Al Jazeeras Marwan Bishara minder om, at Israel ikke blot er “Mellemøstens eneste demokrati”, som det så smukt (og ikke længere sandt, udviklingen i Tunesien og Egypten taget i betragtning) hedder. Israels herredømme over de besatte palæstinensiske områder er Mellemøstens p.t. ældste diktatur – og faktisk et af de allerværste af slagsen:
Unlike other colonial powers and dictatorships in recent memory, Israel took all, but gave nothing in return. The settlements, the bypass roads and the industrial zones it built, are exclusively for Jews.
Israel and its various Zionist organisations have built over 600 towns, villages and other form of settlements for the Jews, but none for the Palestinians – not even those it considers part of its own citizens, who make up almost one-fifth of its population.
And much like other dictatorships, it’s in denial over the damage it has caused to the people under its rule, and delusional over occupation it deems necessary, benevolent, or even divinely promised.
No other dictatorship in the region has been as indifferent and destructive for so long over those it ruled, as the Zionist regime has been in Palestine.
It didn’t hesitate to use lethal, excessive force time and again against those under its occupation. The most recent war crimes have been documented and detailed in various UN reports, including that of Judge Goldstone regarding the 2008/9 war on Gaza, which added or changed little in regards to the reality on the ground.
Like other dictatorships it boasts of sacrificing for peace, demonises its detractors and oppositions, and justifies any wrong-doing on the basis of national security, order and stability.
Although it preached democracy, Israeli leaders long preferred to deal with autocrats, not only in the Arab world but also in the greater Middle East, as well as in Asia and Africa. (…)
Any attempt to understand the nature and the political, economic and social – even religious – evolution of the Israeli state in separation from its colonial dictatorship over another people would be futile at best. In reality, misleading and destructive.
The same goes for the Palestinians. Their national and political evolution over the last century, and to a greater extent of the last six decades, is intertwined with that of Zionism and Israeli dictatorship.
Mellemøstens “eneste demokrati” ville altså aldrig have udviklet sig, som det har, hvis ikke det reelt havde været et diktatur. Værd at tænke over.