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A
Test of Ignorance
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Funeral
of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin in Gaza City, March 22, 2004.
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A
professor at the University of Georgia once debated his students
whether politicians should take intelligence quotient tests or, at
the very least, general knowledge, mathematics, logic, and other
aptitude tests. After all, winning an election in a democratic
society is by no means a marker for intelligence, reasoning, or
logic. You got the big bucks; you got the big ads and election in
the bag. That’s how capitalism and democracy work hand in hand.
Most
students in the professor’s political science course felt that
politicians should be tested for their skills and abilities to
fulfill the obligations of their elected seats.
Unfortunately,
while the above story is true, its implications are as likely as
Gandalf running for Secretary-General of the United Nations. Won’t
happen.
But,
in light of Israel’s assassination of blind quadriplegic cleric
Sheikh Yassin, spiritual leader of Hamas, a test of intelligence may
be in order.
Israel’s
stated purpose was to “decapitate” Hamas, allegedly a terrorist
organization, by removing its most senior champion. Disarray within
Hamas ranks, and perhaps the sowing of fear among Palestinians, was
hoped for.
One
Israeli official said that the assassination of Yassin would pay off
in the long run and bring peace to the region. Another Israeli
official claimed it was part of the international war against
terrorism and urged the world community to chip in. Indeed, Israel
would like nothing better than to have international mercenaries do
its dirty work. Reminds one of the invasion of Iraq.
However,
Israel has seriously undermined itself.
The
hunger will not go away whether you kill one Palestinian or
a thousand. |
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Consider
the Palestinians. For more than three years, since the Intifada
erupted in 2000, they have walked the downward spiral of
hopelessness and resignation that they will never see nationhood.
Things have steadily gotten worse for the Palestinians. Some 2,700
Palestinians and 900 Israelis have died in this period of time.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat - not really a president, but a
prisoner - is holed up under Israeli siege in Ramallah. The West
Bank is an economic trash bin. The Gaza Strip is the most highly
populated area per square foot in the world. Unemployment ranges at
85 percent. There are daily incursion strikes against targets which
see “collateral damage” by the dozens. Pregnant Palestinian
women miscarry at checkpoints because 20-year old Israeli soldiers
disallow crossing to areas where they could have sought medical
attention.
What
baffles is the level of ignorance of Western media that props
so-called “Middle East analysts” and asks “what does this do
to the peace process?”
What
peace process? Was it not Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who in
1999 declared he would not allow the creation of a Palestinian state
and would work to undo the Madrid and Oslo peace initiatives? And
was it not US President George Bush who declared before the UN in
September 2002 that he envisioned a Palestinian state by 2005?
Willful deception?
No,
you cannot stifle a hunger, and the Palestinians are hungry. They
hunger for justice. They hunger to raise their children in peace.
They hunger for a nation in which they can feel pride, strength, and
honor. They hunger for a world body that hears their cries and
alleviates their plight. The hunger will not go away whether you
kill one Palestinian or a thousand. It has not gone away in 55 years
nor will it likely go in another 155 years.
Add
to that the importance of Hamas activities in Palestine. While many
would like to compare Hamas to al-Qaeda, the differences are
overwhelming: Hamas is a socio-political entity with a military
wing. It builds social programs, sees to people’s education when
Israeli forces cordon off schools, and distributes clothing and food
in times of siege.
Al-Qaeda,
on the other hand, is comprised of disgruntled and disenfranchised
political aspirants. Members of al-Qaeda have abandoned their
countries to wreak havoc elsewhere. They have not lifted a finger to
alleviate the plight of any peoples.
Hamas
is fighting for a country, for nationhood.
Hamas
is fighting for a country, for nationhood. |
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The
Palestinian people have the enshrined right to resistance of an
occupier who has defied more than 140 UN resolutions and agreements.
In February alone, some 87 Palestinian civilians were killed by
Israeli incursions into Gaza and the West Bank. True, suicide
bombings are deplorable, abhorrent, and contrary to the laws of
nature. But so is the forcible occupation of a people for more than
55 years. So is the humiliation that Palestinians must endure at
checkpoints. The unemployment, the killings. Do Western media speak
of the 47,000 Palestinians that have been maimed and wounded since
2000?
No,
it is not likely Hamas will die.
So,
on that front, Israel may have committed a blunder. But the greater
blunder is evident in Iraq’s reaction to the murder of Sheikh
Yassin. For years, readers were forced to swallow the regurgitated
and externally-scripted diatribe of Ann Coulter (her ranting against
the Spaniards is despicable!), William Safire, Thomas Friedman,
William Buckley, and the infamous George Will who pointed at
Saddam’s support of “terrorism” in Palestine as reason to
consider Iraq a terrorist state in collusion with al-Qaeda. Well,
Saddam is no more, the ties between Saddam and al-Qaeda were
revealed to have been fabricated, and the Iraqi people are
“free.” So why is Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, America’s figure
of stability in Iraq, condemning the assassination? On March 22,
Sistani said that all efforts must be indulged to combat the
terrorist state of Israel as thousands of Iraqis marched in support
of Palestine and the fight to dispel Israel from occupied territory.
The 24-hour period since Yassin’s murder witnessed a spate of
attacks in Iraq resulting in the deaths of some 19 Iraqi policemen
and security guards, three US Marines, two Finnish “businessmen”
and numerous assassination attempts on judges and civil servants
working with the Coalition.
Do
Western media speak of the 47,000 Palestinians that have
been maimed and wounded since 2000? |
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“We
as Muslims stand hand in hand with our brethren in Palestine and we
say to them that we are ready to extend all forms of assistance, be
it moral or physical,” said the young cleric Muqtada as-Sadr in
Iraq yesterday. He lauded Yassin as a hero and said his killing was
“an aggression against a man of virtue and jihad.”
Meanwhile,
according to CNN, a 1,000-strong crowd of Shiites and Sunnis
protested against Israel and turned violent in Ramadi, Iraq.
Funny,
wasn’t this the kind of behavior one expected under Saddam’s
regime? How could the “free” Iraqis be pledging support for
Hamas when it was the US who “liberated” Iraq as part of its
“war on terrorism”?
Backfire,
anyone?
So,
there you have it. The murder of Yassin will inevitably hurt US
interests in Iraq. The killing of the two Finns was accompanied by a
statement distributed widely among Iraqi sources of Finnish
companies extorting money out of Iraq. Could Iraqis be targeting
citizens of countries they feel are robbing the country blind? And
what of the increased attacks against Iraqis working with the
Coalition? Could it be that now they are seen as working with the
Israelis by default since it was a US-made Apache helicopter that
took out Yassin? Could it be that the US refusal to condemn the
attack on Yassin is fueling hatred of Americans and those who
collude with them in Iraq?
Is
it any longer unthinkable to consider that US policies in Iraq and
recent Israeli aggression against Palestinians are becoming the
catalyst of an Islamic revolution that will sprout in Iraq and
envelope the region?
Readers
can choose to ponder these questions or to believe the gospel
according to the White House: Iraq is better off now and the world
is a more peaceful, secure place.
Yes,
time to test politicians’ intelligence.
Firas
Al-Atraqchi is a Canadian journalist of Iraqi heritage. Holding an
MA in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has eleven years of
experience covering Middle East issues, oil and gas markets, and the
telecom industry. You can reach him at firascape@hotmail.com.
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