Manic Monday: Meet the New Boss…
Posted on: November 26, 2012
- In: Hillary Clinton | Israel | Middle East | Morning Widdershins | Open Thread | War
- 18 Comments
Mohamed Morsi, President of Egypt
A ceasefire was declared in the conflict between Hamas and Israel this past week. Among other things we are thankful for this season, I’m sure we are all grateful that the bombings have stopped and that the ground war threatened by Israel did not materialize. (Hillary Clinton’s diplomatic skills, I’m quite sure, were also a factor.)
It is somewhat unclear as to what Hamas gained by the months of rocket attacks against Israel. As this article points out, the Israeli government made some vague promises about easing the existing blockade on building materials. However, due to Hamas’ long-recognized practice of building military targets close to houses, schools and hospitals, residents of the Palestinian territories are stuck rebuilding their homes, with no guarantee of enough materials and/or money to complete the reconstruction process.
Ayman el-Kholi, whose two-story home was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike aimed at militants, said Hamas government representatives and fighters, including Hamas strongman Mahmoud Zahar, visited him and promised compensation.
“They promised that after things calm down, they will begin to reconstruct all homes destroyed and not just ours,” he said.
In the meantime, the 41-year-old banker has sent his six children to sleep at various relatives’ homes, and he is staying with a friend. The rubble from the destroyed building was still in a heap on Sunday as he waited for the only government tractor to come remove it.
The entire block was damaged by airstrike. Shops were buried and a nearby workshop for electrical appliances was severely damaged.
All I can say is, somehow someone must be seeing a benefit to all this. I truly can’t see what Hamas is gaining by their constant attacks on Israel, nor can I quite understand what Israel is supposed to do to make the situation any better. The combination of oil and religious insanity is, indeed, a toxic one.
The article quoted above also points out that Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group currently in charge of Egypt through its President, Mohamed Morsi. Morsi came into power after the Arab Spring of 2011 deposed the existing dictator, Hosni Mubarak, who was a staunch supporter of Israel. After a period of rule by the military, elections were held, and the Muslim Brotherhood emerged victorious. I suppose one of the expectations of the protesters was that Morsi would not be as evil or dictatorial as Mubarak; plus, the anti-Israel views of the protesters would finally be mainstreamed in the government.
While the anti-Israel bias looks to have become a reality, Morsi’s “man of the people” phase seems to be over. At the moment, it looks like Morsi has caught MEDD (Middle-Eastern Dictator Disease).
More than 500 people have been injured in protests since Friday, when Egyptians awoke to news Mr. Morsi had issued a decree temporarily widening his powers and shielding his decisions from judicial review.
[snip]
Mr. Morsi’s office repeated assurances that the measures would be temporary, and said he wanted dialogue with political groups.
“This declaration is deemed necessary in order to hold accountable those responsible for corruption as well as other crimes during the previous regime and the transitional period,” the presidency said in a statement.
[snip]
Yet leftists, liberals, socialists and others say it has exposed the autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.
“There is no room for dialogue when a dictator imposes the most oppressive, abhorrent measures and then says ‘let us split the difference’,” prominent opposition leader ElBaradei said on Saturday in an interview with Reuters and the Associated Press.
I understand that revolution is always a risk. I also do applaud the courage of the Egyptian people and their willingness to get out in the streets and fight for their beliefs. But at the same time, in order for the situation in the Middle East to improve, I think two things have to happen:
- The U.S. has to stop propping up secular dictators who oppress, torture and kill their people; and
- The youth of Egypt, Syria, Libya, and other countries in turmoil, need to understand that wiping Israel off the face of the earth won’t solve their economic problems. They must let go of their fanaticism and open their minds to alternate ways of perceiving the world.
Until real changes like these are made, despite the protestations of “democracy” and “freedom” coming to these oil-rich territories, we will continue to have new bosses that are the same as the old bosses. And that helps no one at all.
This is an open thread.
18 Responses to "Manic Monday: Meet the New Boss…"
November 26, 2012 at 11:56 am
Chat – I see the story here.
