Thursday, June 3, 2010

The time is now to push for democracy in the Middle East

This is my column for 24 hours this week:

Once more lives have been needlessly lost in the Middle East This is happening while people in the Canada express strong opinions about Israel in this conflict without condemning the much worse behaviors of the Arabic countries.

The whole approach of using the flotilla to try and goad the Israeli state into a reaction worked, but this publicity stunt only pours gas on the Arab – Israeli conflict. What did people think would happen if you sail towards Israel when you are told by the government not to approach?

As a nation Israel has no margin for error. It is the only democratic country in the region and the only one that allows freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion. The Israeli military is under civilian control and the government is answerable to the courts. These standards and human rights values are not shared with any of its neighbours and seems to have become the primary reason for opposition to the state of Israel.

Whatever anyone thinks of Israel, it does not excuse the actions of Hamas. Hamas is an islamo-fascist organization that is doing more oppress Palestinian people than anything Israel has ever done. They still call for an end to Israel. Its leaders are not unhappy at the idea of exterminating all the Jews.

The blockade is not a random thing, it is in place because Hamas will not renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept the agreements the Palestinian government had signed. This is not only an Israeli blockade but Egyptian as well. No matter what international law experts say about the blockade, for Israel there is a fundamental fear of survival.

Life under in Gaza under Hamas is a horror and not primarily because of the blockade. It is hard to get real first hand reports from Gaza because Hamas will not allow a free media. Gaza is one of the worst places on earth for basic human rights freedom. Anyone that disagrees with Hamas, or their invented version of Islam, has been either killed or forced to flee.

While all this goes on, there are ongoing rockets being launched at Israel from Gaza resulting in air strikes by Israel trying to stop the rockets. No one seems to calling for an international investigation of why Hamas will not stop launching rockets into Israel.

Ultimately holding Israel to account for their actions this week is right, but at the same time as Syria, Egypt, Hamas, Saudi Arabia and other countries and groups in the Middle East have to be held to account for their ongoing actions. For too long there has been a double standard in the Middle East conflict with only Israel expected to respect human rights, this needs to come to an end. We need an era where the focus is on the basic human rights of democracy, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion in all Arabic countries. Once the Arabic people are freed from tyranny, the conflict in the Middle East will end.

Added a few hours later.

Here is a link to what Terry Glavin has to say on the situation


Hamit Sensoy said...

This type of ignorance pisses me off...
Israel is the only democratic country in the region? How about Turkey?
Who is supporting all tyrans in the region? Their people?
Answer... USA, Canada and European countries...
What is gotto to do with arabic regimes and what happened at the international seas???
there is a humanity crisis and people all over the world sending a fleet to help the people. And FYI most of them are not Arabic...

They are activists, should we kill all activists? Maybe Japanese should kill all green peace activists or animal right activists when they are trying to protect the animals??? how about HST protesters yeah right kill them all. How about G8 protesters???, etc etc....


Democracy??? or Hypocrisy???

You guys are hypocrite not democrat... i will see when you care to publish my comment too...

Bernard said...

Turkey may become a full fledged democracy, but at this time it is still more of a flawed democracy than a fully functional one. My hope is that within ten years Turkey will be a full democracy.

The reality is that first and most important change in the Middle East has to be fully functional democratic countries. This means free press, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly.

When Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the others finally join world or free nations and liberate their people, that is when we will see peace in the Middle East.

When we see free elections and a regular change of government in Riyahd, then we will see progress.

The problems of the Middle East are 99% caused by thugs that refuse to let people make their own decisions and have their own thoughts.

As of this time, the most democratic country in the Middle East is Israel, though they have flaws because of the insistence of it being a Jewish State.

brennus said...

While I appreciate that anyone working for the MSM has to sip the Zionist kool-aid did you have to drain the whole jug?Israel by its very nature as a Jewish state contradicts the term.As for any freedoms (Israel has no constitution,no internationally recognized borders and an anti-missionary law which promises a 5 year prison term if a New Testament is given to a Jew)Ask Judge Goldstone,Norman Finklestein,Noam Chomsky or Mordechai Vanunu about Isreal,s liberal views on free speech vs deportation,imprisonment or vilification of crtics(zionist or not) not indoctrinated lockstep into the zionist Eretz Israel myth.I suggest you read 'The Invention of the Jewish people'by Israeli scholar Shlomo Sand'to help you become a little more nuanced and a little less like the state that drops millions of cluster bombs on Lebanon after a cease fire is signed in 'self-defense'

Sean Orr said...

Democracy has been purposefully bypassed in the region thanks to the US and Israel ignoring other democracies and the UN. To point the blame at the Arabs is a cop-out and ignores a very long-standing policy of colonialism in the region beginning with the break of the Ottoman.

