Arab/ME/Islamist Policy Statement on Democracy
- Thread starter rogerstaubach
- Start date
sorry to burst your bubble but this one time thing isnt gonna happen to the Palestinians, they had a free and fair election, they had a previous government willingly resign (a first in the Arab world) and they went to many lengths to actually put forth a progressive election by the regions standards, for example they actually enacted a law where 20 percent of candidates for each party had to be women, yes even Hamas ran women candidates
having seen the Israeli example the Palestinians are in no way going to go willingly towards a dictatorship be it of any political strip.
having seen the Israeli example the Palestinians are in no way going to go willingly towards a dictatorship be it of any political strip.
Hamas has Islamist fundamentalist principles in it's charter and there is a very real fear that if they can consolidate power, intimidate opposition, convert existing Palestinian institutions to Islamist fundamentalist theology, then they will basically abolish any real form of democracy and elections and install a regime and thus a state in the mold of Iran and Taliban/Afghanistan.
That is the great fear of democracy in the ME, that if and when a Islamist fundamentalist group takes power, then democracy will vanish only to be replaced by a Totalitarian Islamist Fundamentalist Theocratic regime.
Obviously scouser, you believe that Palestinian secularism, pluralism, tolerance, democratic principles and it's fundamental history of human rights will be able to trump this threat.
That is the great fear of democracy in the ME, that if and when a Islamist fundamentalist group takes power, then democracy will vanish only to be replaced by a Totalitarian Islamist Fundamentalist Theocratic regime.
Obviously scouser, you believe that Palestinian secularism, pluralism, tolerance, democratic principles and it's fundamental history of human rights will be able to trump this threat.
There was an election and canidates won. No one is crying foul over the process. love or hate the victors they have won the right to govern.
rogerstaubach said:
if you think that most Palestinian women will be lead like sheep to the veil and a life of servitude obviously you have never dealt with an angry Palestinian woman ohhh the horror the horror, memories of past relationships too horrible to recall
Well, if Isreal lobs a real big missile in there, at least the price of oil might finally go down.
It's not the strength and fortitude of Palestinian women that is in question. It is the sheer intolerance and brutality of a regime that would trump the strength of Palestinian women ala the Taliban and to some degree Iran.scouser1 said:if you think that most Palestinian women will be lead like sheep to the veil and a life of servitude obviously you have never dealt with an angry Palestinian woman ohhh the horror the horror, memories of past relationships too horrible to recall
Yea, that's a good one.
State of Florida would be the new Jewish state (warm climate, beaches, won't have to hear the Jewish American Princess whine "when do we go to Miami"?, cheap labour available, the Cubans), while the Palistinian state could be set up halfway around the world somewhere like a chunk of Australia.
Then there would be peace in the Middle East!
Taking it one step further, the world should just nuke the whole area and put in the world's largest parking lot with a Walmart and Mcdonalds.Gyaos said:
State of Florida would be the new Jewish state (warm climate, beaches, won't have to hear the Jewish American Princess whine "when do we go to Miami"?, cheap labour available, the Cubans), while the Palistinian state could be set up halfway around the world somewhere like a chunk of Australia.
Then there would be peace in the Middle East!
West Bank revelers fear ‘last call’ from Hamasscouser1 said:
Some concerned that Islamic group's victory may signal a lifestyle change
Updated: 8:37 p.m. ET Jan. 27, 2006
RAMALLAH, West Bank - “Today with music, tomorrow with guns,” jokes bartender Bassem Khoury as he mixes a cocktail at a bar in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The evening throng of well-dressed men and women enjoying food, drinks and loud music is typical of bars and clubs across this city — the Palestinian political center and one of the most liberal cities in the Middle East.
Alcohol is widely available and women wearing jeans and high-heels are almost as commonplace around town as those dressed in traditional full-length hijab.
As the evening wears on, chatter focuses on the burning topic — whether the shock victory of Hamas Islamic militants in Palestinian elections will draw a veil over this free-wheeling lifestyle?
“If they announce an Islamic state like Iran I expect that alcohol would be prohibited and these places will become extinct,” says bartender Khoury.
Will the music end?
The worry is that even the music will be cut off if Hamas decides to enforce a conservative brand of Islam while some fear violence between Hamas militants and gunmen from the long-dominant Fatah movement.
“Some people have fears. Others don’t. We don’t know what will happen but I feel that things will be alright with Hamas,” says Wissam, a shopkeeper whose store does a brisk trade in wine, spirits and beer.
Hamas, which has seemed as surprised as anybody by its landslide election victory, has not yet said how it will blend its Islamic ideology with its new-found political power.
Some say the mere fact that Hamas has taken the reins will have an effect on the liberal attitudes of Ramallah’s Palestinians.
“With Hamas’ victory, women will be more conservative in what they wear, even if they don’t enforce any law,” said Diala Saqfalheit, a Ramallah resident.
West Bank Palestinians only need look at their compatriots in Gaza to realize a conservative Islamic moral code can be adopted almost overnight.
At the beginning of the latest bloody Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in 2000, young Islamic radicals torched bars and hotels serving alcohol in Gaza.
They smashed bottles of whisky and wine on the streets.
The last watering hole in Gaza, the United Nations club, which was open only to outsiders, was bombed on New Year’s Day this year and has not reopened since.
International calls for Hamas to moderate its stand on coexistence with Israel and its armed struggle are echoed by those Palestinians who are concerned about Hamas’ support for strict Islamic law.
“Either Hamas becomes more strict about what we are doing or they will become more moderate in terms of building the state of Palestine,” says Nadim Khoury, owner of the Taybeh Brewery.
He is already considering whether to start a line of non-alcoholic beer.
Of course, there is absolutely no possibility of Hamas' strict Islamic Fundamentalist Theological principles actually taking root in reality.
That's a lotta typing rog, but it would carry more weight if you also typed the citation: Name of the publication, date/page/URL etc. I'm sure you wouldn't want to suggest you were taking down those quotes yourself, or maybe leave open the possibility of selective editting or whatever. "Updated" it says, from what?
That's a heap-o-whining for a very tacticly short, cognitively lazy, insignificantly misperceived and intellectually-faux-elitist, self-serving resnort.oldjones said:
"Resnort"?rogerstaubach said:That's a heap-o-whining for a very tacticly short, cognitively lazy, insignificantly misperceived and intellectually-faux-elitist, self-serving resnort.
Anyway, since you apparently had no reputable source, A+ on making your crative composition look like the real thing.
the spectre of the Islamic state bogey man rule of Hamas in Palestine is absurd, this organization despite its image and what the mobs running up and down the streets do is extremely pragmatic and will continue to do so, they supported a candidate for mayor of Bethlehem who is hold on to your seats now a woman and get this a Christian!!! they did the same in Ramallah, they already have contacts with the West through aid organizations so why should anything change
besides you just see the looks of the Hamas officials after the elections it was like what, what what!! what do you mean we won, that wasnt suppose to happen oh shit we have to govern now!!!
besides you just see the looks of the Hamas officials after the elections it was like what, what what!! what do you mean we won, that wasnt suppose to happen oh shit we have to govern now!!!
Agreed but it will be interesting if they will allow the same free, fair elections that they won power with.papasmerf said:
Roger is right, Hamas's charter is such that current structure of Palestinian government would have to be scrapped and replaced with a fundamentalist one - similar to Iran or the Taliban.
