Democracy for Jews only

Looking back, it is strange how many years it has taken the liberals among us to understand that Israeli democracy needs safeguards - not against organizations trying to bring it down, or a political structure that can undermine it, or a too-powerful internal force that draws strength from the lack of a constitution (the Shin Bet security service, for example). Those who thought there was no problem with Israeli democracy, or the Arab minority in its midst, were strangely innocent.

True, there is an occupation. But in the Israeli mind, the occupation is temporary. The suspension of all human and civil rights is an extraordinary situation, an emergency situation, and thus it may be worse than a military dictatorship - after all, the army can do anything in the occupied territories. Millions of people are subject to this regime, and our democracy does not see them. Rather, it lives with the occupation as the exception, not the rule.

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On May 20, the attorney general handed the Association of Civil Rights in Israel a letter from Diskin. The letter involved a complaint of harassment against the journal of the Arab party Balad. First, Diskin quotes the law: "The service is in charge of protecting the security of the state, and the processes of the democratic regime and its institutions from terror threats, sabotage, subversion, espionage and the revelation of state secrets. The service will therefore work to protect and advance other interests essential to the security of the state, as determined by the government and in keeping with any and all laws." He then informs the attorney general that "the service believes that subversion may also include working toward changing the basic values of the state by obviating its democratic or Jewish character, as a form of subversion against the processes of the democratic regime and its institutions." Israeli law defines the state as Jewish and democratic. The Shin Bet is now trying to turn the "and" into an "or."

Israeli democracy, in Diskin's terms, is protecting itself against the undermining of its nature as a democracy for Jews. This would not be so pathetic if a letter from the attorney general had not been appended to Diskin's letter saying: "The letter of the Shin Bet director was written in coordination with the attorney general and with his agreement, and the stance detailed in it is acceptable to the attorney general."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/864734.html

than you do from American papers.

I'm a lukewarm supporter of Israel.

I find it refreshing that their papers will print stories about their own government that US and other western papers won't touch (for fear of being labeled anti-semtic I guess)

We should be so lucky here.

I don't know that I entirely agree with this guy, but he gets right at the heart of the contradiction of being both Jewish and democratic in a land where about half the people are not Jews. (I know, in Israel proper its about 20%, between the Jordan and the sea its closer to 50/50.) I think Diskin is correct about the threat that that poses to the present Israeli state, and I think this guy is correct that if you follow his logic out what you come to is "Democracy for Jews only". Arabs are only allowed political expression wherein they accept the political status quo.

inevitably placing more value on one of those things puts the other at risk. And it seems to me they place more value on being Jewish, thus undermining the democracy bit.