Why does it seem impossible to make peace in the Middle East?
Westerners naively think that all people in the world want to live in a democracy and enjoy the rights and freedoms they have. Perhaps all people of the world do want this; but certainly few dictators do.
No matter what they say publicly, most of the Arab leaders of the Middle East countries don?t want a Palestinian democracy, because that might give their own people funny ideas. And that would probably lead to the deposing of the current leader, whoever he may be.
So the Palestinians have become a convenient pawn for these nations and any anti-Israeli/anti-American movement within them.
The first and biggest culprit in the game is Yasser Arafat. Arafat is not even a Palestinian. He was born in Egypt. And while he may be emblematic of the ?terrorist who is the ultimate freedom fighter?, look at the freedom he has won for himself and his adopted people now.
Some freedom. He is now in a form of house arrest in Mukata ? his ?empire? is in ruins around him. His people are now living from closure to closure and every terrorist attack by a Palestinian group, which is either directly funded or given a free hand by Arafat?s regime, brings more and more sorrow to those innocent Palestinians who once lived a relatively free life, earning a decent living in Israel at a higher standard of living than their counterparts in the surrounding Middle East states.
But by initiating the intifada, Arafat is still ?king?. How long do you think he would last if his people had a true free and democratic vote, and they were not threatened by the internal ?mafia? of the various terrorist groups?
Yasser Arafat is a kind of ?American dream? in the Middle East. In the Middle East, power is typically only conferred by power ? either tyrannical rule ? or through monarchial lineage.
Yet Yasser Arafat, this non-Palestinian ?refugee?, non-royalty, former peasant from Egypt, once held the record for the most number of visits to the White House! He got the red carpet treatment in every nation of the world. He did what was formerly impossible in the Middle East. He overcame his class in this highly structured society. And he, like his ruling Arab counterparts, has no desire to see that power end through the creation of a democracy.
For all the public talk about the ?Arab brotherhood?, we see little brotherly action in the Middle Eastern States. Following the displacement of, some say, a few hundred thousand to a half-million Arab refugees after the Arab-initiated war of 1948 against the nascent State of Israel, the ?Arab brothers? of the region were content to force the refugees to suffer in camps. Now, more than 50 years later, they are still there, there are many more, and, since the mid-1960s, they have called themselves Palestinians.
By contrast, after World War II, some 14 million refugees were settled world-wide within five years. When Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien visited the Middle East region a couple of years ago, he generously offered to resettle 15,000 Palestinians in the Great White North ? and was soundly rapped for his insolence. The PA wants their people to continue to suffer. And for all the talk of the Arab brotherhood, the people known as the Palestinian refugees today simply ?are not one of us?, as far as other Arabs are concerned.
For more than a decade, the West and other global states such as Japan have been actively financing the push for ?real peace? in the Middle East. To this end, Yasser Arafat has received more than 900 million dollars from the European community alone. If one divides that sum between the highest estimated figure of Palestinians in the world (some say 6 or 7 million), that still means each and every Palestinian could have won the Lotto a thousand times.
But that did not happen. The Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live in poverty ? they now even have little or no chance of working in Israel, where 100,000 of them once worked.
Yet Yasser Arafat and his high-ranking colleagues still have fancy cars and houses and Swiss bank accounts. And they are still getting money from you well-meaning, Western tax-payers.
For Gulf leaders who hate Israel and the threatening democracy and industrial success that it represents, Yasser Arafat is a great gift from the West. Here is a man who will gladly do their dirty work for them, and they don?t even have to ask him to do it. He will ensure there will never be a democratic Palestinian state, so people like Hosni Mubarak and (until the recent Gulf War) Saddam Hussein could sleep at night, knowing their own sons will ?inherit? their rule.
Despite Egypt?s apparent middle road, Mubarak doesn?t want a real democracy in Egypt. He has some 68 million mostly uneducated people living on the poverty line. His country has limited industry to support them and many in the outlying regions live an agricultural subsistence lifestyle, as they did thousands of years ago. Mubarak needs American money, so he is willing to play along with the West ? to a point. But not to the point of establishing a true democracy.
Democracy would mean that women would have the right to vote ? the right of choice. They might cause the same kind of revolution Canadian women caused when Nellie McClung and her colleagues won the right to vote. And now look at Canada ? the country is wealthy, has one of the highest standards of living in the world, one of the highest levels of health and education - and yes, it is in large part due to the liberation and participation of women. In Saudi Arabia, women don?t even have the right to drive a car.
