American and European Hypocrisy

The Americans, along with the Europeans, pressure the Egyptian government day and night to not exclude anyone and include all in the political process, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. They present many arguments, including that the organization is an important part of Egyptian society and came to power via the ballot box.

The bizarre irony is that the Americans and Europeans are now putting a lot of pressure on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas because he dared to sit down with Hamas, a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot, and agree to form a government of national accord that puts an end to the rift that has existed between them since Hamas’ coup and seizure of the Gaza Strip in 2008.

We can understand why Israeli impudence is punishing the Palestinian Authority for daring to reconcile with Hamas, but how can we understand this European-American hypocrisy and double standard? How can we believe that the West is really democratic and believes in freedom and human rights when it demands that the Brotherhood be included in the Egyptian political process while at the same time insisting on excluding it from any participation in Palestine?

The answer to this question is Israel. Always look for Israel; you will always find it at the center of anything strange or suspicious in American and European policy and anything that offends Western values of democracy, freedom and human rights.

Of course, America and Europe have an advanced democracy, human rights, freedom of expression and freedom of scientific research, and are very advanced in many areas when compared to the rest of the world, especially the Arab world. But they both fall flat on their face when Israel comes into the picture.

How can America and Europe defend freedom, democracy and human rights all around the world and lecture us day and night on these things, and then shut their eyes completely in the case of Israel, which has occupied a country since 1948, commits all kinds of crimes and offenses, and practices the most vile racism that history has ever seen against the original inhabitants of the country? Does it make sense for Obama to lecture us day and night about freedoms and rights and then criticize the Palestinian Authority because it reconciled with Hamas?

Israel and the West, with their hypocrisy and double standard, admire and encourage Hamas because it divides the Palestinians, obstructs reconciliation, and actually sympathizes with the terrorists in Sinai, but when Abu Mazen (a.k.a. Mahmoud Abbas) strives to reconcile with a part of his people in Gaza, he turns into an obstacle to peace! And Hamas, in this case, becomes a terrorist organization that doesn’t recognize Israel!

The odd thing is that Mahmoud Abbas announced that the new government that Hamas will participate in or support will recognize Israel and all previous agreements, and will renounce terrorism. Despite that, Tel Aviv, Washington and some European capitals maintain their bizarre position on Palestinian reconciliation.

Hence, the only conclusion we can derive from recent developments is that the West wants Hamas to continue performing a single role: deepening the division between Palestinians and threatening Egyptian security. So when the Palestinians attempt reconciliation and unification, out comes the Western veto.

The question is, has Hamas learned the lesson and realized how it has been used to deepen the division? And has Washington, along with most of the Europeans, realized that it is no longer even able to conceal its blind bias toward Tel Aviv and that this bias is the main thing causing Arabs and Muslims to form a negative picture of the West?