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The Arab Spring, ‘double-think’ and Palestinian statehood
Those who advocate hacking away at the UN – Palestine umbilical cord would do well to think twice about why democracy should be starved from the Palestinians, but not their Arab brothers and sisters across the region
In George Orwell’s, 1984, he coined the term‘double-think’, which refers to the idea that an individual can hold ‘two contradictory beliefs’, whilst simultaneously accepting and believing both opposing convictions.
Despite the dismay of much of the new liberal establishment, the likely failure of the Palestinian bid to become the 194th member state of the United Nations would be wholly correct. Quite simply, to support the birth of a Palestinian state as it stands politically today, and to simultaneously support the Arab spring would be to commit the action of ‘double-think’.
The Arab Spring is essentially the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East; allowing the populations of each oppressive regime to overthrow their autocratic rulers, and to attain the very basic principle of the vote.
Thus, if one is to support this movement how can one then possibly justify supporting the official birth of an un-democratic regime in the very same region?
Mahmoud Abbas, the man presented as a supposed moderate to the Western world, has no democratic right to his position.
He was elected in 2005 for a four year term but this expired in January 2009. He then decided to extend his reign for a further year – until January 2010. This extension has now quite clearly expired – and yet Abbas still refuses to leave his post, despite his actions being in sheer disregard to the Palestinian constitution.
Indeed, Article 65: ‘The Basic Law’, grants presidential legitimacy to the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Therefore, under the Palestinian constitution, Hamas’s Deputy, Abdel Aziz Dweik has been robbed of his democratic position by Mahmoud Abbas.
Furthermore, the imaginary nation presented to the UN general Assembly did not have the aptitude to hold either presidential or legislative elections as required by Article 47 of its Basic Law. This is because competing Palestinian rulers will not permit it.
Whilst Abbas’s term has expired, the PLC legislatures are also over-due an election, since their period of legality expired on the 25thJanuary 2010. Indeed, Article two of The Palestinian Elections Law no.9, which is recognized by Hamas as legally binding requiresan election – so where are the ballot boxes?
A government also needs to have the capacity to function – to legislate. But this unfortunately is not the case in the Palestinian territories today.
Since January 2006, the PLC has not legislated once, neither has it conducted any meetings in the last four years, nor passed on any ministers. It is essentially an impotent, undemocratic and constitutionally corrupt administration, and one that surely no serious person could advocate was actually ready for statehood (In this sense, it is actually similar to the Arab spring states – there is simply not enough civil life to make it ready for democracy).
Those who advocate hacking away at the UN – Palestine umbilical cord would do well to think twice about why democracy should be starved from the Palestinians, but not their Arab brothers and sisters across the region.
Unfortunately, one suspects the liberal-left’s anti-Israel hysteria plays a prominent role here; the overthrowing of Mubarak’s pro-American government, with the seemingly inevitable replacement of the Muslim Brotherhood will create a rabidly visceral anti-Israel government in Egypt.
The likelihood of the Arab spring resulting in several more Islamist anti-Israel regimes is very great (as already seen in Tunisia with the recent electoral success of Ennahda).
Perhaps, this is actually what the liberal-left wish to see. A Palestinian state, whether democratic or not, will be a serious threat to the existence of the state of Israel, and thus, such an action of ‘double-think’ may not actually be ‘double-think’ after all.
Benjamin Lazarus is a political analyst with a particular interest in the Middle East and Islamic extremism
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Funny how Israel's wishes are again placed over those of the Palestinian's themselves.
Er... UC, how did "Israel's wishes.. again [get} placed over the Palestinians themselves?" In case you did not notice, UNESCO recently voted for the Palestinians. The only country that is now capable of blocking the Security Council from annointing Palestine to the UN is the USA, since the other members, such as Russia and China, who of course are beacons for liberty and Free Press, and the cowardly European states will either abstain or vote for it.
Not much of a victory for Israel there. The question any normal person should be asking is why, given the fact that there are civil wars going on right across the region with unelected dictators clinging on to power and slagutering their people, the UN is considering recognizing another such state to UN membership.
Just because the BBC and its like minded fellow journalistic pygmies doen't report it, Palestinians are in the middle of their own civil war with Hamas and Fatah taking tile off from their war on Israeli civilians, to slaughter each other.
My God you must really hate Israel when you prefer their sworn enemies, Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, North Korea, China, Russia and Pakistan.
You can't shame the shameless. Pointing out their hypocrisy would be like pointing out to a crack dealer that he doesn't smoke crack.
"...the UN is considering recognising another such state to UN membership." It recognised Israel for some reason, even though the vast majority of Israelis are immigrant stock. Show me some other geographical places that aren't part of a country and where the main indigenous are denied the statehood they want. Can you really not see the absurdity of this denial?
