Egyptian Revolution is Not Over Yet, it Just Begun
Abdul-Majid Jaffry
The mighty tower of power occupied by Hosni Mubarak may have crumbled, however, the question remains, would a new edifice based on the people's will be erected on the ruins of the old order or just a faà §ade wall will be raised to cover the former. Would the U.S., a de facto power player in the region, allow fair and transparent elections that could replace the subservient regime with the independent minded democratic forces that on the popular demand could even re-evaluate the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty?
As the spectacular victory of 1967 displayed the superior military prowess of Israeli war machinery, the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty shows the fine strategic thinking and calculating skills of the Israeli diplomats. They negotiated effectively and efficiently to secure an agreement that achieved several critical and vital points for Israel. First and foremost, Egypt became the first Arab country to recognize and give legitimacy to the Jewish state. The moment Egypt, the largest and the most powerful Arab country, signed the peace treaty Israel became secured from an attack from the other neighboring Arab countries. While Israel returned the captured Sinai with the condition that Egypt does not deploy its soldiers in the peninsula, it shrewdly excluded the fates of Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and the treaty completely betrayed the Palestinian cause - the core of the Israeli Arab conflict. The treaty is seen as win-win situation for Israel, and lose-lose for Arabs and it is for this reason it remains to this day hugely unpopular in Egypt and elsewhere in Arab countries.
It is hard to exaggerate the political windfall the peace treaty with Egypt brought to Israel. It castrated Egypt, neutralized the neighboring Arab states, and left Palestinians without any support and leverage. It gave Israel carte blanche to do as it pleases with the West Bank, Gaza, and free hand to repress the occupied Palestinians. It opened the door for trade and other friendly contacts between Israel and the Persian Gulf countries: Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and the UAE. It is greatly the blessing of the peace agreement with Egypt that Israel with complete impunity carried out the military offensive against Lebanon and bombed the besieged population of Gaza, committed the Sabra and Shatila massacre, launched bombing raids against Syria and Iraq, and executed high-profile assassinations in Jordan and the UAE.
Michael Scheuer was not too off the mark when he said on Fox News, "The security of Israel depends on Arab tyranny" . Washington and Tel Aviv know too well that their hegemony over the region could only be made possible by the Arab despots; true representative democracy would be difficult to tame and made servile to do their bidding.
It is to this end that the U.S.A has consistently embraced and supported despots and tyrants in the Middle East while paying only lip service to democracy. For Israel, the illegitimate Arab leaders are lynchpins for its regional power, and to the U.S.A, they are the key to America's foreign policy in the Middle East.
Hezbollah and Hamas, both, with their charity and social services, enjoy huge popularity among their people. They fairly and squarely won by a landslide in parliament elections. However, since they are not pliant to the U.S. and Israel, decline to relinquish the national rights of their people, and refuse to impose dictated solution, they are, as a matter of political convenience, declared terrorists organizations. U.S., Israel, and Europe refused to work with the Palestinian Authority that included Hamas - democratically elected and a legitimate representative of the Palestinian majority. In contrast, the west never showed any qualm dealing and working with dictatorial regimes of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and PLO that not only lack legitimacy but also oppress and torture their own citizens.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
