A different view

Don't Push the Panic Button Yet

While the news of a Hamas victory had US media in an uproar, that curmudgeon of US news and anchor of reality, Don Imus, had former Jerusalem Post publisher Tom Rose on this morning.

His are the first comments that maybe not all is lost because Hamas won an election victory. A couple of things. The Fatah government has also been anti-Israel. Fatah is responsible for more Israeli deaths than Hamas. And just maybe, by stepping up to the plate and having to form a government and produce results, Hamas will have to drop the rhetoric and deal with reality. The reality being that Israel isn't going anywhere and only peaceful negotiations will create the state that the Palestinians want.

So if we can get past the panicked sound bytes of Bebe on the right's new darling, Hardball, maybe we're seeing the start of the next Sinn Féin.

So lets not throw out the baby with the bathwater as Arabs start embracing the processes of democracy. Only by testing its boundaries will Arabs know the full character of democracy.

posted by don1one @ 9:30 AM