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Sharansky's Message
(Jerusalem Post) Editorial - Sharansky's basic argument is that disengagement ought to be linked to democratization among the Palestinians and that failure to hinge it on fundamental reforms in fact undermines the likelihood of change and underpins terror. True democracy, as Sharansky often stresses, requires more than merely holding elections. The Arab world has plenty of elections - often with a single candidate, sometimes with a puppet challenger - but precious little true people-power. Saddam Hussein was "elected" by whopping landslides. Democracy must be inculcated as a sociocultural mind-set, accompanied by a genuinely free press, independent judiciary, incitement-free education, and a free market. Above all, there must be freedom from fear. All that is absent from the PA's ambit, where executions of those accused of helping Israel thwart terror atrocities were recently approved. Crucially for Israel's interests, only a truly free society can make a truly lasting peace. And so, as Sharansky is rightly saying, in order to give peace a chance, the cause of freedom next door should be placed high on our national agenda and pursued in earnest.