Mr. Barak, who has been well regarded as defense minister but is not a personally popular figure, was never considered a major factor in the shifting alliances for the coming elections. His announcement disrupted the swirling speculation over the plans of Tzipi Livni, the former foreign minister and head of the centrist Kadima Party, who is expected to announce that she is re-entering politics on a new ticket.
Ms. Livni was courted both by the Labor Party and by another new centrist party, Yesh Atid, or There Is a Future, run by the former journalist Yair Lapid, but recent reports in the Israeli news media suggest that she has decided to go it alone. Ms. Livni also was among those who reportedly tried to persuade Shimon Peres, 89, currently filling the largely symbolic post of Israel’s president, to make a late-in-life comeback and challenge Mr. Netanyahu.
Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister who has spent recent years battling corruption charges, has also apparently decided against a comeback bid right now, leaving Ms. Livni, Mr. Lapid and the current heads of Kadima and Labor to battle it out for the dwindling center-left electorate. Analysts say this landscape is unlikely to change the fundamental dynamic in which right-wing and religious parties win a majority of Parliament seats, and Mr. Netanyahu is widely seen as the most likely to form a new government.
An article about Ms. Livni’s plans in the newspaper Maariv on Monday — published before Mr. Barak’s surprise withdrawal — carried the headline “Shooting the Left in the Foot.”
“The ratio between the blocs is to the center-left’s disadvantage,” wrote the author, Mazal Mualem, adding that the recent military operation “strengthened the right even more and made attitudes more extreme.” Ms. Livni “is aiming her fire at Netanyahu, but in practice is taking seats from her own bloc,” the article said.
Sounds like the right-wingers are getting stronger in Israel. I can understand why, but it is truly a shame.
November 26, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Can you imagine Hamas, as the official government of the Palestinian Territories, a member of the UN? It would be like Al-Qaeda being given a seat at the table. Yet, it could happen.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=293529
November 26, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Thanks for this MB — it is much needed information for us to take in since we are too “US-centric” in our world view.
Something that is amazing to me — you have Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. The PA has made concession after concession to Israel, but Israel continues to forestall any meaningful negotiation on the West Bank settlements. Here you have Hamas, predicated in large measure on the destruction of Israel, lobbing missiles at civilians and Israel starts negotiating with them. Is there a lesson to be learned here?
It is interesting to note that prior to the Hamas flare-up, Netanyahu’s popularity was flagging because of his austerity budget proposals — now his support has solidified. Perhaps another lesson to be learned.
November 26, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Off topic but, poor Mitt, he just can’t catch a break. Now in La Jolla with his mansion with the car elevator, it seems as though everyone and every thing is taking a cr@p on him.
November 26, 2012 at 5:56 pm
chat@6: I’ve been there and it is indeed gorgeous. When I was there you could walk out on the rocks and stuff, but it seems the good people of La Jolla have brought this on themselves by fencing the area off.
November 26, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Prolix, I also wonder about the timing of Israel’s response to the attacks. Hamas had been bombing for months….
November 26, 2012 at 7:34 pm
@9: Any sense that it ties to the outcome of our election? Perhaps they hoped for a different outcome?
November 26, 2012 at 9:13 pm
Chat – or they got the outcome they wanted and are capitalizing on it. I wondered the same thing too!
November 26, 2012 at 10:24 pm
It’s just the timing of the whole thing. Of course, I suppose that it could just as easily be something else.
November 26, 2012 at 11:12 pm
@chat: Oh I knew what you meant, but you know..the twisted way of politics sometimes trumps everything else!!
November 27, 2012 at 12:15 am
Great post MB! Loved all of it. Fredster, hope you’re doing better!
November 27, 2012 at 1:20 am
Socal@15: Thanks! Went to the doc today and he says it’s “looking better”, not to me! However still have appt with the specialist on Thurs and will see what he thinks. Hope it is much the same with him.
November 27, 2012 at 10:01 am
“The combination of oil and religious insanity is toxic”
Perfect summary. And it applies to the planet at this point, not only the Middle East.
Comments are closed.
November 26, 2012 at 9:30 am
I see that the Israeli defense Minister has announced that he will leave after the new government forms.