Posted by
mgraves on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 8:36:12 PM
This is, apparently, what happens when elections are taken as "democracy".
Cannot remember where I've read it, but a question concerning democratic behavior can arise: is democratic behavior behavior which democracies like, or behavior which preserves democracies. I'm sure I've read a discussion on this topic by VDH or some other academic, so I won't try to go too far in depth (and embarrass myself).
Palestine suffers from problems foisted on them by the "international community": elections equal democracy; as a former colony, Palestine cannot be expected to behave responsibly; further, the "occupied" territories are oppressed by Israel and therefore ought not be expected to behave responsibly. These problems mean that nothing is the fault of the Palestinian people--from a non-existent economy, to a kleptocratic government, a lack of respect for people or property; essentially a state of nature--and that they have a democratic government worthy of the respect of the "international community".
Both fictions are dangerous.
Firstly, elections held without the benefit of democratic institutions are, at best, a surface solution. People in the West Bank and Gaza cannot speak against Fatah or HAMAS without expecting the "knock on the door in the middle of the night" prevalent in dictatorships (and under a certain Attorney General who shall remain nameless). There is no real freedom of association. One's property, shops, or stores can be destroyed, without compensation by terrorist in-fighting in the government, so there is no real incentive to develop an economy and the respect for property required for a modern economy.
Bomb throwers, of the right and left, in America throw verbal barbs, not real bombs, This is not so, obviously, in the West Bank and Gaza. There is a respect in America for the rule of law that does not exist in the West Bank or Gaza because those charged with enforcing the law in those territories are corrupt and complacent in the face of crime. This leads to actual political bomb-throwing.
America, obviously, had the benefit of centuries of British tradition, so a rapid transition in a many times conquered area with a tradition of autocracy is unlikely, to put it mildly. Pretending a rapid transition has occurred (by giving Palestine a seat in the useless General Assembly, for example, or by asking the opinion of the present "government", for another) is dangerous and is not consistent with reality. The West Bank and Gaza show no signs of progressing (that's right, democracy is an improvement over anarchy) toward a democratic system of governance, or even a responsible government. Pretending otherwise disincentivizes such a transition.
Secondly, the good people of the West Bank and Gaza may have been dealt a raw deal, but blowing up women and children is not a responsible reaction to a raw deal. It is a childish reaction. As is the culture of victimhood that pervades the discussion of the West Bank and Gaza in the "international community". Until Palestinian people take responsibility for their own fates, they will continue to be mired in a swamp of dependency, corruption, terrorism, and crime. Encouraging the victim culture allows people to shirk responsibilities. Shirked responsibilities metastasize into a failed culture, society, and nation.
I'm sorry, but the amount of foreign aid that flows into the West Bank and Gaza (and Egypt, for that matter) gives no excuse for the continued failed state that exists (of course, money is a variable in need of greater discussion in terms of effectiveness at producing desired results).
In any case, behavior in the West Bank and Gaza is neither that which preserves democracies (as no such thing exists there), nor that which democracies like (at least in their own cultures--I'd imagine even Rep Pelosi would be a bit upset about RPG attacks on shopping centers [excepting Wal-mart, no doubt]).