    Thursday, January 26, 2006

    http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2006/01/gilad-atzmon-where-to-now-
    palestine.html

    Where to now, Palestine? Some reflections by Gilad Atzmon

    The consequences of today’s Hamas victory aren’t yet clear, however the
    election results have revealed beyond doubt some fundamental information
    about Palestine and the Arab world:

    *Democracy = Islam.

    Once again the West and especially the Anglo-Americans must acknowledge
    the obvious fact: democracy in the Arab world means Islam. Unless one is
    severely Islamophobic this shouldn’t raise a problem. But apparently, we
    have too many Islam haters both in the left and in the right who happen
    to be horrified by the success of Islam among the masses. Anyhow,
    yesterday’s election in Palestine should serve as the last warning for
    those who now insist upon ‘democratising’ Syria.

    *‘One Democratic and Secular Palestine’ - may be a dated concept and had
    better be dropped right away.

    The overwhelmingly repeated leftist call for ‘one democratic and secular
    Palestine’, has apparently very little to do with the Palestinian
    reality. Apparently, the majority of the Palestinian people in Palestine
    prefer to live in an Islamic state rather than in a secular and
    democratic one, with democracy not meaning ‘voice of the people’, but
    rather a limited and restricted Western definition of it. It is now
    evident that the call for a secular Palestinian state was there to serve
    the interests of some left-wing Zionist schools a la Yossi Beilin who
    outrageously denounced the Hamas just days before the election.
    Surprisingly enough, this very call against the Hamas and in favour of a
    democratic secular state is rather popular amongst different factions of
    Jewish Anti-Zionist and Palestinian solidarity groups. Let’s all face
    it; the Palestinian people have chosen to live in a Muslim state rather
    than in a secular one. If we are as democratic as we claim to be, it is
    down to us to respect and welcome the Palestinian people’s choice. I
    would suggest that to support Palestine is to support the Palestinian
    people and their right of return regardless of their political,
    theological or cultural choices.

    However, we have to remember that almost half of the Palestinian people
    voted for the Fatah movement, in other words, very many Palestinians may
    prefer to live in a secular state.

    It is necessary to add as well that the vote today represents the choice
    of the Palestinian people who live in Palestine. It is rather possible
    that an election that would include Diaspora Palestinians in the region
    and overseas might well lead to different results altogether. Dealing
    with the Palestinian cause, we must take such a possibility into
    consideration. At the end of the day, the majority of Palestinians live
    outside of Palestine, they were ethnically cleansed in 1948 and ever
    since then.

    * The Left discourse has lost its relevancy; it desperately craves an
    immediate face-lift.

    For more than a while it is rather clear that left ideology struggles to
    find its way within the emerging battle between the West and the Near
    East. The parameters of the so-called ‘cultural clash’ are so cleverly
    set that the ‘rational’ and ‘atheist’ leftist is always doomed to find
    oneself closer to Donald Rumsfeld than to a Muslim cleric. As long as
    left ideology is entangled with rational and anti-religious thinking
    parameters, it will be a struggle for it to ally itself with today’s
    oppressed, i.e. Arabs. If the European left insists upon maintaining its
    relevance, it must reassess its worldviews regarding rationality,
    religion and especially Islam. If the left insists upon maintaining its
    relevancy it must re-evaluate the entire idea of working class politics.
    Apparently, the oppressed Iraqis have very little in common with the
    19th century European working class. The left must engage in a new
    terminology of ethnicity and cultural differentiation. Rather than
    imposing our beliefs upon others, we better learn to understand what
    others believe in. A scrutiny of the notions of Jihad and Shahid are no
    doubt a good place to start.

    *While the Israeli street is showing some real signs of mental fatigue,
    the Palestinians happen to be as resilient as ever.

    As it happens, the Israelis are now drifting en mass towards Kadima, the
    new political agenda founded two months ago by the gravely ill Sharon.
    In fact, there is nothing new or innovative about Kadima, it was created
    to re-launch the old left Zionist fantasy of a Jewish, racist, national
    state with an overwhelmingly Jewish majority and dominance. Apparently,
    the Israelis love this option. They love the idea of the resurrection of
    the East European ghetto, right in the heart of the Middle East.
    Seemingly, the Fatah was willing to negotiate with this Israeli agenda.
    Rationally speaking, it is impossible to blame them. The Fatah did
    realise a while ago that it is quite impossible to militarily defeat
    American-backed Israeli might. Moreover, it is crucial to mention that
    almost half of the Palestinian people in Palestine agree with the Fatah.
    They just couldn’t bear the Israeli occupation anymore. The Hamas, on
    the other hand, said NO to Israel and as we happen to learn this
    morning, the majority of the Palestinian people followed the Hamas. They
    said NO to Zionist segregation, they said NO to Israeli occupation, they
    said NO to shredding Palestine into Bantustans. Moreover, they say NO to
    the idea of a Jewish state in the midst of Palestine. They say NO to the
    idea of a political settlement imposed by America. They say YES to an
    Islamic Palestine. In short, while the Israelis are showing some clear
    signs of defeatism, the majority of the Palestinians insist upon
    claiming their legitimate rights. I have no doubt that justice for the
    Palestinian people will prevail.

    Whether the Hamas has the power to move things forward for the
    Palestinians in the short term is hard to say. Moreover, the Hamas is a
    large movement with more than just a single voice. For instance, for
    more than a while I am aware of some leaders within the Hamas who
    believe that the two state solution may guarantee separation from the
    Israelis and their Western liberal lifestyle. In other words, even
    within the Hamas there are those who believe in two state solution,
    though for very different reasons. However, it will be interesting to
    watch what a pragmatic Hamas’s agenda is going to be.

    Today more than any other day, it is rather clear that supporting
    Palestine and the Palestinian people must be grounded on listening to
    the many voices of Palestine. Rather than imposing our worldviews on the
    Palestinian people, we better let the Palestinians be. We should listen
    to them and try to find our way within their complicated cause.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    From Joh Domingo:

    Raimondo’s analysis is complete junk, and Richard Dreyfus’ is even
    worse. Both address the issue from the standpoint that an absolute evil
    has come into being, and it is the fault of Israel. If Israel has ever
    done something right, it would their supposed creation of Hamas; a claim
    which is itself complete and utter horseshit.

    Hamas coming to power is perhaps the singular most important development
    in the history of the Palestine struggle. I am predicting that they
    don’t care about what the world is going to do, and they will expose the
    daydreams of the peace camp, and the machinations it hides. The fate of
    the Palestinian people can only improve if they cut off the access of
    Western powers, including their money. For the first time serious people
    are in charge of the fate of the Palestinian people, and make no
    mistake, Hamas are serious people. I predict that various
    ‘pro-Palestinian’ Jewish groups will evaporate, like the morning dew,
    and a good riddance it will be.

    JohD