I think all of us remember former President Bush’s claim of building democracy in Iraq, (no matter how many Iraqis he had to kill doing it) and supporting democracy in the Middle East does have merit. We should be promoting those factions or countries that truly support human rights, religious freedom, free elections, a free press and open borders. In the Middle East, such countries are quite rare.

The one shinning light of democracy in the Middle East is Israel. In Israel, women are treated as equals where the current Supreme Court Chief Justice is female and one out of every six Knesset members is a woman. In contrast women in the Arab states are treated as second class citizens. Palestinian women endure various forms of repression and cultural restrictions. In Saudi Arabia women can’t leave the country without male permission and can’t expose their ankles or face without the threat of being publically flogged.

Most of the Middle East is autocratic. Saudi Arabia is ruled by a king with no elections, as is Jordan and Syria. Iran has elections controlled by the clergy and Lebanon has a history of killing its elected leaders. However, in Israel Arabs serve in the Knesset and even openly call the current Prime Minister a “fascist” without any repercussions. Imagine a Jew doing that to Mubarak in Egypt or a Fatah member saying that to Hamas in Gaza. In 2009 alone Hamas has already murdered at least two dozen political opponents (all Muslims) and tortured countless others. It seems assassination is easier than traditional campaigning. There is no Arab country that would allow a Jew to be elected into government.

An essential part of democracy is freedom of religion. This only exists in the Middle East in Israel. Israel is the only Middle Eastern country where the Arab Christian population has grown. In the West Bank and Gaza, the Christian population is rapidly shrinking as a result of extortion, threats and even murder. In Lebanon, the Christian population is also dwindling.

And let’s not forget that mainstay of Democracy – diversity. In Israel, gays have equal rights but Hamas considers being gay a capital offense. Israel rescues black Sudanese refugees but is labeled an “apartheid state” when the Palestinian Authority supports the Sudanese genocidal president and shuts down its youth orchestra for playing music for Jewish Holocaust Survivors.

Middle East democracy is a good thing. If we are truly going to support it then we cannot be hypocrites when it comes to issues of human rights and religious and political freedoms.

So the next time someone suggests a boycott of Israel in favor of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority or other Arab state, ask them why they support religious oppression, denial of equal rights for women and other minorities, assassinations versus elections and suppression of free speech in opposition to the one country in the Middle East that protects all its citizens from these abuses? Our support of democracy should apply to all people and countries equally.

Jeff Blanck is an attorney in private practice in Reno. He can be reached at: jblanck@jeffreyblancklaw.com