Skip to main content

Supporting the only (sort of) democracy in the Middle East...

... is often given as one of the reasons for unwavering US support of Israel.

Of course, that democracy has just banned its two largest Arab parties (Balad and UAL-T) from participating in the upcoming Knesset elections, which will prevent more than half the Arab Israeli citizens already in the parliament from running for re-election.

These have to be extremist parties, right? Parties dedicated to the destruction of Israel, right?

Well, not exactly:

The Arab parties earned the ire of the most hawkish elements in the Israeli government by publicly opposing the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Balad likewise made enemies by explicitly calling for equal rights for all citizens of Israel, regardless of national or ethnic identity, which the ruling Kadima Party said would “undermine Israel’s identity as a Jewish state.”


I'd come up with a really snappy sentence to end this post, but--with both the US Senate and House having voted nearly unanimously in favor of giving Israel a blank check--I'm so astounded to find that this anti-democratic act doesn't penetrate the American psyche that I'm....

Comments

Hube said…
From the AP's article on same:

Parliament spokesman Giora Pordes said the election committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of the motion, accusing the country's Arab parties of incitement, supporting terrorist groups and refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist. Arab lawmakers have traveled to some of Israel's staunchest enemies, including Lebanon and Syria.

That would've been enough for the Obama-compared-to Abe Lincoln to have them thrown in jail and/or exiled from the country.

Just sayin'.

(Nevertheless, interesting article and points made, Steve.)
Hube said…
Oh, in the AP story it also [interestingly] mentions that the last party to be banned was the far-right Kach Party, led by the late Rabbi Meir Kahane. It advocated the expulsion of all Arabs from Israel.
tom said…
It didn't happen in the US & it doesn't involve any pop-culture icons. it might have scrolled across CNN's bottom of screen news ticker a few times, but that is probably the extent of the MSM TV coverage it got.

Instead of penetrating the American psyche, you'd be lucky if half the 0.01% of the population that actually gets their news by reading noticed that it happened.
Delaware Watch said…
It's also illegal to talk about Israel's nuclear weapons program in Israel making it immune to criticism about it. How's that for democracy?
Anonymous said…
There is too much war in the world, peace between gaza and israel will be good for all.
Hube said…
Is that true, Dana? I didn't know that. I know the program isn't "official;" however, one can get jailed for asking about it/opining on it?

Popular posts from this blog

The Obligatory Libertarian Tax Day Post

The most disturbing factoid that I learned on Tax Day was that the average American must now spend a full twenty-four hours filling out tax forms. That's three work days. Or, think of it this way: if you had to put in two hours per night after dinner to finish your taxes, that's two weeks (with Sundays off). I saw a talking head economics professor on some Philly TV channel pontificating about how Americans procrastinate. He was laughing. The IRS guy they interviewed actually said, "Tick, tick, tick." You have to wonder if Governor Ruth Ann Minner and her cohorts put in twenty-four hours pondering whether or not to give Kraft Foods $708,000 of our State taxes while demanding that school districts return $8-10 million each?

New Warfare: I started my posts with a discussion.....

.....on Unrestricted warfare . The US Air force Institute for National Security Studies have developed a reasonable systems approach to deter non-state violent actors who they label as NSVA's. It is an exceptionally important report if we want to deter violent extremism and other potential violent actors that could threaten this nation and its security. It is THE report our political officials should be listening to to shape policy so that we do not become excessive in using force against those who do not agree with policy and dispute it with reason and normal non-violent civil disobedience. This report, should be carefully read by everyone really concerned with protecting civil liberties while deterring violent terrorism and I recommend if you are a professional you send your recommendations via e-mail at the link above so that either 1.) additional safeguards to civil liberties are included, or 2.) additional viable strategies can be used. Finally, one can only hope that politici

More of This, Please

Or perhaps I should say, "Less of this one, please." Or how about just, "None of them. Ever again. Please....For the Love of God." Sunshine State Poll: Grayson In Trouble The latest Sunshine State/VSS poll shows controversial Democratic incumbent Alan Grayson trailing former state Senator Dan Webster by seven points, 43 percent to 36 percent. A majority of respondents -- 51 percent -- disapprove of the job that Grayson is doing. Independents have an unfavorable view of him as well, by a 36/47 margin. Grayson has ignored the conventional wisdom that a freshman should be a quiet member who carefully tends to the home fires. The latest controversy involves his " Taliban Dan " advertisement, where he explicitly compares his opponent to the Taliban, and shows a clip of Webster paraphrasing Ephesians 5:22 -- "wives, submit to your husbands." An unedited version of the clip shows that Webster was actually suggesting that husba