January 29, 2006
The Government You Deserve
There's an old saying that you get the government you deserve. It sounds like there's some buyers' remorse in the formerly "occupied" areas of the nascent Palistinean nation.
- A slew of jokes circulating among Palestinians following Hamas' landslide election victory reflects concerns that the fundamentalist group will impose Islamic law and social codes across the West Bank and Gaza.
As one goes, all police stations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been ordered shut because all complaints must now be filed directly to God.
Invoking God and Islamic tradition is the mainstay of all the quips that have been spreading by word of mouth and mobile phone text messages in the past few days.
Until elections Wednesday, Hamas' goal of installing an Islamic state in the West Bank, Gaza — and Israel — was held in check by the ruling Fatah, which had no religious program.
For what it's worth, I don't understand how this new nation is going to run. Is it really a nation?
Where is their capital?
What is their currency?
Outside of victimhood, is there some sort of unique culture?
I would expect that the United States cuts off it's funding of the PA's government. Since we pay 25% of the UN's budget as well, I would expect that some of that would be cut. Can we expect the same from the EU?
Additionally, I would posit that the change in government is just going to result in continued status quo. There will still be suicide bombers. There will still be hemming and hawwing about the situation. Someone will skim all the money off the top and get rich while the regular people will continue to live in squalor. Yes, Fatah was inept at running the "country," and that won't change overnight.
Posted by AlexC at January 29, 2006 8:47 PM
Its currency is whatever foreign aid rolls in. It would be funny were it not so serious. These guys are far better suited to bringing a government down than building one up.
Yet, I am more sanguine than the punditry I've read. These guys will have a chance to be legit or they will show everybody exactly what they are -- either would be of value.
Lastly, they cannot really be worse off than under Arafat and this government has less credibility in Europe than Arafat's.
Posted by: jk at January 30, 2006 11:07 AMThank you for posting the same reaction to the "Palestinian" elections that I had, AlexC. Whatever happens to the inhabitants of these lands now as a result of terrorist acts, it can no longer be even remotely argued that they are "innocent victims" of the "cycle of violence." Having elected a terrorist government they are now a majority terrorist populace. Now, what was that Bush Doctrine again?
Ayn Rand once said, not so famously, that there are two sides to every issue: one is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil. By this analysis the democratic liberty of Israel is right, terrorist thugocracy of Hamas is wrong, and Fatah was evil. Now that "wrong" has defeated "evil" in the PA elections it can only enhance the ability of "good" to destroy them both.
Posted by: johngalt at January 30, 2006 3:26 PM | What do you think? [2]