We have always argued that there is an oxymoron in the definition of Israel as Jewish and democratic. For it is inevitable that at one point or another the contradiction will come out, and in these moments Israel would have to decide if it is really democratic, or really Jewish. To those of us who are willing to look beyond the meaningless rhetoric and propaganda, it was obvious, Israel is Jewish and not democratic.
There are several instances which highlight this. Take for example the issue of the Law of Return, which gives any Jew from anywhere on this planet citizenship upon arriving into Israel, and deprives those who originally lived there from the same right. Or another example, the fact that 93% of the Land of Israel is off-limits to non-jews (according to Uri Davis, this exceeds the SA apartheid era laws with which 87% percent of the land was off limits to blacks). The examples are countless.
What spurred this, is a new letter issued by the Prime Minister office, addressed to Balad Party (Democratic National Assembly). The Letter stipulates that the PMO will combat any organisation or individual conducting activities which might be regarded as harming Israel's Jewish or Democratic nature, EVEN IF THE ACTIVITY WAS LEGAL AND UTILISED DEMOCRATIC TOOLS.
First, you can see that the quote places Jewish nature of the state infront of its democratic nature. It is a clear signal of where the Zionists' priorities lie.
Secondly, no respectable democratic country would declare such a policy. Assume, for example, that the Queen of England decides to outlaw any activity aiming at secession from the thrown. How would the republicans of Australia, and even the large majority of Aussies and Brits react to such a decision?
Thirdly, the PMO sent this letter to the foremost proponent of a democratic state which is based on equality between all citizens. So the letter, is not really aimed at those activities against the democratic nature of the state, but rather, its Jewish nature.
The PMOs threat of using force is a signal of how Israel is willing to resort to undemocratic means to achieve its undemocratic objective of maintaining the subordination of Palestinians, even in the face of purely democratic activities. Israel exposes itself, again!
4 comments:
The objective of Israel has always been to combine elements of democracy and elements of Jewish sovereignty. We are talking about a balancing test. There are always flaws to be mended but overall Israel does a fairly successful job at this. If you were a genuine believer in coercing every country in the world to be a liberal democracy as an ultimatum you would allocate your time towards campaigning against every Arab country which is less democratic than Israel. Since you isolate Israel the only reasons I can think of is that you are a :
1. bigot, racist
2. Dumb
3. All of the above
I am dead serious you expose yourself as a non-factor in this debate.
Well, I am a true believer that every state should work towards equality, justice, democracy and protection of civil and political rights. However, I cannot make it my life project to achieve world peace, so I try to expose what is wrong in the place I live in. At the same time, I would support any other person who comes out against similar non-democratic countries like Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia. I would support anyone who comes out against similar violations of human rights in Darfur and China. But I cannot talk about them primarily because I am not knowledgeable enough.
My Criticism does not stem from bigotry, racism or idiocy. It is based on my knowledge and analysis, and within a framework or firm beliefs in human rights, justice and equality. All my criticisms against Israel stem from one of these three areas, and they are based on well documented facts. I try to avoid using generalisations, racist language and any other form of verbiage that does not achieve my goal. So please, revisit what you wrote, and let me know, what have you done on this front, before you come and blame me for not doing enough.
And, by the way, you say that Israel aims to combine elements of Jewish sovereignty with elements of democracy, but that is really an oxymoron. Simply because you can't say democracy exists if you want to maintain the sovereignty of one race over others. As background reading I suggest the History of South Africa.
Well said, anonymous.
Ned, a better question to ask would be if Palestine, under the leadership of the murderous and theocratic Hamas Party, can be both Muslim and democratic.
Given that Israel gives full democratic rights to all citizens, democracy is clearly compatible with Judaism.
Islam, on the other hand, has further to go to prove that it is compatible with progressive ideas of the 21st Century.
Brady, First, if one side is bad it doesn't automatically make the other side good. Second, any state based on religious principles is inevitably discriminatory against those who do not adhere to the religious code drawn by the elites (and not necessarily the religion itself). So Judaism is not compatible with democracy, simply because in Israel non-jews are less equal than Jews.
Third, if Palestine was to start turning into an Islamic state, then I would be in the first line of opposition. If you follow my posts, I am not dedicating this blog simply to criticise Israel but to seek a better life for all people in the Holy Land. And if Islamists are going to deprive us of that, I would be first to stand up against such attempts.
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