Article is obviously written from an Israeli perspective but I think it has very valid points. http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/5192.htm Anyone care to offer their opinion on it? Do you agree or disagree? Why? When Bush talks about democracy in the Middle East, it may not be the type of democracy he envisions. In fact, it may only perpetuate the problem between Israel and its neighbors that needs to be solved. Does Israel's neighbors want peace with Israel at all? Or, do they just want to buy their time until they can destroy Israel and reclaim their land that they claim is Islamic and only theirs? Surf
these problems are in huge part due to israel's method of handling all them. of course palestinian/pre 67-arab leadership has left a lot to be desired but at the end of the day there are generations which grew up in UN refugee camps. and the govenrments of the arab countries have been impotent in dealing with any serious issue whether internal or external for the most part. democracy doesn't cure that. better policy does. if israel can understand the plight of the palestinians (remember for decades they refused to even acknowledge there were any people that believed themselves to be 'palestinian') and the arab governments can be more than just brutal despots, perhaps the arab street wouldn't be as hostile. and of course democracy would theoretically help make better policies. the article of course fails to take these human factors into account. but i agree with the thought that democracy wont make arabs pro-israeli. democracy will allow arab people to have a stake in their government and hence more mindful of their stance.
Israeli perspective? try haaretz.com (center-left) or jpost.com (center-right) if you want to read what Israelis really think. And looking around the site, I can say it's pretty far right of the nearly 70% of the electorate here that supports disengagement for whatever reason (which these guys don't).
Looks like I got busted. Oh Lord. In my defense, I was at work, posted rather hastily, typed that line knowing it could be a wrong assumption, and didn't do my research on the author even when it was staring me flat in my frickin frolicky face. I got served. Heh.
Hey, how are you liking Tel Aviv? Are you there indefinitely, forever, a finite period of time? I need to get back over to that part of the globe sometime. I have a million travel plan ideas, and not so much chance of going anywhere too soon. But I would love to head to Israel sometime in the next couple of years.
I read it every day. <hr color=blue> [Somewhat Off Topic] Deji, Do you think that Sharon will get a budget passed? [/Somewhat Off Topic]
Yes. Likud voted to "enforce coalition diiscipline" so that means the budget will probably pass, as well as a referendum on disengagement. I'm liking it fine, but I've reaching the point of culture shock I guess. All of the sudden everything I liked about this place suddenly doesn't seem as cool, and everything in America (esp. Texas) seems better. But since I know that's normal, and know it for what it is, I can keep a grip on it. I'm discovering I really like Arab food though, especially deserts. That stuff is way better here than it is in restaurants in America, imho. When I want to escape the city, I go to Akko (Acre) or Nazareth (both old, quiet arab towns) where the food is good and cheap and people are really laid back. I'm supposed to start an 18 month grad program in the Fall, so I should be here until 2007 if that all works out.
Cool, thanks for the info. I'm sure it is hard not to compare places and miss things. Good luck with your grad program.
