Democracy for the Middle East
December 28, 2004Europe's Latest Overture
Riddle us this. Why would a Norwegian's call for a democratic revolution in the Middle East appear in the virulently anti-democratic Al-Jazeera? Here's an excerpt:
Few things now concern us more in northwestern Europe than our hope for more democratic development in Arab-Muslim countries.
We want to help. But in order to give our political, economic, and moral support in a better way, we also need help from the people of the Arab-Muslim world.
You need to show us the moderate voices of your region. This is a challenge for the Arab media, intellectuals and the public at large.
If you do this, I am certain that we in Western Europe will commit ourselves much more directly to supporting a democratic Middle East, in accordance with Islam.
And our European support for the Palestinian cause can be even more effective than today.
The answer, of course, reveals itself in the last two paragraphs. The phrase "supporting a democratic Middle East, in accordance wih Islam" suggests that there is no irreconcilable, inconsistency between Europe's vision of Middle Eastern democracy and Islam's mission of religious conquest ..as long as said conquest is confined to the Middle East. And if that parfait of sophistry didn't register with Al-Jazeera's editors, then surely the choice of the phrase "support for the Palestinian cause" over "support for a Palestinian state" (the more precise "Road Map" phrase) made everyone sit up in Qatar. For it is no secret that the Palestinian cause was and remains the destruction of the Jewish state, and an offer of European assistance toward some kind of Arab-Islamic democratic hegemony, however "nuanced", is at least worth noting as the balance of power between Europe and the Muslim world shifts in favor of the Muslims. This is why Al-Jazeera was willing to publish it - at least in English.
Should the potential price of European support for Bush's plan surprise Americans? Not at all. Europeans have a habit of trying to appease aggressors by offering up Jews - and Norwegians are no exception. That they continue to trade on the survival of the Middle East's oldest, indigenous non-Islamic minority confirms something we've long suspected: that Justice has yet to have her final say about the rapacious little continent.
Home . Posted by Editor at December 28, 2004 12:23 PM . DFME's new internet address is www.dfme.org