加薩陷入火海 以國一石多鳥tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb( N/ N. c& p V+ A6 c8 L5 x
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以巴和談在今年四月破裂後，負責斡旋的華府面對接踵而來的烏克蘭和伊拉克危機，疲於奔命焦頭爛額，看來無暇重啟本來視為「中東問題重中之重」的以巴談判，巴勒斯坦自治政府主席阿巴斯尋求出路，轉與巴人激進派系哈馬斯和解，以色列對此難免如芒在背，三名猶太人學生被擄遇害，正好給以色列狠打哈馬斯兼且瓦解巴人「團結政府」一個藉口。 5 l$ }. s" X( {# U& q3 uos.tvboxnow.com x% p$ I7 j: S& Wtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb上月中旬，以色列三名十五歲至十九歲的學生，在西岸希伯倫附近失蹤，以軍大舉拘捕巴人，其中主要是哈馬斯成員，哈馬斯展開報復，從其控制的加薩向以色列南部發射火箭，以軍則報以空襲。到了三名猶太學生屍體被發現，一名巴人少年又被激進猶太人殺死，雙方衝突加劇，以軍進行一年多來最大規模軍事行動，僅在過去兩日，便四百多次空襲加薩，最少炸死幾十人和炸傷幾百人，哈馬斯的火箭，也射到特拉維夫和耶路撒冷，最遠一枚射到一百六十多公里外的海法，不過火箭大多被以色列鐵穹系統攔截，並未造成人命傷亡。 6 \6 q$ b; ^. K! [- e公仔箱論壇 $ A( Q/ R# g B' j# oos.tvboxnow.com兩派巴人嫌隙再起TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。* r7 S4 ]* Y: q x! Q
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以色列二○○五年全面撤出加薩，相隔兩年後該地落入哈馬斯手裏，自此以色列不但封鎖加薩，而且定期進行所謂「割草行動」，空襲加薩打擊哈馬斯，以軍上一次大規模軍事行動是在二○一二年底，當時哈馬斯有埃及穆爾西政府背後撐腰，實力比現在強得多。tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb4 C, S8 C K2 U( N: L/ l
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可以看到，以色列和哈馬斯軍力懸殊，加薩幾乎處於捱打狀態，很明顯，以色列要把哈馬斯趕盡殺絕，內閣已經授權軍方動員四萬後備軍，隨時準備出動地面部隊進入加薩。tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb. P8 j4 z) i- l2 Z
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阿巴斯較早前配合以色列在西岸的搜捕行動，現時又對加薩被炸只是不痛不癢地例行譴責，哈馬斯大為不滿，剛剛和解的雙方，嫌隙再起，巴人團結政府恐怕時日無多。作者: felicity2010 時間: 2014-7-12 10:30 AM
本帖最後由 felicity2010 於 2014-7-12 10:35 AM 編輯 ' F3 ^# V7 V5 m
1 [% ?# l7 `: [TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。The Economist: The tragedy of the Arabs ( }+ G9 Q2 L) C, X, {; S+ q" g公仔箱論壇TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。6 t( z( v/ a+ n) l( q2 A
A civilisation that used to lead the world is in ruins—and only the locals can rebuild it ! k5 B: P& K- T) |0 Q u5 Gos.tvboxnow.com ! D- I9 N& ]6 t1 z1 t6 q& B/ |公仔箱論壇 ( P; E, N: ?% x- I |7 l公仔箱論壇TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。& R' j" x3 E% h/ d3 U# q
A THOUSAND years ago, the great cities of Baghdad,Damascus and Cairo took turns to race ahead of the Western world. Islam and innovation were twins. The various Arab caliphates were dynamic superpowers—beacons of learning, tolerance and trade. Yet today the Arabs are in a wretched state. Even as Asia, Latin America and Africa advance, the Middle East is held back by despotism and convulsed by war.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。& y B# E' Y, @, ]( C$ E
4 Y- D6 F' Z: v8 c/ ]5 ^公仔箱論壇Hopes soared three years ago, when a wave of unrest across the region led to the overthrow of four dictators—in Tunisia,Egypt, Libya and Yemen—and to a clamour for change elsewhere, notably in Syria.But the Arab spring’s fruit has rotted into renewed autocracy and war. Both engender misery and fanaticism that today threaten the wider world. 3 t& K, S# C8 dos.tvboxnow.com3 e6 N, y+ w% v6 y8 f( C
Why Arab countries have so miserably failed to create democracy, happiness or (aside from the windfall of oil) wealth for their 350m people is one of the great questions of our time. What makes Arab society susceptible to vile regimes and fanatics bent on destroying them (and their perceived allies in the West)? No one suggests that the Arabs as a people lack talent or suffer from some pathological antipathy to democracy. But for the Arabs to wake from their nightmare, and for the world to feel safe, a great deal needs to change.os.tvboxnow.com/ P+ J1 }" Y" t2 X8 s
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The blame game 7 P# h& f7 Y+ n* ]1 Cos.tvboxnow.com5 Q% ~8 q S) R
One problem is that the Arab countries’ troubles run so wide. Indeed, Syria and Iraq can nowadays barely be called countries at all. This week a brutal band of jihadists declared their boundaries void, heralding instead a new Islamic caliphate to embrace Iraq and Greater Syria (including Israel-Palestine,Lebanon, Jordan and bits of Turkey) and—in due course—the whole world. Its leaders seek to kill non-Muslims not just in the Middle East but also in the streets of New York, London and Paris. Egypt is back under military rule. Libya, following the violent demise of Muammar Qaddafi, is at the mercy of unruly militias. Yemen is beset by insurrection, infighting and al-Qaeda. Palestine is still far from true statehood and peace: the murders of three young Israelis and ensuing reprisals threaten to set off yet another cycle of violence (see article). Even countries such as Saudi Arabia and Algeria, whose regimes are cushioned by wealth from oil and gas and propped up by an iron-fisted apparatus of state security, are more fragile than they look.Only Tunisia, which opened the Arabs’ bid for freedom three years ago, has the makings of a real democracy.os.tvboxnow.com1 r7 g# v: f" n& k) r- X
m1 T; J0 J4 |5 Q/ _Islam, or at least modern reinterpretations of it, is at the core of some of the Arabs’ deep troubles. The faith’s claim,promoted by many of its leading lights, to combine spiritual and earthly authority, with no separation of mosque and state, has stunted the development of independent political institutions. A militant minority of Muslims are caught up in a search for legitimacy through ever more fanatical interpretations of the Koran. Other Muslims, threatened by militia violence and civil war, have sought refuge in their sect. In Iraq and Syria plenty of Shias and Sunnis used to marry each other; too often today they resort to maiming each other. And this violent perversion of Islam has spread to places as distant as northern Nigeria and northern England. " |3 b( b/ x3 }# e4 f( Q* J3 f- qtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb( U( @# f. [1 H7 j9 l1 G7 |! K
