Ok, so I said I was a vocal critic of Israel when need be, and here is your proof.
Yesterday, a coalition of right wing political parties voted in the Israeli parliament to ban the two Arab parties from standing in the general election in February. This, in no uncertain terms, is an absolute travesty and an affront to any kind of democratic and liberal politics. (article below)
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231760644913&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The parliamentarians concerned, Avigdor Lieberman (vile racist) and David Tal (unadulterated bigot), argued that the two Arab parties were undermining the State of Israel because they did not accept the right of Israel to exist and had caused controversy for suspected breaches of national security during the Lebanon war in 2006.
It is a sad, sad state of affairs when a ruling like this can pass a committee of a democratic parliament. It doesn't matter if Balad (one of the Arab parties) supports Israel or not. It doesn't even matter if they are the most raving right-wing racist nut cases this side of Jerusalem (which they aren't). Just like it would be unacceptable to ban the BNP in this country, who are racists, or the communist parties of continental Europe, who do not believe in the validity of the state, I cannot condone this decision - in fact, I am repulsed by it.
This decision is unequivocally deplorable.
In a democratic state, people have the right to choose whichever party they want - even if it is Hamas (remember, my issue with that is that they seized control and went beyond their mandate). A true democracy does not have the right to disqualify parties it doesn't like.
This is a real shame, Israel has shown itself up - especially after the comments from the Foreign Secretary yesterday (see below). Fortunately, Israel has a strong justice system which will almost certainly overturn this decision.
But regardless of what might happen in the courts, this is one of those moments where we find out if people mean what they say - if they are willing to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. To all those thousands who have called themselves ardent supporters of Israel this week, stand up for Balad and UAL. To all those who have said this isn't about Palestinians this is about Hamas, stand up for Balad and UAL. To all those who have used Israel's democracy as a linchpin of its defence, stand up for Balad and UAL.
I know I will.
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Even if there's a case against banning these two Arab parties, I'm not sure that banning the equivalent of the BNP during WW2 would have been unacceptable. Isn't that a more accurate analogy in relation to Israel's current predicament?
ReplyDeletewell i'm not sure i agree with either of those two assertons; i don't necessarily think it was ok to ban the bnp during the second world war nor do i think the circumstances of the second world war were remotely close to the conflict in israel.
ReplyDeleteww2 was total war. the entire country and economy was geared toward victory in the face of an immediate existential threat. While the implications of Hamas and Iranian influence in the region certainly mount to an existential threat, it is not of the same immediate and direct sort that faced europe in ww2
Despite your Zionist beliefs, I'm glad you are civilised enough to recognise the rabid racism of the A Lieberman variety.
ReplyDeleteDo you really know your history though? eg
http://sandiego.indymedia.org/media/2006/10/119696.pdf