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Dictating Democracy

Israel is always held up as the only democracy in the Middle East. That may well be a moot point in some respects.

Be that as it may now comes news that Israel is trying to prevent East Jerusalem Arabs from voting in the upcoming Palestinian elections if Hamas takes part. Hey?

This excellent editorial in the New York Times makes it clear as can be that what Israel seeks to do is totally unacceptable.

On another front this article from the IHT on Israel's attempts to impose checks for Palestinians along the West Bank and Jerusalem - less restrictive on one level but more so on another - highlights, yet again, that Israel's actions, on the ground, are totally the opposite of what it espouses publically. If the article is correct then Israel is seemingly putting in place a permanent border - not one open to negotiation.

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