Successive arab countries have been manipulated to suit American interests. Democratically elected Nasser ousted for Mubarrak in Egypt. The kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia bought off. The Ba'athist supported in Syria and Iraq to control the Shia. The taliban and deobandi supported in Aghanistan and Pakistan to oust the Soviets. The democratically elected Mosadeq. Turkey is one of the largest benefactors of American aid, after Israel of course.

Democracy is not in America's interests. You cannot pin the blame on these nations for they have been manipulated from their very creation by European powers.

Bernard said...

Cool! The dictators in the Middle East are not at fault for oppressing their people, for stealing from them, for murdering them! It is the Americans fault!

Give your head a shake, people that care about the Arabic people know that the fundamental and primary problem is the lack of human rights and democracy.

Unknown said...

It seems that any time Israel commits another atrocity or breaks some international law they blame it on Hamas. It's like the husband who blames his wife for making him beat her.

Hamas was created by the Mossad and was voted in by the Palestinian people. Isreal can't have it both ways always acting like a child.

It's now at the point where people believe nothing that comes out the Israel. NOTHING.

Bernard said...

Hamas was created my Mossad? That is a rather amusing and bizarre assertion.

The issue still is the need for democracy in the Middle East, when that happens, then there will the tools available to the conflict.

Anonymous said...

Bottomline is; 9 civilians (ages between 19 and 61) were killed in a civilian ship in international waters, by the bullets of elite Israeli commandos. No excuse can justify what Israel has done on that ship.

Bernard said...

but you agree that not with standing the nine deaths, the Arab world needs to become democratic and Hamas needs to renounce violence - right?

Anonymous said...

For starters, Israel is not a democracy, it is a military dictatorship. Ehud Barak, the current defense minister was behind the 9/11 false flag attack on America and the decision by him to kill these activists in international waters was no accident.
The next thing to expect is more rockets and suicide bombers and a full scale invasion of Gaza as a result. The plan all along.
The Rothschilds want war, that is how they have come to control this planet.
Hamas was founded and funded by Mossad.
Create your own enemies is the name of the game and talking head puppets like Bernard Von Schulmann simply fall into their place as expected.

Anonymous said...

I didn't say that, and I don't want to comment on that. Because before blaming someone for the Middle East crisis, we have to go back in history and discuss the origins of the problem. We can start answering the question "How was the State of Israel created on a land where the Jewish people were a minority in the early 20th century?".

Bernard said...

This is getting more and more humourous. 9/11 a false flag attack? The only person that could believe that is someone using serious psychedelic drugs.

The Rothschilds? How does anyone come to that that bizarre idea that they might have anything do with it. How could some small scale European bankers be behind anything and why would they want war?

Odd, based on more than six decades of elections and a free press, I had thought Israel was a democracy. But maybe there is some other definition you know of.

I defy anyone to name a middle eastern country in which Arabs have more democracy and access to a free press in Israel. The simple reality is that the Israeli Arabs are the freest in the middle east.

Bernard said...

How was the State of Israel created? By a decision of the UN. The Palestinian state was occupied by Egypt and Jordan and not allowed to exist.

The land Israel sits on that was not part of the 1947 partition is by rights theirs until the aggressors in the wars of 47, 67 and 73 sue for peace. In keeping with how the world works by the right of conquest as a defending nation Israel has a right to all the lands. The attacking nations surrendered their rights to the land by launching the attacks.

Certainly Israel has a higher claim to the Golan Heights than France does to Alsace and Lorraine or Poland and Russia to East Prussia.

Israel as a nation state carries more legal legitimacy than many of their neighbours.

Anonymous said...

Baron Edmond de Rothschild created the state of Israel...this is common knowledge.
As for the idea that the Rothschild dynasty is a small European banking family proves you being a journalist for the propagandist 24 rag is where you belong.

9/11 was a false flag purpetrated by Zionists using Mossad, their minions in Pakistans ISI and a complicit Bush White House. This has all been proven, but the reall media no longer exists because all their news comes from AP or Reuters. Reuters owns the Associated Press and the
Rothschilds own Reuters!

Bernard said...

Dude, you make 24 and Jack Bauer look like it is a documentary.

I shake my head at what you are saying, there is not a single reputable person out there that believes what you are saying.

Keeping posting, you are amusing in how wild your thoughts are. I will get some popcorn and enjoy the fantasies you are coming up with.

Sean Orr said...

Don't get me wrong, I blame the Arab leadership as much as I blame the entities that created them. Obviously America isn't the only colonial interest in the region, multiplied by ancient tribal divisions, unrepresented peoples like the Kurds, and of course oil. But you seem to think that Israel is the innocent victim here. Hamas is willing to hold referendums on the future of the state of Palestine if and when that is granted. They need to be in control of their borders and not starved. No good can come out of this siege.

