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The national election in Israel is underway, America’s strong ally to bring peace to the Middle East demonstrates what democracy means to their world.
(Haaretz) – The Yisrael Beiteinu youths gather for a final consultation as dozens of elderly party supporters slowly make their way into the white tent where the movement’s conference is being held, behind the Plaza Hotel in Upper Nazareth.
The youths, ages 16-18, many of them good friends from school, had stood for a long time before the event began at the intersection near the hotel, waving Israeli flags and shouting “Death to the Arabs” and “No loyalty, no citizenship” at passing cars.
(Haaretz commentary) – Benjamin Netanyahu thinks he can get Israelis real security without having to make the compromises that a thick peace calls for. That is not respect, that is plain old hubris. It is the same type of arrogance that caused him to blunder historic opportunities in the past, and by the sound of his rhetoric, nothing has changed. Given the dire and time-sensitive situation in the region, Israel and the world can ill-afford to take another chance on this man.
Supreme Court overturns ban on Arab parties from national elections
“Conventional wisdom has it that Israeli Jewish voters are more likely to vote for candidates with a reputation of taking a tough stance vis-a-vis the Palestinians. In both the popular and political lexicon, this translates into spilling Palestinian blood, destroying Palestinian homes and further narrowing Palestinian horizons,” writes Khaled Amayreh in the English language Al-Ahram Weekly.
THE RIGHT OF ISRAELI ARABS TO REMAIN IN THEIR LAND
“Aside from reiterating the slogan about the Palestinian refugees’ right of return, it is also necessary to demand the right of ‘Israeli Arabs’ to remain on their land,” Majid al Sheikh wrote in Al Hayat last week. He was referring to the slogans of Yisrael Beiteinu MK Avigdor Lieberman, and furthermore asserted that Livni’s stance toward Israel’s Arabs is no different: Like Lieberman, she wants a Jewish state, that is – to bring about the emigration of Israeli Arabs to the Palestinian state. “The dream of [a population] transfer has been and remains the Zionist dream,” Sheikh wrote. “It changes in intensity (from candidate to candidate), but not in its essence. Livni’s center or Barak’s center is no different from Netanyahu’s.” It seems that in Sheikh’s opinion, not “only Lieberman understands Arabic” (as his electoral slogan says), but so do Livni, Barak and Netanyahu.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."