To a demigod, democracy is a threat.
Saddam Hussein of Iraq and his cohorts certainly don?t want real democracy. That?s why there are so many terrorist attacks happening there against the Americans. The Americans are close to success ? democracy is at hand. But for regional leaders, this is too much.
Democracy is so? well? confining for a tyrannical leader. In a democracy, they won?t let you gas to death those citizens who don?t like your tyrannical rule. Democracy makes the leader accountable. In a democracy, you have to answer for the brutal treatment given to suspected ?collaborators?; you have to explain why you build posh palaces while your people live in poverty ? and you can?t just cover up mass graves of 300,000 people. Democracies are so? annoying. No wonder Saddam Hussein was happy to send cheques for $10,000 to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. No one helped his regional cause more than they!
Let?s look at Syria. Bashar Assad, educated in England. Surely he shares Western values. Not really. He is the heir to the Allouwite ?throne? in Syria. The Allouwites are a minority who hold tenuous power over the rest of the Syrians. The country?s main income comes from drug dealing through Lebanon, where Assad?s army sits on top of that puppet government. Why would Bashar Assad want democracy? He would be voted out in a minute and, once on the street, he would suffer a violent end in vengeance for his father?s and uncle?s crimes against humanity. Why would he ever want to absorb Palestinian refugees? They are not ?his people? and their numbers, no matter how small, work against him.
And we know how the Assad family handles revolutionary voices. They simply level the town ? as they did in the village of Hama - killing some 20,000 people overnight.
How about King Abdullah of Jordan? Of all the regional leaders, he would probably want some kind of democracy for the Palestinians, but only for those in the West Bank and Gaza. Some 80% of his own population is Palestinian; his own wife is a Palestinian. Yet he is a minority tribal leader ? the head of the Hashemite kingdom. As for true democracy in Jordan? Very risky, with the turbulent and violent percentage of Palestinians seeking revenge for 50 years of servitude.
The Palestinians in Jordan tried to revolt once. Abdullah?s father, King Hussein, ensured that the resident Palestinians wouldn?t try to revolt again. He undertook his ?Black September? action in 1970 (a series of battles that took longer than that month) ? wiping out a few thousand Palestinian agitators and routing the terrorist organizations. Of course, in a real democracy, he would never have been able to do such a thing.
Saudi Arabia? Well, as one of the last and largest feudal monarchies in the world, which sits on probably the greatest wealth, the ruling class has no desire for change. The Palestinians are just another type of serf and they are certainly not deserving of their own state ? especially not a democratic one. What message would that send to Saudi serfs? No, much easier and better to verbally support the Palestinian Authority to ensure that the conflict with Israel will continue; then those serfs will not rise above their station in life and they will not inspire anyone else in the region. Ironically for them, the situation is about to boomerang, as terrorist groups like Al-Qaida seek to capitalize on the dissatisfactions of the non-ruling Saudi serfs ? attempting to destroy a corrupt monarchy and replace it with an extremist tyranny? but no democracy.
The list goes on, but in most instances, the circumstances are the same.
The Palestinians are excellent media pawns, too. The issue gets lots of global airtime. Jerusalem is ?home? to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of foreign journalists. Since Israel is a democracy, the TV, radio and press teams have a great deal of freedom to report on anything they see, hear or suspect. The Palestinian pawns perform for the cameras without ever questioning why so much airtime isn?t helping them get freedom and democracy. The little Palestinian boys throwing rocks at the Israeli soldiers believe they are fighting for their freedom, when in fact they are ensuring the opposite.
And to top it off, the Palestinian Authority has created an army of Palestinian suicide bombers. The cheapest military machine in the world. The suicide/homicide ?soldier? is trained/brainwashed within weeks, no expensive equipment required, and there is no expensive maintenance or rescue of the ?soldier? required ? the blast is usually completely destructive. The outcome is lots of free TV coverage worldwide, lots of psychological impact on the enemy ? and most of all, each bomber ensures that the enemy is also less and less inclined to want a democratic state of suicide bombers next door.
The tyrannical rulers of the region (especially Yasser Arafat) couldn?t ask for a better deal. People you don?t like or care about are willing to kill themselves in great number, for a simple fantasy that a few charming ?Jonestown-like? leaders can drill into their heads; and they are fighting your enemy for you, against their own interests. It?s perfect!
