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A Better Model Than Beirut

(Washington Post) Tamara Cofman Wittes - Those who hope that Lebanon will play the role of catalyst for a regional democratic awakening may be looking in the wrong place. Lebanon's demonstrations, though they surprised and stirred Arab observers, are not likely to be emulated in other Arab capitals. The Lebanese opposition labeled this past month's actions its "independence intifada," not its democracy intifada. The Lebanese demonstrators have a problem with Syria. That's not a message that speaks to Arabs elsewhere, because the primary barrier to democracy they face is not an outside power's diktat but rather indigenous dictatorship. As they prepare for more municipal elections in April and legislative balloting in July, Palestinians are debating the problem of official corruption, the proper role of security services in a democratic state, and the legacy of one-party dominance of political life - problems with which most other Arabs are intimately familiar. If the tentative cease-fire now in place takes hold, the next question will be how to remove violence from the political stage and integrate Palestine's radical Islamist movements into mainstream politics. Palestinians come to their democratic struggle with determination born of their experience living under the ironic reality of military occupation by the region's most democratic government. Palestinian activists often note that seeing Israel's democracy close up has fed Palestinians' commitment to build their own.
2005-04-01 00:00:00
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