One Man's Democracy...
In a trenchant and eloquent editorial from today's Guardian, Hamas spokesman Khalid Mish'al takes the West to task. "The day Hamas won the Palestinian democratic elections," he writes, "the world's leading democracies failed the test of democracy." We can only concur. As we have argued here before, the West's interest in democratization has little to do with self-determination.
Mish'al's fiery style stands in sharp contrast to the banal pronouncements of our own politicians, and reminds us of a more assertive period in the struggle for Third World independence. But now Hamas must find the substance to maintain political leadership in the long term. They have won the election largely by default, playing on the general dissatisfaction with the Palestinian Authority. The question is whether they have a positive program that can engage and mobilize the Palestinian people.
Mish'al's fiery style stands in sharp contrast to the banal pronouncements of our own politicians, and reminds us of a more assertive period in the struggle for Third World independence. But now Hamas must find the substance to maintain political leadership in the long term. They have won the election largely by default, playing on the general dissatisfaction with the Palestinian Authority. The question is whether they have a positive program that can engage and mobilize the Palestinian people.
4 Comments:
I think Wolf Blitzer interviewed Mish'al some days ago -- he spoke with a Hamas representative, certainly, but I never caught his name. The interview was very interesting. Blitzer was determined to ask over and over again if Hamas was going to 'recognize' Israel's 'right' to exist. The spokesperson responded every time with a description of the problematic boundaries and the effects of the wall and the illegal settlements. It was really well-done. But Blitzer kept asking him if Hamas was going to try to 'destroy' Israel. The spokesman finally said to him what's with this 'destroy' stuff? Israel is the one with atomic power, Israel is the one with F-16s, Israel is the one with tanks and the backing of the US -- who is being destroyed here??
I have to hand it to Blitzer for letting the Hamas spokesman say everything without interruption. Also, whether Blitzer intended this effect or not, his repeated questions about 'destroying' Israel coupled with the Hamas' person's answers began to make it clear how superficial that sort of depiction of the situation is.
Keep up the good work on your blog.
Also check out this oped in The Washington Post by Mish'al's deputy, Musa Abu Marzuk and this analysis by a Palestinian political scientist about the concrete challenges facing Hamas.
Hello. I found some interesting offers about loans. It would be desirable to discuss with
knowing people. What do you think?
[URL=http://loan.maybachexelero.org/auto-loan-refinance.html]auto loan refinance[/URL]
[URL=http://loan.maybachexelero.org/quick-loan.html]quick loan[/URL]
[URL=http://loan.maybachexelero.org/construction-loan.html]construction loan[/URL]
[URL=http://loan.maybachexelero.org/fha-loan.html]fha loan[/URL]
[URL=http://loan.maybachexelero.org/federal-student-loan.html]federal student loan[/URL]
Get 10 Ringtones
download ringtone
free nextel ringtone
ludacris ringtone
cellular phone plan
free t mobile ringtone
Post a Comment
<< Home