Linda Heard: Israel and the Truth behind Its âDemocracyâ
Thursday, June 10 2004 @ 05:33 AM EDT
"It isnât that I disagree with Sharonâs plans to pull out from Palestinian land, rather the way he is going about it and his motives for doing so.."
By Linda S. Heard
The country, much vaunted by Americaâs leaders as being the only democracy in the Middle East, which shares their values, has recently proved how unique its political system really is. When Ariel Sharon couldnât convince, persuade or browbeat his fellow Cabinet members to come up with a âyeaâ vote on his Gaza withdrawal plans, he simply sacked two of the most intransigent, and thus, redressed the voting balance. When news that his dismissal was in the offing reached Benny Elon of the right-wing National Union Party, he was so eager to hold on to his post that he hid out in a settlement like an unwilling divorcee who refuses to accept the courtâs decree.
It isnât that I disagree with Sharonâs plans to pull out from Palestinian land â the sooner and more complete the better â rather the way he is going about it and his motives for doing so. Unlike other democracies, true democratic principles of âone person, one voteâ are something that the Israeli leader fears above all else.
Itâs all down to demographics and the discrepancy in birth rates between Arabs in Israel and the occupied territories (six children) and Israelis (two). Even the most conservative estimates show that within 20 years, Muslim and Christian Arabs will outnumber Jews. Sharon wants to dismember Gaza from the equation in the hope that Israel can continue maintaining its Jewish character.
At the same time, he does not want it to seem Israel has been forcibly pushed out as it, more or less, was from southern Lebanon. And hence his parting gifts to the people of Gaza: Mass demolitions, missile strikes and ruthless attacks on peaceful protestors.
Sharon knows that a two-state solution, with one state (his own) being infinitely larger and more puissant than the other cobbled-together mish-mash of Bantustans â a state in name without the game â is inevitable. The other alternative, which increasing numbers of Palestinians are calling for â is unthinkable: One state, comprising Jews, Christians and Muslim s in which Jews would eventually become a minority.
In the meantime, Sharon tries his best to attract new immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe. But strangely, they are not clamoring to wave goodbye to their own thriving Western-style economies and new freedoms to join a fortress-like West Bank settlement or move into an Israeli government high-rise in the middle of nowhere. They are not keen for their sons and daughters to be drafted into the army by a state, which is becoming an international pariah, condemned by all except the US. Recently released nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vananu has issues with Israelâs democratic principles too. Sentenced to 18 years imprisonment after giving an interview to a British newspaper on the Dimona reactor, heâs done his time â most of it in solitary â but even after walking âfreeâ is still being punished.
Vananu has been forbidden from traveling abroad, despite threats on his life from nationalistic Israelis, and associating with foreigners. Vananu stuck to the letter of this injunction and recently submitted to being filmed and interviewed by Israeli nationals on behalf the BBC. But Israel didnât bother to stick to the fine print of its own restrictions. The local and foreign media teams were taken into custody, some of their tapes confiscated. Peter Hounam of the Sunday Times , who arranged the interview, was arrested and deported. Someone should tell Sharon and his justice minister that democracies do not prevent their citizens from traveling.
The pretext that Vananu has more secrets to expose is, frankly, laughable. Is Israelâs nuclear technology â you know that which it denies having â so old-fashioned that it has remained in a time warp for 19 years? And if Vananu had anything else to say, why didnât he say it before he was kidnapped and taken back to Tel Aviv? Stalked by rabid lunatics, if Vananu is killed when all he wants to do is begin a new life in the US or Europe, his blood will be on Sharonâs hands.
Israel, which seeks the understanding of the world community, recently flouted international laws and the Geneva Conventions under which Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has âpolitical and parliamentary immunityâ, according to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei. In a heavily weighted trial, whose jurisdiction Barghouti has consistently refused to recognize, the popular icon was given âlifeâ five times over plus 40 years.
His French lawyer Gisele Halimi said: âHistory has taught us that those who are termed âterroristsâ are often later hailed as heroes of the resistanceâ. Besides Nelson Mandela, Israelâs sixth Prime Minister Menachem Begin springs to mind. Under his leadership, the Irgun blew up a wing of Jerusalemâs King David Hotel, then a British headquarters, resulting in the deaths of 90 Britons, Arabs and Jews.
In a recent interview with the Israeli daily Haâaretz, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Israeli operations in Gaza as âstate terrorismâ. Just a week earlier, Erdogan pulled no punches when he asked an Israeli Minister Joseph Paritzky: âWhat is the difference between terrorists who kill Israeli civilians, and, Israel, which also kills civilians?â The answer is simple Mr. Erdogan. Israel is a can-do-no-wrong democracy and one which shares the values of Bush, Cheney, Kerry, Al Gore and, even Bill Clinton. Every time they give a speech to the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, they say so.
These days it isnât so much how a state actually behaves which is important but how many powerful friends it has in lofty places. If America says itâs a democracy then a democracy it is. If the US admires its values, then so say all of us. But please donât mind if we canât keep a straight face. Democracy? Values? Dream on Mr. Sharon. The day will come when a spade, even one âmade in Israelâ will at last be called just that.
-Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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