The Jewish Republic of Israel – Gideon Levy
11. Oct, 2010
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By Gideon Levy
Swearing an oath to a Jewish state will decide its fate. It is liable to turn the country into a theocracy like Saudi Arabia.
Remember this day. It’s the day Israel changes its character. As a result, it can also change its name to the Jewish Republic of Israel, like the Islamic Republic of Iran. Granted, the loyalty oath bill that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to have passed purportedly only deals with new citizens who are not Jewish, but it affects the fate of all of us.
From now on, we will be living in a new, officially approved, ethnocratic, theocratic, nationalistic and racist country. Anyone who thinks it doesn’t affect him is mistaken. There is a silent majority that is accepting this with worrying apathy, as if to say: “I don’t care what country I live in.” Also anyone who thinks the world will continue to relate to Israel as a democracy after this law doesn’t understand what it is about. It’s another step that seriously harms Israel’s image.
Prime Minister Netanyahu will prove today that he is actually Yisrael Beinteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman, and Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman will prove he is really a loyal member of Yisrael Beiteinu. The Labor party will prove it is nothing more than a doormat. And Israel today will prove that it doesn’t care about anything. Today the loyalty oath bill, soon the loyalty oath law. The dam will overflow today, threatening to drown the remnants of democracy until we are left perhaps with a Jewish state of a character that no one really understands, but it certainly won’t be a democracy. Those demanding this loyalty oath are the ones misappropriating loyalty to the state.
At its next session, the Knesset is to debate close to 20 other anti-democratic bills. Over the weekend, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel issued a blacklist of legislation: a loyalty law for Knesset members; a loyalty law for film production; a loyalty law for non-profits; putting the Palestinian catastrophe, the Nakba, beyond the scope of the law; a ban on calls for a boycott; and a bill for the revocation of citizenship. It’s a dangerous McCarthyist dance on the part of ignorant legislators who haven’t begun to understand what democracy is all about. It’s dangerous even if only a portion of the bills become law, because our fate and our essence will change.
It’s not hard to understand the Netanyahu-Lieberman duo. As sworn nationalists, they are not expected to understand that democracy doesn’t only mean the rule of the majority, but rather first and foremost that minorities have rights. It’s much harder to comprehend the complacency of the masses. Town squares should have been filled today with citizens who do not wish to live in a country where the minority is oppressed by draconian laws such as the one that forces them to swear a false oath to a Jewish state, but amazingly almost no one seems to feel affected.
For decades, we have futilely dealt with the question of who is a Jew. Now the question of what is Jewish will not go away. What is the “state of the Jewish nation”? Does it belong more to Jews in the Diaspora than to its Arab citizens? Will they decide its fate and will this be called a democracy? Will the ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta sect, which opposes the state’s existence, along with hundreds of thousands of Jews who have avoided coming do whatever they want with it? What is Jewish? Jewish holidays? Kosher dietary laws? The increased grip of the religious establishment, as if there is not enough of it now to distort democracy? Swearing an oath to a Jewish state will decide its fate. It is liable to turn the country into a theocracy like Saudi Arabia.
True, for the time being, it’s a matter of an empty, ridiculous slogan. There aren’t three Jews who could agree what a Jewish state looks like, but history has taught us that empty slogans, too, can pave the path to hell. In the meantime, the new proposed legislation will only increase Israeli Arabs’ alienation and ultimately result in the alienation of much wider segments of the public.
That’s what happens when the fire is still smoldering under the rug, the fire of the basic lack of faith in the justice of our path. Only such a lack of confidence can produce such distorted proposed legislation as that which will be approved today, and clearly approval will be forthcoming. Canada doesn’t need its citizens to swear an oath to the Canadian state, nor do other countries require similar acts. Only Israel. And it is being done either to provoke the Arab minority more and push them into a greater lack of loyalty so one day the time will come to finally get rid of them, or it is designed to scuttle the prospect of a peace agreement with the Palestinians. One way or another, in Basel at the First Zionist Congress in 1897, the Jewish state was founded, as Theodor Herzl said, and today the unenlightened Jewish Republic of Israel will be founded.
Source: Haaretz
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CONCERNING DEMOCRACY ARAB AND MUSLIM GOVERNMENTS ARE LIGHT YEARS BEHIND ISRAEL
AND SHOULD BETTER LOOK FOR THEMSELVES.
OF COURSE THOSE COUNTRIES HAVE THE RIGHT TO CALL THEMSELVES ISLAM REPUBLICS , BUT ISRAEL HAS NO RIGHT TO BE RECOGNISED AS
THE JEWISH STATE.
[Reply]
JEWS ARE ILLEGALLY PLANTED ON THE ARAB SOIL
The WWII was the turning point in the history of the occupying forces. However, only one distinction is evident, that of Palestine, that in the case of Palestine instead of making them Sovereign, they were made to share their lands with an alien community gathered from around the world and named Israel.
Before such a a mistake there is no evidence of planting an altogether a different race and culture people from all over the world were made to make a country, that also on the lands belonging to the legitimate owners of the lands who had been living on these lands since time immemorial, either as , Muslims, Christians, Jews or any other religion they belonged to, however, the majority of them were Muslims as such the greatest hurt to the sentiments was to the Muslims.
The war of 1967 was another turning point in the history, as in that war the duplicity of the USA and its allies the EU was exposed and an innocent people of the ethnicity of Palestine were subjected to the state of slavery by the Israelis, and slowly their lands and livelihood taken over by the Jews under the conniving eyes of the USA and the West.
USA is only conducting the talks to circumvent the Muslim anger, which has cost it to be termed worldwide as Bully and a country of no moral and ethics.
Also,. Abbas is not the legitimate President of the Palestinians. His term expired two years ago. He is being kept as the President to sign on the dotted lines crafted by the White House, after some resistance and shedding some crocodile tears.
Hamas is the legitimate negotiator of the Palestinians.
Israel will have to hand over the Arab lands to the Arabs. No solution short of this is acceptable to the Arabs.
If such a solution is not forthcoming, a war would be fought between the supporters of Israel and the supporters of Palestine. Those in support of Palestine are already push to the wall. It is the adversary, which will now have to give ground as there is more pushing back for the Palestinians.
America and the West have fought wars on behalf of Israel many a times, in Iraq, in Afghanistan and now Iran is the target. USA has already become bankrupt; EU has been toeing USA line of bankruptcy. Ultimately, you can guess as to who will win and who will loose. Of course take the time factor out.
[Reply]
Well, I think that Lieberman has rendered a great service. It has been hard to show that Israel was indeed a theocracy because the claims of the nature of the state were never center stage but rather the question was about what is a Jew. Now the question becomes very very very clear. The state is Jewish and this comes with some serious price tag.
Here is my blog post about it:
http://theradicalsecularist.com/?p=360
[Reply]