Why Gaza's Message Is Threatening To Some? By Abu Al-Sous (Salah Mansour)*
The Israeli war on Gaza hasn't been only unprecedented in its ferocity, but it has been unprecedented in the support it received from the so called "Moderate" Arab Regimes** as well. In all circles, the Israeli attack was expected but not with this ferocity, however, the open alliance between the "Moderate" Arab Regimes with the Israeli policy makers never been this clear and obvious. Early 2006, Palestinians in the West Bank and especially in the Gaza Strip voted overwhelmingly for Hamas in a transparent and a fair election that was monitored by the former US President Carter. In response, all Western Powers (European Union and the United States), the "Moderate" Arab Regimes, and the Israelis conspired to topple the newly elected government (see related articles section for details). As a first response, the Israeli government jailed all the elected Hamas' representatives in the West Bank and Western Powers started all sorts of blockade against the freely elected government. I'm not a fan of Hamas or its agenda, however, I believe it's critical to understand why these Arab leader joined the Western Powers and Israel in a conspiracy to oust the freely elected Palestinian Government. To simply say they are puppets in hands of Israel and Western powers is not good enough, there must be more to it than that. Since the "Moderate" Arab Regimes' hold on power is based on very little popular support (mostly imposed on the Arab people by the Western Powers), they perceive Gaza's messages of democracy, hope, resistance, rule of law, and above all accountability and transparency as an existential threat to their shaky and undemocratic rule; it scares them that this message of hope could spread beyond the Gaza Strip. No other reason explains why President Mahmoud Abbas and the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak are passionately closing ranks with their Israeli counterparts. This explains why the Israeli Air Force has first targeted the instruments that Hamas uses to enforce the rule of law, such as police stations, prisons, courts, justice and education ministries, fuel depots, and Universities. The primary reason behind the latest war on Gaza is make Palestinians submit to their will regardless if Hamas is power or not. Prior to Hamas' election to power early 2006, it was Yasser Arafat who was targeted with similar policies because he refused to submit to Israeli and Western dictates, and because of that he was branded as an obstacle to "peace". The people in the Middle East lost hope in Westerners' call for human rights, liberty, and democracy; sadly Westerners are the first to run from their ideals and principals when their interests are at stake. Their primary interests in the Middle East are simple: protecting Israel by all possible means and having a secure access to Middle Eastern oil; promoting liberty, human rights, and democracy are by far secondary. On the other hand, what has been shocking and humiliating to me as an Arab is how the "Moderate" Arab Regimes are flocking to support the Israeli government in its attack on our people in Gaza. In my humble opinion, this could be a signal that they are disparate; they are almost in panic mode; this is unprecedented. Since the blockade on Gaza has been fruitless up to this point, the conspirators opted for the usage of Israeli Army to weaken, if not, destroy Hamas' rule. The urgency to act quickly might have be driven with the fact the the clock is running out on Mr. Abbas' and Mr. Bush's presidencies. I also suspect that the conspirators are worried that the President elect Obama may not be as accommodating as Mr. Bush since he will be focusing on the financial melt that hit the US recently. I believe the America's military and financial weakness will reflect negatively on its foreign policy, especially in the Middle East. Finally, I like to end this short article by reminding the reader of what David Ben-Gurion (the 1st Israeli PM) wrote in his diary on November 11, 1948: "Let us recognize the truth: we won not because we performed wonders, but because the Arab army is rotten. Must this rottenness persist forever?" (Simha Flapan, p. 238) I believe Arab rottenness which Ben-Gurion spoke of may have started to reached its limits; I am afraid we're witnessing the early signs of a political tsunamis that could transform the Middle East. Our DATE is 60 years LATE, we shall return. _____ * Salah Mansour is the founder and editor of PalestineRemembered .com, the largest Palestinian online community. ** Often Western Media parades Arab Dictators as Moderate Regimes because they serve Western Powers' interests in the Middle East. It should be noted that there is nothing moderate about these regimes, they are radicals and extremist especially when it comes to corruption, common use of torture, deployment of the intelligence services in walks of life, and filling up their prisons systems. sincerely, Abu al-Sous (Salah Mansour) Chicago - USA