But religious extremism is a conduit for misery, not its fundamental cause (see article). While Islamic democracies elsewhere (such as Indonesia—see article)are doing fine, in the Arab world the very fabric of the state is weak. Few Arab countries have been nations for long. The dead hand of the Turks’ declining Ottoman empire was followed after the first world war by the humiliation of British and French rule. In much of the Arab world the colonial powers continued to control or influence events until the1960s. Arab countries have not yet succeeded in fostering the institutional prerequisites of democracy—the give-and-take of parliamentary discourse,protection for minorities, the emancipation of women, a free press, independent courts and universities and trade unions.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb( i" [6 Y! a! A H
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The absence of a liberal state has been matched by the absence of a liberal economy. After independence, the prevailing orthodoxy was central planning, often Soviet-inspired. Anti-market,anti-trade, pro-subsidy and pro-regulation, Arab governments strangled their economies. The state pulled the levers of economic power—especially where oil was involved. Where the constraints of post-colonial socialism were lifted,capitalism of the crony, rent-seeking kind took hold, as it did in the later years of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak. Privatisation was for pals of the government. Virtually no markets were free, barely any world-class companies developed, and clever Arabs who wanted to excel in business or scholarship had to go to America or Europe to do so. 0 C% a7 A7 t" J/ G+ c* pos.tvboxnow.comos.tvboxnow.com# r1 d. J# I, y% P* c/ k$ q
Economic stagnation bred dissatisfaction. Monarchs and presidents-for-life defended themselves with secret police and goons. The mosque became a source of public services and one of the few places where people could gather and hear speeches.Islam was radicalised and the angry men who loathed their rulers came to hate the Western states that backed them. Meanwhile a vast number of the young grew restless because of unemployment. Thanks to the electronic media, they were increasingly aware that the prospects of their cohort outside the Middle East were far more hopeful. The wonder is not that they took to the streets in the Arab spring, but that they did not do so sooner., ]% C% ]3 W& Q9 Q! u" N
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A lot of ruin : s3 |5 U; d" U8 d5 p$ ?9 b* P( x7 ~TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。6 {$ i9 K4 H: i9 \
These wrongs cannot easily or rapidly be put right. Outsiders, who have often been drawn to the region as invaders and occupiers, cannot simply stamp out the jihadist cause or impose prosperity and democracy. That much, at least, should be clear after the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. Military support—the supply of drones and of a small number of special forces—may help keep the jihadists in Iraq at bay. That help may have to be on permanent call. Even if the new caliphate is unlikely to become a recognisable state, it could for many years produce jihadists able to export terrorism. 6 G2 S/ O" H5 a! Q; H' k" JTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。1 B0 l; A' w. `3 B
But only the Arabs can reverse their civilisational decline, and right now there is little hope of that happening.The extremists offer none. The mantra of the monarchs and the military men is “stability”. In a time of chaos, its appeal is understandable, but repression and stagnation are not the solution. They did not work before; indeed they were at the root of the problem. Even if the Arab awakening is over for the moment, the powerful forces that gave rise to it are still present. The social media which stirred up a revolution in attitudes cannot be uninvented. The men in their palaces and their Western backers need to understand that stability requires reform.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb2 {. J4 f! o& W* G4 o' E. W
# k. h% \: ?5 \/ I2 o) g. l# wos.tvboxnow.comIs that a vain hope? Today the outlook is bloody. But ultimately fanatics devour themselves. Meanwhile,wherever possible, the moderate, secular Sunnis who comprise the majority of Arab Muslims need to make their voices heard. And when their moment comes,they need to cast their minds back to the values that once made the Arab world great. Education underpinned its primacy in medicine, mathematics, architecture and astronomy. Trade paid for its fabulous metropolises and their spices and silks. And, at its best, the Arab world was a cosmopolitan haven for Jews,Christians and Muslims of many sects, where tolerance fostered creativity and invention.& b, _1 C' M0 L% @5 C( b
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Pluralism, education, open markets:these were once Arab values and they could be so again.Today, as Sunnis and Shias tear out each others’ throats in Iraq and Syria and a former general settles onto his new throne in Egypt, they are tragically distant prospects. But for a people for whom so much has gone so wrong, such values still make up a vision of a better future. ' K/ U# j* N) r' gos.tvboxnow.com 8 b' ?( h: L. @: Y; fos.tvboxnow.com作者: felicity2010 時間: 2014-7-12 10:39 AM
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