And is Israel the real enemy?
No. The ?enemy? is democracy. Israel?s existence as a democratic state in the region has upset the balance by illustrating that democracy leads to change, growth, productivity and creativity. Democracy empowers the people.
But, of course, if you are a tyrant, you don?t want powerful people. You only want pawns. And well-intentioned, naive foreigners are funding the on-going oppression of all of the region?s people ? none of whom have democratic rights ? while, with their anti-war/anti-America/anti-Israel messages (i.e. instead of ?anti-Saddam? or ?anti-Arafat? messages), they are also ensuring that such tyrannies and dictatorships remain in power.
Tragically, in all this, the Palestinian people are the pawns, as are those in the West who naively play along with this Machiavellian game. Obviously, there are a certain number of Palestinians who are not suicide bombers and who may not love Israel, but they do want to have a real life. These are the Palestinian ?collaborators? ? brave people who are really willing to risk their life for an ideal ? peace, work, freedom ? all for the price of telling Israel where the real terrorists are on a certain day or at a certain time. Many pay for it with their lives ? and these are the unsung heroes that no Western governments, human rights agencies or left-wing civil libertarians acknowledge or help. These Palestinians see the farcical reality of the situation and the hopelessness. Without their help in destroying the terrorist infrastructure, there will never be a Palestinian state and their children will have no future. They do not want to be martyrs ? but more than that, they do not want their children and their nation to be hooked by the world?s largest suicide cult into being martyred by Arafat, in order to stop democracy?s spread in the Middle East.
Lately, you?ve heard that Arafat is diverting $100,000 per month to his wife in France, that he gives $50,000 a month to terrorist organizations. Are you surprised? While the West still naively struggles with its own disbelief that this Nobel Peace Prize winner is not acting according to their plan, Arafat and his tyrannical cronies laugh all the way to the bank, as they walk down the red carpet to another international conference on making peace in the Middle East.
?It?s the occupation,? they say. ?It?s the settlements. It?s the assassinations.?
No it?s not. It?s the way they want it to be, forever.
Read my lips.
Arafat does not want a democratic Palestinian state. For what? He is not a Palestinian. And it would ruin his rags to riches success story ? the only one of its kind in the Middle East.
Westerners naively think that all people in the world want to live in a democracy and enjoy the rights and freedoms they have. Perhaps all people of the world do want this; but certainly few dictators do.
No matter what they say publicly, most of the Arab leaders of the Middle East countries don?t want a Palestinian democracy, because that might give their own people funny ideas. And that would probably lead to the deposing of the current leader, whoever he may be.
So the Palestinians have become a convenient pawn for these nations and any anti-Israeli/anti-American movement within them.
The first and biggest culprit in the game is Yasser Arafat. Arafat is not even a Palestinian. He was born in Egypt. And while he may be emblematic of the ?terrorist who is the ultimate freedom fighter?, look at the freedom he has won for himself and his adopted people now.
Some freedom. He is now in a form of house arrest in Mukata ? his ?empire? is in ruins around him. His people are now living from closure to closure and every terrorist attack by a Palestinian group, which is either directly funded or given a free hand by Arafat?s regime, brings more and more sorrow to those innocent Palestinians who once lived a relatively free life, earning a decent living in Israel at a higher standard of living than their counterparts in the surrounding Middle East states.
But by initiating the intifada, Arafat is still ?king?. How long do you think he would last if his people had a true free and democratic vote, and they were not threatened by the internal ?mafia? of the various terrorist groups?
Yasser Arafat is a kind of ?American dream? in the Middle East. In the Middle East, power is typically only conferred by power ? either tyrannical rule ? or through monarchial lineage.
Yet Yasser Arafat, this non-Palestinian ?refugee?, non-royalty, former peasant from Egypt, once held the record for the most number of visits to the White House! He got the red carpet treatment in every nation of the world. He did what was formerly impossible in the Middle East. He overcame his class in this highly structured society. And he, like his ruling Arab counterparts, has no desire to see that power end through the creation of a democracy.
For all the public talk about the ?Arab brotherhood?, we see little brotherly action in the Middle Eastern States. Following the displacement of, some say, a few hundred thousand to a half-million Arab refugees after the Arab-initiated war of 1948 against the nascent State of Israel, the ?Arab brothers? of the region were content to force the refugees to suffer in camps. Now, more than 50 years later, they are still there, there are many more, and, since the mid-1960s, they have called themselves Palestinians.
