Washington's support to Israel makes Bush's drive for democracy void of credibility, according to analysts

CAIRO, November 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. President George W. Bush's drive to promote democracy in the Middle East was faced Friday, November 7, with harsh criticism and serious doubts from Arab writers and analysts over its credibility, citing Washington's occupation of Iraq and its support for Israeli occupation of Arab land.

"There is a lack of democracy but democracy cannot be imposed from outside," Mohammed Faeq, head of the Cairo-based Arab Organization for Human Rights, was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.

"Especially if it comes from the United States because it lacks credibility due to its support of Israel and its occupation of Iraq," Faeq added.

Also in Cairo, the leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Maamoun al-Hodeibi, agreed with Bush that Islam and democracy were not contradictory "so long as democracy does not mean imposing Western values on Islamic societies.

"If democracy means people's representation through elections and people's supervision of government, then it is true, Islam is not against democracy," Hodeibi told AFP.

"The principle of 'Shura' (consultation) is part of our religion," added the leader of the banned but tolerated group, which forms Egypt's largest opposition group.

However, Hodeibi said the resentment felt by Muslims toward the United States is mainly due to Washington's support for Israel and its "aggression" in Iraq and Afghanistan, and not only its support of Middle Eastern dictatorships.

"There is a great deal of truth in the fact that U.S. support to tyrannical regimes is one reason for the hatred expressed toward the United States," he said.

"But the most important reason for the Muslim people's hatred of the United States is its total bias toward the Zionist entity ... and U.S. aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush ignored these."

Hodeibi said that if Bush wants Muslims to believe him, "he had better stop (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon from using U.S. weapons to slaughter the Palestinians."

On Thursday, November 6, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa blamed mounting anti-American sentiments on "flagrant" bias toward Israel not its support for authoritarian Arab governments.

Muslims hate "the U.S. for its total bias toward the Zionist entity," al-Hodeibi

"The reason for Arab hatred of the United States is the flagrant bias of 99.9 percent of Americans toward Israel, who have ended their role of honest broker in the Arab-Israeli peace process," he stressed.

In Jordan, Al-Rai newspaper said "it is now time for the Bush administration to put its words into action after having long expressed its views on supporting democracy and freedom for the people, while at the same time it ignores Israel's aggressive policies."

The daily chided the United States for its "determination to adopt Israel's views and ignore the crimes it commits against the Palestinian people".

Such policy, it said, only serves to "deepen the gap between U.S. views and the position of the people of the region ... and will fail in the end to encourage the forces of reform in the region".

"No one disagrees with President Bush that the people of the region need democracy but the disagreement is how to reach such noble goal," said Al Rai, which stressed that any change must come from within and not be imposed from the West.

Bush Thursday urged Middle East leaders to embrace democracy and repudiated 60 years of U.S. help for illiberal regimes that "did nothing to make us safe" from terrorism.

"As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment and violence ready for export," he told the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy.

Bush prodded the staunch ally Egypt, saying it "should show the way toward democracy in the Middle East," and accused the Palestinian leadership of undermining democratic reform and feeding hatred.

Israel Satisfied

Israel swiftly voiced its satisfaction with Bush's criticism over the pace of Palestinian reforms and the role of Palestinian leadership, without mentioning Palestinian President Yasser Arafat by name.

"We share President Bush's analyses and have nothing to add other than the name of Yasser Arafat, which he did not mention," a senior Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity.