Newsgroup: it.arti.cinema
Titolo: The Dilemma of Israeli Arabs, by Azmi Bishara

(per chi pensa ancora che israele sia uno stato democratico)
The Dilemma of Israeli Arabs: As long as the state
remains 'Jewish in essence,' they cannot be equal
citizens.
====================
By Azmi Bishara
Los Angeles Times
January 8, 2003
JERUSALEM -- The cornerstone of liberal democracy is
citizenship, not ethnicity, religion or race -- even
that of the majority -- a fact the civil rights
movement made evident in the United States. But in
Israel, where bitter arguments still rage over the
question "Who is a Jew?" the question "Who is a
citizen?" has yet to be seriously addressed.
Israel's Arab citizens, who make up nearly 20% of the
population, are effectively prohibited from
participating in this debate. In fact, thanks to a
decision last week by the Israeli Central Elections
Committee, even Arab citizens who serve in the
parliament, or Knesset, cannot run for reelection Jan.
28 if we dare to suggest that Israel should become a
state for all its citizens.
I am an Arab citizen of Israel and have been a member
of the Knesset for six years. Over the last year and a
half, Israel's attorney general has indicted me for
voicing political opinions, lobbied to have my
parliamentary immunity revoked and, most recently,
requested disqualification of the party I represent
from participating in the upcoming elections. In
agreeing, the Central Elections Committee cited an
amendment to the elections law that says that no party
or candidate can challenge the Jewish and democratic
nature of Israel. The Israeli Supreme Court is
scheduled to rule Thursday on our appeal.
Israeli Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon once said,
"Israel is Jewish in essence and democratic in
character." How can a state that defines itself as
essentially Jewish also characterize itself as a
democracy when it has a sizable non-Jewish minority?
This is a question that many Israeli liberals and their
supporters abroad do not like to ask. An honest liberal
would say that Israel should be democratic in essence
and Jewish in character, given that it has a Jewish
majority that defines itself in national terms.
Having lost our Palestinian homeland in 1948, we Arabs
became a minority in our own country and were granted
citizenship, which we did not choose, in a state that
does not define itself as ours but says it is the state
of the Jewish people. If we demand that the citizenship
we received in place of our homeland be full
citizenship, we are accused of "threatening the
Jewishness of the state."
Increasingly, Arabs and Jews have come to understand
that Israel cannot separate religion from state or
grant full equality to its non-Jewish citizens unless
it defines itself as the state of all its citizens. And
just as we recognize the Jewish majority's right to
self-determination despite our disagreement over the
historical processes that brought it about, we demand
that the Palestinian people receive similar
recognition: self-determination in the part of their
homeland occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West
Bank and Gaza.
One need not be Arab to identify with the Palestinian
struggle against Israeli occupation. Resisting
occupation is a legitimate, internationally recognized
right, which many Jewish and Arab members of the
Knesset before me have affirmed from the podium of the
occupying state's parliament without it being
considered "support for terror." It is our civic and
moral duty to oppose violence against civilians, even
in an anti-occupation struggle. Still, it is not our
place to dictate to the Palestinians how to conduct
their struggle against that occupation, when what is
needed is an end to the occupation itself.
Since we raised the demand that Israel become a
citizens' state, the Israeli establishment has regarded
the Arab population with increased suspicion. Many
interpret the idea as opposition to the Jewish
character of the state or as a cover for an "Arab
nationalism" bent on destroying Israel "from within."
They cannot fathom that one might be, simply, both Arab
and democrat. And maybe that's the real threat:
demanding a citizens' state challenges Israel's
regional monopoly on "democracy."
Since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, an Israeli
prime minister who dared to rely on Arab votes to form
a parliamentary majority, the Israeli right began a
systematic campaign to delegitimize the Arab vote. They
do not include Arab parties in their coalitions,
despite the fact that we are natural allies on
peacemaking. The official consensus, it is clear, does
not include the Arab minority. They insist that any
political settlement be based on a "Jewish majority."
This is how the disenfranchisement of Arabs started,
and, like any racist incitement against minorities in a
time of political crisis, it developed a dynamic all
its own.
The biggest threat to Israeli democracy is the racist
and violent political culture engendered by the
occupation itself. Disqualifying those of us who are
struggling to democratize Israel from participating in
free and fair elections means barring a liberal
democratic worldview that posits that a state should
serve and stand for all of its citizens equally.
------------------------------------------------------
Azmi Bishara is a member of the Knesset from the Balad Party.