By contrast, after World War II, some 14 million refugees were settled world-wide within five years. When Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien visited the Middle East region a couple of years ago, he generously offered to resettle 15,000 Palestinians in the Great White North ? and was soundly rapped for his insolence. The PA wants their people to continue to suffer. And for all the talk of the Arab brotherhood, the people known as the Palestinian refugees today simply ?are not one of us?, as far as other Arabs are concerned.
For more than a decade, the West and other global states such as Japan have been actively financing the push for ?real peace? in the Middle East. To this end, Yasser Arafat has received more than 900 million dollars from the European community alone. If one divides that sum between the highest estimated figure of Palestinians in the world (some say 6 or 7 million), that still means each and every Palestinian could have won the Lotto a thousand times.
But that did not happen. The Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live in poverty ? they now even have little or no chance of working in Israel, where 100,000 of them once worked.
Yet Yasser Arafat and his high-ranking colleagues still have fancy cars and houses and Swiss bank accounts. And they are still getting money from you well-meaning, Western tax-payers.
For Gulf leaders who hate Israel and the threatening democracy and industrial success that it represents, Yasser Arafat is a great gift from the West. Here is a man who will gladly do their dirty work for them, and they don?t even have to ask him to do it. He will ensure there will never be a democratic Palestinian state, so people like Hosni Mubarak and (until the recent Gulf War) Saddam Hussein could sleep at night, knowing their own sons will ?inherit? their rule.
Despite Egypt?s apparent middle road, Mubarak doesn?t want a real democracy in Egypt. He has some 68 million mostly uneducated people living on the poverty line. His country has limited industry to support them and many in the outlying regions live an agricultural subsistence lifestyle, as they did thousands of years ago. Mubarak needs American money, so he is willing to play along with the West ? to a point. But not to the point of establishing a true democracy.
Democracy would mean that women would have the right to vote ? the right of choice. They might cause the same kind of revolution Canadian women caused when Nellie McClung and her colleagues won the right to vote. And now look at Canada ? the country is wealthy, has one of the highest standards of living in the world, one of the highest levels of health and education - and yes, it is in large part due to the liberation and participation of women. In Saudi Arabia, women don?t even have the right to drive a car.
To a demigod, democracy is a threat.
Saddam Hussein of Iraq and his cohorts certainly don?t want real democracy. That?s why there are so many terrorist attacks happening there against the Americans. The Americans are close to success ? democracy is at hand. But for regional leaders, this is too much.
Democracy is so? well? confining for a tyrannical leader. In a democracy, they won?t let you gas to death those citizens who don?t like your tyrannical rule. Democracy makes the leader accountable. In a democracy, you have to answer for the brutal treatment given to suspected ?collaborators?; you have to explain why you build posh palaces while your people live in poverty ? and you can?t just cover up mass graves of 300,000 people. Democracies are so? annoying. No wonder Saddam Hussein was happy to send cheques for $10,000 to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. No one helped his regional cause more than they!
Let?s look at Syria. Bashar Assad, educated in England. Surely he shares Western values. Not really. He is the heir to the Allouwite ?throne? in Syria. The Allouwites are a minority who hold tenuous power over the rest of the Syrians. The country?s main income comes from drug dealing through Lebanon, where Assad?s army sits on top of that puppet government. Why would Bashar Assad want democracy? He would be voted out in a minute and, once on the street, he would suffer a violent end in vengeance for his father?s and uncle?s crimes against humanity. Why would he ever want to absorb Palestinian refugees? They are not ?his people? and their numbers, no matter how small, work against him.
And we know how the Assad family handles revolutionary voices. They simply level the town ? as they did in the village of Hama - killing some 20,000 people overnight.
How about King Abdullah of Jordan? Of all the regional leaders, he would probably want some kind of democracy for the Palestinians, but only for those in the West Bank and Gaza. Some 80% of his own population is Palestinian; his own wife is a Palestinian. Yet he is a minority tribal leader ? the head of the Hashemite kingdom. As for true democracy in Jordan? Very risky, with the turbulent and violent percentage of Palestinians seeking revenge for 50 years of servitude.
The Palestinians in Jordan tried to revolt once. Abdullah?s father, King Hussein, ensured that the resident Palestinians wouldn?t try to revolt again. He undertook his ?Black September? action in 1970 (a series of battles that took longer than that month) ? wiping out a few thousand Palestinian agitators and routing the terrorist organizations. Of course, in a real democracy, he would never have been able to do such a thing.
