Democracy

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Volume 5 Issue 06 June 2011 Inside Original Forum Editorial Readers' Forum
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Corporal punishment
Democracy
As the conventional wisdom goes -- especially in the West -- Israel is the "only democracy" in the Middle East. And that is so, particularly for its Jewish citizens. However, Israel has been anything but democratic for the indigenous people of the land, the Palestinian Arabs. By nature and precedence, foreign military occupation is temporary. Colonialism on the other hand, and more precisely civilian colonisation, is a socio-political system of ruling over another people.
Israel is really a police state. If they don't put you in jail, they at least put you out of your job for saying anything they don't want you to say. They claim they don't have censorship -- possession is nine-tenths of the law. Occupancy is very difficult to overcome and Israel has already got the Palestinians' land.
The Jews seem divided among themselves and the unity of the Palestinians is the strong point of the latter. It is also encouraging to see many Jews sympathising with the Arabs. Let us hope that the Middle East crisis will one day be resolved.
Ted Rudow III, MAPalo Alto, CA, USA