The striking thing about the Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions has been the use of "people power" to oust long entrenched dictatorships without violence and loss of life.
People are learning how to demonstrate, speak for themselves and to articulate their demands. They lost their fear when they saw change was possible. And they got it through determination and persistence.
This is not to say there is a democratic culture in countries with a weak civil society.But the West should take the lead in assisting secular forces and encouraging democratic political parties to emerge. It has a lot of experience in this field.
A democratic Middle East would ensure future wars won't happen and save a lot of Jewish and Arab lives. There is a lot of work ahead. The West can help to build it or let Islamists win by default. That must not be allowed to happen.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
2 Comments:
The striking thing about the Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions has been the use of "people power" to oust long entrenched dictatorships without violence and loss of life.
People are learning how to demonstrate, speak for themselves and to articulate their demands. They lost their fear when they saw change was possible. And they got it through determination and persistence.
This is not to say there is a democratic culture in countries with a weak civil society.But the West should take the lead in assisting secular forces and encouraging democratic political parties to emerge. It has a lot of experience in this field.
A democratic Middle East would ensure future wars won't happen and save a lot of Jewish and Arab lives. There is a lot of work ahead. The West can help to build it or let Islamists win by default. That must not be allowed to happen.
And many of his supporters' comments are equally ludicrous. Laughed a lot.
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