Yoav Stern, Haaretz, Jerusalem, Israel - The Palestinian Democracy is impressive, especially when one takes into consideration the circumstances through which it emerged. Can anyone imagine the Egyptian President having open-to-the-public discussions with his Prime Minister? The Syrian President? The region's monarchs?
Abbas' speech was fascinating. He tried to use the voice of reason and explain that extremism will not help his people to overcome the current crisis. It is very hard nowadays to come forward with such a message when a leader gets only a very few seconds to speak on the TV screen. But no matter how hungry a people is, democracy should not be abandoned.
The Palestinian Democracy is impressive, especially when one takes into consideration the circumstances through which it emerged. It came from no tradition of self rule and a constant influence of the Israeli occupation, never more than a thirty minute drive away.
The phenomenon of the Palestinian democracy is all the more impressive when compared to the regimes in other Arab states. Can anyone imagine the Egyptian President having open-to-the-public discussions with his Prime Minister? And how about the Syrian President? Or any of the region's monarchs?
Democracy is never perfect. The MP's from Hamas, who constitute a decisive majority, were not elected by an absolute majority of the Palestinian people. Yet, it was the electoral system of the Palestinian authority that brought this extreme movement into power.
Political parties that come to power must compromise and make concessions. Hamas, however, refuses to accept, even symbolically, Israel's right to exist. It should bare the consequences. No money to pay workers of the Palestinian Authority means a lot of suffering for the electorate.
The people, not Abbas, should decide on the next step. If the Palestinian political system has come to a dead-end, the people should be given the opportunity to speak once more, and a new election should be called for. In the long run, only democracy can bring about stability to this region.
Yoav Stern is a Haaretz correspondent in Jerusalem. He has been awarded the journalism prize of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures.
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