REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY:

Hamas’ Impossible Mission (Ramzy Baroud, 29 April, 2006, Countercurrents.org)

It should be established by now that most Western governments are the least interested in honoring the decided democratic choice of the Palestinian people, which elevated to power a movement that is branded ‘terrorist’ by Israel, thus by much of the Western hemisphere.

Since facts and common sense are of little concern to those who hastily decided to withhold badly needed funds to support the battered economy of the Occupied Territories, there would be no need to once again marvel at the rhetorical inconsistencies of the Bush Administration and of the European Union.

So what if Hamas has adhered to a virtually unilateral ceasefire for over a year, while Israel did not? So what if the newly formed government has given ample evidence that it is keenly interested in dialogue, not violence? So what if the majority of the Palestinian people have adamantly and repeatedly -- according to recent public opinion polls -- expressed their interest in a negotiated settlement with Israel? Indeed, so many “so whats” that hardly matter now, since it is quite clear that the US and the EU’s real intentions are to topple the Palestinian government, along with the sham of a doctrine which claims that democratizing the Arabs is the ultimate policy objective of Bush and Blair.

Not just democracy, but liberal democracy. All Hamas has to do is the will of the Palestinian preople --accept the Palestinian state that's been on offer since Oslo and peaceful co-existence with the state of Israel and folks'll shovel money at them.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 29, 2006 7:42 AM