Britannia Radio

The Real World: How a Democracy Differs from a Military Dictatorship Prof. Paul Eidelberg Back in 1992, an election was held in Algeria, a military dictatorship. Unexpectedly, Muslims, otherwise called "Islamic fundamentalists," garnered the largest share of the votes. So, with a nod from France, Algeria’s military stepped in and nullified the election. This plunged the country into civil war, and some 200,000 Algerians have been killed to date. Isn’t it marvelous to be living in a democracy like Israel? Of course it is. But let me remind you of some unpleasant facts. In 2003, an election was held in this country. The paramount issue in that election was unilateral withdrawal—meaning territorial retreat—from Gaza. Whereas the Likud campaigned against retreat, the Labor Party campaigned for retreat. In that election, which was the equivalent of a national referendum, the Likud won 36 seats to Labor’s 18—an unprecedented victory for what is called the "nationalist camp." So what did the Likud-led government under its reputedly nationalist prime minister Ariel Sharon do when it took office? It nullified the election by adopting Labor’s policy of territorial retreat! It then proceeded, by kosher democratic means, to initiate legislation to expel the 8,000 Jews living in Gaza—Jews living in flourishing communities. This legislation was implemented by the Likud government, that is, by Israeli police and soldiers who had been conditioned by a special team of psychologists to facilitate the forceful expulsion of those 8,000 innocent victims of democracy. Many of these victims of this democracy were traumatized and impoverished, but no civil war followed. That would not be kosher in "the only democracy in the Middle East." But now, thanks very much to a glib prime minister—who lives in the only real world he knows of—some 300,000 Jews now residing in Judea and Samaria are wondering about their fate if and when this "realist" implements his decision to establish an Arab-Islamic state on their land: Yes, their God-given land, and theirs alone as affirmed even by objective international law. By the way, the decision of that glib prime minister was made without Knesset or public debate—a commentary on "the only democracy in the Middle East." And if you think it’s unfair to compare the Algerian election of 1992 with the Israeli election of 2003 because the former was followed by a civil war, I invite you to ponder the consequences—civil war or no civil war—of establishing, in Judea and Samaria, a state whose denizens have been brainwashed by the "we love death" mantra of Islam, That is the real world Israel’s glib prime minister lacks the wherewithal to face. But mark my words, if his real world becomes a reality, it would mark the end of Israel, and the dire consequences for world Jewry would make the Algerian civil war appear as a mere hiccup in history.