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Arab Parties Banned from the Knesset


Shryke

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[url="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/israel_bans_arab_parties_from_coming_election.php"]http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009...ng_election.php[/url]
[quote]Israel on Monday banned Arab political parties from running in next month's parliamentary elections, drawing accusations of racism by an Arab lawmaker who said he would challenge the decision in the country's Supreme Court.
The decision does not affect Arab lawmakers in predominantly Jewish parties or the country's communist party, which has a mixed list of Arab and Jewish candidates. Roughly one-fifth of Israel's 7 million citizens are Arabs. Israeli Arabs enjoy full citizenship rights, but have suffered from discrimination and poverty for decades.[/quote]

[url="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/2009112165350696500.html"]http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleea...5350696500.html[/url]
[quote]Two Arab political parties have been disqualified from running in Israel's parliamentary elections on February 10 after they were accused of not recognising the country's right to exist.

The panel voted on Monday to back a motion filed by two right-wing parties which also accused the National Democratic Assembly (also known as Balad) and Ra'am-Ta'al of incitement and supporting "terrorist" groups.[/quote]

[quote]At a recent Knesset session called to discuss the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, Arab MPs condemned the conflict, which has now killed more than 900 Palestinians and injured thousands of others.

"As a humane person, I oppose targeting civilians wherever they are. Naturally, however, every time an Arab is injured it hurts me more because we are members of the same nation," Tibi told the Knesset.

In response, Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party which petitioned for the Arab parties to be barred, described the Arab MPs as a "fifth column" clandestinely undermining the nation.[/quote]

Ahh, sweet, sweet democracy.

PS - Stay on topic dammit, no war threads for now
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[quote name='Shryke' post='1646199' date='Jan 12 2009, 13.12'][url="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/israel_bans_arab_parties_from_coming_election.php"]http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009...ng_election.php[/url]


[url="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/2009112165350696500.html"]http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleea...5350696500.html[/url]




Ahh, sweet, sweet democracy.

PS - Stay on topic dammit, no war threads for now[/quote]

:lol:

I think it'll be overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court; but I don't know how much weight does Israeli Supreme Court rulings have these days.

[quote]"As a humane person, I oppose targeting civilians wherever they are. Naturally, however, every time an Arab is injured it hurts me more because we are members of the same nation," Tibi told the Knesset.[/quote]

It stretch the bounds of credibility to interpret these words as "a "fifth column" clandestinely undermining the nation" though.
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I'm seriously dissapointed with this. Not sure what i'm going to do if the Supreme court upholds it. (expect not to hear from me for a while as i'll likely be living in some kind of protest tent in front of the knesset.)
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[quote name='Inigima' post='1646239' date='Jan 12 2009, 23.59']Yeah, I can't think of anything that makes this okay.[/quote]

Just pointing out that this is not the first time a party's being banned from elections by the Knesset. There's [url="http://‪http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kach_and_Kahane_Chai"]‪Kach[/url], the extreme right wing party led by the later assassinated Rabbi Kahane which was banned for racism. This door swings both ways, apparently.
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[quote name='Etrangere' post='1646248' date='Jan 13 2009, 00.06']That's a very disturbing trend from Israel :(

Hope the current government gets hammered at the election in favour of one that's more to the left.[/quote]

That's unlikely. Current polls favor the 'Likkud' party, so most chances are that the next government will be more to the right and led by the [b]boogieman![/b]
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[quote name='The Green Fish' post='1646255' date='Jan 12 2009, 23.10']That's unlikely. Current polls favor the 'Likkud' party, so most chances are that the next government will be more to the right and led by the [b]boogieman![/b][/quote]

That's very annoying. I hate when the alternatives are Bad and Worse.

Was the party banned for racism?
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[quote name='The Green Fish' post='1646252' date='Jan 12 2009, 17.08']Just pointing out that this is not the first time a party's being banned from elections by the Knesset. There's [url="http://‪http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kach_and_Kahane_Chai"]‪Kach[/url], the extreme right wing party led by the later assassinated Rabbi Kahane which was banned for racism. This door swings both ways, apparently.[/quote]

Except this time these parties were banned for .... what?

Being arab?
Saying "I don't agree with the war"?
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[quote name='Shryke' post='1646263' date='Jan 12 2009, 18.16']Except this time these parties were banned for .... what?

Being arab?
Saying "I don't agree with the war"?[/quote]


So it would seem although the "official" reason is that they deny Israels right to exist.
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[quote name='Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt' post='1646219' date='Jan 12 2009, 22.31']I think it'll be overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court; but I don't know how much weight does Israeli Supreme Court rulings have these days.[/quote]
even if the supreme court overturns it, will it be done in time for the elections?
if it's not in time for the elections, what will happen then? will the elections be repeated or will arab community have no say in ruling israel for next couple of years?

deny people their rights -> make them angry and desperate -> make them do stupid/crazy things -> start a war (or at least an uprising)
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Basic Law: The Knesset (Amendment No. 9):

7A. A candidates' list shall not participate in elections to the Knesset if its objects or actions, expressly or by implication, include one of the following:

(1) negation of the existence of the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people;

(2) negation of the democratic character of the State;

(3) incitement to racism.".

In the Hebrew version I found it also says:

(4) Supporting an armed struggle of an enemy state, or a terror organization, against the State of Israel.
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I love how Shryke neglects to quote this part:

[quote]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.[/quote]

Now does that justify Israel banning the parties, even if its true, probably not, unless there is actual evidence of terroism support directly from the parties (which would be a criminal act). If the Arab legisaltures were using their authority in the government to bring aid to say Hamas and Hezbolla and sabotage Israel, then we may have something. Should Israel allow Israeli Arabs who support non-Israeli interests over Israeli interest access to the government? Reminds me of opposition to a communist party in America during the Cold War? You don't want to fuck with the civil rights of all Israeli citizens, so I think this is a reall fucking bad move on Israels part right now.
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well, one must question the point of all these israel/gaza threads when they all end up the same way...
is start ok, then it becomes a heated argument which after a while starts going round in circles, and then the topic gets closed...
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[quote name='baxus' post='1646285' date='Jan 12 2009, 18.29']well, one must question the point of all these israel/gaza threads when they all end up the same way...
is start ok, then it becomes a heated argument which after a while starts going round in circles, and then the topic gets closed...[/quote]

This is [i]supposed[/i] to be an Israeli political thread. No mentioning the G-word please. :P
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[quote name='baxus' post='1646273' date='Jan 13 2009, 00.24']even if the supreme court overturns it, will it be done in time for the elections?
if it's not in time for the elections, what will happen then? will the elections be repeated or will arab community have no say in ruling israel for next couple of years?[/quote]

There are other arab parties, and arabs can vote for whomever they like. This is really a case of "...defend your right to say it" for me. I have pretty much no respect for those two parties. I really have no idea what the dynamic regarding them is in the arab sector, but from where i'm standing they look like nothing more than a platform to get their leaders some pompous air time and opportunities to defect to Syria.

I don't want to see them banned, becuase its not like they're saying anything they haven't always said, but if this serves as an opportunity for some arab parties that are interested in the rights and welfare of their constituents and are capable of disntinguishing Reality, Israel from "It will sound great on al-jazeera" i'll be happy. (ok. slightly mollified)

BTW, right now Kadima is polling aboave Likud, so theoretically if everyone to the left of them swings behind them, theres a chance for a center-left government. Which will never happen. But it might still be a center-leftish-bought off religeous party thing.
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