The Only "Democracy" in the Mideast is not a Democracy At All

[blackascoal]

Israel bans Arab parties from running in upcoming elections

The Central Elections Committee (CEC) yesterday banned the Arab parties United Arab List-Ta'al and Balad from running in next month's parliamentary elections amid accusations of racism from Arab MKs. Both parties intend to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.

Members of the CEC conceded yesterday that the chance of the Supreme Court's upholding the ban on both parties was slim.

Arab faction delegates in the CEC walked out of the hall before the vote, shouting, "this is a fascist, racist state." As they walked out, CEC deputy chairman MK David Tal (Kadima) and the Arab delegates pushed each other and a Knesset guard had to intervene and separate them.

more at link --
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054867.html

Further expanded on by an Israeli, Neve Gordon, who teaches politics at Ben-Gurion University Israel ...

The Only Democracy in the Middle East? - Most Israelis Don't Believe It (or Support It)

excerpt --

"In order to examine this issue, one must first determine Israel's international borders. Insofar as Israel's borders extend from the Jordan Valley to the Mediterranean Sea -- the de-facto situation for over 36 years -- then the state of Israel currently consists of a population of over 9 million people, 3.5 million of whom cannot vote.

De-facto, then, Israel is not a democracy. One-third of the demos does not enjoy a series of basic rights which make up the pillars of liberal democracies. The state of Israel has existed for 55 years and has controlled the Palestinian population in the occupied territories without giving them political rights for two-thirds of this period. Accordingly, the notion that the occupation is provisional or temporary should, by now, be considered an illusion concealing the reality on the ground.

If, however, one chooses to explore the issue exclusively from a de-jure perspective, that is, from inside the internationally recognized pre-1967 territories, it is still unclear to what extent Israel is a democracy.

There is the question of 400,000 Jewish Settlers -- seven percent of the citizenry -- all of whom enjoy full citizenship rights but do not live in Israel proper. This leads to a series of contradictions, not least the fact that Israel is the only country in the world where government ministers and parliament members live permanently outside its borders.

Even if one were to disregard this reality as well and were only to take into account the six million people living inside Israel proper, one would find an extremely tenuous democracy. The contradictions that have characterized Israel's policies in the occupied territories are now catching up to the state, and their detrimental effects have become apparent for all to see.

Consider a report just published by the Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI), which like most other think tanks (in Israel and abroad), conceives of Israel in the de-jure sense, ignoring the de-facto situation. IDI examined several aspects of Israel's democracy, and its findings suggest that "over the last few years there has been a significant decline in the Jewish population's support of democratic norms on all levels: general support of the democratic system, support of specific democratic values, and support for equal rights for the Arab minority."

IDI found that only 77 percent of the Jewish population supports the statement that "democracy is the best form of government," the lowest percentage (alongside Poland) among the 32 countries for which there is available data. Over half the population (56%) is of the opinion that "strong leaders can be more useful to the state than all the deliberations and laws." Fifty percent concur that if there is a conflict between security interests and the preservation of the rule of law, the former should take precedence. And only 57 percent agree with the statement that violence should never be used to attain political objectives.

More than half of the Jews in Israel (53%) state that they are against full equality for the Arabs; 77 percent say there should be a Jewish majority on crucial political decisions; less than a third (31%) support having Arab political parties in the government; and the majority (57%) think that the Arabs should be encouraged to emigrate. Not only is the majority of the Jewish population against the provision of equal rights for Arab citizens, half of the Jews are even unwilling to face up to the fact that Palestinian citizens of Israel are discriminated against."

more at link --
http://www.counterpunch.org/gordon02032004.html

Add to this that there are all kind of laws in Israel that overtly discriminate against arabs and deny them equal representation in government.

The myth that Israel is a democracy is quite simply a lie.

[evince]

The courts in the past have overturned this before the elections.


Well I guess there is a power hub in Israel that needs their feet held to the fire by Us Americans if they want our money?

[Cancel7]

I have also been distressed and surprised to see that it appears that a very large majority, an overwhelming majority, if Israelites support the invasion of Gaza.

[Bonestorm]

It's a disgrace.


BAC - Have you read this one:

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister said Monday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was embarrassed by orders to abstain from voting last week on a U.N. truce resolution for Gaza that she helped arrange.

