Arabs hail Olmert probe as 'democracy at its best'

Embarrassed at charges Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from an American businessman, Israelis are doubly stunned to discover that the investigation of Mr. Olmert has won Israel extraordinary praise from bitter enemies throughout the Arab world.

"This is democracy at its best. Enough of dictatorship in the Arab world. Let's learn from the Israeli example. Let's benefit from Israel's democracy," a Palestinian named Hani wrote on his blog from the West Bank city of Ramallah.

A flood of similar sentiments has appeared on Arabic Web sites in recent days, many of them recorded by journalist Khaled Abu Toameh in the Jerusalem Post.

The bloggers inevitably compare Israeli democracy with the lack of transparency in Arab regimes.

"I have always hated Israel very much," wrote Khaled in Saudi Arabia, "but there is still no one above the law there."

Another blogger named Majed wrote, "Show me one Arab or Islamic country where a prime minister or a senior government official was ever questioned for financial corruption or bribery."

Yet another blogger describing himself as Syrian Voice writes: "Despite my hatred for the Zionist regime, I have a lot of admiration and respect for this entity because there is no one above the law. In the Arab world, laws are broken every day and no one seems to care."

The amount of money Mr. Olmert is suspected of having received over 15 years from the businessman, about $150,000, was described by many as laughable.

"What a fool," wrote Ahmed in Jordan. "This is what an Egyptian minister gets in a day or what a Saudi CEO gets in 45 minutes, or a Kuwaiti government official in five minutes."

[Regarding] charges Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had accepted envelopes stuffed with cash from an American businessman... "This is democracy at its best. Enough of dictatorship in the Arab world. Let's learn from the Israeli example. Let's benefit from Israel's democracy," a Palestinian named Hani wrote on his blog from the West Bank city of Ramallah. A flood of similar sentiments has appeared on Arabic Web sites in recent days... The bloggers inevitably compare Israeli democracy with the lack of transparency in Arab regimes. "I have always hated Israel very much," wrote Khaled in Saudi Arabia, "but there is still no one above the law there." Another blogger named Majed wrote, "Show me one Arab or Islamic country where a prime minister or a senior government official was ever questioned for financial corruption or bribery." ...The amount of money Mr. Olmert is suspected of having received over 15 years from the businessman, about $150,000, was described by many as laughable. "What a fool," wrote Ahmed in Jordan. "This is what an Egyptian minister gets in a day or what a Saudi CEO gets in 45 minutes, or a Kuwaiti government official in five minutes."

Okay, now, I don't think I should have laughed, but I did. Of course, the gov'ts involved will hunt down the bloggers, or shut down their blogs, or both.

I hope they finally get it.

A few do. Transparency in government is utlimately a by-product of freedom of speech and a free press. As biased as our media can be there is still a night and day difference between ours and theirs and there are a handful out there who see it.

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