- The word democracy in English is
derived from the Greek word demos which means people, and the
word kratia which means authority. Hence, a democracy is a
rule by the people as opposed to an oligarchy or monarchy.
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- In a non-Muslim society, because
people are too numerous and widely scattered to come together
in assemblies as the ancient Greeks once did, the
decision-making then should be handed over to a small group of
representatives. Elections, where people have the right to
choose different representatives of different groups offering
different doctrines and party programs, are essential to a
democracy.
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- But unfortunately, in most if
not all Middle Eastern countries, democracy is just a dream or
a word that is used in the rhetoric of despots and tyrants who
use force and subjugation to keep their people under their
control.
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- Those who are brave enough to
speak out against their respective governments do not
experience democracy at work, but instead lose what little
freedom they have. Common practice is to arrest a person brave
enough to dare to tell any kind of truth in the wee hours of
the morning in order to create panic, fear and also to
intimidate the victim.
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- Once arrested, anyone
"guilty" of defying the strong arm of the government
is then interrogated, regardless of how silly the
"crime" of speaking out and then tortured and
imprisoned without trial. At long last, when a trial is held,
it is a mockery of justice and witnesses are called to testify
against the alleged crimes of the speaker of truth. The
witnesses lie in order to strengthen the case against the
accused.
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- In order to keep the people
subjugated, massive propaganda is constantly targeted at the
populace. This propaganda, full of hyperbole, excessive use of
metaphors, and downright lies, aims at pulling the wool over
the eyes of the masses while the respective governments keep
the people in submission by extravagant spending of the people’s
money and by arresting anyone on the spur of the moment for
even thinking to question the supremacy or authority of the
government in charge. Thus in such countries where dictators
and tyrants rule, there is most often a very large poor class,
a small rich elite and the middle class is mostly
non-existent.
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- Such rulers accumulate vast
fortunes at the expense of their people and try to divert the
interests of these people by encouraging the emulation of
Western culture but yet denying their people the advantages of
technology and skills that could not only enlighten but also
advance and inform.
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- Oppressive forms of governments
are descendants of the former colonialists and cater to the
demands of the U.S. government and the Zionist entity. They
are in fact well paid to keep their dictatorships running and
to ensure that democracy exists only in the minds of an
educated few.
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- In order for any democracy to
flourish, there must first be equality among the people and a
free flow of information and technology so that an informed
people are able to make the right decisions.
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- It is understandable that people
who commit crimes must be punished. That is to say, a thief
must serve a certain prison term in order to repent and reform
so that the whole of his society will be free from fear of
theft. The same goes for those who kill or harm fellow members
of their society without reason. But to imprison a person for
his beliefs, when these beliefs are for the good of his
people, is one of the greatest crimes of all.
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- In most Middle Eastern
countries, the political prisoners are those who are not
guilty of revolutionary ideas to overthrow despotic regimes,
but brave people who dare to speak the truth. These people who
dare to speak out are dealt with harshly and brutally. It has
been said in a certain Arab country that democracy is for
those who respect themselves. What this threat really means
is, democracy is for the ruler of the country only and his
family. Anyone who dares to think otherwise will very soon
find out the truth.
