| « Previous: Jordan is Palestine – The Truth Unveiled | Next: Hypocrisy of the Left in Canada » |
The Situation in Middle East
23 February 2011 - יט אדר א' תשעאThe world is watching the situations in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and other Middle East countries carefully, and rightly so. The transformation in these countries can go two ways – they can be a launching pad for a new Middle East, where freedom and democracy flourish, or they can turn relatively friendly countries into avowed enemies, in the case the Muslim Brotherhood gets any power there. One definite lesson we have learned from this situation is that the political pundits on the Left have been wrong all along – peace between Israel and the Palestinians is NOT the path to Middle East peace!
The situations in these countries has shown that the “Arab street”, particularly Arab youth, wants first and foremost to have freedom, jobs and justice. Unfortunately, the Arab youth are not politically organized and will have a challenge in matching political forces in Egypt, especially under the radical Muslim Brotherhood, lead by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
Those who equate democracy with democratic elections elections are fooling themselves. Democracy is not merely the people choosing their leadership, but so much more that we take for granted in the West, and that will not likely happen in the Middle East, especially if the Muslim Brotherhood has any say about it. For those who don’t understand, democracy, beyond democratic elections includes a social contract among the people in which they agree to abide by the rule of law, an independent judiciary, respect and protection for the rights of all minorities, have a free press and freedom of expression within reason and without fear. In the past, no such social contract has ever existed in any Arab country, including Egypt. While democratic elections are a great start, with the inclusion of groups that seek to bully the minority (i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood), we’re sure to see the well-organized minority control the country.
We’re hopeful that forces of moderation prevail in Eygpt, Libya and Tunisia, but only time will tell. These are crucial times for our world. One thing we hope comes out of it is that people realize that Israel has little to do with happiness in the Middle East – the people hate their governments and are fighting back. Let’s hope they have a long memory and don’t allow more thugs to take over.
