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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Israel: Political questionsTalking about Israel isn't an easy task, but we can't in any way cover the region of the Middle East without taking some position on this particular state. There isn't anything linked to this country and its people that can't be put under fierce disagreement. Even mentioning the name of the country makes some people make accusations of blasphemy. They can be found not only among the radical Arabs who want to see the Jews out of the Holy Lands. There are also a few Orthodox Jews who don't see in the modern state of Israel the reincarnation of the ancient one because they are still waiting for their Messiah. Of course there are many more who will oppose such interpretations. If even mentioning the name of Israel is so offensive for some, what could we say about the details, e.g. who really can be called a Jew? Is this a particular nation, or a different language, or a unique religion, or all of them put together? And of course, the main question that so far has cost so many lives in the Middle East, namely what should be the size of Israel? Should it include Eastern parts of Jerusalem or not? How many colonies in the occupied territories should be dismantled? Should it be any dismantling at all? Without answering all these questions and especially the last set about the territory it won't be possible to produce any serious forecast about the country, its population and ultimately about its market prospects. 10 years ago it seemed to me that Israel could finally make peace agreements with all its neighbors. If then we bet on such forecasts we were wrong, at least partially. There were some agreements, but they didn't solve all problems. Right now it seems that the peace is far than ever. Perhaps, and we hope so, our present understanding is also wrong. For many people in the world, looking at the Arab-Israel animosities, it seems that the only thing needed for the peace is to have 3-4 politicians sitting down and talking and finding some solution, dividing the land and settling the other minor disputes. It would be although too naive to wait for some breathtaking meeting that will solve once for all the problems that have been accumulated since... even here there is not a consensus on this point. If we say that the problems have been accumulated since 1948, we may be accused by some of denying the Jews their right to have a state; if we mention 1967 as a starting point of the problems (the date of occupation of West Bank and Gaza Strip), we'll be accused of both parties of closing eyes to the deeper roots of the problem. For the Arabs the problems began with the massive immigration of Jews in the late 19th century; for Israel the main problem was the reluctance of its neighbors to accept its very existence. Even if we for a second forget about the current Middle East geopolitical games, there are several political paradoxes about Israel that can't be easy explained, but which can have substantial repercussions on its future. First of them, which isn't widely recognized, is that this country from the very beginning of its modern history remains democratic. Why it's a paradox? First, most of the Jew immigrants came from countries with no or little democratic experiences (Central and East Europe, former Russian territories, North Africa). So many of them couldn't copy and use any previous democratic experience. Second, Jews didn't have democratic traditions in the ancient times as most of the ancient people. So they couldn't look back for inspiration and lessons. Third, the security concerns that play so prominent role against the democratization in other Middle East countries play even bigger role in Israel. So the population of Israel couldn't look to its neighbors for democratic inspiration. Democracy is a good form of government in peaceful and secure society, but may turn to be very ineffective in a society put under siege from its neighbors. So there are least 3 reasons why Israel could look like much better as an authoritarian regime than as a democracy, but so far its people maintain the democracy against so many odds. Another political paradox is that within the democratic system of government the citizens of Israel have opted for the least effective, the parliament government with many checks and balances instead of putting emphasis on the strong president. The list of paradoxes may be continued, but this won't solve our main task, namely what future we see for the country. No doubt the major topic that will determine its future lies in the peace process with the Arab neighbors and the Muslim world in general. Right now most Muslim governments are in no mood to make substantial concessions without which such peace seems impossible. The international terrorism plays some role in this wait-and-see politics. Everyone saw how Spain decided to pull out of the game after the attacks on 3/11. There are many in the Middle East who still believe the United States will do the same calculation and will force Israel to accept major territorial concessions if Washington is attacked by another wave of terrorist kamikaze. On the other hand Israel hopes the new order in the Middle East will change the minds of some of its neighbors. For Tel Aviv wait-and-see the politics has also priority. So far we can't say who of these two antagonists at the end of the day will prove to be right or wrong. Until then the only realistic forecast will be to expect continuing political stalemate in the region with no clear winners and losers.
Israel country profile: --------------------
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