What Arab regimes can learn? [Archives:2006/917/Opinion]
By: Atif Awad
Palestinians truly proved they are the only Arab nation characterized by creativity and other qualities enabling it to stop its opponents from grasping an opportunity for greetings and the taste of victory.
Palestinian elections, in which citizens of differing factions and ethnicities enjoyed the right to vote, once again proved that Palestinians are a distinguished Arab nation. This nation thwarted its enemies' ambitions and asserted its capability for political life, coupled with its being a unique example in the Arab region.
Through these elections held the latter part of January, we infer a number of messages by Palestinians explained as follows:
Hamas was not expected to be given this democratic opportunity nor dominate the Palestinian street after its victory following fair and free voting. However, Hamas's victory would not have been real if the Fatah Movement and the Palestinian Authority, represented by President Mahmoud Abbas, were not truly committed to honesty and responsibility. Such commitment was evident despite all circumstances leading the Palestinian Authority to a conspiracy stance, which contravenes Palestinian patriotic tenets.
Despite facing a series of charges, the Palestinian president asserted himself as an example of a responsible leader, as he provided opportunities of integrity and neutrality for fair and transparent elections. He never used power to enable his Fatah faction to win the election, a usual practice in other Arab regimes. Abbas resisted pressure from the United States, Israel and the European Union, who opposed Hamas's election participation, and he has never submitted to the UN Secretary-General's threats.
President Abbas and other Fatah leaders should be acknowledged for and attributed with breaking an Arab habit of election fraud and using power to defeat poll rivals. Arab regimes usually tend to fake election results and resort to power, even if opponents have no strong presence in the land or great chance to win. Such regimes use power to foil the democratic process, alleging that Arab nations are not ready for democracy. It is Abbas who wiped out such traditions and concepts and it is the Palestinian nation that proved the Arab world is ready for democracy and peaceful transfer of power.
Through Hamas's victory, Palestinians' message is that the American and European game of fearing Islamic groups is no longer valid. They kept saying that if Hamas won, the democratic process would become the enemy of liberalism, as well as the enemy of the Palestinian Authority and all other Palestinian factions. For this reason, the U.S. and the EU usually turn a blind eye to Arab regimes' practices, drawing public attention away from any election fraud. Moreover, Arab regimes seek the West's assistance to eliminate Islamic groups, claiming such groups constitute a threat to Americans and Europeans. In this regard, the relationship between Arab regimes and the West resulted in the spread of terrorism, which the U.S. exploits to back oppressive Arab regimes.
The recent Hamas victory undoubtedly will force people to reconsider such allegations and concerns. Westerners can examine the message of Hamas's victory and interpret it authentically to realize that not all Islamic groups are terrorists and that Hamas has a glorious history since its 1980s founding by Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. The Hamas movement's history also embraces the Muslim Brotherhood movement founded in the 1920s by Sheikh Hassan Al-Banna.
Muslim Brotherhood's history and that of other Arab Islamic groups, as well as the record of Hamas and Palestinian-Israeli conflict, compels Americans and Europeans to record all Arab countries' Islamic political movements. This record should include that Hamas kept its pledges to the Palestinian Authority and never fired a single bullet at Israelis. Keeping its pledges to the U.S. and the EU, Hamas never launched an operation outside occupied territory, nor targeted Americans and Israelis in its slogans. The U.S. and the EU knew Hamas never joined any conflict with Palestinians themselves, despite Palestinian quislings' help in assassinating its leaders.
Actually, Hamas's recent victory is a strong message that, if Arab regimes understand it, will change the way Americans and Europeans deal with Hamas and other Arab countries' Islamic movements.
Atif Awad is an Egyptian journalist and short story writer residing in
Yemen.
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[archive-e:917-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-01-02-p:opinion]
