livni said she would visit European countries this week and expected to see a desire by some of them to grab onto a more sympathetic figure, such as Abu Mazen''
This will be pose a problem for us,'' she said.
The European Union, whose foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Monday, is the largest donor to the Palestinians. The EU gave them 500 million euros (595 million) in aid last year.
A senior EU diplomat said on Friday it was not in the European Union's interest to see the Palestinian Authority break down. An EU official said several ideas were circulating, including how to channel aid toward Mahmoud Abbas.''
Foreign donors have pledged to continue providing humanitarian assistance to ease the plight of ordinary Palestinians, a promise Israel said it supported.
Hamas officials have said in the past the group would offer Israel a 10- to 15-year truce in return for a withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip before pursuing its long-term goals.
You are included among the few who have continuously expose the subjective tendency of the Bush administration to the plights of the Palestinians. It is a foundry of lies and doublespeak. Awareness through efforts of people like you will surely negate this injustice. Please do not relent.
Paul my friend,
-Elections do not a democracy make.
-America has the right to chose its foreign policy goals; and that includes the right to back Israel without reservation.
Also, if the Palestinians are depending on American aid to even pay civil servants, they had better not elect persons who would not renounce terrorism.
-The evangelicals, like the liberals and secular humanist as well as the tree huggers and others, have a right to contribute to policy in America. Weep not too hard my friend.
Peace and love.
It is unfortunate that the American political class has an unconditional loyalty to the Jewish nation. Unconditional in a science that she is always there come rain or sun.
The Bush administration should distinguish loyalty from reality, and call a spared a spared if really he is seeing a spared. If the American people sincerely believe that democracy is the best way of governance, and that every people around the world should enjoy this system, they should forget loyalty and do the right thing.
Saddam Hussein was never a saint, though the bloodbath was not necessary. Many reasoning have it that The American intelligent community has both human and technological resource to put saddam out of power, but they choose to go to war to demonstrate the American military straight to the Arab world.
Beside, many schools have it that private farm like Dick Cheney, pentagon and the entire defence industry had other interest in that country
It is not new to more than half of the world population that the problems of Palestine with Israeli seem to be unsolvable, because the Americans take side with the Israelis. Israeli has flooded all United Nations resolutions, and got away with it all, Arafat was frustrated in all fronts by the Israelis with the help of the American government, until his death, Israeli and America has lead blame on him of their fragrant failure to achieve peace. What is surprising is that almost the entire world population knows the truth, even its Arab brothers choose to look at the other side.
The only person that stood to the end beside the Palestinians was saddam Hussein, Ben laden and some few others that are labelled terrorist.
The American people are not sensitive to the plights of innocent children murdered in cooled blood by the Israelis government. That is the way they consciously potencied the Hamas group to power, that took arms to fight for the defenceless, feed those that are starved directly through the help of the American people, clothed those that had nothing to put on, shelterd those that dont have a roof upon the head. As the Al Fattah group were growing fate on blood money, blood of their citizens, Hamas was caring for the wounded.
Today the people of Palestine remembered those that cared when they had injuries, those that gave them bread when they were hungry, and those that provided a roof upon their head when they had no place to sleep.
What the Israelis Government with the support of the American people, and the European Union are saying to the Palestinian people is, we are going to harden your wedges because you dare choose a group that will bring you freedom instead of staying with our allied puppets called Al fatah.
Hams should also realise that the state of Israel has come to stay for good, and therefore recognise this state, and her right to life.