Israel had argued that the Security Council measure calling for a halt to the Gaza fighting — which passed Thursday in a 14-0 vote with the U.S. abstaining — was unworkable because it did not guarantee Israel's security.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he called President George W. Bush to seek an abstention from the U.S., a key Israeli ally at the United Nations.

"I said: 'Get me President Bush on the phone,'" Olmert said in a speech in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. "They said he was in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia. I said I didn't care: 'I need to talk to him now.' He got off the podium and spoke to me."

Olmert said he argued that the United States should not vote in favor, and the president then called Rice and told her not to do so.

"She was left pretty embarrassed," Olmert said.

A senior U.S. official in Washington disputed the account.

"The plan had been all along, as agreed by the secretary and the president, that if all of the pieces fell into place, we would abstain," the official said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

"The government of Israel does not make policy for the United States," the official added.

The approved resolution called for "an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza."

Rice said later that the United States "fully supports" the resolution but abstained because it "thought it important to see the outcomes of the Egyptian mediation," referring to an Egyptian-French initiative aimed at achieving a cease-fire.

Still, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said he was surprised by the U.S. abstention.

"We were told that the Americans were going to vote in favor," he said Friday, a day after the vote.

But when Rice came in to the Security Council chamber, she informed the Saudi foreign minister with an apology that she would abstain and would clarify later that the U.S. supported the resolution nonetheless, according to Malki.

"What happened in the last 10 or 15 minutes, what kind of pressure she received, from whom, this is really something that maybe we will know about later," he said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...dOAjwD95LSUK80

[Cancel7]

"I said: 'Get me President Bush on the phone,'" Olmert said in a speech in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. "They said he was in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia. I said I didn't care: 'I need to talk to him now.' He got off the podium and spoke to me."

Holy Shit. Holy shit!

[blackascoal]

It's a disgrace.


BAC - Have you read this one:




http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...dOAjwD95LSUK80

I did read that this morning.

Obviously, a foreign state telling the American president what to do is no big deal. A state, I might add, that we pour billions of DWINDLING US taxpayer dollars into to and never get them back.

[blackascoal]

"I said: 'Get me President Bush on the phone,'" Olmert said in a speech in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. "They said he was in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia. I said I didn't care: 'I need to talk to him now.' He got off the podium and spoke to me."

Holy Shit. Holy shit!

Mindboggling.

[Blackwater Lunchbreak]

Noahide Nation.

Z.O.G. Is real.

[FUCK THE POLICE]

"I said: 'Get me President Bush on the phone,'" Olmert said in a speech in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. "They said he was in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia. I said I didn't care: 'I need to talk to him now.' He got off the podium and spoke to me."

There's only one person in the world who talks to "the most powerful man in the world" like that.

[Epicurus]

I have also been distressed and surprised to see that it appears that a very large majority, an overwhelming majority, if Israelites support the invasion of Gaza.

I could see why you would be distressed, I see less as to why you should be surprised. I've told you several times before that Israelis are very consistent in their support of their wars.

[blackascoal]

I could see why you would be distressed, I see less as to why you should be surprised. I've told you several times before that Israelis are very consistent in their support of their wars.

And they are consistently anti-democratic as well.

They should be dealt with exactly as South Africa was.

[Cancel 2018. 3]

And they are consistently anti-democratic as well.

They should be dealt with exactly as South Africa was.

would you say the same for saudi arabia or other islamic countries? how many non muslims hold office....

[blackascoal]

would you say the same for saudi arabia or other islamic countries? how many non muslims hold office....

a) Muslim countries aren't pretending to be democracies, Israel is.

b) I'd say the same for ANY country that oppresses minorities, including Islamic countries.

c) How many muslims in Bush's Administration? How many muslims in Obama's Administration?

d) Are there muslims in the United States?

e) Is Iran a democracy? Jews hold office there.

f) Is there anywhere on planet earth that Jews are being held in an oppressive state such as with the Palestinians?

[Cancel 2018. 3]

a) Muslim countries aren't pretending to be democracies, Israel is.

b) I'd say the same for ANY country that oppresses minorities, including Islamic countries.
c) How many muslims in Bush's Administration? How many muslims in Obama's Administration?

d) Are there muslims in the United States?

e) Is Iran a democracy? Jews hold office there.

f) Is there anywhere on planet earth that Jews are being held in an oppressive state such as with the Palestinians?

ok...but pretending to be a democracy or not is irrelevent to how someone governs and the rights granted thereof. further, there is no bright line rule for democracies...