"My God you must really hate Israel when you prefer their sworn enemies, Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, North Korea, China, Russia and Pakistan." It's obvious YOU hate these countries and peoples and you try to spread your hate, hypocrite.
Usually correct your making the classic case of make it an either or argument, which I do not buy. You can be a zionist believing in national self-determination, pro Israel, pro Palestinian and pro two states. Thats what I am and as polls by One Voice show over 50% of Palestinians and Israelis are. However on both sides the leaders sell their people short. Ben is just pointing out that this is what the Palestinian leadership has done here. It would be patronising in my mind, if they were not held to account!
He hates the leadership of those countries you've mentioned not the people. There not democracies, so how prey can they represent the people.
Indigenous - errm lets see native Americans-- or how about the Aborignes of Australia, the Mauris of New Zealand -funny how you seem to have selective memory and just single out Israel. Israelies apart from the occupied territories bought the land fairly off Ottoman Felakhin, won it in a war when they were attacked first and Palestinian and Arab leaders told the population to flee or in the cases of places like Tel Aviv built it from sand dunes.
Unesco and the UN as UN watch frequently proves is a joke. It might as well be called the club of dictators. This is an organisation who asburdly a few years ago had Zimbabwe as the head of the sustainable development Commission. Unesco has more undemocratic members with anti-semites to boot, who routinely disproportionately criticise Israel and provide a gravy train of money to a Palestinian leadership who squanders it, rather than giving it to their own people- and mugs like the British, American and Israeli government pay for this privilege!
Usually correct may want to renew your library card. There is an absurdity to consider the Arabs you refer to as Palestinians as indigenous. History clearly denies that assertion with the vast amount of Arabs coming to Palestine as the economic opportunities presented themselves. The Royal Commission's data reflects hundreds of thousands of Arabs outside Palestine coming and gaining employment not in Arab communities in Palestine but in Jewish communities in Palestine. With regard to immigrant stock, the majority of Israeli population are Sephardic and Mizrahi decent. Those types of insinuations of Israel being of European stock is an attempt to inject the code word colonization, typical of uninformed people. If I take the Contrarian approach to your insinuation, there have been many influential Arab historians and Arab statesman that have stated there is no such entity as Palestine, it was Greater Syria.
Usually Correct, it may be easier to say which country, including the UK, is not the result of migration and conquest than try to argue your point.
As for hypocricy, I mentioned Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, North Korea, China, Russia and Pakistan,as supporters of your viewpoint and you said "It's obvious YOU hate these countries and peoples and you try to spread your hate, hypocrite." I don't hate any people as individuals. I referred to those countries becasue they too support Hamas and Fatah's attempts to destroy Israel, and its their leaders that vote in UN against Israel. Yet they represent the most odious regimes themselves, killing their people, or imprisoning them without trial and supressing religious and free speech. It stikes me that you have strange bedfellows.
Frankly, the "Usually Corrects" of the world must hate Israeli Arabs and Palestinians too, if the best they can wish on them is life under the governance of either of Iran's two proxies, Hezbollah (who have made a hell hole out of Lebanon in service of Iran and Syria) and Hamas or corrupt, incompetent Fatah, which has just thrown Salam Fayyad (who does not belong to Fatah) under the bus for a "unity government" with Hamas.
There is no state or country called Palestine!
The word Palestine is just a tool or a club to beat Israel with.
There is only a collection of various Arab tribes who live in areas called Gaza and Jordan.
They are useful to the present day expansion ambitions of powerful wealthy Muslim countries who wish to spread Islam.
What part of ''there is no other religion but Islam'' don't you understand? It seems blatantly obvious to me that Islam wishes to replace all religions everywhere in the world. They have tried in the past but were delayed. Now more than ever is the time to complete the divine task, the planning stage is long gone, sleeper cells are in place waiting for the call.
Disposes Israel first then Europe then America will fall like a ripe fig. The way things are going it could be the other way round: America first, then Europe, then bliss of all bliss Israel.
There is no hunger for democracy in Islam. Democracy and Islam don't mix. Democracy implies a man-made state with laws and leaders of men or women. Islam, does not imply anything, it means a theocracy short and simple, rule by Islam. Islam comes ready made to rule, no need to talk about it the rules are made, the leaders are in place in every mosque along with a book of rules and laws.
Small countries are colonised first it is plain to see in countries like Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Malta, Sicily, Cyprus, Greece, Serbia, Austria, Greenland, Portugal and others will be the first to be taken over. Then larger countries will take longer: Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and all the countries with populations over 50m. All the above countries today have problems with Islamic immigration and various degrees of economic debt. That's just Europe, the same is true in Africa and the Pacific such as New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, just get a map. How about Somalia and Kenya? Can one say that there is no conspiracy.
Good article. It shows how time and again Palestinian leaders fail their own people by corruption,authoritarianism and wrong moves that make a Palestinian state and peace through a two state solution.