Adonis Diaries

Archive for June 20th, 2018

Part 2. Ten Myths on Israel: Not how a “Democratic State” behave (by Ian Pappe)

No, Israel Is Not a Democracy

Subjugation of Minorities in Israel Is Not Democratic

By lan Pappe

From Ten Myths About Israel, out now from Verso Books.

June 12, 2018 “Information Clearing House” –  Israel is not the only democracy in the Middle East. In fact, it’s not a democracy at all.

In the eyes of many Israelis and their supporters worldwide — even those who might criticize some of its policies — Israel is, at the end of the day, a benign democratic state, seeking peace with its neighbors, and guaranteeing equality to all its citizens.

Those who do criticize Israel assume that, if anything went wrong in this democracy, then it was due to the 1967 war.

Subjugation of Minorities in Israel Is Not Democratic

The litmus test of any democracy is the level of tolerance it is willing to extend towards the minorities living in it. In this respect, Israel falls far short of being a true democracy.

For example, after the new territorial gains several laws were passed ensuring a superior position for the majority: the laws governing citizenship, the laws concerning land ownership, and most important of all, the law of return.

The latter grants automatic citizenship to every Jew in the world, wherever he or she was born.

This law in particular is a flagrantly undemocratic one, for it was accompanied by a total rejection of the Palestinian right of return — recognized internationally by the UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948.

This rejection refuses to allow the Palestinian citizens of Israel to unite with their immediate families or with those who were expelled in 1948.

Denying people the right of return to their homeland, and at the same time offering this right to others who have no connection to the land, is a model of undemocratic practice.

Added to this was a further layering of denial of the rights of the Palestinian people.

Almost every discrimination against the Palestinian citizens of Israel is justified by the fact that they do Not serve in the army.

The association between democratic rights and military duties is better understood if we revisit the formative years in which Israeli policy makers were trying to make up their minds about how to treat one-fifth of the population.

Their assumption was that Palestinian citizens did not want to join the army anyway, and that assumed refusal, in turn, justified the discriminatory policy against them.

This was put to the test in 1954 when the Israeli ministry of defense decided to call up those Palestinian citizens eligible for conscription to serve in the army. The secret service assured the government that there would be a widespread rejection of the call-up.

To their great surprise, all those summoned went to the recruiting office, with the blessing of the Communist Party, the biggest and most important political force in the community at the time.

The secret service later explained that the main reason was the teenagers’ boredom with life in the countryside and their desire for some action and adventure.

Notwithstanding this episode, the ministry of defense continued to peddle a narrative that depicted the Palestinian community as unwilling to serve in the military.

Inevitably, in time, the Palestinians did indeed turn against the Israeli army, who had become their perpetual oppressors, but the government’s exploitation of this as a pretext for discrimination casts huge doubt on the state’s pretense to being a democracy.

If you are a Palestinian citizen and you did not serve in the army, your rights to government assistance as a worker, student, parent, or as part of a couple, are severely restricted. This affects housing in particular, as well as employment — where 70% of all Israeli industry is considered to be security-sensitive and therefore closed to these citizens as a place to find work.

The underlying assumption of the ministry of defense was not only that Palestinians do not wish to serve but that they are potentially an enemy within who cannot be trusted. The problem with this argument is that in all the major wars between Israel and the Arab world the Palestinian minority did not behave as expected. They did not form a fifth column or rise up against the regime.

This, however, did not help them: to this day they are seen as a “demographic” problem that has to be solved.

The only consolation is that, still today, most Israeli politicians do not believe that the way to solve “the problem” is by the transfer or expulsion of the Palestinians (at least not in peacetime).

Note: Israel is emulating the USA incremental genocide strategy on the “other minorities”

Tidbits and notes posted on FB and Twitter. Part 210

Note: I take notes of books I read and comment on events and edit sentences that fit my style. I pa attention to researched documentaries and serious links I receive. The page is long and growing like crazy, and the sections I post contains a month-old events that are worth refreshing your memor

Quel est l’argent de surplus qui n’a pas ete’ vole’?

Si on vit dans un Etat qui nous offre des facilites universelles de sante’ et d’education affordable, on ne peut pas proclamer qu’on travaille pour le peuple dans les elections, si le gouvernement refuse de distribuer le surplus d’agent aux “handicappes” de la societe’

Since 2012, over 700 people in Lebanon Bekaa Valley were martyred because the government refused to impose its responsibility and order and deploy the army to confront the terrorist factions in the eastern mountain chains.

Vast re-organization and reshuffling in the army of Saudi Kingdom and Sudan. Have they admitted that their bloody and barbaric adventure in Yemen has failed? Or there was a tacit Royal coup that constrained the temeraire vice King?

The strong lists in this “proportional law” of election will try by all means to restrict the number of alternative complete lists: The cutting line for viability of a candidate to be voted in (7aasel intikhabi) is the total number of voters divided by the total number of candidate in the district.

Seeking to reaffirm the right of children to be protected and report abuse suffered by them, especially in countries such as Brazil, Syria, Thailand, United States and Japan, the Cuban artist Erik Ravelo produced a series titled “The untouchables“. Photographs of children crucified for his supposed oppressors, each for a different reason and a clear message.

Julia (90 years): She is sick in bed and holding her sick grandchild. “Bring me what your father and mother gave me as gift”. She is referring to her daughter who bought her an old fashion clock a couple of weeks with large number to see. I brought her the clock and said: “it is 6:30 pm”. She murmured: ” Okay, I’ll test it.” I said: “It is 6:30, what you want to test?”

An Old fashion Sony clock with large number and 2 ringing bells on top that wake up the dead, and in times when they are pretty awake, if it is Not set on “Off” and nobody know how to let it Stop the vacarm.

I’m ready to listen to you and never interrupt your babbling: You may lie on a coach and I bring you refreshment. Call me for an hour of personal patience and we’ll negotiate the rate. (better offer than professional “psychiatrists”)

 7,560 pilots  were saved by a Martin-Baker ejection seat from a jet fighter. The Middlesex, England-based company controls around 55% of the ejection-seat market, with more than 17,000 currently in service around the world. (Other big players include UTC Aerospace Systems of Charlotte, North Carolina and NPP Zvedza of Tomilino, Russia.)

Les hommes et les femmes ne sont pas plus sage les uns que les autres: un amour manqué et l’on devient moine/soeur, abandonne le pays, ou se laisser mourire.

Bernamaj “Da2 al jarass” la Sa3d “you7awer” tolaab zghaar fekrat kawiyyat, 7atta ma3 kel al mouwarabaat bil al radd, wa bet sabbet estemrarito . Bakiyyat al rou2assa2 3endon sneen kteereh bil al siyasseh wa 3endon msalaat kteereh btok3aron le ta2leed Sa3d wa al kezeb 3ala al wlaad.

Intikhabaat taa2ifiyyat 3ala al kabireh wa bil mshabra7. Hezbollah 7assam hal mawdou3 min awal al taree2 wa sabbat mawka3o.

General Jameel Al Sayyed batal nazeeh, nazeef wa moukawem min Loubnaan

General Jameel Al Sayyed “Ana re7t 3ala al 2akhirat wa raje3t”. Moddat 4 sneen bil al 7abess, fannadou kel dakikat min 3omri wa ma la2ato ay dalil li mou7akamati. Samir 2akher al lazeen yosma7 lahou bil al tatawol 3alayyeh


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