Regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict, and most recently during the onslaught against Lebanon, many in the media try to defend Israel by claiming that it is the only democracy in the Middle East. There are three main problems with this argument.
- The first is that being democratic does not make a country right in disputes. There are countless examples, past and present, of democracies being quite capable of aggression, human rights abuses and violations of international law. Such crimes are no less condemnable than if they are done by non-democratic states. In fact, it can be argued that such acts are even worse when committed by democracies, because their leaders are either defying the wishes of the majority of their citizens (ie. Tony Blair and the Iraq war), or acting with their people's acquiescence (ie. Israel). Absolution simply because of democracy is no defence.
- The second problem with the argument is that Israel is not a democracy in the true sense of the word. Its electoral law states that for a party to be eligible to run in elections, it must accept Israel "as the state of the Jewish people," so for an Arab party to run, it must accept the second-class status of its Muslim and Christian constituents, who make up one-fifth of the population.
http://www.knesset.gov.il/description/eng/eng_mimshal_beh.htm#6
This is as democratic as, say, giving women the vote as long as they agree to men's superiority. Democracy should be unconditional and inclusive. Israel, in effect, is democratic to Jews only, which makes it a theocracy. As a country cannot be simultaneously democratic and theocratic, Israel cannot be democratic and "the state of the Jewish people" with such a large non-Jewish minority.
- The third problem with the argument is that, even if you accept Israel as a democracy, it is not the only one in the region. There have been a string of polls over the last few years in the Arab world that have been deemed free and fair by international observers, highlighting a common misperception that democracy is unable or unwilling to take root in the region.
There are the obvious examples of Iraq and Palestine, in the latter case a tradition going back a decade, and in both cases despite being under occupation. Since 2005, within just over a year, Palestine undertook free and fair presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections.
International observers – including a 100-member European Union delegation, UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen and US senator Joseph Biden – deemed Lebanon's 2005 parliamentary elections free and fair. More info is at:
http://www.arabmediawatch.com/amw/CountryBackgrounds/Lebanon/2005ParliamentaryElections/tabid/169/Default.aspx
The same is true of Algeria's April 2004 presidential elections, in which Bruce George of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe – one of 120 international observers – said: "In my view, this was one of the best conducted elections, not just in Algeria, but in Africa and much of the Arab world." US President George Bush congratulated Abdelaziz Bouteflika on his re-election, and "the Algerian people for their dedication to building a democratic political system." French President Jacques Chirac said the vote "allowed the Algerian people to show its willingness to move forward on the path of democratic pluralism."
The 2006 election in the Comoros Islands was deemed "free, transparent and credible," and its outcome "a true reflection of the will of the Comoran people," by international observers from the Arab League, the African Union, the Francophonie group of French-speaking nations, the Indian Ocean Commission, the US, France and the Netherlands. Jose Francisco Madeira, the AU's special envoy to the Comoros Islands, described the election as "exemplary."
Bahrain's municipal elections in May 2002 were praised by observers from the Washington-based National Democratic Institute. "Though it was the first experience for Bahrain, we found the election process moving very smooth," said Fawzi A Guleid, NDI programme officer for the Middle East and North Africa.
International observers from nine countries – including the US, Britain and France – said Qatar's municipal poll in March 1999, in which women were allowed to vote and campaign, was free and fair. "It seemed to me that it was a very orderly and civilised election, as though they had done it before," said British MP Cheryl Gillan. "What struck me was the enthusiasm of the people who had never voted before," added British observer Ernie Ross. "People of Qatar responded magnificently. Everyone was happy."
International observers judged Yemen's April 2003 parliamentary elections to be generally free and fair.
The same is true of Djibouti, which saw the re-election of President Ismail Omar Guelleh in April 2005.
Kuwait has an elected parliament, and universal suffrage was introduced for parliamentary and municipal elections that took place in 2006.
Saudi Arabia held municipal elections in 2005. Though women were excluded from the democratic process, their participation has been raised as a prospect in future polls.
Mauritania has recently asked for financial aid for elections it wants to hold in the near future.
It would be foolish to deny that much democratic progress is still needed in the Arab world, but it would be equally foolish to deny that in a growing number of countries in the region, significant steps are being taken in the right direction.
It seems that amnesia over democratic elections in countries such as Palestine and Lebanon are due to ambivalence over their results, with a Hamas-run government, and Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc being the second-largest, with the movement represented in government. Hypocritically, those in the West who claim to espouse democracy have shunned those groups, despite their popular mandates.
Ultimately, one can no longer say democracy is an alien concept to Arabs, and one can no longer claim that Israel is the region's only democracy.