Democracy going to the dogs

  Israel is often heralded as the only democracy in the Middle East, which unfortunately says more about the deplorable state of people power in the region than about the liberal character of the Jewish state. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) 2010Democracy Index, there are worldwide only 26 “full democracies.” Defined as a “flawed democracy” at rank 37, Israel is the region’s leading representative — it should be noted however, that the index does not take into consideration Israel’s military rule of the West Bank or its stranglehold of Gaza.  When a house is demolished in East Jerusalem or the security wall cuts off an orchard or garden, a Palestinian owner can only file a complaint at a hardly-impartial Israeli military court; if the index took this sort of thing into account, Israel would rank considerably lower. The 2009 Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) does distinguish