"Entra nel vivo la campagna elettorale in Israele in vista delle prossime
elezioni politiche. La Corte Suprema d'Israele ha revocato l'esclusione
dalle elezioni del 28 gennaio di due candidati iseraelo-arabi, Ahmed Tibi e
Amzi Bishara. Ha invece escluso dalla consultazione il generale a riposo
Shaul Mofaz, ex capo di stato maggiore ed attuale ministro della Difesa."

 Amzi Bishara.
Bene.
Una buona notizia.
L'altra e' che i soldi ricevuti da Sharon lo stanno mettendo in pessima luce
nei sondaggi preelettorali.

Una buona notizia.
Strano non l'avessi riportata tu, sempre così attento alla questione
palestinese.
Ciao
Nicola
...il magnifico e fole duplex "gileZ" non-brizzolato, pluri-incidentato e pluricitato in giudizio di it.arti.cinema
---
"Non sono vegetariano perchè amo gli animali: lo sono perchè odio le piante".
A. Whitney Brown


Capita anche ai migliori.
Ciao.
JSP.
--
UFV: (Cinema) Lontano dal paradiso - Ma che colpa abbiamo noi - (DVD) Fifa e
arena - Orange County - Due amici

Shaul Mofaz, ex capo di stato maggiore ed attuale ministro della Difesa."
Come mai?
R.
-- 
Quando il gioco si fa duro
i sardi iniziano a giocare


Questo il testo completo (tratto dal Corriere)
GERUSALEMME - Duro colpo per il primo ministro israliano Ariel Sharon, già
sotto pressione per presunti fondi neri per la campagna elettorale del 1999.
La Corte suprema israeliana ha accolto i ricorsi dei deputati
arabo-israeliani Azmi Bishara e Ahmed Tibi e del partito Balad e ha ammesso
la loro candidatura alla Knesset (Parlamento) alle elezioni del 28 gennaio.
I due erano stati esclusi dalla commissione elettorale centrale con le
accuse di voler la distruzione dello Stato israliano e di sostenere i
terroristi palestinesi. «Giustizia è fatta. Questa è una decisione giusta e
questa è una democrazia», ha dichiarato Bishara.
ESCLUSO MOFAZ - Inoltre la Corte suprema ha respinto il ricorso del ministro
della Difesa Shaul Mofaz (candidato per il Likud di Sharon) contro
l'esclusione della sua candidatura alla Knesset. Mofaz era stato candidato
da Sharon nonostante non fossero ancora scaduti i sei mesi di astensione dai
pubblici uffici per gli alti ufficiali delle Forze armate che vogliano darsi
alla politica, come prescrive la legge israeliana. Mofaz, infatti, prima di
essere nominato ministro della Difesa, era capo di stato maggiore.
La Corte ha pure escluso la candidatura di Moshe Feiglin, attivista di
estrema destra candidato nelle file del Likud, in quanto condannato alcuni
anni fa a sei mesi di lavori pubblici per dichiarazioni ritenute sovversive
nei confronti dello Stato.
La Corte suprema ha accettato invece la candidatura dell'estremista ebraico
di destra Baruch Marzel, ex capo del movimento razzista Kach.
Una legge votata qualche mese fa proibisce la candidatura di persone che
«negano il carattere ebraico e democratico dello Stato di Israele,
sostengono i nemici di Israele o difendono teorie razziste».