So why aren't they really protesting in "Palestine" (the 2 parts on this side of the Jordan, not the one on the East Bank).
It's not exactly a question with a simple answer. I was talking with Jameel and we came up with a number of explanations.
The first one is economics. Egypt is dirt poor, Tunis is dirt poor. But Jordan is only regular poor, while, as Palestinian Authority officials have stated, life isn't bad in Palestine. Whatever their flaws and corruption, the Arabs under PA/Fatah/Hamas rule aren't starving, they have jobs (some in the settlements), and they have a growing economy.
No democracy? Obviously that's not the end of the world.
The second explanation is where it gets more more complex.
In Gaza, they actually had their revolution. Hamas took over. The people got Sharia law. It seems they got in Gaza exactly what they wanted. They don't need a second revolution.
In Judea/Samaria the desire for Hamas/Islamic rule exists, perhaps just as strong, but the PA/Fatah is actively suppressing any organized attempts by Hamas to raise its head through use of its military, by controlling the content in the mosques, and presumably torture (see below).
Alternatively, the West Bankers may not want Hamas, so why rise up, if that will be what you get instead?
Another point to consider is that the Egyptian government is not the Palestinian government. And the Egyptian people's culture is not Palestinian culture.
Relatively speaking, while Egypt is ruled by a repressive third world government, it is (relatively speaking to "Palestine") still a civilized country/government.
Hamas and Fatah on the other hand are in reality brutal regimes (like Syria) that have no compunction against torturing or killing as many people as they need to maintain control. We saw what Hamas did to Fatah members in the Gaza revolution and during Cast Lead, and stories come out all the time of Fatah secret prisons where civilians are tortured.
It's one thing to blow yourself up or get yourself killed trying to kill the Jews. But it's another thing to risk dying for a vague concept like democracy that isn't even an ideology for you.
Last, is that the many "spontaneous" Palestinian protests we see against Israel are instigated by and involve the Israeli Left. For a variety of reasons, you're simply not likely to see Israeli leftists instigating Palestinian crowds and working them up to demand democracy.
I suspect it's going to take a lot more to get the "Palestinians" on this side of the Jordan to start rioting for change than a domino effect that may perhaps be petering off.
In the meantime, watch this video of a small protest in Ramallah against Abbas. You can see PA security people in the middle arresting protesters.
It does make you wonder if there perhaps are more small protests like this happening in "Palestine" and the news of them isn't getting out.
So perhaps there aren't many large protests yet, but could they be just around the corner?
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5 comments:
Forget protests in "Palestine". The real question is why did the text in this post suddenly get smaller?
"Last, is that the many "spontaneous" Palestinian protests we see against Israel are instigated by and involve the Israeli Left."
I don't think you can have it both ways. On the one hand, all the "nasty leftist NGO's" are funded and orchestrated by foreign Muslim sympathizers. On the other, all Palestinian protests are started by the Israeli left.
Which one is it - the Israeli left, or the foreign Muslim influence working through the Israeli left?
The Palestinian Arabs envy the freedoms Israeli Jews have but they don't want to be ruled by them. The more thoughtful Arabs admit life isn't so bad working for Israelis and buying their products. But incitement against Israel and anti-Israel propaganda make it all but impossible for such brave souls to voice such views openly. The reality is the Arabs know full well the difference between the propaganda fed them by their leaders and what is happening on the ground. Some day their leaders may stop lying to them. Until that happens, a formal peace between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel's Jews remains a distant dream.
Here is what the Leftwing Saint of Peace Yitzchak Rabin thought of Democracy for the Arabs, and NGOs in general:
רבין: "המשטרה הפלשתינית תילחם בחמס תישתמש ברובים נגד החמס בלי בצלם בלי בג"ץ ובלי אמהות נגד שתיקה. הם לא יחלמו להשתמש בהם נגדנו כי הם יודעים היטב שאם הם ישתמשו בהם נגדנו , מיד באותו רגע הסכם אוסלו יתבטל וצה"ל יחזור לכל המקומות שניתנו להם. בהסכם אוסלו, למרות כל ההכרזות ההפוכות, אינו בלתי הפיך."
-- רבין: מבט, הטלויזיה ערוץ 1, מרץ 1994.
Rabin: "The Palestinian Police will fight Hamas with guns, without B'Tzelem, without a Supreme Court, and without 'Mothers against Silence'.
They won't use them against us, because they know quite well that the instant they do use them [rifles] against us the Oslo Accords are null and the IDF will go back to everywhere we gave them. Despite all the slogans, nothing is irreversible." Yitzchak Rabin, March 1994, Channel 1 (Mabat)
Anonymous, you also clearly misunderstand the nuance of what Rabin actually meant when he said he wanted a dictatorial PA unrestricted by Human Rights groups and a Supreme Court.
And clearly he misspoke when he said we "gave" them land, and not "returned" their land.
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