The latest battle in the never ending Middle Eastern saga is unfolding in all its ferocity. Only difference is that this time the battle lines have been redrawn, the combatants are both Arabs and for a change, the fighting does not involve Israel. Yesterday, the split between Hamas, the militant Islamist group fighting for an independent Palestinian State, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) got formalized with the Hamas seizing control of the Gaza Strip. This appears to be the final nail in the coffin of the Government of National Unity. The dismissal of the Hamas led Government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh by the Fatah leader and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, precipitated this final act in the tussle between Hamas and Fatah.
With this denouement, the Hamas controls Gaza and the Fatah exercises its control over the West Bank. So, finally instead of a single independent Palestinian State, we may end up with two beseiged and moth eaten Palestinian entities, fighting each other instead of Israel. Or, more comically, we could climax with a three state solution - Israel, Gaza and West Bank! It will become another addition to the overflowing cupboard of half-truths and ironies, that is the trademark of Middle Eastern politics.
This is the latest twist to this round of peace moves between Israel and the Palestinians, initiated in Oslo in 1993. The 2006 elections to the Palestinian Authority, widely hailed as the first ever peaceful exercise of democratic rights in the Arab world, saw Hamas emerge as the victor, much to the chagrin of the Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). The rampant corruption and lawlessness which marked the rule of Fatah, was considered responsible for their electoral defeat.
This dissolution of the National Unity Government is tantamount to a coup d' etat on a democratically elected government, one elected with a majority that George Bush and co can only dream about. And predictably, the great upholders of democracy in the world have responded to this "murder of democracy" by cutting off all humanitarian aid supplies to the Gaza Strip! This was the reward to the 1.5 million resident of Gaza for not opposing the Hamas takeover! There was not a word of concern at the blatant dismissal of a democratically elected government.
This policy is in line with the glorious tradition of American support for "democracy" in the Arab world. Democratic process is initiated, elections are held, an "untouchable" group emerges as the winner, then the US gets restless, get the army or some renegade right wing element to sabotage the process, finally dismiss the democratically elected government, democratic process gets initiated again....! In Algeria in the late nineties, the Islamic Salvation Front threatened to win a reasonably free and fair elections, and the army stepped in. History is repeating itself in Palestine, with the "dangerous" and "terrorist" Hamas being kicked out of a democratic office by undemocratic means. And George W nods in approval of Mahmoud Abbas' actions.
Lesson to be learnt. It is fine with democracy so long as you kow-tow our line. If you decide to act in the genuine interests of your country, and in the Middle East that invariably means against the interests of the US and Israel, then you are an outcaste. If in the process democracy is the casualty, then who wants democracy!!
3 comments:
It'll continue so long as the countries continue to exist in strife.
Implementing democracy in Muslim countries isn't easy. One can count on fingers the number of democratic Islamic nations. Those that exist need to be studied for the right kind of roll out for a democratic government. American ideology and ideas won't work in the Middle East for sure.
It was the reluctance of the Fatah, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, to accept the 2006 election verdict and cede power to Hamas, that sparked off the year long power struggle between the two sides. This has now climaxed in this situation of an effective civil war. All through this period, the US and Israel were supporting Fatah in its attempt to stifle the democratic aspirations of Palestinians, expressed in the 2006 verdict.
It is all the more ironical given that both the US and Israel were continuosly undermining the PLO and Fatah in the aftermath of the Oslo process. The US and Israeli failure to accomodate even the minimal demands of the Fatah led PLO, seriously undermined the position of Yaser Arafat and his successors, in front of the Palestinian population. It also gave credence to the defiantly militant stance adopted by the Hamas, in any future relationship with Israel.
The Oslo process presented a great opportunity to settle the Palestinian problem amicably. But by their belligerence and refusal to even remotely concede the basic minimum Palestinian rights, the Israel and the US blew it away. An opportunity was lost to engage with the most moderate faction among the Palestinians. The result, we are now in a worse position than at the start of Oslo, with the Fatah having limited credibility among the Palestinian population. Talk about opening the gate after the horse has bolted!
Despite all the platitudes mouthed by the Israeli and the US Governments, I firmly believe that they (at least the conservative governments in these countries) EVER wanted to cede any iota of power to the Palestinians.
If one goes through the entire history of the Middle-East, one comes across many instances when peace surely could've reigned had the US and Israel shown any REAL concerns for it.
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