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The Connection Between Elections and Militias
[Jerusalem Post] Shlomo Avineri - The emerging civil war in Gaza is reminiscent of the way the Arab Revolt in British Palestine fizzled out in 1939. After three years of attacks against the British and the Jewish population, the two major Palestinian armed groups, mainly identified with the radical pro-Husseinis and the more moderate pro-Nashashibis, descended into an orgy of internecine killings that killed thousands of Palestinians. More Palestinians were killed by their brethren than by either the British or the Jews. The emergence of armed militias is characteristic of societies in the Arab world that have either experienced a failure of their relatively more democratic structures - or that have been going through processes of democratization. Lacking an effective civil society with its traditions of tolerance, pluralism and an effective party structure, each political player needs its armed wing. When the conditions for democracy are lacking, suddenly introducing elections into authoritarian societies fosters militias. The writer is professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.