Total Rage

at the latest news; at the stage when you can’t even bear to listen to a bulletin



Of course, it’s to do with Gaza and Hamas. But the fury is not caused by what some may assume – it’s fury at the wooden-headed West: at Bushie, Blair and Condi – these people at whose disposal is the best information, communications and presumably advice in history. Can these people never learn anything? Until their dying day (or last day in office) will it be the same broken phonograph record – “we don’t talk to terrorists, beacon of democracy, Iran’s nuclear threat, north Korea’s missile program, looking for moderate Arab states, pledge solidarity with Mahmood Abbas” etc. Mahmood we are coming to. What about the quest for ‘moderate’ Arab states? Maybe, first, the Arabs are looking for ‘moderate’ Western states to deal with. Ones that do not invade them, for instance..

The West wanted democracy in the Middle East. It didn’t work out too well in Iraq, so the next hope was Palestine. Elections were held there, but unfortunately the wrong party won – Hamas? What to do? Obviously, cut off all contact, dialogue and aid to the Palestinians and their authority. Because Hamas is a ‘terrorist’ organisation, and they don’t recognise Israel. Forgive me for getting confused, but I though there were a load of ‘respectable’ countries that don’t recognise Israel – Kuwait, Bahrain, Libya, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, but the US deals very amicably with all of these, especially if they have oil reserves. The other demand of Hamas is that they respect any previous agreement mid-east agreements. That’s rich – presumably Israel was and is exempt from any such obligation.

So we refuse any dealing, and Israel even withholds the Palestinians’ own money – shared customs dues for instances. What a brilliant formula for a stable and ‘moderate’ Palestine and what encouragement for the Western ideal of the opportunity to cast a vote for the government of your choice. The Israeli’s left Gaza, but only for the purpose of turning it into the world’s largest open air prison – their very own Warsaw ghetto; an ominous comparison with Israel’s intent to obliterate with ‘Hamasstan’ on their doorstep.

So the Palestinian’s attempted to compromise, after the first outbursts of frustrated violence, to form a ‘unity’ government. Although Hamas had won the elections, they agreed to share power with their defeated rivals Fatah and old Abby was back at the centre of things again. Better? No chance. Israel and its American satellite will refuse any dealings with the unity government, because it still contains some Hamas. But they still ‘pledge support’ to Mahmood Abbas, the Palestinian president. What does one discuss with a (largely figurehead) president if we don’t deal with anyone in his government? Ask him for tea and discuss the weather? I don’t know – ask Dubya or Condi.

So, of course, frustrations boil over, Hamas are fed up of beings the mugs, no salaries are being paid and the people are basically starving, so of course Hamas seize their chance in Gaza where they are strongest and topple who they see as Western stooges – with or without Iranian help, who cares. Abby back in the West bank dismisses the government and its Hamas prime minister (it is not at all clear that he is empowered to do this) and declares a West Bank purely composed of his Fatah cronies. The West of course (and Arab states) pledge solidarity with Mahmood Abbas. He is a lame duck but who cares.

Suddenly it struck me that this is code for washing your hands of the problem. If you haven’t a clue what to do, you 'pledge your support for Mahmood Abbas’. He must be the most pledged politician in history. Everyone loves him. Why – because he will cause no problems, because he won’t and can’t do anything. Some American Indian tribes, I think, used to hold a pow-wow with a carved totem pole. They expressed their opinions and intentions to the pole, and if it did not answer, they assumed there was no counter to their arguments and they were free and justified to act as they desired. Mr Abbas is they a rather chubby totem pole, a placebo for the conflict. Is it any wonder that he is seen, not just by radical Arabs, a pure stooge and puppet of the West?

A final word on ‘terrorism’. There is a fact, not of course understood by the broken phonograph players, that there are two sorts of terrorist. One is the insane sort, typified by al Qaeda, which is impossible to deal with not only because it is fanatical, but also because it objectives are unattainable or even incomprehensible. The other sort of terrorist, usually nationalistically based, does have a political agenda, which can in principle be talked about. For instance, the IRA wanted British ruled Northern Ireland to be incorporated into the mainly Catholic Republic. That was a no-go. But what was the root problem? Discrimination against northern Catholics? Would the IRA settle for guaranteed equality and fair treatment for the Catholic community, and the reining in of the more extreme Protestant militias and assorted lunatics? Eventually, they did. And ETA – a bloody group, but with an agenda – independence of the Basque regions from Spain. They do not want actually to exterminate every Spaniard. Spain would not allow independence. But how about 75% autonomy, or call it what you will? A deal is surely possible.

Hamas I am sure are in the second group. They have a negotiable agenda, even if unpalatable. But unpalatable does not mean impossible. Sure, their young hotheads fire rather ineffective rockets into Israel. But even if they didn’t, Israel will find some other excuse not to talk to them. Just as the British refused to talk to IRA for a wasted bloody quarter-century. Eventually, a deal will be done. People cannot go on fighting forever. But don’t expect anything soon: not while the leadership of the Free World is a broken phonograph.