Saudi Arabia? Well, as one of the last and largest feudal monarchies in the world, which sits on probably the greatest wealth, the ruling class has no desire for change. The Palestinians are just another type of serf and they are certainly not deserving of their own state ? especially not a democratic one. What message would that send to Saudi serfs? No, much easier and better to verbally support the Palestinian Authority to ensure that the conflict with Israel will continue; then those serfs will not rise above their station in life and they will not inspire anyone else in the region. Ironically for them, the situation is about to boomerang, as terrorist groups like Al-Qaida seek to capitalize on the dissatisfactions of the non-ruling Saudi serfs ? attempting to destroy a corrupt monarchy and replace it with an extremist tyranny? but no democracy.
The list goes on, but in most instances, the circumstances are the same.
The Palestinians are excellent media pawns, too. The issue gets lots of global airtime. Jerusalem is ?home? to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of foreign journalists. Since Israel is a democracy, the TV, radio and press teams have a great deal of freedom to report on anything they see, hear or suspect. The Palestinian pawns perform for the cameras without ever questioning why so much airtime isn?t helping them get freedom and democracy. The little Palestinian boys throwing rocks at the Israeli soldiers believe they are fighting for their freedom, when in fact they are ensuring the opposite.
And to top it off, the Palestinian Authority has created an army of Palestinian suicide bombers. The cheapest military machine in the world. The suicide/homicide ?soldier? is trained/brainwashed within weeks, no expensive equipment required, and there is no expensive maintenance or rescue of the ?soldier? required ? the blast is usually completely destructive. The outcome is lots of free TV coverage worldwide, lots of psychological impact on the enemy ? and most of all, each bomber ensures that the enemy is also less and less inclined to want a democratic state of suicide bombers next door.
The tyrannical rulers of the region (especially Yasser Arafat) couldn?t ask for a better deal. People you don?t like or care about are willing to kill themselves in great number, for a simple fantasy that a few charming ?Jonestown-like? leaders can drill into their heads; and they are fighting your enemy for you, against their own interests. It?s perfect!
And is Israel the real enemy?
No. The ?enemy? is democracy. Israel?s existence as a democratic state in the region has upset the balance by illustrating that democracy leads to change, growth, productivity and creativity. Democracy empowers the people.
But, of course, if you are a tyrant, you don?t want powerful people. You only want pawns. And well-intentioned, naive foreigners are funding the on-going oppression of all of the region?s people ? none of whom have democratic rights ? while, with their anti-war/anti-America/anti-Israel messages (i.e. instead of ?anti-Saddam? or ?anti-Arafat? messages), they are also ensuring that such tyrannies and dictatorships remain in power.
Tragically, in all this, the Palestinian people are the pawns, as are those in the West who naively play along with this Machiavellian game. Obviously, there are a certain number of Palestinians who are not suicide bombers and who may not love Israel, but they do want to have a real life. These are the Palestinian ?collaborators? ? brave people who are really willing to risk their life for an ideal ? peace, work, freedom ? all for the price of telling Israel where the real terrorists are on a certain day or at a certain time. Many pay for it with their lives ? and these are the unsung heroes that no Western governments, human rights agencies or left-wing civil libertarians acknowledge or help. These Palestinians see the farcical reality of the situation and the hopelessness. Without their help in destroying the terrorist infrastructure, there will never be a Palestinian state and their children will have no future. They do not want to be martyrs ? but more than that, they do not want their children and their nation to be hooked by the world?s largest suicide cult into being martyred by Arafat, in order to stop democracy?s spread in the Middle East.
Lately, you?ve heard that Arafat is diverting $100,000 per month to his wife in France, that he gives $50,000 a month to terrorist organizations. Are you surprised? While the West still naively struggles with its own disbelief that this Nobel Peace Prize winner is not acting according to their plan, Arafat and his tyrannical cronies laugh all the way to the bank, as they walk down the red carpet to another international conference on making peace in the Middle East.
?It?s the occupation,? they say. ?It?s the settlements. It?s the assassinations.?
No it?s not. It?s the way they want it to be, forever.
Read my lips.
Arafat does not want a democratic Palestinian state. For what? He is not a Palestinian. And it would ruin his rags to riches success story ? the only one of its kind in the Middle East.