Given the happenings in Palestine this week , one can certainly see the merit of Winston Churchill's complaint that democracy is the worst form of government........but then return to his caveat -- except for all the others.
Clearly the Palestinian people have spoken. The question is.......why? Why did they remove the party that had ruled them for, in essence, four decades, and settle on Hamas, who nobody likes?
Many have tried to make of this some sort of swipe against the United States, saying that this is retaliation for our actions in the Mideast. Some have said this is the Palestinians' way of striking back at Israel.
I maintain that what this represents is the final collection on the bill for Yasser Arafat's death....or, more precisely, the immense corruption of Fatah that he created, furthered, and exploited for the enrichment of himself and his cronies. Meanwhile, Hamas was making a name for itself by feeding the poor, providing education, and giving social services to areas that were sent hundreds of millions of dollars in aid annually, but who never saw a dime of it.
Fatah collapsed because its members put themselves and their ideologies ahead of the Palestinian people. It remains to be seen whether Hamas will learn from that mistake -- and if this is a sea change, or merely a temporary shift in tides.
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