Israel had its chance with Arafat, he held out the olive branch but Israel chose the gun. Instead they opted for a divide and conquer approach and Hamas ended up winning out (maybe this is what that fellow means about mossad idk). Similarly, Iran had a much mor moderate president when 9/11 happened but Bush called him an Axis of Evil, so Ahmadinejad was elected. Meanwhile Israel keeps building settlements and won't let refugees return.

So you can't sit here and blame the arabs. It does nothing to promote peace, or peaceful understanding. Instead, as you can see, the conversation turns more and more vitriolic and paranoid. Just as blaming the activists for enforcing international law belies the complexity of the situation.

Anonymous said...

This is clearly a sensitive topic, but after reading your Zionist rhetoric in the 24 it became clear reason does not factor into your views. While most of those posting here seem to have a bias, you too are obviously biased. It's really sad that both sides of this conflict have to live how they do. It's even more sad that this has become a "blame game"

The whole region is flawed politically and has ties to finance and business in the west. Until corruption worldwide becomes a major issue, things like this will continue to happen. I do indeed agree with Bernard that Hamas is a foul and disgusting orginization, but no worse than the Isreal/ US alliance. Perhaps if you all look past your own passions or in Bernard's case indoctrinations it will be clearer. No one wins when young, innocent people are dying and suffering. How about compassion for the innocents on BOTH sides before BS politics.

The mind is best used in conjunction with the heart.

Bernard said...

Cool, now I am espousing Zionist rhetoric.

I am not at all clear what in my piece could be considered Zionist or rhetoric? Obviously you have no idea of my opinion of Netenyahu.

The simple fact is that I am calling for the end to the double standard and for the world to shed light on the oppression in the Arab.

Israel exists, it is not going away and it is the most democratic country in the region and the only one being threatened with attack by others. Of course they do things that are wrong, but focusing on the one country that is trying more than the others to improve things is unfair.

The time has come to hold Syria, Hamas, the Saudis and others to account for their ongoing oppression. Change that and you defuse the conflict.

Sean Orr said...

End the double standard towards Israel also.

Hamit Sensoy said...

Turkish democracy has flaws? After 10 years in Canada I would say the same thing for Canada. In some democracy subjects I can even consider Turkish democracy is a little bit better. American democracy? Same... we saw it in 9/1 very clearly.

You know what the problem is actually Israel crime's supporters (mostly Jewish) they support whatever they do. (does not matter it is massacre, genocide, whatever it does it is OK for them. Mostly they hide their identity so they keep manipulating people all around the world.

Israel is gonna stay there? I really doubt it. Such a nasty neighbor will have a real hard time for its survival.

Many UN condemnations is only rejected because of america (another Jewish state)...

Lot of clear cases such this ship incident is being tried to be manipulated too..

Brian from Toronto said...


You do get some real yahoos on this blog. I'll pass over your resident Jewish conspiracy nut "Anonymous." He's way too obvious.

And I'll pass over "brennus." Clearly he's never had a thought in his life and simply re-posts the sentences he can understand from more accomplished haters like Norman Finkelstein.

And what can you say about Hamit who asks, "Shall we kill all activists?" and wants to be taken seriously.

It seems these "activists" were in fact hired mercenaries with jihadist sympathies, who attacked the Israeli boarding party. These thugs shot one Israeli in the gut, a second in the knee, cracked the skull of a third and heaved a fourth 10 metres to the deck below - and after all that, the Israelis opened fire to defend their lives.

And all the videos - from al-Jazeera, on-board cameras and the Israelis - back up the Israeli version of events.

But of course while Hamit objects to an Israeli soldier killing a jihadist in self-defence, he's all in favour of wiping Israel off the maps. Doubtless Hamit calls himself a peace activist, when he remembers.

And then there's Sean, who must surely be a spoof. Arafat "held out the olive branch," says Sean.

Uh-huh. When offered a full peace package Arafat didn’t rely with a Yes or even a counter-offer. He replied with suicide bombers.

Sean also has an almost mystical belief in the powers of the West.
Bush called the last president of Iran part of the Axis of Evil, and in response the Iranians elected an even more radical leader...!

This is truly funny ;-)) Well, done, Sean! Keep up the satire.

Hmm, Bernard, seems you don't get any serious commenters. A pity, becasue it's an interesting post.

Brian from Toronto said...

I just noticed the Hamit thinks the U.S. is "another Jewish state."

Doubtless he also thinks the Lions Club is a Zionist front organization, as explained in the Hamas charter.