The following interesting comment is taken from Mohamed Nasheed's blog, comment # 26 by Ghazee;"Dear Mr Nasheed,
It’s really surprising that some people dare to say that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East even when they continue to evade UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and inflict untold misery on the occupied people of Palestine. 242 is now as old as Anni, and 338 is almost 36 years old now. International law requires occupying powers to give full protection to the occupied, but Israel never complies. If what Israel practices against Palestine is democracy, better not talk about what an autocracy would be. Thousands of Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli military jails without charge, some for even tens of years. If elections are the only thing enlightened Maldivians look for in a democracy, well, even Hosni Mubarak of Egypt very much indulges in that exercise. So, if that is the singular yardstick, then Egypt is the largest democracy in the Middle East! The two resolutions referred to above call on Israel to unconditionally withdraw from West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights (belonging to Syria) which Israel occupied in the 6-day war of 1967. Even though Gaza Strip is now de-occupied, they still face continuous surveillance and bombardment from Israel.
You have said: “In most part, arguments put forward by the President and his top political advisors are pretty solid arguments which few could refute with an ethical yardstick.”
C’mon Mr. Nasheed, which ethical yardstick are you talking about, the yardstick of deprivation, imprisonment and/or expulsion of a whole people for 61 years? You really do not need to get this low. And, arguments, well, Dr. Shaheed’s arguments on the subject are real weak. Most of his statements on the subject are totally false! He said Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar have diplomatic relations with Israel, but they do not even recognize Israel as a state! This is the case with most Muslim and Arab countries. The only Muslim and Arab countries having full diplomatic relations with Israel are Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. They have their reasons for establishing relations with the Zionist state. Egypt could not have gotten the Sinai Peninsula (captured by Israel in the 1967 war) without peace with Israel. This is a huge chunk of land much larger than Israel itself. About half (or more perhaps) of Jordan’s 06 million population are Palestinians, now mostly naturalized citizens. Jordan gets lot of assistance from Western countries for this burden. Palestinian Authority maintains relations with Israel because they have no other choice. 36 countries, out of about 200 countries in the world (UN membership is 192 states as of date) do not recognize Israel. Most of these are Arab/Muslim countries. No true Muslim can willingly agree to Israel as long as they continue to kill Palestinians in cold blood, usurp their lands and make them refugees in their own land. Dr. Shaheed may be pushing for relations with Israel as they (Hssan Saeed & Co.) may have got some money from George Soros, the Jewish billionaire through The Open Society!
Without any relations with Israel, and remaining a 100% Muslim country in the turbulent Indian Ocean for the past 30 glorious years of Maldivian history under the able leadership of President Maumoon, we have now graduated to developing status. This is no mean feat given the small size (both in terms of land and people), lack of natural resources and the difficult geographical makeup of Maldives. Maldives in November 1978 was one of the five least developed countries in the whole world. But contrast this to the present-day situation. Maldives is ranked 99 in the latest HDI report (2008 statistical update) out of 179 countries.
In this report, countries ranked from 1-75 have high human development, countries ranked from 76-153 have medium human development, and countries ranked from 154-179 have low human development. You may be surprised to learn that both India (132) and Sri Lanka (104) lag behind Maldives. Much larger countries with much more natural resources like Turkey (76), Thailand (81), Iran (84), China (94), Indonesia (109) and Egypt (116) are in the same category as Maldives. But the latter two lag far behind the Maldives. Even the economic powerhouse of the African continent, South Africa (125) lag far behind Maldives! But still MDP demagogues and rabble-rousers have the gall to compare Maldives to Singapore! They also conveniently ignore the fact that the British bequeathed a fully developed legal system, an advanced education system, and paved roads to Singapore in addition to a huge sum of financial assistance given at the time of independence!
And that bit about getting financial aid from organizations backed by the Jewish Lobby is a bit naïve, and very cheap coming from a man of your caliber and reputation. If we, as a nation, are just after making a fast buck, may I, for your consideration, suggest a few activities that we can undertake: international money laundering, arms dealing, drug production and trafficking, organs trade etc! How can we be so mean to ask for filthy money coming from Israel tainted with the dear blood of our beloved brothers and sisters in Palestine? Shame on those Maldivians who are advocating for normal relations with Israel!
If mega projects like Gulhifalhu Industrial Park, Hulhumale 2nd Phase and the Ihavandhippolhu Transshipment Port announced by the previous government are properly executed, Maldives’ economy could triple within a matter of few years, as these investments will bring in hundreds of million, or even billions of dollars. We don’t need the dirty money coming from the Zionist entity to develop our country! But Anni government lacks the experience, expertise and knowledge to undertake such projects. So they simply keep on mourning that government income is only 07 billion, as if that amount is going to remain same for eternity! What a wretched group of people these are!
Israel has always refused to even discuss any final status issues: like withdrawing from occupied territories (esp. East Jeresalem), right of return for Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon and so many other parts of the world. And think about the magnitude of compensation that Israel has to pay to Palestinians for all the suffering, expulsion and dispossession inflicted on them! This being the case, Israel will never agree to a two-state solution! And a one-state solution will be suicidal to them, as 10 million Palestinians (including the diaspora) will be no match to the 06 million Jews, in democratic terms. So, Israel is at a dead-end! Maldives should never ever establish diplomatic relations with Israel!"
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