The point of democracy?

It seems to me that “democracy in the Middle East” is somewhat pointless.

When the West calls for “democracy in the Middle East”, what they actually mean is “the party we want in power”.

Take for example Palestine. The West had been calling on Palestine to hold democratic elections to form a Government for years, which they did in January this year. The fact that Hamas was elected (which took the West by surprise) was a kick in the teeth for the West and frankly created a problem.

On the one hand they had to defend the democratic process whilst on the other condemning the result it had produced.

So what do you do when left with a problem like this. Well you do your best to destabilise the regime which has been elected. First, cut off aid to the Palestinians, leaving them with a financial crisis. Then blame the regime for everything that happens in the region, such as the Hezbollah attacks on Israel. After that ensure the regime destroys itself through fighting with its opposition party Fatah, which is led by the President of Palestine. Finally you get the Palestinian President to call for new elections in the hope the result you want is produced, a Fatah Government.

The Palestinian President has called for new elections in the hope it will solve the current tensions between Fatah and Hamas in Palestine, which is close to civil war. Of course the idea of early elections is bitterly contested by Hamas, which has never been allowed to operate its mandate it won last January.

Now Hamas’ refusal to recognise Israel is a problem to future peace in the Middle East. But I’ve purposefully ignored how to gain peace and just focused on the democratic side. By penalising the result of the January election is a clear undermining of the democratic process and refusal to recognise the wish of the Palestinian people who did the voting.

It just shows the West isn’t keen on true democracy, as when it happens, everything is done to change it.