Israeli Palestinian party that seeks democracy for all citizens risks disqualification

Jewish Israeli political parties, including the "centrist" Kadima party, are working to get the Palestinian political party Balad disqualified from the upcoming Israeli elections. Feeding off the current 90% approval for the Gaza war among Israelis, MK Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the far right Yisrael Beiteinu Party, explains "the goals of Hamas and Balad are the same: to destroy Israel." This is not the first (or second or third) time that Israel has tried to shut Balad down. Its founder, the politician and writer Azmi Bishara, was forced from the country in 2007 and lives in exile today. Similar efforts have been carried out against other Palestinian parties as well.

Why should Balad be disqualified? Haaretz says it "rejects the idea of an Israeli state." Of course, Balad doesn't reject "the idea of an Israeli state" (whatever that would mean). YNet explains that Balad is being barred because it "does not recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland." This is probably closer to what Balad thinks, but in the end they really just think that Israel should be a state for all its citizens. Imagine that.

Right now the brute force of Zionism is being seen and felt in Gaza, but the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not end when that siege is over or even when the occupation is ended. Only when Israel acknowledges the past and accepts that Jews have to share the land equitably with the Palestinians will there be peace.

Comments

[delia]

Alistair Crooke at Conflicts Forum has a new piece posted today. If anyone's interested:

http://conflictsforum.org/2009/why-the-gaza-calm-crashed/

[Jim Haygood]

In the U.S., interloper political parties are marginalized by the massive state subsidies for the ruling Depublicrats.

When a third party actually threatens the Establishment, its candidate usually withdraws on his own volition -- e.g. Ross Perot, 'they threatened to disrupt my duaghter's wedding.' LOL

Israel's attempted disqualification of Balad based on their platform goes way beyond this, and gives the lie to AIPAC/Hillary Clinton propaganda that Israel represents 'American values.' This is same unsound basis which has been used to marginalize Hamas.

'Edited democracy' is a disaster, as the pall of smoke over Gaza shows.

[slaney black]

Balad is good, but Hadash is better. I think this pretty much shows that Israel is going the way of Turkey (which is pretty much the pro-Western mirror image of Iran) - a constitutional democracy in form but a far-right nationalist military oligarchy in practice.

[Richard Witty]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054580.html

Don't disqualify the Arab lists
By Haaretz Editorial
Tags: kadima, elections

The Central Elections Committee will deliberate on three petitions today calling for the disqualification of Balad's candidate list (two of them filed by the far-right parties Yisrael Beiteinu and the National Union), and on a petition against United Arab List-Ta'al's election list (filed by the National Union). In recent years it has turned into an indecent ceremony on election eve: Right-wing parties try to ban Balad or United Arab List-Ta'al, as part of their efforts to get headlines. This time the "ceremony" will be acted out under the shadow of the caustic debate on the military operation in the Gaza Strip.