It's important to take stock of the over all message that we (the west) are sending the middle east.
While we talk democracy, our actions betray us. Hamas was democratically elected yet our response was to isolate them. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt was democratically elected but the west didn't say a word when he was over thrown in a coup de'tat.
So It's no surprise that Arab Leaders who are all holding on to their dwindling dictatorships with an iron grip would side with the Israel (the West) than risk suicide by siding with Hamas.
The one exception to the rule is Qatar though who seems to have outclassed and outstrategised every single Gulf State to date.
Democracy is not the be-all, end-all. A consensus to do evil should be rejected. Our repudiation of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood was more a rejection of their stated aims rather than the means of influence.
Hamas is a resistance movement born out of occupation so It's no surprise that the west balked at their success (considering the implications it has for Israel).
The response to the Muslim Brotherhood however is harder to understand beyond basic hypocrisy.
I don't get this. You seem to accept the fact that there are "implications for Israel" (ie. annihilation of Jews worldwide, as stated in their charter ?), and yet call hamas a "resistence movement" ? Really ?
When Hamas came to the elections, it was painfully clear : the Hamas movement is a choice for open war instead of negotiation (that was what the choice came down to, how it was presented in Gaza, what the PLA was doing : conquer Israel through negotiation, and international pressure). And while Hamas faked the election, they would have won if they didn't. Their support in the Gaza strip is not 100%, but it is very, very hight.
Incidentally, the first thing once they were securely in power was massacre Fatah. [1]
Democracy ? Resistance ? Hamas is as much of a democratic resistance movement as the KGB is.
One thing I also don't get. Hamas has a stated policy of destroying human rights [2], yet this never gets even mentioned in this conflict. Reporting on the constant atrocities by Hamas is almost non-existent, and doesn't seem to influence people's opinion on the matter. Why not ? Hamas has, for one thing, killed more Palestinians than Israel. [4] How can anyone support these guys ?
Allow me to finish with a sentence from a Hamas propaganda video that should shock you :
"You love life, and we love death. And that is why we will win." (talking about Israel) [3] (note: this is from the Hadith, an islamic holy text)
This is what the US always did. If a government doesn't play ball with them they try everything to get rid of it. Look at what happened just a couple of months ago in Ukraine: democratically elected president was ousted just because he was becoming too friendly with Putin.
Lets be fair. Morsi won 51% of the vote and thereafter granted himself unlimited power (quite literally). He essentially declared himself god-emperor. What would you have NATO do, restore the dictator to power?
Hamas is in much the same boat- democratically elected yes, but a state sponsor of terrorism that believes the state of Israel has no right to exist. They actively house rockets/terrorists in schools, mosques, and hospitals. No one in the West can support such an organization even if Israel is nearly as bad.
It might be a difficult concept to wrap one's head around - that someone might come to power via democratic means and then proceed to usurp the power by killing off the opposition & closing free press.
Ie if you want to use the D word, it's not enough to mention it once ('came to power') but also demonstrate that they are staying in power democratically.
9 comments
[ 1.5 ms ] story [ 33.2 ms ] threadWhile we talk democracy, our actions betray us. Hamas was democratically elected yet our response was to isolate them. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt was democratically elected but the west didn't say a word when he was over thrown in a coup de'tat.
So It's no surprise that Arab Leaders who are all holding on to their dwindling dictatorships with an iron grip would side with the Israel (the West) than risk suicide by siding with Hamas.
The one exception to the rule is Qatar though who seems to have outclassed and outstrategised every single Gulf State to date.
The response to the Muslim Brotherhood however is harder to understand beyond basic hypocrisy.
When Hamas came to the elections, it was painfully clear : the Hamas movement is a choice for open war instead of negotiation (that was what the choice came down to, how it was presented in Gaza, what the PLA was doing : conquer Israel through negotiation, and international pressure). And while Hamas faked the election, they would have won if they didn't. Their support in the Gaza strip is not 100%, but it is very, very hight.
Incidentally, the first thing once they were securely in power was massacre Fatah. [1]
Democracy ? Resistance ? Hamas is as much of a democratic resistance movement as the KGB is.
One thing I also don't get. Hamas has a stated policy of destroying human rights [2], yet this never gets even mentioned in this conflict. Reporting on the constant atrocities by Hamas is almost non-existent, and doesn't seem to influence people's opinion on the matter. Why not ? Hamas has, for one thing, killed more Palestinians than Israel. [4] How can anyone support these guys ?
Allow me to finish with a sentence from a Hamas propaganda video that should shock you :
"You love life, and we love death. And that is why we will win." (talking about Israel) [3] (note: this is from the Hadith, an islamic holy text)
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gaza_(2007)
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_Palestinian...
[3] http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FC23Aa01.html
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWJFC98jPrQ
Hamas is in much the same boat- democratically elected yes, but a state sponsor of terrorism that believes the state of Israel has no right to exist. They actively house rockets/terrorists in schools, mosques, and hospitals. No one in the West can support such an organization even if Israel is nearly as bad.
What good options exist anywhere?
[1] http://nir.icej.org/news/headlines/brief-hamas-accused-gaza-...
It might be a difficult concept to wrap one's head around - that someone might come to power via democratic means and then proceed to usurp the power by killing off the opposition & closing free press.
Ie if you want to use the D word, it's not enough to mention it once ('came to power') but also demonstrate that they are staying in power democratically.